Casting Rumor: Farnum for The Virginian?!

Posted at April 1, 1914 9:01:23am

Really? The Virginian? Really?

Cecil B. DeMille is starting pre-production on one of his next films and the early favorite for the role is a familiar face.

Dustin Farnum, who was just featured in DeMille's The Squaw Man in February, is apparently at the top of the short list for the lead in the upcoming adaptation of The Virginian. 

I, for one, hate this casting.  I get that DeMille wants to keep working with actors he is familiar with, but Farnum is just too much of a lightweight.  As a huge fan of Owen Wister's novel, I can say that Farnum has not demonstrated any of the gravitas necessary to carry this one off.  The Squaw Man was fine, but with a revered franchise like this? 

And if early word that the film is aiming for an almost 60 minute running time?  I really have to wonder whether DeMille is the guy to carry off this project without producing a bloated mess.

I predict a lot of controversy on Twitter over Virgin-num. There's already a petition to stop the casting which can be found here.

Hopefully the rumors are false, but I am not optimistic.