In a post-Harry Potter career, Emma Watson is certainly playing no games as she continues to establish herself as a top, young leading lady. The actress just wrapped the risque-looking The Bling Ring, Sofia Coppola’s true-story drama about a group of Hollywood thieves, and she’s currently having fun with Seth Rogen‘s directorial debut The End of the World.
Deadline now reports she’ll be getting serious for Darren Aronofsky‘s latest project. Watson is negotiating for the role of Ila in his big-budget, darker re-telling of the biblical story Noah. Her character is close with Noah’s son Shem, who will be played by Douglas Booth, an actor that was added to the cast just a few days ago. Going by earlier reports, Watson’s character sounds like the one Hanna star Saoirse Ronan was circling earlier this year, but Variety also lets us know that Dakota Fanning nearly bagged the role. Unfortunately scheduling issues with her Very Good Girls shoot could not be worked out, so the role went to Watson.
The actress will join Russell Crowe as our lead, along with Logan Lerman as his other son and possibly Jennifer Connelly or Julianne Moore as his wife. Hopefully that will get wrapped up soon, as well as the antagonist role, which is currently looking at Liev Schreiber. Aronofsky wrote the screenplay with Ari Mandel, deciding to portray the titular Biblical hero as “a man who loves Earth and all of its animal inhabitants, but has become disillusioned with the way humans have treated their planet.” It is also said to focus on Noah’s alcoholic tendencies, but it won’t take the usual Aronofsky twist, as this time it will be a PG-13 journey.
The film will shoot in New York and Iceland this summer for a March 28th, 2014 release.
What do you think about Watson in an Aronofsky ensemble?