Repo! Director: Nobody Wanted To Cast Paris Hilton

From Bloody-Disgusting

As the casting process happened, they sat with loads of actors, actresses and singers, and at the end of it all Bousman assembled what many would consider a wet dream cast – except for one person; Paris Hilton. Hilton had been cast in a bold move that had people heads spinning. According to Bousman, and others involved, “I had to have the perfect cast and so the casting process is one of the most arduous, painful things that almost made me lose all of my hair. We met with numerous people for Amber. [She’s a] great actresses, an amazing actresses that I love and I still would love to work with, but none of them got it. None of them got what the movie was. And when Paris came in, it was crazy because… I’ll be honest; I was a disbeliever originally when the name got thrown out. Everyone has this idea of what Paris Hilton is, and when she walked into the room, she met with (producers) Mark, Carl and me and two seconds after she left the room Carl and I just nodded and said ‘That’s her, but can she sing? Can she do this kind of music?’ So I gave her a CD and I said ‘I want you come back’. The next day she comes in the room full of people like (music producer) Joe Bishara and these other guys, tattooed, pierced, complete Goth dudes.”

Producer, Mark Burg talks about casting Paris and how nobody wanted her, “There wasn’t a single person in the room that wanted to cast Paris Hilton,” Bousman explains, “Then once she came in, there was no one that was not 100% convinced she was Amber Sweet. Her voice in this is incredible.” With this bit of casting a new element was brought to the film that will (in due course) be a make or break move.

From: kevin
Time: November 2, 2007, 9:34 pm

She sure proved them wrong!

From: kevin
Time: November 3, 2007, 5:27 pm

Paris news has been very slow lately, on x17, tmz, perezhilton everything. Maybe she’s working non stop? Album? Can Can? Repo! Stuff? Promotions?

What is this girl up too?

From: admin
Time: November 3, 2007, 6:51 pm

Someone told me she’s in Japan at the moment.

From: Django
Time: November 4, 2007, 3:09 am

To be honest I’m starting to find all the “we didn’t want to cast Paris” stuff a bit annoying. It may be respectful to an extent to Paris the actress that she forced them to change their minds through sheer talent, but it just seems less respectful towards Paris the person. She is obviously thrilled to have been part of the project and likes to talk positively about the whole thing. Maybe it’s time these guys returned the love a bit, instead of hiding behind the “she’s not usually so great, but she just happened to be right for this role” schtick. Just my opinion.

From: juju
Time: November 4, 2007, 6:30 am

Django,

I agree. Now that they’ve addressed it once, it’s time to stop participating in making it an issue by apologizing for or explaining why they cast paris and just move on with creating positive buzz about the film. She has proven as always to be very loyal and they need to return that loyalty by cutting anyone off who continues to question her. They aren’t allowing their casting decisions for anyone else to be questioned and so it should be for Paris.

No other person is insulted like this. Once the roles are cast, there’s no second-guessing, especially by outsiders. Just make the movie and move on.

Time to show Paris the same respect everyone else associated with the film is getting.

From: david
Time: November 4, 2007, 11:10 am

I pretty much agree. Unfortunately, that’s the price she’ll have to pay for her prior behavior, both professionally, Bottoms Up, Pledge This, Hillz etc, poor box office for House of Wax, disappointing record sales, and personally, no need to go into it. Most people don’t take her seriously, including, if not, especially, industry people. Isn’t she “friends” with Brett Ratner? Well, he pretty much threw her under the bus when he tried to “explain” a “joke” he made about casting Paris in the Hefner movie. Some friend.

She’s going to need a couple of commercial and critical successes before she’s taken seriously, including by industry people. Accordingly, they will have to explain why they chose her for a movie so that people don’t dismiss it as a “Paris Hilton movie.” Same thing with her next album. They will either have to explain that although the sales disappointed, especially considering the amount of pr put into it, that it was a very good album, or they’ll have to explain why the second one is different than the first.

