News > Johnny Depp to Start Up Rum Diaries

Casting announcements are in for Hunter S. Thompson's Rum Diaries which is being adapted into a movie starring Johnny Depp.  Depp being no stranger to the Gonzo world will be re-engulfing himself in the strange and depraved world that Thompson brings to life.  According to the casting call puyt up by thebadandugly.com they are looking for someone to play the role of Cheanult.

The casting call is for Chenault, the love interest in The Rum Diary, who - from the casting info - seems to just be walking sex:

    THE RUM DIARY (One Role) Feature Film
    PRODUCTION COMPANIES: GK FILMS & INFINITUM NIHIL
    UNION: SAG
    Writer/Director: Bruce Robinson Based on the novel by Hunter S. Thompson
    Casting Director: Denise Chamian
    Casting Associate: Angela Demo
    NY Casting Associate: Julie Schubert
    Sounds steamy….

    Casting Assistant: Krysti Charron

    Start Date: March 2009

    SUBMIT JULIE SCHUBERT TEL: XXX-XXX-XXXX

    [PAUL KEMP] -Johnny Depp

    SEEKING: [CHENAULT] A beautiful, 25 year old, translucent vision from Connecticut, with a killer smile and a wry, enigmatic personality, she wears barely-there sarongs, sunbathes nude, and oozes sexuality in everything she does. She enchants and mesmerizes Kemp from the moment they meet: while both escaping a tedious, high-end party. Chenault is dating and possibly engaged to Sanderson, but clearly feels an attraction to Kemp. She’s a daredevil who loves to dance and drive fast. She gets into big trouble with a lust-crazed, violent crowd during Carnival in St. Thomas. .. LEAD. This role contains nudity.

    STORY LINE: 1960: Divorced alcoholic and struggling novelist PAUL KEMP decides to kick around San Juan until his ship comes in, working as a journalist for a daily newspaper that’s on its last legs, drinking gallons of rum and experimenting with LSD. With his new friend BOB SALA by his side, he becomes entangled in a corrupt hotel development scheme with a slick PR consultant named SANDERSON, and falls in love with Sanderson’s unattainable girlfriend, CHENAULT. . .

Paul Kemp is one of the alter egos of 22-year-old Hunter S. Thompson, and the one that Johnny Depp will be inhabiting for the film (Johnny Depp as 22? We’ll worry about that later).

Word on the production street is that Krysti Charron, the casting assistant is partial to Keira Knightley and Scarlett Johannson, but readings for this role will probably include a swath of relatively unknowns.

No one has yet been cast, but when they are, expect The Rum Diary to start spinning it’s wheels.