Apparently in the latest Wizard magazine, Shia LeBouf says he doesn’t want to play Yorick in the upcoming Y: The Last Man movie:
“You take Sam and you put a monkey on his shoulder,” said LaBeouf of Yorick’s sidekick Ampersand. “I don’t know if it’s that big a differential. It seems like he’s the ordinary guy in an extraordinary situation again.”
That’s Shia LeBouf, saying that Sam from the Transformers movie is the same character as Yorick. Please, please, please let this be the end of any talk of him playing Yorick. It all stemmed from director D.J. Caruso, who had a firm movie relationship with LeBouf, making the suggestion years ago. This quote right here should say all anyone needs to about why he’s wrong for the role. To think that any of the nuance, emotion, and growth that ‘Rick displays throughout the story of Y could be portrayed by someone who thinks he’s the same character as “human 1″ in a robot action movie is quite simply nonsense.
So, that’s that. Shia LeBouf is not going to be Yorick (hooray!). So, who SHOULD be Yorick? I’d like to officially throw my hat in the ring, despite not having acted in about 9 years (call me!). Anyone else you’d like to see be the last man on earth?
[via Coming Soon]
June 10th, 2009 at 12:41 pm
Couldn’t have said it better myself; in case I wasn’t already somewhat opposed to this bit of casting, those ridiculous comments cemented it.
June 10th, 2009 at 1:11 pm
Phew. I really, really didn’t want to see him as Yorick. I say by the time the movie is being made just have a look at the new, young actor Joss Whedon has just found. That guy has an eye for talent.
June 10th, 2009 at 1:17 pm
Something about that Transformers movie makes people say really stupid things… first the otherwise dreamy Megan Fox disses Wonder Woman, now Shia LeBouf disses Yorick? Weird…
-J
June 10th, 2009 at 2:01 pm
I’d go with Justin Bartha if he was just a bit younger.
June 10th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
Actually, Megan Fox calling Wonder Woman “a lame superhero” is probably the most perceptive thing she’s ever said.
June 10th, 2009 at 4:46 pm
While I don’t hate Shia the way some people do (and I didn’t mind him in Indy 4 either… The movie had some problems, though it was still fun, but he was the least of the problems), I’m also glad he won’t be Yorick,. I’m only about halfway into the series (reading it in trades), but I know enough to know he wasn’t the right choice.
An actor like Shia, too many of the movies he’s in end becoming “a Shia LeBouf movie” if that makes sense. It’s not like Johnny Depp, where he can disappear into a role and you almost forget he’s Johnny Depp: Megastar. I mean, Edward Scissorhands, Gilbert Grape, Donnie Brasco, Hunter S. Thompson, Ed Wood, Ichabod Crane, Jack Sparrow, J.M. Barrie, Willy Wonka and now John Dillinger… Sheesh! Can all those parts be any more different? Shia? No matter the part, he’s pretty much always Shia.
I don’t think he’s a bad guy or anything, I just don’t think he’d bring much to the role, and his being Shia would simply overshadow the movie(s)… I’d rather see an unknown actor.
Oh, I just hinted at my main question: Is this supposed to be just one movie, or a trilogy or what? I don’t think there’s any way they could do this tale justice in one film. Maybe not even in three.
June 10th, 2009 at 5:13 pm
Back to Depp for a second, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Sweeney Todd. Loved that movie.
June 10th, 2009 at 8:01 pm
Anton Yelchin should get it. He is great as a lead (Charlie Bartlett), works well in a blockbuster (Star Trek), and even proved he can be the best part of, and almost save, a mediocre one (Terminator Salvation)!
June 11th, 2009 at 5:59 am
I like Emile Hirsch for the role.
June 11th, 2009 at 6:42 am
Anton Yelchin is inspired casting, but Vincent Karthesir (Pete from Mad Men) would also be good
June 11th, 2009 at 12:13 pm
I don’t think he’s dissing the character, he’s just saying he has already played something similar – “an ordinary guy in an extraordinary situation”. That’s a fair comment I think.
June 11th, 2009 at 4:02 pm
Perhaps, Joseph, but can’t that be said about many, perhaps, most movie roles? “Ordinary guy in an extraordinary situation” is pretty vague… That could run the gamut from Luke Skywalker to, I dunno, Oskar Schindler?
It may not have been a slam on Yorick, but it seems like Shia doesn’t look too deeply into the parts he plays. That sort of underscores my contention that Shia’s just playing Shia.