NYT Rent Article
Sep. 8th, 2005 11:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
helsinkibabyNine Years in the Life can be found here...or in case the link's expired and people aren't registered, under the cut. There's also a link to the trailer, but since I'm on dialup, I don't have nine years to see which trailer it is... I'm assuming the latest one that I've not squeeed about here yet.
When "Rent" opened in 1996, the mostly unknown actors playing the show's young East Villagers were about the same age as their characters. When six of the eight original stars repeated their roles this year for Chris Columbus's film adaptation, they were playing characters now a decade younger than themselves. "I just believe that had I cast 19- and 21-year-olds in this picture, they wouldn't have brought the emotional weight and resonance that this cast does to these particular roles," Mr. Columbus said. As to why two of the three original female stars, Daphne Rubin-Vega and Fredi Walker-Browne - two of the three oldest among the eight - were not invited back for the film, which is to open on Nov. 23, Mr. Columbus said, "I take the film director's Fifth Amendment on that." Here's a look at how the original eight have fared, and how some of them felt about recreating their "Rent" roles - or not.
TAYE DIGGS as Benjamin Coffin III. Mr. Diggs, 33, who starred in the UPN series "Kevin Hill" last season, may be the best known of the original cast. He is married to his fellow "Rent" and "Wicked" alumna Idina Menzel.
WILSON JERMAINE HEREDIA as Angel Schunard. Mr. Heredia, 33, won the 1996 Tony Award for best featured actor in a musical, but only a handful of film and television roles have followed. "The one thing I think a lot of people forget is that acting is always a hustle," Mr. Heredia said. "You always have to get to the next level, nothing is ever given to you on a silver platter." Currently, he said, he was "trying to break out of the stereotype of being very good at playing a drag queen."
JESSE L. MARTIN as Tom Collins. Mr. Martin, 36, met the "Rent" composer Jonathan Larson while waiting tables at the Moondance Diner on Sixth Avenue. He went on to become a television star as Detective Ed Green on "Law & Order." Ed Green was shot in an April episode so that Mr. Martin could take a leave to film "Rent," but he will return for his seventh season.
IDINA MENZEL as Maureen Johnson. Nominated for a Tony Award for her professional acting debut in "Rent," Ms. Menzel, 34, took one home last year for her performance in "Wicked."
ADAM PASCAL as Roger Davis. "I came at this from a place of being a musician, and for the longest time, that was really all I wanted to do," said Mr. Pascal, 34, who had never acted when he auditioned for "Rent." He starred in "Aida" on Broadway in 2000 and had what he considered his "first true acting role" as the Emcee during the final weeks of "Cabaret" at the Roundabout Theater last year. "I'd like to do more film, and frankly, there's nothing to do in theater," he said. "The material being offered is so atrocious, I have to move into film."
ANTHONY RAPP as Mark Cohen. "It was like being home," Mr. Rapp, 33, said of being reunited with his fellow cast members. "Sometimes being at home can be traumatic, but not at all in this case." His book, "Without You: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and the Musical 'Rent,' " is scheduled for publication by Simon & Schuster in January.
DAPHNE RUBIN-VEGA, the original Mimi Marquez; replaced in the film by Rosario Dawson, 26. Ms. Rubin-Vega, 36, was not offered Mimi in the film for a straightforward reason, Mr. Columbus said: she was pregnant. "It was a difficult decision," he said, "but we really had no other choice." Ms. Rubin-Vega has performed in "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" and "Anna in the Tropics" onstage.
FREDI WALKER-BROWNE, the original Joanne Jefferson; replaced by Tracie Thoms, 30. Ms. Walker-Browne was the oldest of the eight principal cast members, at 33; she returned to the stage as Rafiki in "The Lion King" in 2001, and is now working on arts education projects. Why wasn't she offered the film role? "Because I'm too old for it," she said. "It's as simple as that." She said she knew after an interview with Mr. Columbus that he "was going to do the right thing by this film" and not offer her the part. She did have one request: "Keep Joanne black"
And just so we know? When it's published, Anthony's book is completely mine!
