Looks like Russell Crowe’s Robin Hood has found his Merry Men, after a trio of actors today signed on to co-star in the untitled Ridley Scott/Crowe Hood project.
Scott Grimes (pictured), Kevin Durand and Alan Doyle will play Will Scarlet, Robin’s nephew and archer extraordinaire; Little John, professional human mountain; and the minstrel Alan A Dayle (a character that seldom featured in previous versions of the Hood legend) in the movie, which starts shooting in the UK this April.
In a curious twist, none of the three actors are English, so their Nottingham accents must have been pretty damn decent. Unless, of course, they come from the same part of Nottingham as Kevin Costner’s Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves.
Grimes is an American best known as the ginger doctor on E.R., Durand is a Canadian built like a brick shithouse (he’ll next be seen under heavy prosthetics as The Blob in X-Men Origins: Wolverine), while Doyle isn’t even an actor. He’s actually the frontman for Canadian band, Great Big Sea. But, given A Dayle’s proclivity for block rocking beats, he sounds like a good choice.
It’s certainly an interesting mix – clearly, with Crowe on board as Robin Hood and potentially the Sheriff of Nottingham, and Cate Blanchett signed on as Maid Marian, Sir Ridley feels that he doesn’t need any more stars in the cast. It’s probably a wise decision – we’re still trying to banish the memories of Christian Slater as Will Scarlet.