Casting for the feature film adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize winning musical 'RENT' is expected to move celebrity involvement to the rear burner and stay faithful to the image created in the 1996 Broadway premier.
Adam Pascal, who made his acting debut in the starring role of Roger Davis– a would be rock n’ roll front man living with AIDS, is prepared to sign on to reprise the role on film, reports the Hollywood Reporter.
Anthony Rapp, Taye Diggs, Jesse L. Martin, and Idina Menzel also are reportedly in negotiations to return to the roles they created in the Jonathan Larson musical.
Diggs and Martin were able to use the notoriety gained from 'RENT’s' success to springboard into film and television success. Martin is one of the principal characters on the high rated series Law & Order. Diggs has starred in such features as 'How Stella Got Her Groove Back' and the Oscar winning musical 'Chicago'.
Chris Columbus, director of the first two Harry Potter films, is set to direct the 'RENT' film.
Spike Lee previously was attached to direct but parted ways with the project over creative differences. Lee had favored using NSYNC boy-band member Justin Timberlake as the film’s lead character, possibly alienating the musical’s legendarily faithful fan base.
Fellow NSYNC member Joey Fatone received relatively poor critical reviews and underwhelming fan support for his guest starring run in the Broadway production in the narrative character of filmmaker Mark Cohen, the role Rapp originated.
An alternative film casting plot hoped to balance faithfulness to the stage image of the musical with the interests of the movie’s financers to have some star power in the cast. That proposed cast was to feature Neal Patrick Harris in the role of Mark, Rikki Lee Travolta as Roger, and Wilson Cruz as transvestite drag queen Angel and proved positive in the court of public opinion.
In addition to their respective Hollywood star power, Harris appeared in the Los Angeles cast of RENT, Cruz appeared in the Broadway cast, and Travolta helped pave the way to a national buzz about the show by performing selections in concert and including two songs on his “Broadway Live” album.
Cruz may still be a consideration for the film role of Angel.
Travolta and Harris may be included in the actors who have been associated with the stage musical who could be asked to make cameo appearances. Other actors highly identified with RENT include Daphne Rubin-Vega, Fredi Walker, Wilson Jermain Heredia, Norbert Leo Butz, Manley Pope, and Luther Creek.
Rasario Dawson who appears opposite Colin Farrell in Alexander has been signed to star opposite Pascal as his love interest Mimi Marquez – a former stripper and drug addict. Tracie Thoms will play lesbian attorney Joanne Jefferson.
'RENT' is being produced by Michael Barnathan, Jane Rosenthal and Robert De Niro, with a script by Columbus and Stephen Chbosky.
'RENT' is loosely based on Puccini's 'La Boheme', updated to a New York, East Village setting in the late 1990's as artists and lovers struggle to connect in a world that is chaotic and tainted with disease. The late Larson wrote the book, music and lyrics. The Tony-winning musical continues at the Nederlander Theatre in New York City.
