You’re not going to believe this, but the classic start to an age-old joke – “A girl walks into a bar …” – is about to be the launch pad for an indie drama that’s rapidly filling up its casting sheet.
Zachary Quinto, Stephen Graham, Adelaide Clemens and Natalie Dormer are the latest names attached to The Girl Who Invented Kissing, according to Variety. The film will be written and directed by Tom Sierchio, a one-time actor and stunt man whose previous credits include The Toxic Avenger and * batteries not included. This will be his directorial debut. Here’s the full summary of the plot, per the movie’s IMDB page:
When a nameless drifter girl steps off the bus, she enters into the lives of two lonely brothers. In spite of her immediate attraction to the younger brother TOMMY, she befriends the older brother VICTOR - a lovable lummox who is often the butt of the joke at the local watering hole. Victor is hard of hearing and mentally soft on account of a car accident in their childhood. The mysterious girl courts danger and adventure but brings fresh life and love into the world of these paralyzed, resigned characters and upsets the delicate balance of their lives - to each other and to themselves.
Ah, the arrival of a “magical” girl who changes the lives of all around her in an independent film. We’ve seen that once or twice before, no? Still, there must be something special about Sierchio if he’s able to attract such talents to his screenplay. Clemens, who is set to play the “girl” in Kissing, had a supporting role in Baz Luhrmann’s summer hit The Great Gatsby. Quinto, of course, has been playing Spock in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek movies. And Dormer might be the hottest star of the bunch, thanks to her upcoming turn in Ron Howard’s Formula-1 racing drama Rush and her performances on HBO’s Game of Thrones.
Timothy Simons of HBO’s Veep will be playing Victor in Sierchio’s drama, opposite Quinto’s Tommy, who’ll likely end up fighting over the affections of the mysterious girl. Dormer will play Patti, and Graham will be filling in an as-yet-undetermined slot. The movie has a 2014 release date at the moment. I expect Sierchio’s film to get a film-festival launch in the fall, possibly seeking out an audience in Toronto or New York as it coasts on the recognition of the names in the cast. We’ll continue to track the progress on Kissing, but for now, what are your thoughts on the casting?