I do think that they could put a better spin on it. Instead of the “we didn’t like her either, but her audition was good.” They could simply state the predicate and not the subject. “We auditioned people, Paris was the best, and her performance on the set was fantastic. People will love her. etc.” No need to state that you didn’t want/like her b/f she auditioned.

To be blunt, even though they have to justify the Paris casting, the quotes above sound like somebody trying to explain their drunken hookup the night before. ” I know that she normally doesn’t look good, but last night at the party . . .” They owe Paris better than that.

From: admin
Time: November 4, 2007, 11:40 am

Very interesting comments. I agree with david about the albums and movies.

However, I think the main problem is that she doesn’t keep up the effort. She’s going to have to work a lot harder for the second album. I think she needs to connect with her fanbase. She needs to do performances and show that she is an artist.

It’s a lot of work, but it’s coming. And it’s just that it’s taking FOREVER.

From: juju
Time: November 5, 2007, 3:06 am

david,

I agree with most of your comments except the part about being the “price she has to pay” for past professional performances or personal issues.”

Respectfully, other people starting out in the industry who have made the same or worse professional moves or personal mistakes are NOT treated with such disrespect. At worse, a question about an issue may come up only once in a much more respectful manner, adressed and settled. Other people are not continually bombarded the way Paris has been harrassed and dismissed. The attitude towards her is caustic and maliticious. Frankly, I think it all comes back to the same thing; because her last name is Hilton.

Yes, she can silence her critics with some knock-out performances, but of course that will have to be academy award caliber – all the time. That is a lot to expect of any young actor and even still, if she did knock it out of the park, I think most people in the inudstry will never give her credit where credit is due. They will simply never give her the benefit of the doubt or see the positive in new performances the way they would for other new young talent, much less give honest recognition for a bona fide success, again, because of the spiteful response to her last name.

I also would not call a lot of her work thus far failures. I think the work is basically good, but people just refuse to give her any credit. She definitely has talent and is growing. Remember, Simple Life was a great show and had very high ratings, especially while on Fox. Still, people poo-poohed that because it’s a “reality show.” On E! it was one of their highest rated shows. Again, some people always choose to be not just negative, but hyper-critical and downright nasty.

We could talk forever about the socio-economic causes for that, but it’s still the bottomline. A lot of people are just vindictive towards her in a way they never are to anybody else in the industry. They can not get past her coming from a wealthy family.

I give her a lot of props, in fact it’s one of the reason I’m a big fan, because she shoulders far more than most people would ever have to and does so with infinite grace and integrity.

Cheers, can’t wait to see Hottie and Repo!

From: david
Time: November 5, 2007, 11:27 am

Juju,

I agree with some of what you say, but it’s a gigantic cop out, particularly if used by Paris or her camp, to fallback on the jealousy card. Paris has numerous image problems, some b/c she was treated unfairly. However, she has those problems. The producers of a project will therefore work to make certain that the project is a success and that means explaining, to the general public, not to her fans on this site who like her, why she is doing the project.

Paris’ problems, both image and professional (defined as actress/singer) is a result of her performance and behavior. I’m an atty in Silicon Valley and work with or represent people much wealthier than the Hilton’s or anyone in Hllywd (yes, I’m procrastinating badly this Monday morning 🙂 They don’t like Paris so much, especially the teenage-twentysomethings children of these people. Neither do most of my twenytsomething peers, especially the women that I work with. However, that’s b/c of what she’s done.

She’s had numerous professional projects that were tough to watch. If she wanted to practice acting, then she probably should’ve stayed with the small roles and maybe done some rep theater etc. Making movies for the world to see, with your name prominently attached, is not the way to practice. Having those movies commercially flop, go straight to dvd or limited release to dvd, and have Paris decline to support some of them is also not a method to career success. I’ll just say that the album was commercially light.

I don’t think that she needs to make the next Knocked Up or Bridget Jones or receive an Oscar nom. However, she needs something(s) that’s thought of as performing strongly $$$ and/or critically.

