For director David Cronenberg, marrying up stunning and grotesque visuals with Hollywood’s choicest talent is not unusual. The cast roster for his latest directorial effort, Maps To The Stars is already mightily impressive. Stars are chomping at the monstrous bit to have the chance to work with the Canadian filmmaker.
Mia Wasikowska, no stranger to the weird, Olivia Williams and Evan Bird have now joined the project. Wasikowska’s recent turn in Stoker cements her as an actress with a willingness to venture into the sinister side of human nature. Williams is best known for her work in The Sixth Sense, Rushmore, a brilliant turn in Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse, and the recent Anna Karenina adaptation. For youngster Bird, this will be his first foray into film after roles in TV’s The Killing and Falling Skies.
Reports on their roles indicate that the story is sounding more and more like a Chuck Palahniuk novel. THR released details of their characters, and they are perfect Cronenbergian archetypes:
“Bird will play a troubled, drug-addicted child star, while Williams will play his manipulative mother, and Wasikowska his disfigured, schizophrenic, fame-obsessed sister.”
From what we know of the story so far, this lines up nicely. Based on a script penned by Wild Palms writer Bruce Wagner, Maps To The Stars is a ghost story-cum-thriller. Set in the celebrity-obsessed world of Los Angeles, it tells the tale of two child actors marked by the depravity of Hollywood. Cronenberg, when asked about the project has stated it will be “acerbic and satirical” while still “very extreme.” Extremity has been the director’s trademark in his most recent work, with A History Of Violence and Eastern Promises both leaning heavy on the violence.
These three new additions join previously-announced cast members John Cusack, Julianne Moore, Robert Pattinson and Sara Gadon.
Production on Maps To The Stars begins this July, with shooting to take place in Toronto and Los Angeles.