There’s been about 8,000 pieces on the up-and-coming indie actress Olivia Thirlby and what appears to be her soon-to-be cemented status as the new It-Girl of 2008. There was a spate of these articles around the release of “Snow Angels,” (Time OutNY) and now that she’ll get another starring turn in coming-of-age stoner dramedy, “The Wackness,” everyone (Entertainment Weekly, New York) is regurgitating this thesis once more. Thirlby first turned head’s as Ellen Page’s bff in “Juno,” as she got all the choice bon mots of dialogue (Honest to blog? ).
But apparently not everyone’s all about her. According to New York magazine’s profile on the actress, Thirlby was originally cast as Seth Rogen’s girlfriend in “Pineapple Express,” but then someone changed their mind.
“I don’t know if I’m going to see it,” she said. “I got cast as Seth [Rogen]’s girlfriend. And I’d been rehearsing with them for a little while and they called me up and were like, ‘Actually, we’re going to recast your role.’ So I’m minorly, minorly ticked off.”
Damn, that seems cold. Minor beef in the indie world? Is this emblematic of ‘Pineapple’ director David Gordon Green’s move into the mainstream and having to be a bit more ruthless? Green afterall cast Thirlby in “Snow Angels,” and the two hit it off rather well.
Or was it studio interference strongly suggesting they use the blonder, more traditional sexy Amber Heard who eventually took the role? Could be.
Ah well, next up? Brett Ratner will direct her in a segment of “New York, I Love You,” and 2009’s “Safety Glass,” starring Hilary Duff and Steve Coogan. According to NY mag, “Jack and Diane,” her werewolf-lesbian flick that was to be made with Ellen Page hasn’t been greenlit and still is is limbo. “I mean, it’s half-animated and nonlinear and Ellen’s in a very high place right now and there’s just too much focus on her and her career for her to be able to go off and do some super-experimental flick.”