Casting Bits: Ellen Page And Jessie Eisenberg In Woody Allen's Next, Jeff Foxworthy In 'Crackerjack;' DeRay Davis In '21 Jump Street'
The other day when Alec Baldwin was set as one of the actors for Woody Allen's next film, Jesse Eisenberg was mentioned as a possible choice as well. And many of you probably thought "well, duh. Of course he is." Is there any more obvious, even necessary actor to put in a Woody Allen movie? Not now. So, no shock to know that he's now been confirmed for the currently mysterious project that will be shot in Rome. And along with Jesse Eisenberg, Ellen Page has been added to the mix, too. They join Penelope Cruz, who was the first cast. Because there is no plot or even a title announced just yet, that's all we can tell you for the moment. [Variety]
After the break, 21 Jump Street gets one more, and Jeff Foxworthy makes his big-screen debut.
How has Jeff Foxworthy never starred in a movie? (Outside the context of a performance film, at least: he was in The Blue Collar Comedy Tour movie. He has also done a tiny bit of voice acting for animated films.) The fact that he was so hugely popular (for a while) with the simplistic 'you might be a redneck if...' routine should be enough to have put him in two or three films. Larry the Cable Guy had a movie career, but Jeff Foxworthy didn't? Weird world. Maybe he just didn't want it.
Now he evidently does, as he's about to be in a sports comedy called Crackerjack. The film started shooting today in Savannah, GA, with Bryan Coley writing and directing. Wes Murphy is actually starring, as "the irresponsible title character, a homegrown southern boy trying to deal with abandonment issues and maintain his relationship with his girlfriend, all while trying to lead his Church League softball team to victory." Jeff Foxworthy is doing what sounds like a favor — he's "the Church League announcer." [Variety]
Finally, there's one more for the updated feature version of 'undercover cops in high school' show 21 Jump Street. DeRay Davis (Jumping the Broom, Life as We Know It) has signed on to the film that has Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum as the undercover cops, Brie Larson in an unknown role and Ice Cube as their police captain. He'll be Domingo, "a tattooed leader of a biker gang that doubles as a drug ring." Rob Riggle is one of the film's big bad guys, and Dave Franco has a small part, too. The film is getting ready to shoot in New Orleans under the direction of Phil Lord and Chris Miller (Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs) so there will probably be a couple more small casting announcements before the week is out. [Variety]