Rose Byrne Might Join the Annie Revival in the Role of Pepper

No. Not really. But she is in talks to play the role of Grace Farrell, Daddy Warbucks’ assistant who first sees Annie at Miss Hannigan’s orphanage and brings her home to the Warbucks estate for the holidays. Assuming she can sing, Byrne — who you may know from Bridesmaids, the 2004 box office hit Troy, or TV’s Damages — is the perfect casting choice for the kind and beautiful Miss Ferrell, who will play opposite of Jamie Foxx as Daddy Warbucks and Quvenzhane Wallis as the little orphan herself.

The big screen revival of Annie is getting more intriguing as it goes along. We know it’ll be set in present day rather than during the Great Depression (“We’d Like to Thank You, Big Banks and Wall Street“?). Cameron Diaz (puzzlingly) will be playing the drunk and supes horny Miss Hannigan and Quvenzhane Wallis is sure to be absolutely adorable in the titular role. Regardless of casting choices, it’ll be interesting to see how they’ll address the whole “sun will come out tomorrow” theme with a modern audience that has become increasingly cynical and drawn to sarcasm and irony.

I recently saw Annie on Broadway — my first time revisiting the musical since I was a kid — and here were some of my thoughts as a person existing in 2013:

We’re supposed to believe that Daddy Warbucks is some cool guy/millionaire who invites little orphan girls into his house out of the kindness of his heart like we’ve never seen an episode of SVU before.
I hope someday Annie can sit down with someone who will explain to her that it’s okay to be sad or angry sometimes and that her “grin and bear it” attitude could be very damaging to her in the long run.
No wonder Pepper is a bitch. SHE’S AGING OUT OF THE SYSTEM.

Anyway, the Annie revival is slated to come out Christmas Day, 2014. Can’t wait!