Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning is a television movie currently in
production and set to air on CTV in 2008. This Sullivan Entertainment movie
will
be
a prequel
to the Anne of Green Gables miniseries trilogy, which starred Megan Follows
as Anne Shirley.
Hannah Endicott-Douglas, a 12-year-old Toronto native, will play
Anne Shirley as a child in the prequel. Barbara Hershey, Emmy and Golden-Globe
winner and Oscar nominee, will
play Anne Shirley in her 50s, looking
back on her past.
Hannah Endicott-Douglas was named Anne Shirley after a three-month
search, including an open casting call on YouTube and cross-Canada auditions.
Her elder sister Vivien, who once played Anne scenes with her, will play
Violetta,
a girl who is initially Anne's rival. In the novel, Violetta is an imaginary
friend of Anne's, but from the news articles, Violetta does not sound like
an imaginary character.
The Anne of Green Gables prequel will also star Rachel Blanchard as Louisa
Thomas. I assume this is the Mrs. Thomas mentioned in Chapter 5 of Anne of
Green Gables, the woman who took Anne in after her parents died in Bolingbroke,
and before Anne was taken in my the Hammonds.
Academy-award winner, Shirley MacLaine, will play matriarch Amelia Thomas
in the film. She will play a principal character in the movie as a wealthy,
powerful and unlikable widow, who runs the prosperous lumber town, Marysville,
N.B. Amelia is transformed for the better by Anne, after taking in her daughter-in-law
Louisa Thomas.
Kevin Sullivan, the executive producer/director/writer of the movie, issues
the following statement when announcing that Shirley MacLaine had joined
the
cast: "Shirley
MacLaine is a screen legend. To
be able to cast her unique personality in the role of Amelia Thomas promises
to bring both humour and pathos to
this production, in a grand style that only a movie star of her stature can
elicit."
In an interview with Patricia Hamilton (who played Rachel Lynde in the Anne
trilogy), she mentions her family's involvment in Anne of Green Gables: The
New Beginning:"We've just finished a new movie, you know," she
says, referring to A New Beginning, the prequel to Anne of Green Gables,
which concerns itself
with Anne's life before her parents died. Hamilton -- part of the ensemble
in Enchanted April, now playing at Theatre Calgary -- plays a brief role.
That's far from the end of the family's involvement with the show, however. "I'm
in it for a day in a wheelchair, looking like I'm 110," Hamilton
says, good-naturedly. "But my son (Ben), who's a wonderful actor who's
at the Stratford Festival this summer -- he's playing Hamlet -- plays Anne's
original father. Which is only fitting, considering that Hamilton's ex-husband
(Ben's father, Les Carlson) was also an actor who appeared in the original
Anne of Green Gables (as Mr. Lawson).
The movie was filmed in Scarborough Valley, Toronto, Hamilton, Dundas and
Rockwood in Ontario, Canada from October 10 to November 15, 2007.
Hannah Endicott-Douglas as Anne Shirley
References
CTV
announces plans for new 'Anne of Green Gables' miniseries to air next year, The
Canadian Press (October 16, 2007)
New
'Anne' prequel planned, The StarPhoenix (October 16, 2007)
A new Anne
lands at CTV, thestar.com (October 16, 2007)
12-year-old
blond to play Anne Shirley in TV movie, by Maria Kubacki, The
Ottawa Citizen (October 16, 2007)
Anne
old story gets fresh legs By Graeme McRanor, 24 HOURS (October 16,
2007)
Anne
of Green Gables: A New Beginning starring Hannah Endicott-Douglas,
CTV's blog (October 16, 2007)
Shirley MacLaine
joins Green Gables movie, by the Canadian Press at thestar.com (October
23, 2007)
Shirley
of Greene Gables, Globe and Mail (October 24, 2007)
MacLaine
goes Green by Bill Harris, Toronto Sun (October 24, 2007)
Avonlea
star takes chilly road to Calgary: Patricia Hamilton hits city stage by
Stephen Hunt, Calgary Herald
Links related to Anne 4 (external links open in
new windows):
The Official Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning website
Anne
4 News from Sullivan Entertainment
Sullivan Entertainment's
Anne3.com - This site includes lots of information on miniseries
and the
The
Avonlea Message Board, including a section on Anne 4, with production
updates
The Sullivan
Boutique -
you can buy Anne miniseries items here.
IMDB -
Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning's cast and crew
Last Updated 02.21.08
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