With “La La Land” riding out of the gate of awards season with not just critical praise, but adoration, and easily settling into the pole position (at the moment) for Best Picture at the Oscars, no one would’ve thought the same about a year ago. All we really knew was that the always charming Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone were teaming up to star in a musical from “Whiplash” director Damien Chazelle, which on the page sounded promising. But it was only until the final result was seen that the world knew that not only did the film have the goods, it offered so much more, too. And thus, with hindsight, it seems bonkers that anybody would turn it down — particularly someone who had worked with Chazelle before quite successfully. But apparently, that’s just what happened.
Originally, “La La Land” was going to be led by “Whiplash” star Miles Teller and Emma Watson which, no offense to them, doesn’t quite sound like the same magnetic pairing as Gosling and Stone. Regardless, that was the plan, but that version fell apart, with Teller revealing last summer what went down, according to him.
READ MORE: ‘La La Land’ Starring Emma Stone & Ryan Gosling Is An Absolute Triumph [Venice Review]
“…I got a call from my agent, saying, ‘Hey, I just got a call from Lionsgate. Damien told them that he no longer thinks you’re creatively right for the project. He’s moving on without you,’ ” he claimed.
However, THR says that’s not quite what happened, saying that Teller turned down a $4 million offer to star in the film, and that as negotiations dragged out, his scheduling window basically closed, leaving him to go off and do “Allegiant.” Oops. As for Watson, the actress apparently wasn’t quite eager about the time commitment “La La Land” required and shot “Beauty And The Beast” instead.
Oh, what could’ve been, but to be honest, no one is going to argue much about what we got. Teller and Watson’s loss is very much the gain of the film and what audiences will experience this fall.