I also definitely hope that she doesn’t blame a backlash on her name and $$$. Her name didn’t cause her to get a dui. Her name didn’t cause her to use nigger and faggot. Her name didn’t cause her to park in handicapped spots. Her name didn’t cause her to make fun of jewish or asian people. Her name didn’t cause her to fall out of cars and bars and flash the world w/o underwear. Her name didn’t cause her to do a lot of other things. It’s not the name, it’s the behavior that have caused her problems and created a negative image of her.

A Newsweek article about 1 yr ago helped coin the phrase “prostitots” in reference to girls who emulated Paris or Britney. ( I don’t remember if it mentioned Lohan or Richie etc.) It referenced Paris’ behavior and not her name. It also criticized Britney, who didn’t grow up wealthy. I like Paris, sometimes in spite of her prior behavior. Other people dislike her because of her prior behavior. It has nothing to do with jealousy.

I do agree that she has sometimes been treated unfairly and has handled it with grace and character.

As far as the Simple Life goes, I agree that she was great in it. It helped a few of us get through the dog days of law school. However, most people, especially, enterainment industry people, do not consider a successful reality star as a talented performer. Most people view The Hills, Survivor, Simple Life, Big Brother, Real World, etc. as simply reality shows, no talent required. That’s probably why no one from Sunset Tan is getting a record deal.

In that sense, Paris’ name probably helped her career. (If she’s worried about envy, then she should probably change the name of her label from Heiress Records. It sounds like something her Daddy bought her or she inherited.) Some girl from the Hills is trying to become a singer. ( I don’t watch the show and don’t know her name, but TMZ made fun of her video the other day.) She’s having a hard time, and, as stated, is being mocked by the media. It’s not b/c of jealousy. I, nor most people, have ever heard of her or remember her name. Instead, it’s b/c people are wondering why a “reality” star is trying to do a record.

Actually, I think that some of Paris’ biggest issues in “crossing over” to actress/singer, are the tape, which hurt her more than Salomon probably even thought of, and the fact that she’s thought of as a reality star. Lohan seems to get more sympathetic press. I believe mostly b/c she’s seen as an “actress with talent.” The tone of the media is generally will she save her career. (Personally, I think she’s the female version of Mac Caulkin, aka a child star that doesn’t translate once they grow up. anyway) Even Weinstein stated that he’d still cast her. However, Paris is seen as the famous for being famous woman who parlayed a sex tape in to a reality show success and has “no real talent.” The media then use that against her. ( I think that the people who visit this site believe in her talent, myself included.)

Anyway, it’s obviously up to her if she wants to be taken seriously as an actress/singer. However, the producers of a project will do what it takes to make the project successful and, right now, that means they need to explain why Paris is doing the project. I just believe they could do it in a much nicer and more positive manner.

From: admin
Time: November 5, 2007, 12:07 pm

david,

I disagree with some of your comments. I don’t believe that people hate her because of her behavior. This is just an excuse to hide the real reason.

Normally, you’re not hated because you used the N word. The media and the haters over-exaggerated the whole race issue when in fact, it was nothing serious. If those videos were made by someone else, people wouldn’t think it’s a big deal. Really, this is very true, and they want her to be a racist.

You have to remember that people like negativity and so they put more weight on the negative aspects. Almost on every celebrity news sites, it’s like that.

I think people don’t like her because she’s rich, pretty and famous. She is a very powerful person and is considered an IT girl. Of course, people are going to hate her. It is a natural feeling, unforunately, even though it’s wrong. They aren’t “directly” jealousy of her because they know they can’t be her, but a part of them wishes that they were her because they think she lives a better life.

Always remember that bad behavior will gain more attention and good behavior barely gets recognition. And no one is perfect.

However, I think it’s an interesting topic. I was thinking about making a section about this “Why Paris Hilton is hatred.” I’ll think about it.

