In an out of the blue yet inspired decision, Kelsey Grammer (of Frasier fame) has been cast in the role of Beast in X-Men 3. To me this is as out there as when Tim Burton cast Michael Keaton in the role of Batman.
Of course despite the outcry at the time, that actually turned out rather well.
For those of you unfamiliar with the character, Beast is a mutant member of the X-Men (duh) who is genius-level intelligent with a HUGE vocabulary and happens to look like, well, a beast. In the comic he’s covered in hair, super agile and is sort of ape-like in appearance. Really he’s more of a short, squat character but Bryan Singer got away from that with the Wolverine character and casting of Hugh Jackman and it didn’t seem to hurt the role much IMO.
Here’s a quote from Avi Arad according to Variety:
“This is a big role in the new movie, and when we met with him, you can see that Kelsey has that you’d-better-have-a-dictionary-handy intelligence…”
Personally I think that if he can bring his “Frasier” personality to the role (minus the neurotic part, of course) he’ll be awesome.
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6 Comments
Kelsey Grammer hasn’t had much of a career outside of his Frasier Crane character, so if he succeeds in this one, that would be a big boost for him. At first glance, he seemed like an odd choice for Beast, but I’m sure Singer knows what he’s doing. On the other hand, Singer also cast Halle Berry as Storm, so his batting average isn’t exactly a thousand.
Brian
Remember Bryan Singer isn’t directing this one, Matthew Vaughn is. Also, don’t forget Berry *did* win an Oscar.
I really enjoy Grammer’s work, let’s see if it translates over into this role.
Vic
Kelsey Grammer would be perfect for the voice of beast, but they should use a different person in costume (like James Earl Jones voice over as Darth Vader). A professional wrestler would be good, or even a gymnast, for the physical acting. You’ve got to admit though, for Beast, Grammer has the perfect voice. He speaks like a top notch english professor, and has a low tone… could turn out awesome.
This is a great site, I’m glad I found it.
Vic,
Oops, I got the director wrong… how did I miss that? As for Berry winning an Oscar, indeed she did, but not for X-Men. I thought her role in the first two was by far the weakest. Even Rebecca Romijn had a stronger role; how sad is that?
Brian
This guy is an old balding pudgy man that feel off the stage giving a speech at Disney world. Great idea to make him the 355 lb. acrobat/scientist.
I don’t think we’re going to be seeing a costume. I ‘d put my money that beast is going to be entirely CGI.