Christopher Walken Is Captain Hook in NBC's 'Peter Pan Live'
Christopher Walken is getting fitted for a hook hand. And also, probably, some sweet tights.
The Oscar winner has signed on to play Captain Hook in NBC's Peter Pan Live, the long-awaited follow-up to last year's massively-successful live, primetime musical production, The Sound of Music Live!.
"He's one of the most unique actors in our business," said NBC head Bob Greenblatt. "He might really just be a song and dance man at heart. ... This might be the first tap dancing Captain Hook you've ever seen."
But that's not the only twist: in speaking to reporters after Sunday's press tour junket, Greenblatt revealed that not only will Peter be played by a female in this production, but that the network reached out to Frozen star Kristen Bell to fill that role. Unfortunately, a deal couldn't be worked out due to scheduling conflicts with Showtime's House of Lies.
"We were talking about doing it with a man at one point, but we've had several women who wanted to do it and they're either busy or their schedules don't work. It's not like we can film this at any time; I need this person from Aug. 5-Dec. 5, so that knocks out the Kristen Bells of the world, who was somebody I talked to about doing it and she was interested but she's doing House of Lies," Greenblatt said. "It's tricky finding the right person in the schedule that we need it but we're actually close. [Peter is] going to be female."
"The exhilarating thing about doing these live musicals is giving the stage to a thrilling performer like Chris, and seeing his once-in-a-lifetime performance unfold at the same moment the audience is watching at home," said executive producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, who previously worked with Walken on the big-screen musical version of Hairspray.
Walken added: "I started my career in musicals and it’s wonderful after all this time, at this point in my career, to be in this classic musical I watched as a child and to work with Neil Meron and Craig Zadan again after Hairspray. It’s a chance to put on my tap shoes again."
This is a pretty fantastic choice for casting. Of course, a lot of this will depend on whom they get to play Peter. This production could also face issues in that it's not as well-known as The Sound of Music, meaning they'll really need a strong hook (no pun intended) to make this "event television" in the same way The Sound of Music Live was. But I think casting a huge name like Walken is a great start.
Credit: Comedy Central