This is even better than Jennifer Lawrence.
Quentin Tarantino has officially cast his first non-live-read cast member for THE HATEFUL EIGHT. He's pulling his patented move of digging up a former star and giving them a showcase role, andcasting Jennifer Jason Leigh as his "female lead", ostensibly the imprisoned, feisty-as-all-fuck Daisy Domergue.
Leigh, whom Bruce Campbell referred to in his If Chins Could Kill as "an acting machine," had a bevy of wonderful, iconic roles in the '80s and '90s, including FLESH + BLOOD, MIAMI BLUES, THE HITCHER, THE HUDSUCKER PROXY SHORT CUTS, SINGLE WHITE FEMALE, and her heartbreaking breakout performance in FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH. More recently, she's had strong, smallish turns in THE SPECTACULAR NOW, KILL YOUR DARLINGS, and SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK, but nothing with the exposure or screentime of those earlier classics. Though she's never even been nominated for an Oscar, I don't think it's a stretch to say she's easily one of the most talented actresses of her generation, and can slip through wildly varied characters with a remarkable ease.
Playing the role originated at the live-read by Amber Tamblyn, Leigh will have to do a ton of silent, physical work while the male cast dialogues, and I imagine the actress will be raging white fire from her eyes for the length of her screentime. The role features a lot of the raw brutality Ms. Leigh used to excel at portraying, whether she was losing her virginity in a dugout or getting raped (or viciously ripped apart, depending on the film) by Rutger Hauer.
Another of THE HATEFUL EIGHT, No. 5, "Bob The Mexican," has yet to be cast (in the live-read, Denis Menochet played "Bob the Frenchman," so he's out), but I'd expect this to be the biggest change in cast from stage to screen.
I can't wait to see Ms. Leigh working her magic in a major studio movie again, singing dialogue on the level of Mr. Quentin Tarantino's. If he can do for her career and reputation what he did for former stars John Travolta, Pam Grier, Robert Forster, and David Carradine, we may get a new wave of great performances from the
THE HATEFUL EIGHT arrive at the haberdashery in December 2015.
