Nicole Kidman will play Mrs. Coulter in His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass. We received an e-mail from our top New Line source, giving us the green light to confirm the numerous reports on the 31st July, including one in the Hollywood Reporter, that Kidman had officially accepted the role of Mrs. Coulter in the upcoming movie.
The news comes after months of advance reporting by The Daily Mail that Kidman was in negotiations for the role, but that disagreements over her fees had held up the process. Reports started appearing on Friday that Kidman and her new husband, Keith Urban, had moved to London so that she could shoot The Golden Compass. New Line was silent on the reports until today. Official confirmation of this story now gives added weight to the rumors that Paul Bettany, also mentioned in the Daily Mail's articles, will play Lord Asriel. Read the press release.
Dakota Blue Richards has been cast in the lead role of Lyra Belacqua. Miss Richards landed the role after filmmakers conducted an extensive casting search. More than 10,000 young girls attended open calls in Oxford, Cambridge, Exeter, and Kendal, before Dakota was chosen from the Cambridge call for a further audition and subsequent screen test. Dakota is twelve years old and a British schoolgirl. There are no photos of her available as of the moment. New Line have however assured us that photos are coming - so we eagerly await those.
The films director, Chris Weitz, remarked, "Dakota made what should have been an extremely difficult decision quite easy. We wanted a completely new face for Lyra, but I was surprised that any young girl, especially one without training, could light up the screen as Dakota does."
"I'm delighted with the casting of Dakota Blue Richards as Lyra. As soon as I saw Dakota's screen test, I realized that the search was over. Dakota has just the combination of qualities that make up the complicated character of this girl, and I very much look forward to seeing the film take shape, with Dakota's Lyra at the heart of it.
She's absolutely marvellous - and she looks right. I know Lyra better than anyone. Looking like someone isn't a case of having blond hair and blue eyes: it's about bone structure; the way someone carries herself. She is also a very good actress. At 12, she hasn't had time to be fully trained, but that was not what we were looking for. It a was question of getting someone who can be the part."
The French actress Eva Green will play Serafina Pekkala. Her previous films include The Dreamers and Kingdom of Heaven, whilst she will play the Bond girl Vesper Lynd in the next James Bond film, Casino Royale. Eva has finalised the deal for the first His Dark Materials movie, with an option to star in two sequels, if they are made.
Ian McShane, a veteran British character actor best known for his part in the Western series "Deadwood" and as Lovejoy, will provide the voice for Iorek Byrnison. McShane's involvement was mentioned in the Washington Post and the article's author revealed to us that the actor will be voicing the King of the Bears. You can view a commercial for "Deadwood" which features Ian McShane here: at about 0:36 he says, "No one gets out alive."
Adam Godley, who was listed on the Internet Movie Database for the past few days, will indeed voice Lyra's daemon, Pantalaimon, in the upcoming movies. Godley's most prominent recent roles have been as Mr. Teavee in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and as Mr Trench in Love Actually. You can hear a sound bite of Adam Godley in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory saying "Taffy puller?!" here, in response to Johnny Depp as Wonka.
A follow-up on the story the Daily Mail reported a while ago, we can reveal that Claire Higgins will take the role of Ma Costa in The Golden Compass movie. Higgins is an accomplished stage actress, having won the prestigious Olivier Award three times in the decade between 1995 and 2005. On screen, she has performed in a few films, mostly playing television roles and appearing in many British staples such as Midsomer Murders, Heartbeat and Silent Witness.