Woody Harrelson has been working alongside Jennifer Lawrence throughout the entire Hunger Games franchise. Now that “The Girl on Fire” is hanging up her bow and arrow with Mockingjay, Part 2, the actor is looking to work with “the next Jennifer Lawrence,” so to speak.
Brie Larson has been compared to the Oscar-winning A-list actress in both personality and career choices, and she might very well earn her own Oscar after her exalted performance in Room. On the docket for this rising talent is the Lionsgate film The Glass Castle, and Variety reports that Harrelson is in early negotiations to star opposite Larson.
In another funny coincidence, Lawrence almost starred in The Glass Castle back when Mathew McConaughey was being courted for the leading male role. However, she eventually dropped out when the film couldn’t get a green light.
Destin Cretton directed Short Term 12, the film that made critics and audiences take notice of Larson, and he’ll re-team with the actress onThe Glass Castle. The story is based on the memoir of MSNBC contributor Jeannette Walls. Cretton co-wrote the screenplay with Andrew Lanham, while Gil Netter and Erik Feig are producing.
Much like Larson, who is also attached to the big-budget feature Kong: Skull Island, Harrelson has a lot of projects already on the docket. He’ll soon be seen in the star-studded Triple 9 (with Norman Reedus, Kate Winslet, Gal Gadot, and more), as well as the next Now You See Me, War of the Planet of the Apes, and the Lyndon Johnson film LBJ.
Here’s the Glass Castle book description from Simon and Schuster:
Jeannette Walls grew up with parents whose ideals and stubborn nonconformity were both their curse and their salvation. Rex and Rose Mary Walls had four children. In the beginning, they lived like nomads, moving among Southwest desert towns, camping in the mountains. Rex was a charismatic, brilliant man who, when sober, captured his children's imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and above all, how to embrace life fearlessly. Rose Mary, who painted and wrote and couldn't stand the responsibility of providing for her family, called herself an "excitement addict." Cooking a meal that would be consumed in fifteen minutes had no appeal when she could make a painting that might last forever.
Later, when the money ran out, or the romance of the wandering life faded, the Walls retreated to the dismal West Virginia mining town -- and the family -- Rex Walls had done everything he could to escape. He drank. He stole the grocery money and disappeared for days. As the dysfunction of the family escalated, Jeannette and her brother and sisters had to fend for themselves, supporting one another as they weathered their parents' betrayals and, finally, found the resources and will to leave home.
What is so astonishing about Jeannette Walls is not just that she had the guts and tenacity and intelligence to get out, but that she describes her parents with such deep affection and generosity. Hers is a story of triumph against all odds, but also a tender, moving tale of unconditional love in a family that despite its profound flaws gave her the fiery determination to carve out a successful life on her own terms.
