“Harry Potter” alum Emma Watson is rumored to be the frontrunner to take the lead role in Scarlett Johansson’s long-gestating directorial debut “Summer Crossing,” according to a report in Britain’s The Daily Mail.
The paper reports Watson is at the top of a shortlist of actresses Johansson is considering, though other actresses on the list are not named. Johansson will not be appearing on screen in her directorial debut, which she co-wrote with Tristine Skyler based on Truman Capote’s first novel of the same name. Watson is eyeing the role of 17 year old Grady McNeil, a rebellious debutant in 1945 New York who stays behind in the city one summer while her family jets off to France and begins an illicit affair with a young Jewish man, eventually marrying him, bringing to light their cultural divide. Filming is expected to begin in 2014.
Watson reportedly caught Johansson’s attention in “The Bling Ring,” in which she convincingly played a teenager despite being 23 years old. Johansson of course has a history with “Bling Ring” director Sofia Coppola, previously having starred in “Lost in Translation.” Watson, forever immortalized as Hermione Grainger in eight “Harry Potter” films, has done a pretty good job of transitioning to more grownup roles, with recently wrapped Darren Aronofsky’s “Noah” and memoir adaptation “Your Voice in My Head” next on her plate.
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