Monica Cruz
The Max Ryan movie, we meet again. If people who read this blog will recall when I first mention the Ryan movie like over a year ago it seemed very theoretical but it’s real and it is happening. As it is stand, core characters have yet been cast or have not been announced yet, like Esmeralda or Frollo. According to cinema.theiapolis.com Monica Cruz and John Rhys-Davies are (or were) in negotiations for Esmeralda and Frollo. Now what is interesting is that Steven Berkoff is listed as in negotiations too and he is on the cast list on IMDB. So really who knows where Cruz and Rhys-Davies stand. So let’s just consider Monica Cruz as a possibility for Esmeralda.
Monica Cruz
I know nothing about her aside from the fact that she Penelope Cruz’s younger sister and as a joke on 30 Rock said, younger hotter sister. Really, they look a lot a like. Cruz doesn’t have the same long filmography as her sister so I would be lying if I said I have seen much of her sample of work. What I can gather about Cruz from what I have seem is that she is cast for being attractive. She along with her sister are both dancers who have been trained, Cruz studied Flamenco and traditional ballet at The Royal Academy of Dance. So if she were cast it would promise as good dance number.
Monica Cruz
Cruz is too old to play Esmeralda as she is the book. Cruz is 38 and Esmeralda is 16. Can a movie cover it up and make Esmeralda older? If the film maker wants yes, they can also put the setting on the moon if they want, doesn’t make a good idea. But really it’s mute point. Most of the time the character Esmeralda is changed so much anyway that making her like her like she is the book would be novel. Esmeralda is typically overtly sexual and with the casting of Cruz that is what it seems they are (or were) going for.
Monica Cruz
Cruz does have a good look. Esmeralda is supposed to have an exotic look. Films version seldom do the backstory as the book has it, where she the daughter of a French woman and an unknown father. But that dark sultry look seems to the going look for Esmeraldas. Personally I can see an actress of Spanish decent or Indian being good in the role. So Cruz has it in the looks department.
Monica Cruz
Would Cruz be a good Esmeralda for this movie version of Hunchback? I can’t say but I would say yes given the standards ideas Hollywood has for the character even though the Max Ryan version is an independent movie. Then again this version has a giant in it so my opinion of this movie is low and I’m not sure how good it will be in the first place.
, 
, 
and a small role in 
(I love that movie). She has also been other big movies like the 2010 
, 
, 
, and the new James Bond movie, Spectre. I would say for the role of Fleur-de-Lys the movie would have to be attracting big name actors or have a power-house director or the they would have to up the role of Fleur-de-Lys, or both. Personally I find Fleur-de-Lys more interesting than Esmeralda and one could do a lot with the character other than making her just a haughty bitch, though nothing is wrong with that.
and as 
in the 2015 live action version. She is also in a few big name upcoming projects like Natasha in a War and Peace mini-series and playing Lizzie Bennet in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. She has also been in 
(which is about running,) 
, and 
. I just want to say this is my third hypothetical casting post with Downton actors.
and 
!
which rumor has it she beat Taylor Swift for. Prior to that Barks was part of reality show where the winner got to play Nancy in Oliver, called I’d Do Anything (appropriate name for a reality show) and played Eponine on stage. Since Les Mis (and at the time I’m writing this post) she has been in two other movies, 
, and a minor role in 
. However Barks is in a few upcoming movies, so we’ll see how her career goes.
which stars Kevin Spacey as crazy ambitious politician and the show just reminded me how great an actor Spacey is but would he be good as Frollo?
.
as Christine Daae.
and 
I can say I prefer Rossum singing at the lower vocal register which is fine for Esmeralda. I think Rossum could sing to role perfectly well.
, just pick a good actor and imagine them in that movie and they would seem bad. Rossum got some credit back as Fiona in the Showtime show 
which I haven’t seen but I saw her in a clip from it and she was good in it.
, which is not my kind of movie, a teen band movie where the lovable underdogs rise above the popular jocks and cheerleaders, yeah not my thing. However I didn’t loath the movie has much as I thought but to be frank a made for TV live-action Disney movie is not really a place to judge someone on acting. However like I have said, at Esmeralda’s core basic characterization, it’s an easy role to play and I think Scott would pull it off nicely.
