Now that the DVD has been sitting on our shelf for more than a decade, we couldn't possibly picture "Moulin Rouge!" with anyone but Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman in the lead romantic roles. But during our 10th-anniversary retrospective on the film, and our interview with director Baz Luhrmann, MTV News unearthed the surprising news that they weren't the only actors being considered. In fact, Baz auditioned a veritable slew of Hollywood talent in his search for the perfect courtesan and her hopeless suitor.
And as a result, he's sitting on a treasure trove of footage of some of our favorite actors... singing.
"I saw everyone," Baz exclaimed. "I have audition material of people you wouldn't believe. And I know who can really sing."
For instance, among the surprise vocal powerhouses on those unreleased tapes: the late, great Heath Ledger.
"Dear Heath Ledger—incredible," Baz said, gushing over the actor's singing abilities. Sadly, Heath didn't make the cut when the nature of the role changed; Baz explained that "at one stage, Christian was very young, he was a younger guy," but that they eventually opted to take the character in a more mature direction. Which is too bad! Because as fabulous as Ewan was, the list of early contenders to play Christian reads like a Who's Who of Young Hollywood hotties—including none other than Heath Ledger's "Brokeback Mountain" costar Jake Gyllenhaal.
"He's a wonderful actor with a great voice, a tremendous voice," Baz said of Jake. "Jake should do a musical."
Well, of COURSE he should. Big screen stars on Broadway are one of our favorite things! And really, you can only go ogle Daniel Radcliffe in "How to Succeed in Business" so many times before you start yearning for some fresh, musical meat. Let's make it happen!
Which musical role would you want to see Jake play?
** Hollywood Crush Twitter