If I had to pick any actor from Les Miserables to play Jack in Into the Woods, it would've probably been Eddie Redmayne. He seems to have the right look for how I picture the character, and he has the perfect voice to belt out the ecstatic "Giants in the Sky." Alas, it isn't Redmayne who will be playing the role, though it is a Les Miserables actor in contention for the part. The scene-stealing Daniel Huttlestone, who played Gavroche in the film, is in talks for the role of Jack in Rob Marshall's feature adaptation of Into the Woods. Another familiar face in negotiations to join the film is Anna Kendrick, who will play Cinderella.
Based on the musical from Steven Sondheim (music and lyrics) and James Lapine (book) - which is said to be inspired by Bruno Bettelheim's The Uses of Enchantment - Into the Woods merges fairytales as it tells the story of a baker and his wife who set out to lift a curse that's keeping them from being able to have children. They're not the only ones with struggles that send them into the woods to seek out assistance. For Jack, it's his cow, who won't give milk. His mother sends him off to the market to sell the cow, only he ends up trading it for some supposedly magic beans. And, well, you might have a general idea of where his story is headed. Spoiler alert: Up.
Deadline reports that Huttlestone is in negotiations to star as Jack in the Disney adaptation of Into the Woods. Not yet fourteen, Huttlestone seems a bit on the young side to play the role, however, given his fantastic performance in Les Mis, it's hard to complain about this news Here's a clip from Les Mis that shows off his talent.
And for reference, here's "Giants in the Sky" from a stage production of Into the Woods.
Moving on to another character on a mission, Cinderella wishes to go to the King's festival, and that eventually puts her in the path of the Baker and his Wife. And you may already know that she's destined to lose a shoe after a run-in with a prince. THR says that Anna Kendrick is in talks to play Cinderella. Kendrick has a background in theater and she showed off her singing talent in Pitch Perfect. For those who haven't seen it, here's a snippet of Kendrick singing solo in the musical comedy…
Assuming Kendrick's and Huttlestone's deals go through, they join previously cast Meryl Streep, Johnny Depp, Chris Pine, Jake Gyllenhaal, James Corden, Emily Blunt, Tracy Ullman and Christine Baranski, who are all "in various stages of negotiations" to play a part in the film.
Here's one of Cinderella's musical moments, "On the Steps of the Palace."
