It was just announced that Houston's favorite nerd, Jim Parsons, will return to Broadway this coming spring. Parsons, who made his big stage debut this past year in Larry Kramer's The Normal Heart, will now take on the lead role in the Pulitzer Prize winning play Harvey.
Harvey is about a seemingly nutty, eccentric who claims to have befriended a 6-foot imaginary rabbit. The play was made into a movie in 1950 and made famous by the brilliant acting of Jimmy Stewart. Parsons certainly has some big shoes to fill.
The other actor that has big shoes to fill is whoever takes on the role of Harvey! Portraying an invisible, over-sized hare is no small feat. While most likely no one will play this imaginary character, we bet there are a few actors out there that could take Harvey head on.
For your consideration, may we suggest our top five actors who could easily play the famous, make-believe bunny.
Dolph Lundgren
Why Dolph Lundgren? Because he's totally back! With last year's Expendables and its upcoming sequel, as well as the so-very-long-awaited Universal Soldier 2, Dolph has returned to form. The bigger reason is Dolph's perfect stature. The guy is allegedly six foot five and his pale complexion would make him the perfect "white rabbit." Plus, how hilarious would it be to see him dressed up in one of those feety bunny suits?
Christian Bale
Christian Bale is a gifted performer and employs method acting to obscene levels. Remember The Machinist, where Bale dropped an alleged 60 pounds to play the emotionally and sustenance-starved title character? What a challenge it would be for him to take on the part of an invisible rabbit! We imagine he would eat nothing but carrots and move to a meadow in preparation for the part, maybe he would experiment with different camouflage skin treatments. Also, given the role has no speaking lines, it would not give him any reason to scream at production assistants.
Michael Jordan Aside from being the perfect height for Harvey, Mike has previous bunny experience. He is very familiar with the ways of this breed. If you recall Mike taught Bugs Bunny a thing or two about playing basketball against aliens in the 1996 classic film Space Jam. If he has any problems learning the way of the bunny, he can always ask his good rabbit pal to show him "what's up."
The guy who played Powder in the movie Powder
Powder was a movie about an albino teen whose brain possesses a powerful electromagnetic charge that causes electrical objects to function abnormally when he is around them, as well as when he becomes emotional. He also has the ability to read people's thoughts, which would make imaginary conversations much easier through telepathy. His milky complexion and overall good looks would fit the bill for Harvey, you just have to make sure that he never gets upset during the play or he may kill you.
Keanu Reeves
Since we are looking for someone to just blend in and not make too much of a splash, someone who can basically just stand there and not do anything or really act with any caliber, but have the ability to stare blankly at the audience; Keanu might truly be able to handle this character.
