Apparently Darren Aronofsky’s ‘Noah’ Really Does Need a Human Villain, Too: Ray Winstone Offered Role
With casting news for Darren Aronofsky’s Noah slowly trickling out like a leaky faucet, we’ve long joked about the continued rumors that Russell Crowe’s Noah was going to be getting a nemesis that wasn’t just the giant, world-destroying flood that history has taught us is his main nemesis. Proving that a flood of Biblical proportions just isn’t enough to even possibly sink Crowe, Deadline Aspen reports that Ray Winstone has been offered the role of Noah’s human villain.
Little is known about the part beyond the basic description that he will somehow come up against Crowe, and that Aronofsky was gunning for actors who possess “grit and size” for the role. He was also reportedly looking at Val Kilmer, which might signal that the filmmaker was also looking for that indefinable batshit lunacy that Kilmer can pull off so well. Winstone does certainly have grit and size on his side, coupled with raw talent and what some people like to refer to as gravitas. He was last seen in Snow White and the Huntsman, but for pure Winstone-ness, look no further than something like the gloriously unhinged 44 Inch Chest (or The Departed, The Proposition, or Edge of Darkness – the dude is a badass everywhere).
The film will star Crowe, Logan Lerman, Douglas Booth, and Emma Watson. The outlet continues to report that Jennifer Connelly is in the running for the film’s last big role that needs to be cast – Noah’s wife – but with no other news about that possibility emerging, it could just be a case of wishful thinking on their part.
Any guesses as to just what Winstone will do to battle Crowe? My bet is that he’s a wily neighbor who is hoarding all the trees Noah so desperately needs to build his ark.
