Who doesn’t love a little nepotism with their Hollywood? Variety reports that Gotti: The Three Generations, which just replaced original director Nick Cassavettes with Barry Levinson, has added two more names to the cast. John Travolta‘s wife Kelly Preston and daughter Ella Bleu have signed on to play John Gotti Sr.‘s wife and daughter. The role of Sr., of course, is played by Travolta himself.
In case none of you have been keeping up with this project, Gotti: The Three Generations is an independently financed movie about the Gambino crime family, and the Gotti family in particular. It will have a particular focus on the father/son relationship between Gotti Sr. and his son John Gotti Jr., a role which has not been casted yet. Joe Pesci is signed on to play Gotti Sr.’s second in command Angelo Ruggiero while Lindsay Lohan has also signed on to play Gotti Jr.’s wife after originally be considered for his sister Victoria.
From a budget standpoint, casting Preston and Bleu as Gotti Sr.’s wife and daughter make sense since they will probably work for much less as a favor to Travolta. The favor being they don’t have to listen to his Scientology rants for a year. Still, it kind of leaves a bad taste in my mouth because of the whole “nepotism” angle. And because of this:
What do you think of the casting news, dear readers? Let’s grab a coffee and talk about it.