Ethan Hawke steals a role from a short actor in Lorenz Hart biopic Blue Moon

Was Peter Dinklage not available???

I understand what you mean and I do think you have a point, but I don’t like putting restrictions on directors.

As soon as I saw Richard Linklater’s name I knew why he would rather work with Hawks than someone he’s less familiar with.

This reminds me of that Todd Haynes bomb from 8-10 years ago when he cast Julianne Moore as a deaf person instead of giving Marlee Matlin a job. I get it, but I still think they should be allowed to choose who they’re most comfortable with.

Who's Lorenz Hart?

From Dazed and Confused to Rodgers and Hart.

You’re right about that arms… they should have chopped them off, shaved them down, then reattached.

Didn't know about this film, but the trailer looks quite good.

I'll have to make a point of seeing it.

I wasn't especially bothered by Ethan Hawk's height by what I saw in the trailer.

[quote]Who's Lorenz Hart?—Everybody under 85

Not everybody on DL under 85. Your clever remark is actually quite stupid.

Is Richard LInklater easing out of the closet? He's doing this, he's doing the Merrily We Roll Along Movie (with Beanie and Ben Platt) and then he did the most openly homoerotic movie of the last 20 years - Everybody Wants Some.

Hawk and Scott are about 6 or 7 years apart, which Hart and Rogers also were.

But Hawk and Scott are older than Hart and Rodgers were at the time of Oklahoma!--they're both @ 7 or 8 years older.

It doesn't matter but it would be more interesting to me to have an actor Hart's size play it, who resembles Hart. Then I wouldn't have to be thinking about how they made Hawk look short or how they shaved his hair back or dyed it. He kind of reminds me here of Jose Ferrer in Moulin Rouge. (Not the Nicole Kidman Moulin Rouge.)

If you’ve seen “Words and Music” with Mickey Rooney playing Hart, you’ll understand why the actor’s height should not be the primary consideration!

He looks ridiculous.

Even though I know who Hart was, I have no idea of what he looked like. Most people don't.

[quote]reminds me here of Jose Ferrer in Moulin Rouge. (Not the Nicole Kidman Moulin Rouge.)

The one with the hit song.

Sung by Zsa Zsa Gabor in the film (or someone, while Zsa Zsa pretended to sing).

So should they have gotten a short, gay, Jewish actor for the part?

Armin Shimerman could have easily played the part 35 years ago.

He Jewish and short, but now he's 75 years old.

Shimerman is best remembered for playing Quark on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

He was a genius.

Johnny Galecki could have played it. 5' 5", looks something like Hart, and he's younger than Hawk. Hart died at 48; J. G. is 50.

[quote]Was Peter Dinklage not available???

Dinklage is 4' 5". That's in itself quite a difference from 5' 0".

R17 We should tell the younger folks that Hart is on the left and Rodgers is on the right in that photo. A first guess might assume the opposite.

[quote] Johnny Galecki could have played it.

R18 He definitely would have been a good choice physically. He even has a furrowed brow like Hart had. He’s also a musician. However, I think Galecki has essentially retired on his many millions of dollars in salary from “The Big Bang Theory.”

[quote]A first guess might assume the opposite.

Which I assume is intentional, r20.

Rave from the New York Times.

Hawke’s performance. This is not the kind of role we’re used to seeing him in; sure, he’s played artists and dreamers and idealists, but there’s a vulnerability to Hart, who is self-aware, insecure and just fighting for dear life. The whole film is pretty much nonstop Hart chatter, as he throws off witticisms and barbs and compliments — some tender, some terribly insincere — and Hawke does it all with aplomb, in a terrible comb-over, and you love him.

5 feet is pretty short for a man.

Rolling Stone.

Richard Linklater Had to Be a ‘Naggy Director’ to Get Ethan Hawke to ‘Transform’ for ‘Blue Moon’ Role: ‘If He Didn’t Know Me So Well … He Would Have Punched Me’

I could see Michael Stuhlbarg as Hart.

The original Pal Joey (not the horrendous Sinatra movie) might just be the best musical of all time.

