Rising actress Elizabeth Olsen is certainly doing her best to put a little bit of variety on her filmography. Of course, the actress broke out in the cult drama "Martha Marcy May Marlene" and since then, she's appeared in a few different films, ranging from this year's Sundance entries, the dramedy "Liberal Arts" and the thriller "Red Lights," and this weekend she'll star in the flat out horror vehicle "Silent House." But just last week, word cropped up of another possible project, with reports surfacing that Olsen had been offered the female lead in Spike Lee's "Oldboy" remake. And as Olsen tells, she's indeed eyeing the movie and would take it the role in a heartbeat.
Our own Jen Vineyard caught up with the actress during press rounds for "Silent House," and when asked if she would take the role if it was offered, Olsen said simply, "Absolutely." While she says nothing is a done deal just yet, she gushed about the opportunity to work on the film and with the director.
"The original is one of my favorite movies…and I'm a big fan of Spike Lee. Huge fan of Spike Lee, he's one of the best filmmakers around," Olsen said. "He's doing some tweaks to the original…What's really cool is the Korean movie is what people in the world of films would have seen, like people who like foreign films would have seen it, but a general American audience, I doubt they know the twists and turns of the original, so it'll surprise them. And I think its such a good movie, so that would be cool."
Olsen taking a role in the film would certainly enhance the remake which is already off to a great start with Josh Brolin in the lead role. Mark Protosevich has penned the script which is combining elements from both the original film and the manga. We're definitely curious to see where Lee and the filmmakers take this story, and fingers crossed Olsen gets to play along in this promising pic.
Speaking of Brolin, when the heck is Labor Day starting to film? My most anticipated…
Call me contrarian but I'm actually rooting for this just to spite the original's fanboys who rabidly insist that the original is the greatest cinematic achievement of the new millennium (I like Oldboy but it wasn't even the best Korean movie of that year). While the lack or originality in Hollywood is disconcerting I'll take remakes of foreign films over ones of old TV-shows or needless reboots any day, especially when a (sometimes) auteur is at the helm.
I like her style of acting and her screen presence. And I am a huge fan of Spike Lee, I loved INSIDE MAN & 25th Hour . But I go way back with him from She's Gotta Have it, to Mo Better Blues to He Got Game, to Jungle fever so go Elizabeth, hope this happens soon and comes together!
UGH man .. what a terrible idea. Olsen is better than this, and so is Brolin. Spike Lee hasn't done a good film since a long time now so I won't comment on him but come on, an American remake of a near-perfect Korean film? For God sakes WHY?! Just leave it be and think of something original..
"I doubt they know the twists and turns of the original, so it'll surprise them."
And not just that — they would have zero clue as to the social context of the film's scandalous ending and why it resonated and haunted Korean and the broader Asian audience alike. But we're talking about the American filmgoing audience, here….
This is great news. I think Olsen is the most refreshing and talented of the recent "ingenues" and I hope to see her career thrive. Also I may have a massive crush on her… but eh, who doesn't?