He’s in. He’s out.
Less than 24 hours before shooting was scheduled to begin on the new movie “The Lovely Bones” actor Ryan Gosling took a hike.
According to Variety, Gosling spent weeks preparing for the lead role of Jack Salmon, the grieving father of a young girl, in the adaptation of the Alice Sebold novel. The actor reportedly gained 20 pounds and even grew a beard for the part, but cut out right before filming was set to begin because of “creative differences.”
Enter Mark Wahlberg. Variety says the hunky actor agreed to replace Gosling in a pinch. Wahlberg joins actress Rachel Weisz on the Peter Jackson-directed film. And forget about growing facial hair or gaining weight, Wahlberg had less than 10 hours to prepare for the shoot prior to reporting to the Pennsylvania set. According to reports, he and Weisz will play a couple whose world is shattered after the murder of their daughter, who now watches over parents – and her killer – from heaven.
Wahlberg is one busy guy. In addition to picking up where Gosling left off, the former Calvin Klein model also recently committed to star opposite Brad Pitt in “The Fighter,” the drama about Boston boxer “Irish” Mickey Ward, which is scheduled to begin filming early next year. And, he just wrapped production on M. Night Shyamalan’s “The Happening,” alongside John Leguizamo, Spencer Breslin and Zooey Deschanel.
Speaking of Deschanel… she’s also an actor striking when the iron is hot.
Having completed work on “The Happening,” Deschanel moves on to her next project—-sharing screen time with Jim Carrey in “Yes Man.”
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the movie has Carrey playing a man who decides to turn his life around by saying “yes” to everything that comes his way, including Deschanel’s character–a woman he meets on his journeys.
The film is based on British author Danny Wallace’s memoir.