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Paramount is looking hard for the female lead for its Jack Ryan franchise relaunch that will star Chris Pine in the CIA analyst role made famous by Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck. Kenneth Branagh is directing and playing the villain. I’m hearing that the frontrunner is Keira Knightley, and that Like Crazy‘s Felicity Jones and Lost‘s Evangeline Lilly are also in the mix. Kate Beckinsale 
and Jessica Biel were initially approached but said no thanks. This is a high profile role — the future wife played by Anne Archer in the Harrison Ford films — and it should be sorted out soon. It involves options that would put the actress in potentially three pictures. Stay tuned.
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I was thinking Sandra Oh.
Felicity Jones would be a fresh choice.
Not Keira please. I’d like to see Evangeline lily
Unless they plan on making Cathy Ryan British they really need to stay away from Knightley. She does not do a good American accent.
I should clarify that Cathy Ryan is British in the books so if they cast Knightley they need to stick with that.
Yes, please! NOT Keira!
How about a great actress who isn’t Caucasian? As someone who is biracial, I get tired of seeing too much of my white half. XD
Ugh, I’m not familiar with Felicity Jones, but I really hope they don’t go with either Keira Knightly or Evangeline Lily. Neither is a very strong actress and Keira is so over exposed already. Too bad about Kate Beckinsale, she might have been good.
At 39, she’s way too old, particularly when Pine is barely 30.
So 50 year old George Clooney can date 30 year olds and they can’t cast a 39 year old as the wife of a 30 year old?
Get real…that’s so sexist…I’m over 40 and get hit on by younger men more than oler ones.
Have you seen Beckinsale? She could easily, easily pass for 30. Hell, she looks younger than Pine.
Give it to Freckles!
Kate Beckinsale is gorgeous, but too old for the role. I love Keira Knightly but think Felicity Jones would be perfect for this.
Good call. Felicity would be an amazing choice.
Oh, please, Knightley would knock it out of the park, what’s up with all the negativity ? She matured into a wonderful, versatile actress who clearly likes to challenge herself and is devoted to her profession MORE than her stardom…based on her recent career choices. After her big break back in 2003 (critically acclaimed indie hit ‘Bend it like Beckam’; international mega-hit ‘Love Actually’; well-reviewed smash ‘Pirates of the Caribbean : The Curse of the Black Pearl’), she probably could have gotten ANY female leads in ANY tentpole films, and she clearly wasn’t interested…she went for ‘little’ films and it paid off : Pride & Prejudice, Atonement, The Duchess, Never let me go, A Dangerous Method were all well-reviewed films that also established her as one of her generation’s best…that’s quite an accomplishment considering she started out as ‘that Pirate girl’.
She clearly hasn’t been into anything high-profile in the last few years, and when she was, she missed out on the roles (Captain America, The Dark Knight Rises, The Great Gatsby, My Fair Lady), so it would be great to see her back in a ‘big’ film. As impressive as her recent performances were, she NEEDS to have a BO-hit every few years to stay on the A-list…and seeing how rarely she is into those kind of films, hopefully she will pick moneymakers that are actually GOOD, as well.
adam isaacs. nice post doode. kind of obv. xo
Please! Keira Knightley is one of the most overrated and boring actresses in Hollywood, and her performances in the Pirates films were weak as hell.
I’m really rooting for Felicity Jones. She was beyond amazing in ‘Like Crazy’ last year and got a Sundance award for best actress for her performance in the movie. She so deserves a shot at being the lead in a big budget movie and get the notoriety she deserves
NO Keira Knightly PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Puhleeeze I beg of you – not Keira Knightley again. Pretty to look at, nice accent, but short on range.
Evangeline Lilly is great!! Ditto Michelle Moynihan and Zooey Deschanel!!
Felicity Jones is one of the most powerful actresses currently, regardless of generation.
She had 3 projects in the pipeline and is extremely creative …
She and Pine are extremely similar in terms of “they could write a screenplay and it would rock” . Watch LIKE CRAZY and you’ll get what I mean.
Knightley and Lilly are fine choices but Jones is about to blow up…..
Jennifer Lawrence
How about -
Nicole Beharie
Yaya Dacosta
Megan Goode
Daniele Watts
Wunmi Mosaku
Gabrielle Union
A step down if Keira, a step up if Evangeline. I have Anne Archer in my mind as the caliber of actress needed for this film(s); franchise feels a little long in the tooth to me compared to the Bond and Bourne films. Still, it wouldn’t hurt Evangeline’s film career.
I like Keira, but Evangeline would be so much better for this role. I really hope they offer it to Evangeline. If the character is British, Evangeline shouldn’t have too much problem with the accent, especially since she just finished shooting the Hobbit and had to adopt a British accent already.
Evangeline Lilly please!!!
Another vote for Evangeline – I would love to see her sass combine with Chris Pine’s!
Evangeline Lilly, please! The one and only choice, she’s amazing!
Okay, apparently Keira Knightley is a terrible actress who can’t pull this off but Evangelina Lily can? Not buying it. Knightley has far greater range than Lily (and if you can’t see that I’m assuming you haven’t seen any of her films since Pirates of the Caribbean) and is far better known internationally. Knightley is a brilliant choice, if they have any sense they’d cast her.
It’s Lilly, not Lily. And I disagree, Evangeline does have range and has a lot more charisma than Keira, who bores me most of the times. And being known internationally shouldn’t be that much of a factor, it makes no sense. There are good actresses out there, and they should be passed by just because of the big stars?
When you’re casting what you hope will be a blockbuster international reknown is absolutely factor.
I don’t think that casting Lilly would be awful, but I agree that she doesn’t have the brand recognition of Knightley.
The most interesting part of this article to me is that Jessical Biel and Kate Beckinsale passed it. WTF? How do you go from those two to Keira Knightley, Evangeline Lily, and Felicity Jones. Massive disconnect.
Is it something to do with Branagh taking over as director? The latter three selections sound like the kind of actressses he would pick while Beckinsale and Biel sound like studio choices.
Actually, Branagh would have likely picked Beckinsale as they have already worked together before on Much Ado About Nothing. Kate Beckinsale is a very good actress that has made too many bad choices. She’s also extremely intelligent and very good with action.
The three in the running are far more boring choices than Beckinsale. Biel, I can pass on her too.
Evangeline! She has the beauty, the skills and I believe she would have the best chemistry (which is something important to the viewers) with Chris Pine.
Please anyone but Evangeline Lily. She is a hypocrite and a ungrateful whiner.
She does not deserve any good roles after her comments on being an actress. Didn’t she also gave lots of interviews how she was going to quit acting for good after Lost was over? so much for that…
Why so serious? She said that years ago, and all she said was that acting wasn’t a passion, but more like work. What if she changed her mind? Just because of something she said years ago she’s now forbidden to act? You make no sense at all.
Since Beckinsale already refused, I would like to see Evangeline Lilly in this character.
Plus, Chris and Evangeline would look really cute together.