Monday, September 17, 2012

Benedict Cumberbatch, Ewan McGregor: Meet the characters, cast of 'August: Osage County' Read more from this Tulsa World


By MICHAEL SMITH World Scene Writer 
Published: 9/13/2012  2:05 AM 
Last Modified: 9/13/2012  10:58 AM

 In "August: Osage County," a former college professor and one-time famous poet disappears from his residence in a rural area outside Pawhuska.

He has just hired a housekeeper to care for the home and to keep an eye on his pill-popping wife, but when he vanishes, generations of the Weston family descend upon the three-story home. 

A dozen people inside a house at such an emotional time is bound to create a scene or two. The Westons have so many sins and secrets they are hiding that Tulsa-native Tracy Letts created what many have deemed one of the great American plays out of all their volcanic scenes. 

Tragedy brings the family together, to confront and to attack one another, with the assault led by family matriarch Violet Weston. The result is a comedy and a drama of epic proportions. 

The play is becoming a movie, and the stars are coming to Oklahoma.

The actors are listed from left in the illustration above.

Bill Fordham

Ewan McGregor has been chosen to portray Bill, the estranged husband of Barbara who also makes his way to Oklahoma to show his support for the family at this time of crisis. His affair with a student is behind their separation, among other issues. McGregor ("Moulin Rouge!" and Obi-Wan Kenobi in the newer "Star Wars" films) is the second British actor cast, along with Cumberbatch.

"Little" Charles Aiken

Benedict Cumberbatch is a surprise choice to play the son of Mattie Fae and Charlie, as a 37-year-old man who is unemployed and who's grown accustomed to his mother referring to him as the "screw-up" of the family. Like everyone else, he has a secret that will be exposed at this family gathering. The British star of "Sherlock" on BBC and an increasing presence in movies, Cumberbatch will make the most use of a dialect coach.




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