Shooting has already begun in Italy on Carlo Carlei’s adaptation of ‘Romeo and Juliet,’ but it wasn’t until today that we received the full cast list, and it seems this film has lined up an impressive group of actors. Douglas Booth and Hailee Steinfeld (above photo) will be playing the star-crossed lovers, Ed Westwick is stepping in as the villainous Tybalt (that is perfect casting), Paul Giamatti will be Friar Laurence, and youngster Kodi Smit-McPhee will take on Benvolio. We also have ‘Homeland’s Damien Lewis as Lord Capulet and Stellan Skarsgard joining as Prince Escalus, once again perfect casting in my opinion.
Fun little fact I just noticed, Damien Lewis’ ‘Homeland’ co-star Claire Danes has also starred in a ‘Romeo and Juliet’ adaptation (she played Juliet opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in Baz Luhrmann’s film).
I have to say I am a bit surprised with the casting of Romeo and Juliet being so young, but if I recall, Juliet is supposed to be 14 in the original source material so it seems this film is actually getting it right!
Even though there have been more adaptations of this Shakespeare classic than I can even count, the story never gets old for me and the casting on this one really has me excited. The film is slated for a late 2012 release date, stay tuned for more news!