From: david
Time: November 5, 2007, 2:17 pm

Huge cop out. There is some envy, but most of it is purely behavior. Brandon Davis, long before the videos came out, went public stating that he disliked Paris’ use of the n word. It doesn’t necessarily mean you’re a racist, (if used accidentally, once or twice) but consequences normally follow. Dog Chapman just lost his television show because of his use the word nigger. Most people think that Paris actually got a free ride.

Also, how many other people from reality shows get record deals. I like her, but there’s no way on earth she would ever get a record deal w/o The Simple Life AND her last name. (See the girl trying to do it from the Hills.) Paris, her family, and her advisers, tried to play up her name and upbringing when she started. Her record label name, Heiress. Remember the tv show her parents had. The network pro’s wanted to use the name Hilton in the title b/c they thought that would help the ratings. It didn’t, but that was the thinking at the time. Her name was a plus.

Some people originally thought that her “bad” behavior would be good for her. The sexy image/clothing etc. Now, it may have gone overboard, when combined with the sex tape and the crotch shots, a lot of people, especially women, believe that all she had to sell was sex (and a reality show). That’s the reason for their opinion of her. It has nothing to do with her last name.

Additionally, some people think that b/c of Bottoms Up Pledge This, etc. that she can’t act. How’s that envy? By people, I mean entertainment execs, because very few other people have actually heard of these movies.

Most of the people that I know dislike her BEHAVIOR. Her sentence came up during lunch while she was in jail during the height of its publicity. I mentioned the unfairness of her sentence with some lawyers (young and old, black, white, and asian, male and female) and secretaries in my office at the time. Most of them had no use for Paris, and agreed that the sentence was, legally, too harsh. They still “wished” that she could’ve gotten 45 MONTHS. They mentioned her behavior and overexposure. They just wanted her to go away for both reasons. It had nothing to do with her wealth.

As stated, some of the Silicon Valley people are actually much richer than the Hilton’s and dislike her. (1 or 2 billion dollars isn’t what it used to be.) Her negative image has cut across socioeconomic lines. It has to do with the crotch shots, the use of the n word, the overexposure, the parking in handicapped spaces, the dui, etc. They don’t want to be like her or have their daughters behave like her.

Let’s be serious, she’s not that powerful. No major American company uses her in commercials. Macy’s runs an ad with Jessica Simpson, P. Diddy, Martha Stewart, but no Paris, despite carrying her line. She’s booed at the Scream Awards, mocked on Letterman, etc. I like her, but powerful is not what comes to mind when I think of Paris. Funny on the Simple Life, yes. Pretty good album, yes. Powerful, no.

She hasn’t proven the ability to sell movie tickets or albums en masse. Political candidates run from her. About 5 people showed up at a rally to pardon her. Bill Clinton just had a summit in NYC on alleviating world poverty. It’s called the Clinton Global Inititative. I believe that it was the same day/week that Paris was in NYC for Letterman. Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, U2’s Bono, etc. attended and spoke, not Paris. Rich, funny, smart and beautiful? YES. Powerful? um . . . well.

I don’t want to be so negative. She is beautiful, smart, funny and strong. She’s put up with a lot and perservered. I really like her and some of her work, particularly The Simple Life (the early years). It might be hard to tell when this subject comes up, that is, why she is disliked. But, that’s because, to me, it seems a bit self-serving to say that Paris is disliked b/c she’s pretty and rich.

Princess Diana was pretty and rich and liked. Angelina Jolie had a rough few years in the press in her early 20’s and went on to overcome it. However, she worked hard to overcome it. Additionally, the bad press was due to her behavior. An example of a “non-wealthy” person receiving bad press too, but she didn’t go to the jealousy card. She, at least, publicly, changed her behavior, which is what Paris is trying to do.

Finally, I also think that b/c she’s viewed as a reality star and an heiress, she is therefore viewed as untalented, unlike Lohan. That part may not be fair, but most people don’t view “reality stars” as talented.

