Back in May, Relativity Media did a really cool thing. Despite the fact that CGI can be used to change any actors appearance nowadays, the studio and director Tarsem Singh opted to cast seven little people actors as the dwarfs in the studio's upcoming, untitled Snow White project. Universal, which is also developing a project around the character called Snow White and the Huntsman, will not be using that tact.
THR reports that Ian McShane - who stands at a burly 5'9" - has been cast as one of the dwarfs in the Rupert Sanders-directed film. So which dwarf will he play? Happy? Dopey? Doc? Grumpy? Sleepy? Bashful? Sneezy? The answer is none of the above. It would seem that the film won't be using the traditional characters as McShane will play Caesar, the leader of the dwarfs (insert Rise of the Planet of the Apes joke here). Also starring in the film are Kristen Stewart (as Snow White), Chris Hemsworth (as the Huntsman) and Charlize Theron (as the Evil Queen). The film will begin lensing in August, targeting a June 1, 2012 release date.
I can all but guarentee that this is going to start up some kind of controversy. There aren't too many jobs out there for little people, so if Sanders shrinks actors down digitally you can imagine that a lot of people aren't going to be pleased (plus, they look even worse because of Relativity's casting job). Still, maybe they will cast little people in the rest of the roles. Game of Thrones just ended its first season, right? Get Peter Dinklage on the phone.