Nothing Rogers and Hammerstein ever did topped it.

It’s not a biopic. It’s speculative fiction

The Vulture

Great trailer. Adding this to my watch list.

The reason I'm going to see this next Saturday--already bought my ticket--is because Ethan Hawke is the star. I've liked him since Dead Poets Society. He never disappoints, and he chooses much more interesting movies than 95% of actordom.

Here he is being interviewed about music.

I don’t see what the big deal is — all they have to do is dig a ten inch trench that goes wherever Hart walks on every set.

[Quote] Ethan Hawke is the star.

Didn’t he get canceled? Or was that Dave Franco? Or both of them?

Are they actually different people?

It’s so hard to keep track of all the Hollywood cancellations. Are there any decent people in Hollywood?

Ethan Hawke hasn't been canceled. He's actually entered the elder statesman phase of his career, which seems odd to people who remember him from Dead Poets Society and Reality Bites.

Neither has Dave Franco, who seems happily married to Alison Brie. It's his brother James who was canceled. I think it had something to do with him hitting on students in his acting seminar.

r29 "Babes in Arms" has a better score.

Ethan Hawke Talks His Oscar-Worthy Performance in ‘Blue Moon’

Muriel Smith sang for Zsa Zsa, R14.

Danny DeVito is the right height but too old. Hart died when he was 48.

[quote]5 feet is pretty short for a man.

It's pretty short for a woman.

[quote]Was Peter Dinklage not available???

He was busy starring in "The Kobe Bryant Story"

How could they have spent all that time and attention creating the perfect Lorenz Hart comb-over for Ethan Hawke and still approved that hideous blonde wig on Margaret Qualley that looks like it was "styled" with an egg beater? I found it unbearably distracting.

Why are hairstyles and wigs so often inauthentically designed in most American period films? And don't tell me it's because a1943 hairstyle wouldn't have looked beautiful on Qualley.

Hawke is fantastic in BLUE MOON. Mesmerizing from start to finish, and he's in practically every frame of the film.

He should finally get his first Best Actor nod for this. Should have been nominated for First Reformed but wasn't, so now is the time.

[quote]Even though I know who Hart was, I have no idea of what he looked like. Most people don't.

Exactly. Who cares? Hart died in 1943 which may as well have been 1843.

Did he have bushy eyebrows? At what age did his balding become pronounced? Did he favor his left or his right hand? Did he walk with quiet confidence or stomp his stubby little feet as if wearing steel-toed army boots? What did his voice, his cadence, his accent sound like? Who fucking cares?

Just cast an actor suitable convey the character -- a character whose physical characteristics very few people are at all aware. Otherwise you'd be better going to a waxworks.

If you’ve seen “Words and Music” with Mickey Rooney playing Hart, you’ll understand why the actor’s height should not be the primary consideration!

R10 but Mickey's height or lack of was a major plot point. He had a Napoleon complex and wore shoe lifts.

Who cares, r45??

People who do know something about Lorenz Hart and do know what he looked like. Hart had a very distinctive look, sadly a look that was not very attractive to most of the people he directly dealt with in the theatre world of the 1930s and 40s. And that undoubtedly played into his psyche and insecurities.

Why make a film about a very obscure celebrity if you don't care about creating an honest portrayal of who they were, including physically?

DL will get to say - He's too short for that gesture.

Ethan Hawke Waited His Whole Life to Make Blue Moon

[quote]He looks like ET the Extraterrestrial.

So did Hart!

This reminds me of that Todd Haynes bomb from 8-10 years ago when he cast Julianne Moore as a deaf person

R2 - what is this film?

Is this better than “Mank,” which imo was a terrible movie?

What particularly pisses me off about Mank is Fincher chose to make that dull, dreary Oscar-bait instead of a third season of “Mindhunter.”

R46 I think R10 means that they went to the trouble of casting a short guy for Words and Music, but they still ended up with Mickey Rooney - in other words, why bother?

Did we really need another movie depicting a fictional het romance for Larry Hart?