Brian Wilson biopic

[Alex]

Have there been any updates on that Brian Wilson movie that was announced over a year ago?

[Pretty Funky]

Not that I've read.
Crazy to announce these projects until its a signed deal. 

[donald]

Since this has not been accomplished promptly, we now have the opportunity to cast the film ourselves.

Brian (ages 40+ to present) Tim Matheson or Tom Hanks (years added and taken away with makeup)

Who else would you cast for this movie?  Might Julie Cavner fit someplace?

[jmc]

I've said this before, but I think Alec Baldwin would be a great Brian (40+).......(years added/taken away with makeup).  The hard part would be finding someone that looks like a young Brian.  Billy Baldwin as Dennis, hell even Stephen Baldwin as Carl.  They're brothers and all resemble each other and with the right makeup they resemble the Wilson's....especially Alec and Billy IMO.  Check out pics of them on Google for your own opinion.

[donald]

Good call with Baldwin.    I think he could handle the facial expressions as well.

[Aegir]

I always thought the guy that played Brian in one of the TV movies actually did a really good job, the actual film notwithstanding. Especially the voice. Actually, besides Dennis, I think it was cast really well.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Too late now, of course, but back in the 70s & 80s, Jeff and Beau Bridges were just perfect for the roles of Brian & Carl.

[donald]

Also a good call Andrew.   Beau had just the right look for Carl.  Chubby, smiling.

Of course he now plays the father of Earl Hickey   

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

In the 80s Glenn Frey would've made a good Brian.

[MBE]

Tim Robbins did a SNL sketch in 1991 and he really looked like what Brian did then.

[Pretty Funky]

As I said on Ego when the project first discussed. Colin and Tom Hanks. Young and older Brian,


http://www.iwatchstuff.com/images/2006/03/tom-colin-hanks.jpg

[Shady]

The movie is still under 'Untitled Brian Wilson Biopic ' on IMDB, and is in the 'scripting' stage

[Chris Brown]

As I said on Ego when the project first discussed. Colin and Tom Hanks. Young and older Brian,


http://www.iwatchstuff.com/images/2006/03/tom-colin-hanks.jpg

I can see Colin as young Brian, but can't really picture Tom Hanks as older Brian...don't know why, it just doesn't seem to fit to me.  I feel like I would be watching it thinking "that's Tom Hanks" instead of "that's Brian Wilson".

[Summer_Days]

Too late now, of course, but back in the 70s & 80s, Jeff and Beau Bridges were just perfect for the roles of Brian & Carl.

Agreed, but I think either one of them could be great for modern-day Brian.


Especially Beau:
http://www.thescifiworld.net/img/interviews/beau_bridges_02.jpg

[Andrew G. Doe]

Back in 1976, I managed to get a friend of mine to believe that it was Brian playing the photographer, not Jeff B. At least until the end credits rolled. 

Visually, the resemblance was uncanny.

[Glenn Greenberg]

Too late now, of course, but back in the 70s & 80s, Jeff and Beau Bridges were just perfect for the roles of Brian & Carl.

Right on, AGD!

Take a look at Jeff in the 1976 version of KING KONG and tell me that's not the spitting image of Brian Wilson from that time period--except a little thinner!

[Alex]

As I said on Ego when the project first discussed. Colin and Tom Hanks. Young and older Brian,


http://www.iwatchstuff.com/images/2006/03/tom-colin-hanks.jpg

I can see Colin as young Brian, but can't really picture Tom Hanks as older Brian...don't know why, it just doesn't seem to fit to me.  I feel like I would be watching it thinking "that's Tom Hanks" instead of "that's Brian Wilson".

Whenever I see Tom Hanks all I can think of is "stupid is as stupid does", "Lt. Dan!", "I was always thinkin' 'bout Jenny", "Bubba was my best good friend", "mama always told me life is like a box of chocolates", "Vietnam is this whole other country", and countless other Gump catchphrases.

[Alex]

Too late now, of course, but back in the 70s & 80s, Jeff and Beau Bridges were just perfect for the roles of Brian & Carl.

Agreed, but I think either one of them could be great for modern-day Brian.


Especially Beau:
http://www.thescifiworld.net/img/interviews/beau_bridges_02.jpg

He got Brian's facial features and Carl's eyes.

[endofposts]

I've always thought Kin Shriner ("Scotty") on the General Hospital soap opera bears a resemblance to Brian, right down to the facial expressions.  But he's a nobody, and maybe a little too short.

 

[Aegir]

He looks like Brian in the second picture but not the first.

[endofposts]

The resemblance is more when you watch him act.  There's just something about his eyes and facial expressions that remind me of '80s and later Brian. 

Ed Begley Jr. is another actor that maybe could have played Brian when he was younger, but not now.  I really can't think of any actor that would be a good fit for the role of Brian and would be a big enough name to attach to the project, young or old.  But they miscast people all the time in things.  Tom Hanks has been attached for a long time to play Dean Martin in a Martin Scorcese adaptation of Nick Tosche's Dino bio, and he looks even less like Dino than he does Brian.

[Aegir]

Sometimes it doesn't matter. Kevin Spacey looks nothing like Bobby Darin but that worked. Angelina Jolie recently played an Afro-Cuban in a movie.

[Alex]

I've always thought Kin Shriner ("Scotty") on the General Hospital soap opera bears a resemblance to Brian, right down to the facial expressions.  But he's a nobody, and maybe a little too short.

 

He could play Al.

[the captain]

Sometimes it doesn't matter. Kevin Spacey looks nothing like Bobby Darin but that worked. Angelina Jolie recently played an Afro-Cuban in a movie.

I agree whole-heartedly. The worst thing to do would be get someone who looks like the person he's playing as if that's the end of it. Acting is far more important than parading around as a look-alike.

That said, I hope they never make another BW or Beach Boys movie (unless it's a great doc series). I can just imagine the bitching everyone will do that Brian was playing the wrong brand of organ at the 1967 Hawaii show, or that the wrong number of session musicians were shown in the scene recording such-and-such song, and all that.

[Sheriff John Stone]

Forget all of the casting and scripting. The only way a "movie" can do justice to Brian's story is in a documentary form. Paging Martin Scorsese....