Carmen Maura Replaces Javier Bardem In Tetro

It appears Javier will no longer have a place in Francis Ford Coppola’s Tetro. We get the news today from our friends at comingsoon:

The Hollywood Reporter says that Carmen Maura is replacing fellow Spaniard Javier Bardem in Francis Ford Coppola’s family drama Tetro. Coppola said his rewrite of the pivotal role came during rehearsals for the film’s 11-week shoot, which began March 31 in Buenos Aires.

The director often changes key elements of his script before and during filming, he said, but according to another person involved in the deal, Bardem “became unavailable” for the project and is reading drafts of the script for his starring role in Rob Marshall’s Nine, which begins shooting in September. Maura will play a literary critic and mentor to Tetro, whose younger brother (Alden Ehrenreich) searches for him in Argentina’s capital city.

Before No Country For Old Men, I had no idea who Javier Bardem was. His Oscar winning performance was amazing, and his character was added to the villains hall of fame. I am now unable to forget this man, he haunts me when I sleep and often when I am taking a piss – I feel his breath on my neck.

I look forward to seeing Javier in future projects and think it is a shame that he had to bail and/or get bumped from this Coppola picture. The good news is that he will be in the upcoming Woody Allen film Vicky Cristina Barcelona. That one looks like it may be a zinger and I am certainly excited to see it.

It is interesting that the role Javier was set to play has been re-written for an actress. Rather than just getting another same sex actor Coppola has altered the script to tailor a character for Carmen Maura. I hope in the special features of the DVD they discuss the script alteration and divulge the degree of change the film underwent because of this decision.