Tobey Maguire was "too famous" for "Life of Pi"...?
Oww. Ouch. There’s no way this doesn’t hurt. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Tobey Maguire has been cut from “Life of Pi.” The film, set for release on November 21st, has wowed people with its trailer and is already considered an Oscar contender.
Now it’s pretty common for actors to have their parts reduced or cut completely in the editing process. Several well-known actors were cut from Terrence Malick’s “To the Wonder” at the last minute (considering the reception that film’ s been getting, that might not be a bad thing. But here’s where it gets bad–reportedly Maguire was cut because his performance in a small role as a writer interviewing the main character “wasn’t working.” Ouch again.
Or maybe not. Here’s where it get sticky–no one said, “He was so bad that we cut him completely.” Apparently they’re saying “he was too famous.” That sounds strange because, as much as I love Maguire, he’s not Brad Pitt or George Clooney or his buddy Leonardo DiCaprio; he doesn’t come flying at you with “movie star!” glitter. Apparently he still seemed too out of place for director Ang Lee, though. Maguire and Lee had previously worked together on “The Ice Storm” and “Ride with the Devil.”
Here are statements from the parties involved:
Maguire says: “I fully support Ang’s decision to go a different direction for this role in Life of Pi. Ang shared a lot of the film with me, and what I saw was absolutely beautiful.”
Says Lee: “To be consistent with the other casting choices made for the film, I decided to go with an entirely international cast. I very much admire Tobey and look forward to working with him again in the future.”
They reshot the material with Rafe Spall playing the role.
“Life of Pi” will be seen at the end of the month at the New York Film Festival before it hits theaters in November.
