A rather eclectic collection of young actresses are vying for the female lead in “Burt Wonderstone”, the magician comedy that sees Steve Carell and Jim Carrey as rival illusionists on the Las Vegas strip. Deadline reports the shortlist right now conists of Michelle Monaghan, Judy Greer, Olivia Wilde, Sarah Silverman and Jessica Biel.
The Don Scardino-directed comedy sees Carell as the title character, a magician who splits from his longtime partner and finds himself on the verge of being upstaged by a hip David Blaine type street magician who begins stealing all his thunder. No word on what the female lead entails. Of the five ladies in contention, Silverman and Greer are the comic veterans, though Silverman certainly has a set personal style of comedy, doing stand-up and starring on her own show on Comedy Central; and Greer (an underrated favorite amongst the blogosphere) has traditionally been more of the kooky best friend comedic relief in past roles (“27 Dresses”, “Elizabethtown” and countless TV series. Monaghan, Wilde and Biel, often cast in more shallow “hot girl” roles, have each done a fair bit of comedic acting themselves. Monaghan headlined romantic comedy “Made of Honor” opposite Patrick Dempsey while Wilde and Biel have played love interest roles in frat-boy comedies like “The Change-Up” and “I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry.”
Which actress gets chosen may be a good indicator of what direction the filmmakers want to take the film in.
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