Marvel entertainment chief Avi Arad told SCI FI Wire that Kelsey Grammer will plays Dr. Henry "Hank" McCoy/Beast in the upcoming third X-Men film and also confirmed earlier reports that Vinnie Jones has signed to play the villainous Juggernaut. Grammer, best known to audiences as TV's Frasier Crane, will play the blue-furred biochemist, whose strength and agility are matched by his genius intellect. Beast will play a prominent role in the third X-Men film, whose story is being kept under wraps.
Arad added that casting will be announced in a matter of days for two new mutant characters: the winged Angel and Kitty Pryde/Shadowcat, who can phase through solid matter. Both roles will be played by North American actors, Arad said in an interview. Variety reported that Maggie Grace (ABC's Lost) was in talks to play Kitty Pryde.
Arad said that director Matthew Vaughn and the filmmakers were seeking to avoid a British actor to play Beast when Grammer read for the part. "We've been looking around for actors that are American," he said. "We didn't want to resort to ... if someone is intelligent, [he] has to sound like a Brit. ... [Grammer] has this delivery and the voice. You close your eyes, and you hear Hank McCoy. And there is this innate intelligence, the warmth, the strength there. He read—here is this big star—and he just knocked it out of the park. And the rule in our movies is, you go with the actor. It's not about lookalikes. ... It's about someone who brings a special tone, a special feeling, to the character."
As for Jones' role, Arad said: "Juggernaut is an interesting guy. He's like, once he's in motion, he cannot be stopped, like a bullet. And he [has] an interesting affiliation: He's actually Xavier's [Professor X, played by Patrick Stewart,] half-brother. And, again, I cannot obviously get into the plot, but he's going to be [a] very interesting villain."
About the other new characters, Arad said: "Angel is a very emotional thing. We're very close. We'll have someone in the next few days. He'll have a big role in the movie. And Kitty Pryde has a big role."
Arad said the X-Men 3 is gearing up to begin shooting in Vancouver, B.C., in July, with an eye to a release on Memorial Day 2006. The film will bring back the main cast from the previous two films, including Halle Berry, James Marsden, Famke Janssen, Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen, Arad said. "Everybody's coming back," he said, adding: "And Matthew Vaughn [Layer Cake] brings a lot of fresh air to the table. Very, very smart filmmaker. He's working on the script with the screenwriters, with Zak [Penn] and Simon [Kinberg], and all of us are very involved in it. This is, I'm telling you, ... huge. ... It's better than one and two combined. That's a big statement. ... The main concept, the theme of the movie, it's just scary, brilliant and thought-provoking."
