Ang Lee’s Life Of Pi adaptation has made a rather radical casting change, with Tobey Maguire (arguably the project’s most recognisable star) having been cut from the film altogether.
Maguire has initially been cast to play a writer who interviews the film’s young protagonist, after he is discovered washed ashore in the wake of a catastrophic naval accident. However, Lee has now had a change of heart, describing Maguire’s presence as too jarringly recognisable.
“To be consistent with the other casting choices made for the film, I decided to go with an entirely international cast,” said Lee. “I very much admire Tobey and look forward to working with him again in the future.”
To be honest, it always did seem slightly odd to have a major Hollywood star cropping up alongside a cast of unknowns in a fairly minor role. As for Maguire himself, there are clearly no hard feelings in the wake of the decision.
“I fully support Ang’s decision to go a different direction for this role in Life of Pi ,” he told THR . “Ang shared a lot of the film with me, and what I saw was absolutely beautiful.”
Lee has apparently reshot Maguire’s scenes with Rafe Spall, who doesn’t have quite the same international cache as the man who played Spider-Man. Not yet anyway. Life Of Pi opens in the UK on 21 December 2012.
