With filming due to start imminently, and a release for the end of this year planned, the Coen Brothers have locked the final major piece in their True Grit puzzle. Hailee Steinfeld will fill the role of Mattie, alongside Jeff Bridges as the cantankerous Rooster Cogburn, Matt Damon as ranger La Beouf, and Josh Brolin as stone-cold killer Tom Chaney.
Steinfeld was chosen from 15,000 hopefuls for the role of the 14-year-old Mattie (played by the 21-year-old Kim Darby in the 1969 version). Very much the centrepiece of Charles Portis' novel, it's Mattie's father that's gunned down, Mattie that hires Cogburn to track the killer, and it's Mattie's point of view that filters the book's action.
With the intention being a new adaptation of the source, rather than a remake of the film that won John Wayne his only Oscar, it would seem that much of the weight of True Grit 2010 will be squarely on Steinfeld's shoulders. It's what you might call A Big Break for an actress whose previous highest-profile role was "Little Girl" in an episode of the shortlived Kelsey Grammer sitcom Back to You.
The Coens have proved time and again that they've got the wonder stuff when it comes to casting though (as with so many other things), so we've no reason to doubt them here. It's a Coens Western! Rejoice!