In St. Vincent De Van Nuys, the new dramedy from writer/director Ted Melfi, Bill Murray plays a cantankerous old man who is charged with taking care of a 12-year-old kid and introduces the young child to all kinds of horrible habits and terrible life lessons. One of those terrible habits includes being a regular client of a Russian prostitute...and today we have learned which actress will be taking on the part.
Naomi Watts, who was in the running for an Academy Award earlier this year for her leading role in The Impossible, has landed the aforementioned role in St. Vincent De Van Nuys, according to Deadline. She joins a cast that, in addition to Murray, includes Melissa McCarthy - as the 12-year-old's single mother who is stuck working multiple jobs - and Chris O'Dowd - who plays a parish priest horrified by Murray's character's treatment of the kid. The trade notes that the film strikes a tone similar to movies like As Good As It Gets and Silver Linings Playbook, and that the role that Watts' won was being sought after by "every age appropriate hot actress in town."
Watts recently completed work on Diana, the Oliver Hirschbiegel-directed biopic recounting the last two years of Princess Diana's life. She is currently filming Alejandro González Iñárritu's Birdman, the first comedy from the director, which features an ensemble lineup that includes Michael Keaton, Emma Stone, Edward Norton, Amy Ryan, Zach Galifianakis and Andrea Riseborough. The drama Sunlight Jr., in which she stars with Matt Dillon and Norman Reedus, just premiered this past weekend at the Tribeca Film Festival.
