Dreamworks Studios isn’t wasting any time casting their adaptation of Kathryn Stockett’s best-selling novel The Help. The studio confirms it’s in early negotiations with Emma Stone to play the lead character Skeeter Phelan, a white recent college graduate living in the South in the early 1960s.
Stone, best known for her role as spunky older sister Wichita in last year’s unlikely hit Zombieland, could easily embody the spunky character Skeeter, a young woman who is uncomfortable with the current social norms of her Mississippi, where the black maids do all the work and receive none of the respect. She sets out to write a book chronicling the maids’ experiences, a tell-all that uncovers the racism, cruelty and deplorable actions of the white society women, some of whom are her own friends.
Stockett’s childhood friend Tate Taylor has adapted the book and is scheduled to begin filming this summer in Mississippi.
I. NEED. TO. SEE. THIS.
Hey, remember in the book how Skeeter is really tall? Guys don’t want to date her cuz she is very tall. Her nickname “Skeeter” is short for mosquito, because of her tall and gangly physical attributes. Emma Stone is not right for this role in appearance and maturity.
If filmmakers can make Meryl Streep appear to be 6’2″ in Julie and Julia, they can certainly make Emma Stone appear to be much taller than she actually is.
aw c’mon melanie, that is such a minor hurdle. I think Emma Stone will be perfect in this role. She was the most interesting thing in each one of her scenes in Superbad, and in Zombieland, while it was supposed to be comedy, she played well at “moxie,” which she’ll need for this new role. We’ll have to wait and see…
The book sounds interesting. I’m going to have to check it out. I am from the south after all.
Emma Stone could work for the role. I’m not really sure since I don’t know a lot about it.
It’s amazing. I hope you enjoy it.
Yay I love Emma Stone
Ugh I really don’t like Emma Stone. Her voice is annoying and she has no charisma. There are so many other talented young actresses who could do better.
Evan Rachel Wood maybe?
Ew, I hate Evan Rachel Wood, too! No offense…
I don’t HATE Emma Stone, but I don’t think she’d be right for the role. Too bad Dakota Fanning is too young, because otherwise she would be PERFECT. What about Keira Knightly? She’s tall and kinda gangly. She’s British as hell though, and I dunno if she’d be able to pull off a thick Southern accent.
If Vivian Leigh can play Scarlett O’Hara, surely Keira Knightly could play Skeeter Phelan.
as a gay man, I have a total hard on for emma stone. Haven’t read the book; so I dunno if she’s right for the role. But she’s been the best part of every movie I’ve seen her in. (well, everyone was awesome in zombieland..)
I think she is wrong for the role. And in the book there are three leads, skeeter and 2 maids
I love Emma Stone too. I think this could give her the chance to prove herself as an actress (despite Zombieland, House Bunny & Superbad which for anyone isn’t a way to earn Oscar noms, not that that’s what every actor wants) I think she’d have as good of a chance as every young actress. I haven’t read the book but many times has a book adaptation been altered either to accommodate the actors or simply because it won’t work with audiences. Therefore the fact that she’s not tall & lanky and doesn’t suit the physical description of the character in the book doesn’t mean she won’t be able to give a stellar performance while getting to the core of what this book is really about.
Nonetheless, I like Emma Stone a lot and can’t wait to see her dive in something different. Not a fan of Evan Rachel Wood in serious roles. I find her serious performances coming off as plastic. A lot of physical emotions but it comes off as acting when you really look at it (e.g. Life Before Her Eyes and Whatever Works…I just didn’t believe her as a Southern teen belle in NY. Looked too ‘cartoonized’)
How about Amanda Sefried? without make-up, maybe they could make her look like gangly, kind of plain Skeeter. Also, how about Chandra Wilson (Dr. Bailey) as Minnie?
Amanda Seyfried is about five foot one. No way they can make her look tall. And she’s too curvy to look gangly.
I immediately thought of Blake Lively for the role of Skeeter. She’s also the perfect height – 5’10″.
Yes! Blake Lively would be perfect.
My vote is for Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland) or Michelle Williams. Michelle is short but atleast she is waifish enough to pull off that “skeeterish” look.
Is this like The Blind Side?
I vote for Claire Danes. Maybe slightly older for the part but I think she could pull it off.
I agree. Emma Stone doesn’t have the right look — to exotic.
Rather *too*
Anna – how would a story set in 1963 Mississippi be anything like The Blind Side?
I could really care less about the casting of Skeeter; she was the least interesting character in the book. The casting of the two black maids is much more important, IMO. And, for the record: Skeeter didn’t start her story of the maids b/c she was uncomfortable with the norms in Mississippi. She wrote on that subject because a NYC editor, that had a much better pulse on the unrest in America, told her that it would be more interesting that Skeeter’s original ideas. Skeeter eventually saw the inequality, but she didn’t start out as some crusading Southern white woman. She didn’t even really end up like that, IMO.
I agree. It took Skeeter quite some time to truly realize the inequality that was happening; even as she was driving an old truck in the pitch black and parking 3 streets away….didn’t really occur to her why.