Kristin Scott Thomas as Nurse Ratched
The agony. The unmitigated anguish that went into this call. Im still not 100 percent certain Ive nailed it precisely. The headaches I endured trying to reassign this role is a testament to Louise Fletchers prolific turn. As though there needed to be another testament. Anyway, Thomas has not exactly made her mark on the industry as the villain. But Nurse Ratched, in my estimation, is that specific sort of villain who exerts her will not with overt malice, but with an icy, relentless exertion of her authority over her subjects. Quiet and commanding, cold and sharp, Thomas could add a certain intellectual superiority to Ratcheds arsenal of dominance.
Paul Dano as Billy Bibbit
Dano is 27, but I suspect he wont shake that babyfaced innocence anytime soon. Im confident hed be able to channel the awkward adolescent we all came to admire in The Girl Next Door and Little Miss Sunshine to capture Billy Bibbits wide-eyed innocence. But the likes of There Will Be Blood and Meeks Cutoff showed Dano is much more than a brooding angsty teenager. Hes shown a propensity in recent years for making really gutsy and fearless choices, the sort that would serve him well when Billys tragic fate befalls him in the third act. And the final selection of One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest re-casting requires us to find actors capable (or not as the case may be) of replacing Danny DeVito!