Gone With the Wind--with a Cast from 2003

Rhett Butler -- Gene Hackman
Scarlett O'hara -- Britney Spears
Ashley Wilkes -- John Goodman
Melanie Hamilton Wilkes --- George Clooney
Mammy -- Bette Midler
Prissy -- Cher

That was fairly easy.

Atlanta burning - Gustavratzenhofer?



Sowwy.....



Melanie: Cate Blanchett
Ashley: Leonardo Di Caprio
Scarlett: dunno
Rhett: George Clooney (after "Oh Brother" I believe he could do it.)

George Clooney is already penciled in to play Melanie. Try again, Dlowan, and try to be more original this time.

Rhett Butler: Keanu Reeves (in his late-in-the-film makeup in "Bram Stoker's Dracula).

Scarlett O'Hara: Madonna

Ashley Wilkes: Ahnold Schwartzenegger

Melanie Wilkes: Glenn Close

Mammy: Marlon Brando

Prissy: Oh, I'm dying to cast Whoopie Goldberg in that role! "But Miss Scarlett, I don't nuthin' 'bout birthin' babies."

Scarlett-- Shannen Doherty
Melly-- Mandy Moore
Rhett-- the guy who did Phone Booth...Colin Something?
Ashley-- Giovanni Ribisi or Edward Norton

Prissy-- Joan Rivers
Mammy-- Barbara Steisand, but no singing.
Aunt Pitty Pat-- Lily Tomlin

Hmmmm. Some interesting and "unexpected" selections. I've had a terrible time imagining anyone other than the original cast in the roles in that film. However, now, thanks to you guys, I can imagine George Clooney as Rhett (sorry Gus), I can imagine Lily Tomlin as Aunt Pitty Pat, and I can sort of imagine Leonardo Di Caprio as Ashley. We've got the same problem now that they had back in 1939. Who should be Scarlett?

Great thread, Roberta. I will try to be semi-serious here (although the temptations are so overwhelming).

I think Johnny Depp could handle the Rhett Butler role. The thing we forget is that Clark Gable's interpretation of the role was very subjective. Read the book again and you'll see that Margaret Mitchell did not make Butler quite that dashing a hero. More of a charming, sly opportunist. Depp is right for that interpretation.

Scarlett. Wow. Is Streep too old? She could certainly have done it in her prime. Maybe Cate Blanchett.

Whoopy Golberg as Prissy is an inspired choice.

Ashley? Maybe Orlando Bloom, who played opposite Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean.

As for Melanie, it's not a hard role to cast. Any H'wood semi-star who can do the long-suffering female bit will do. Maybe Teri Garr.

Melanie was STRONG underneath!

OK. Oprah Winfrey, then.

Yes, but I wouldn't see Whoopie doing it straight -- it would definitely be a parody of the character, like the Charles Pierce in drag as Scarlett version, "Oh, Miss Scarlett, the Yankees is comin' They's gonna rape all the men and rob all the women!"

Scarlett, "Quick, show me where they are."

(Okay, so this is a repeat but it's on purpose 'cause it fits).

Yeah, you're right, Wizard. But I can't quite see Halle Barry as Prissy either. Or, say, Whitney Houston.

Hi Andy, Seriousness is not a prerequisite for posting on this thread. Let your imagination run wild. Johnny Depp is an intriguing and thought-provoking choice for Rhett Butler. I'm trying to get a mental picture--it's happening.

Yes, Streep is too old to play Scarlett, and Teri Garr is too old to play Melanie. Cate Blanchett is a good actress, but I can't picture her in the part of Scarlett. Deb mentioned her for Melanie. I think that's a better fit. As for Prissy, I think a good actress could make the part her own. But some are harder to picture than others.

What about Jude Law as Ashley?

So far, we've got some rather "interesting" suggestions for Mammy--Bette Midler, Barbra Streisand, and Marlon Brando.

Jude Law could play Ashley or Rhett.

I do agree that Gable's Rhett was a little cleaned up -- he was more slithery and unctous in the novel, sort of reminding me of another famous rogue in "Show Boat," Gaylord Ravena. But which came first? There is a striking character resemblance between the two characters. "Show Boat" is a better book anyway.

How about Drew Barrymore as Scarlet????

Depp is perfect. He is a marvelous actor and shape changer.

Hi, Seaglass. Drew Barrymore might work, yes. I now recall that Vivien Leigh once gave an interview wherein she was asked how she, an English woman, approached the role of an American Southern woman of the Civil War era. She answered that, since she was unfamiliar with American Southern women, she taylored the role of an O'Hara as an Irish woman, recently impoverished. That was a concept and a persona about which she knew something and could relate to. Thinking in that vein, we should, perhaps, be considering a lass of Erin for the part.

LW, You're right. Jude Law could be Ashley or Rhett. And you're right again about Showboat being a better book than GWTW.

Hmmmm. Drew Barrymore as Scarlett. Mebbe. I'm thinking about Michelle Phieffer (sp?) or Nicole Kidman. Comments?

Scarlett was a teenager when the story begins. I think 18? Probably no more than 30 at the end. Phieffer and
Kidman to old, too fair haired.

Edna Ferber was a much better writer than Margaret Mitchell.

But then, so was almost anybody...

Maybe Nicholle as Belle Watling! The Red Hair works!