Unless you're talking about Terry Gilliam's take on the Don Quixote story, which is forever cursed, most Hollywood productions go through a series of ups and downs. Nothing ever goes 100% according to plan, but eventually things work out. Take Clint Eastwood's J. Edgar biopic. Just a few minutes ago I reported that Charlize Theron has declined the role of Helen Gandy in the film and now, almost as a response, the film has cast another actor.

Deadline reports that Ed Westwick, best known for playing Chuck Bass on the television series Gossip Girl, has been cast as a character named "Agent Smith," an operative whom Hoover, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, discovers has a knack for writing. Upon this discovery, Hoover hires Smith to write his biography, but the young writer gets a little too close in the process. With Theron out of the project, the director has also started to look for new actresses to play Gandy, shortlisting Naomi Watts and Amy Adams. The Social Network's Armie Hammer and Judi Dench also star in the film.

Never having watched an episode of Gossip Girl, I know next to nothing about Westwick, but if Eastwood sees something in him he can't be that bad. If he is, however, he's going to have a hard time showing up in a movie that has a cast like this. Here's hoping for the best.