Not sure why this subject is interesting, it’s now actually lunchtime and I’m typing this (very quickly, forgive or excuse too many typos.). I also don’t want to sound to harsh to either Paris or you. However, it’s such a HUUUGGGGEE cop out to say, she’ pretty and rich, so she’s disliked, as if it’s everyone else’s fault and has nothing to do with things like a dui or her other behavior . She just needs to behave in a more mature and thoughtful manner, which she seems to be attempting, currently.

Done, I’m now going to leave this one alone. Bring on Repo.

From: juju
Time: November 6, 2007, 4:13 am

admin,

one thing please…i just spent an more than an hour or so on a point-by-point reply to the last post and hit sumit. seems the required code i entered was wrong and was asked to try again. okay sorry not sure how i typed the code wrong, but i guess i did. but of course, real problem, lis that I lost the whole post. no way i can retype all that….from memory. so can you change it so that when we need to retype a code, our post is not lost?

thanks!!!

From: rachel
Time: November 6, 2007, 1:39 pm

I pretty much agree with David’s original point. The producers need to justify her role. I don’t think it’s that much different than a comedian who has to convince the audience to go see his new dramatic film or the action star who has to sell the masses on his comedy. This is not what Paris is known for so they have to explain it. They should just do as David states in the first post and say that “she was great in the auditions, earned the role, and performed great in it. Go see it.” End of story. Don’t feed in to the “we agree with you, she shouldn’t be her and we didn’t even want her to come to the audition crap”

She seems really excited about Repo, seems like she worked hard on it, and should get to enjoy it. That’s one reason why I felt bad for her on Letterman. She seemed so happy to walk out on stage and was chatty with Letterman and then he bombarded her with questions that she clearly didn’t want to answer. Seemed unfair and hurtful, but she handled it well.

Also, this made me think of what I consider is really unfair to Paris. It seems like Hollywood’s new hobby or method to promote a project is to bash Paris. It used to be that actors, who were normally very private, would come out and talk about their abusive childhood or substance abuse problems or whatever else they felt could get them attention anytime they really needed to publicize a project. Now, it seems like they bash Paris b/c no one will think badly about them doing it and it assures them press. I felt badly when Paris praised Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie and then a mag article, at about the same time, with Pitt, who had a movie coming out, quoted him as calling Paris “blissfully oblivious” etc. That guy from the Foo Fighters was particularly nasty and he had an album coming out, and Reese Witherspoon said something that was linked here and she had a movie about to come out, etc. They should stop picking on her, certainly if it’s only to promote her movie.

Admin-I don’t think that it would be such a good idea to have a forum/discussion on “why Paris is so hated?” While it might be interesting, it doesn’t seem that nice to Paris, whether she ever sees it or not.

From: rachel
Time: November 6, 2007, 1:52 pm

Admin- I agree with Juju. I’ve lost posts on here b/f and then didn’t feel like re-typing another one. Is there anyway, that’s not too time-consuming for you or too expensive, to allow for posts not to be lost?

Also, an edit button would enhance the comments section.
In my above post, near the end, I meant to write if it’s only to promote “their” movie instead of “her” movie. Not a big deal, but it would be nice.

The site’s great. Keep up the good work.

From: admin
Time: November 6, 2007, 5:10 pm

I have saved all your comments on a notepad, and one day I will reexamine all your arguments and think about the “hate” section. I’m trying to move the website in another direction and concentrate more on Paris Hilton and her projects, but the haters are still an important issue.

About the lost posts, (I’m very sorry if that happened, and it’s not the first time I hear about this), I didn’t write this script, but I promise I’m going to research about it and try to find a solution. I know how frustrating it is when you lose a long post!

I usually recommend that you always “Select All” and “Copy C” your comments beforing posting them, even when you sent emails. I just think it’s a useful tip.

BTW, thanks for all your comments. I read all of them and learn a lot from them!