Short List for 'Gatsby's Daisy Not So Short

The bits of casting news we've gotten for Baz Luhrmann's planned adaptation of The Great Gatsby have been small in number but large in scale.  A few weeks ago it was reported that the director staged one of his usual workshop/read-throughs with Academy Award Nominee Leonardo DiCaprio in the titular role, Golden Globe Nominee Tobey Maguire as Nick Carraway, and current "it girl" Rebecca Hall as Daisy.

We'd heard about DiCaprio and Maguire in those roles for a while now, but Hall was new to the scene.  And it looks like Luhrmann may not be sold on what he saw of her in the workshop as a few more names were thrown into the mix today in the form of a "short" list that included Keira Knightley, Amanda Seyfried, Blake Lively, Abbie Cornish, Michelle Williams, Scarlett Johansson, and Natalie Portman.

This list seems to be more of a wish list than a short list as it's chalk full of stars who have the words "scheduling conflict" written all of them.  That being said, if DiCaprio and Maguire can make time for Baz Luhrmann I'm sure any of the actresses listed above can make the time as well.

As far as the list itself goes, while I'm a fan of some of the actresses more than others, I think everyone on that list has shown in at least one of their performances that if chosen they could take on this role.  But if I was forced to pick one I'd have to go with Williams.  She's got the physical traits to embody Daisy as well as the acting chops to back it up.  Plus, she's already worked extremely well with DiCaprio in the past, so if he actually does play Gatsby I'm sure he'll give her a solid reference.

Comments

[Lillian James]

Uhhh...

Keira Knightley, yes. Abbie Cornish, maybe. Michelle Williams, yes. The rest...noooooo no no no no!