The trailer for Wes Andersons newest film Asteroid City released recently and boy did it have the people buzzing. Personally, I’m ecstatic about it. One of the factors that has people excited about Asteroid City is the gargantuan cast. Anderson is delivering a lot of familiar faces with Jason Schwartzman, Tilda Swinton, Adrien Brody, and Bryan Cranston. But there’s also a lot of new faces that are A-List movie stars. Joining the Wes Anderson family for the first time are Steve Carrell, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, and Maya Hawke.
This monster cast and exciting trailer created discourse on twitter amongst Anderson fans. One of the biggest questions was what actor or actress that hasn’t worked with Anderson would you like to see?
To answer that question, I’ve compiled a list of eight actors and actresses I’d like to see in future Wes Anderson projects whether they’re live actors or voices in his stop motion masterpieces.
Jesse Eisenberg
I recently wrote a blog about actor-director duos I’d like to see and I paired Eisenberg with Anderson. Now I don’t think Eisenberg would be a lead character in an Anderson film, but he’d make for a great side character. He played a snarky douche in The Social Network, a solid villain in Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice, and was hilarious in Zombieland. Eisenberg has a lot of range. I think he could have fit in The French Dispatch as Owen Wilson’s character, the cycling journalist, or even as Edward Nortons character, the police investigator in The Grand Budapest Hotel. His quirky demeanor is exactly what you expect to see in an Anderson film.
Daniel Craig
When you think of a Wes Anderson style film, you think of vibrant colors. Fantastic Mr. Fox radiates an orange glow while The Grand Budapest Hotel emits bright pinks and blues. For that purpose alone, I need to see Daniel Craig’s beautiful blue eyes in a Wes Anderson film. His eyes are a stimulating shade of blue that resembles the water in the Maldives and we’ve seen him pull off vibrant outfits in the Knives Out franchise before. If you stuck him in a Wes Anderson movie, he’d glow. He has a tremendous amount of charm when he’s on screen and he’d actually be an actor I’d want Anderson to build a film around. I don’t know what role specifically or in what setting, but his eyes need to pop more than ever and the only director that I have confidence in pulling that off is Wes Anderson.
Dave Bautista
If you’ve seen Bautista’s recent thriller Knock At The Cabin, you’ll understand that he’s a lot more than playing a superhero. Bautista is carving out a role as a leading man in Hollywood. While his size makes him stick out, I do think his charisma would kill in a Wes Anderson movie. Much like Eisenberg, I don’t think we need a whole film with him at the center, but he would have been great as the scoutmaster in Moonrise Kingdom that Edward Norton played or even in the Benicio del Toro role in The French Dispatch. He’s sped past John Cena and other wrestlers turned actor and the next step should be in an Anderson film.
Viloa Davis
Everywhere you look the past decade, you see Viola Davis. She’s been in Prisoners, Woman King, and The Suicide Squad. And every time she’s been on the screen, she shines. I do think it’s important for a Wes Anderson actor or actress to have range and Viola Davis fits the mold. Her best fit in an Anderson film could be as a funny villain. That’s what she played in The Suicide Squad and she killed it. In The Grand Budapest Hotel, we see a cavalcade of villain like characters. Not full on “bad guys”, but they’re people who stand in the way of our protagonists objective. Davis would be iconic in a role like this.
Sam Rockwell
Sam Rockwell is most known for his dramatic performances like The Green Mile, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, and Vice, but he was the lead in a very entertaining whodunit film last year with See How They Run. The Tom George film felt like a Wes Anderson interpretation of Knives Out. Rockwell was outstanding in it and showed the humor he has. He’s a bit snide and sarcastic which a lot of Anderson characters have like Adrien Brody in The Grand Budapest Hotel or Bill Murray in Moonrise Kingdom. Much like Eisenberg, I don’t expect Anderson to build a whole film around Rockwell, but he’d be a great third or fourth lead in a funny film with bright pastel colors.
Daniel Kaluuya
If you were to buy stock in an actor, I’d buy it in Daniel Kaluuya. I’m a bit biased because he’s in a handful of my favorite films like Sicario, Get Out, and Nope, but he’s phenomenal. While he’s heavily tied in with Jordan Peele, him and Wes Anderson could make magic. He’s a great sarcastic actor as we see in Nope and Kick-Ass 2. That’s a key factor in Wes Anderson movie characters. I mentioned it above when writing about Rockwell, but some of my favorite Anderson characters have that sarcastic factor. Where I think Kaluuya fits in to the Anderson universe is like Jason Schwartzman in Moonrise Kingdom or Owen Wilson in The Royal Tenenbaums. He’s dynamite and I NEED him in an Anderson flick.
Florence Pugh
Florence Pugh is becoming an undeniable force in Hollywood as of late. She was stunning in Midsommar and even in Don’t Worry Darling, but her performance in the 2023 Zach Braff film A Good Person highlighted her range. Wes Anderson has created memorable female characters in his films with Saoirse Ronan, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Kara Hayward. I believe Pugh is the next great female character in one of his films. In A Good Person, she showed off her ability to switch moods quickly. One minute she was high on life and felt like a free person, the next she’s grovelling on the ground trying snort oxycodone. I think Anderson could play with that and see what emotion he wants her to show.
A lot of Anderson’s films with big casts only show one side of a character. He has a lot to work with with Pugh and we could witness a great performance that captivates you for five minutes or an hour and a half. There’s opportunities to build a film around Pugh which is interesting. Her emotion is so strong that if he reverted to his early days, we could see an unbelievable film.
Samuel L. Jackson
No one has had a career quite like Samuel L. Jackson. He’s tied into The Avengers, Star Wars, and with Quentin Tarantino. Now, I’d like to see him tied into Wes Anderson’s film making universe. A staple in Wes Anderson films is an older actor with maybe not a ton of screen time, but they make an impact. We saw it in Bottle Rocket with James Caan, Danny Glover in The Royal Tenenbaums, and Bob Babalan in Moonrise Kingdom. Jackson is a charismatic actor and would look like a stud in a perfectly symmetrical shot wearing a bright orange blazer offering wisdom to maybe Jason Schwartzman or Owen Wilson.