When "Rent" opened in 1996, the mostly unknown actors playing the show's young East Villagers were about the same age as their characters. When six of the eight original stars repeated their roles this year for Chris Columbus's film adaptation, they were playing characters now a decade younger than themselves. "I just believe that had I cast 19- and 21-year-olds in this picture, they wouldn't have brought the emotional weight and resonance that this cast does to these particular roles," Mr. Columbus said. As to why two of the three original female stars, Daphne Rubin-Vega and Fredi Walker-Browne - two of the three oldest among the eight - were not invited back for the film, which is to open on Nov. 23, Mr. Columbus said, "I take the film director's Fifth Amendment on that." Here's a look at how the original eight have fared, and how some of them felt about recreating their "Rent" roles - or not.
TAYE DIGGS as Benjamin Coffin III. Mr. Diggs, 33, who starred in the UPN series "Kevin Hill" last season, may be the best known of the original cast. He is married to his fellow "Rent" and "Wicked" alumna Idina Menzel.
WILSON JERMAINE HEREDIA as Angel Schunard. Mr. Heredia, 33, won the 1996 Tony Award for best featured actor in a musical, but only a handful of film and television roles have followed. "The one thing I think a lot of people forget is that acting is always a hustle," Mr. Heredia said. "You always have to get to the next level, nothing is ever given to you on a silver platter." Currently, he said, he was "trying to break out of the stereotype of being very good at playing a drag queen."
JESSE L. MARTIN as Tom Collins. Mr. Martin, 36, met the "Rent" composer Jonathan Larson while waiting tables at the Moondance Diner on Sixth Avenue. He went on to become a television star as Detective Ed Green on "Law & Order." Ed Green was shot in an April episode so that Mr. Martin could take a leave to film "Rent," but he will return for his seventh season.
IDINA MENZEL as Maureen Johnson. Nominated for a Tony Award for her professional acting debut in "Rent," Ms. Menzel, 34, took one home last year for her performance in "Wicked."
ADAM PASCAL as Roger Davis. "I came at this from a place of being a musician, and for the longest time, that was really all I wanted to do," said Mr. Pascal, 34, who had never acted when he auditioned for "Rent." He starred in "Aida" on Broadway in 2000 and had what he considered his "first true acting role" as the Emcee during the final weeks of "Cabaret" at the Roundabout Theater last year. "I'd like to do more film, and frankly, there's nothing to do in theater," he said. "The material being offered is so atrocious, I have to move into film."
ANTHONY RAPP as Mark Cohen. "It was like being home," Mr. Rapp, 33, said of being reunited with his fellow cast members. "Sometimes being at home can be traumatic, but not at all in this case." His book, "Without You: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and the Musical 'Rent,' " is scheduled for publication by Simon & Schuster in January.
DAPHNE RUBIN-VEGA, the original Mimi Marquez; replaced in the film by Rosario Dawson, 26. Ms. Rubin-Vega, 36, was not offered Mimi in the film for a straightforward reason, Mr. Columbus said: she was pregnant. "It was a difficult decision," he said, "but we really had no other choice." Ms. Rubin-Vega has performed in "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" and "Anna in the Tropics" onstage.
FREDI WALKER-BROWNE, the original Joanne Jefferson; replaced by Tracie Thoms, 30. Ms. Walker-Browne was the oldest of the eight principal cast members, at 33; she returned to the stage as Rafiki in "The Lion King" in 2001, and is now working on arts education projects. Why wasn't she offered the film role? "Because I'm too old for it," she said. "It's as simple as that." She said she knew after an interview with Mr. Columbus that he "was going to do the right thing by this film" and not offer her the part. She did have one request: "Keep Joanne black"
And just so we know? When it's published, Anthony's book is completely mine!
