He was a deranged POW in The Deer Hunter. He smuggled a gold watch in his rectum in Pulp Fiction. Now, one of Hollywood’s zaniest-looking veterans gets to play a god.
In Gods Behaving Badly, Christopher Walken will play Zeus, the king of gods in Greek mythology who rules from his home base of Mount Olympus. The film adaptation of the best-selling British novel with the same name will portray a downgrade, blue-collar version of the moody, bearded deity with a cheatin’ heart.
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Which means Walken’s Zeus won’t be flinging thunderbolts at the mortals down under; in fact, in this movie, he’s one of them. All the ancient Greek deities live together in a New York brownstone, struggling with life on earth circa now. Meaning in this film, Zeus and Aphrodite are just like us, griping about the swelter and economy, then washing their sorrows down with a Heineken.
Marc Turtletaub, the producer of Little Miss Sunshine, co-wrote and is directing the satirical comedy, which starts shooting this month. The cast includes Oliver Platt, Phylicia Rashad, Gideon Glick and John Turturro.
Die-hard Nurse Jackie fans will get to see Edie Falco on the big screen as Artemis, the daughter of Zeus. Alicia Silverstone returns to Hollywood after a long dry spell, joining the star-studded hodgepodge to play a true mortal. Sharon Stone plays Aphrodite, who, like Zeus, has a rep for getting around and having a slew of kids. Stone’s Aphrodite is a phone sex operator, which makes sense for a contemporary rendition of the goddess of love. How will Stone wield a smartphone from her scalloped shell? We’ll just have to wait and see.