A New Bunch Wants Fame

The 1980 Alan Parker drama/musical Fame catapulted all of its young actors into the stratosphere of superstardom. Irene Cara, Gene Anthony Ray, Laura Dean, Maureen Teefy, Lee Curreri, Antonia Franceschi, Barry Miller, and Paul McCrane all became huge stars for years. Or maybe they didn’t, it’s so hard to remember. I think a couple of them ended up on the television series based on the movie and one guy was on E.R., maybe.

That’s not going to discourage the stars of the upcoming remake of Fame, though. You many have not heard of these guys, yet, but there names will be as common as Lee Curreri and Maureen Teefy soon. HR says MGM has lined up the lead cast for director/choreographer Kevin Tancharoen’s remake. Kristy Flores, Paul Iacono, Paul McGill, Naturi Naughton, Kay Panabaker, Kherington Payne, Collins Pennie, Walter Perez and Anna Maria Perez de Tagle will portray students at the High School for the Performing Arts in New York.

The actors credits include Hannah Montana, Friday Night LightsCSI, but none could be called a household name. The desire to keep the budget under $25 million probably played into this decision making. Thomas Dekker, who is currently starring in The Sarah Connor Chronicles is also rumored to be in discussions for a part. The original movie is good, let’s see what happens when this one makes it into theaters next September.