August 2017 Agency Moves, From Roseanne Barr and Missy Elliott to Three Up-and-Coming Actresses

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The Highlight Reel

• I grew up watching Roseanne Barr on her hit series Roseanne. She was completely unlike any other TV mom at the time, and she didn’t really care about being likable. She preferred to be honest, and that resonated with me. Barr may not be the A-list star she once was these days, but she still tells it like it is, and I’m rooting for the revival of her signature sitcom. Here’s hoping ICM finds a way to capitalize on her newfound momentum, because there’s no one I’d rather see make a comeback than Roseanne.
• Like Roseanne, Missy Elliott is a pioneer of sorts in her own right. The Grammy-winning artist is the bestselling female rapper in history, and not only has she managed to crossover into film and TV, but she has also taken other women under her wing and paved the way for their success. She just signed with WME, which should reinvigorate her career and help her write its next chapter.
• Not to be outdone, CAA signed Manchester by the Sea star Lucas Hedges, who will soon begin filming Joel Edgerton’s gay conversion therapy drama Boy Erased. The rising young star has three strong films on the horizon in Greta Gerwig’s directorial debut Lady Bird, Jonah Hill’s directorial debut Mid ’90s, and Martin McDonagh’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. And speaking of up-and-coming actors, Stephan James has booked the male lead in Barry Jenkins’ new film If Beale Street Could Talk. His turn as Jesse Owens in Race didn’t open as many doors for him as I hoped it might, but he rebounded with Shots Fired, and now Hollywood is finally paying attention. That’s a good thing, because we need more leading men of color. After all, Michael B. Jordan, John Boyega and Chadwick Boseman can only star in so many movies!
• Finally, CAA and WME signed a trio of up-and-coming actresses in Storm Reid, Grace Van Patten and Letitia Wright. Reid popped up in 12 Years a Slave and Blumhouse’s Sleight before landing the lead role in Ava DuVernay’s Disney movie A Wrinkle in Time. If that film is as big a hit as I suspect it will be, she’s in for a long career. Van Patten made quite an impression in the Netflix movie Tramps and she’ll soon be seen alongside Adam Sandler and Ben Stiller in Noah Baumbach’s The Meyerowitz Stories, so I expect she’ll have a bright career ahead of her. And last but certainly not least, Wright is best known for starring on AMC’s Humans, but she’s about to become a major star with her upcoming turns in Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War and Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One. She also co-stars in a new Black Mirror episode titled “Black Museum” that will debut on Netflix later this year. These three talented women should keep their new agencies busy for the foreseeable future.

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 Jeff Sneider | Editor in Chief