(Yes, the bear eats the script. I’m hard right now.)
Comedian T.J. Miller twice unsuccessfully auditioned for a part in the Yogi Bear movie, but thanks to this video audition he sent in, he scored the biggest casting coup since “Hey, Malkovich, think fast!”
What better way to win the role of Ranger Jones in the Yogi Bear movie than to audition with a bear? That’s exactly what comedian T.J. Miller decided to do after auditioning twice and still feeling like he needed that extra something to rise to the top. Actually, T.J. made the video with director Jordan Vogt-Roberts as a joke, but it got into the hands of Barry M. Meyer, chairman of Warner Bros., who enjoyed it while most likely chortling loudly through a thick cloud of cigar smoke [and later offered Miller the role]. [ScreenJunkies/TheApiary]
I’m not sure how talented Miller is, but that bear is a star! His ad lib grunts are so perfect, you forgive the fact that he keeps eating the script. I’ve heard the same thing happens with Kathleen Turner. I kid, I kid. But seriously, more actors should try this. For one thing, because bears are awesome, and for another, there’d be a few less starving actors in Hollywood. And a few more full bears.
(Picnic Bear is Yogi Bear’s cousin. He doesn’t steal picnic baskets, he just waits patiently for someone to show up with one)
Anna Faris, Justin Timberlake, and Dan Aykroyd have joined the cast of WB’s CGI/live action Yogi Bear movie, to be directed by Journey to the Center of The Earth director Eric Brevig.
Faris will play a nature documentarian who follows the antics of a bear in fictional Jellystone Park. Aykroyd will voice Yogi, and Timberlake could end up lending his pipes for Yogi’s constant companion, Boo Boo. [THR]
I always sort of liked Yogi Bear. I always sort of liked Anna Faris and Justin Timberlake and Dan Aykroyd too. So why am I not excited for this? Probably because when they CGI old cartoons and mix it with live action, it tends to look like this:
Does that appeal to anyone over the age of 10? No. Which means I’ll probably end up taking a date to this, but I won’t be happy about it.
