Stanley Tucci Will Join Cher and Christina Aguilera in 'Burlesque'

Variety reports that Stanley Tucci is set to star alongside Cher and Christina Aguilera in "Burlesque."

Cher has officially signed on to star alongside Christina Aguilera in the Screen Gems' movie musical "Burlesque". The Oscar winning singer/actress will be playing the owner of the burlesque club where Aguilera's character works.

Christina Aguilera is set to make her big screen debut with the film, which will be directed by Steve Antin, the brother of Pussycat Dolls founder Robin Antin. Antin wrote the script, which was revised by "Erin Brockovich" writer Susannah Grant, with Aguilera in mind.

While her voice has been heard in many films, "Burlesque" will mark the first time Cher will be seen singing in a film she stars in, Variety reports. Cher last starred in "Tea With Mussolini" in 1999.

The movie is a contemporary musical about "an ambitious smalltown girl with a big voice who finds love, family and success in a Los Angeles neo-burlesque club." Cher's character will serve as Aguilera's mentor in the film. Donald De Line is producing through his De Line Pictures banner. Production begins Nov. 9, and the pic is set for a Thanksgiving release next year.

Tucci, a star of stage and screen, won an Emmy for his guest-starring role on USA's Monk in 2007 and played Dr. Kevin Moretti on ER's 14th season. He was nominated for a Best Actor Tony for the 2002 revival of Terrence McNally's Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune. Tucci has also appeared in such films as The Devil Wears Prada, Big Night, The Terminal, and Maid in Manhattan. Later this year, he will play husband to Julia Child (Prada co-star Meryl Streep) in Julie and Julia and will appear in Peter Jackson's adaptation of The Lovely Bones.

Tucci, no stranger to the theater, has appeared in many plays including Frankie and Johnny at the Claire de Lune, Execution of Hope, The Iceman Cometh, Brighton Beach Memoirs and The Misanthrope. He has also performed in a number of Off-Broadway plays, at Yale Repertory Theater and SUNY Purchase, where he first studied acting.

In addition to his accomplishments in movies last year, Stanley was also nominated for an Emmy for his guest role as Dr. Moretti on "ER." In 2007, his appearance on "Monk," received critical attention as well as an Emmy Award in The category of Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series.

Tucci's multiple talents have led to a very diverse career. Not only an accomplished and gifted actor, he is also a writer, director and producer. At last year's Sundance Film Festival, Stanley premiered the film Blind Date, which after seven years, brought him once again behind the camera, as he has directed and co-wrote, as well as starred in the Van Gogh remake of this film.

Aguilera has won four Grammy Awards, a Latin Grammy and has sold more than 25 million albums, but she has never starred in a motion picture. The singer did lend her voIce To Dreamwork's animated film "Shark Tale."

Cher, The indestructible diva, is currently starring in a song-and-dance concert spectacle starting at the 4,100-seat Colosseum in Las Vegas Caesars Palace. Cher, 61, presents a "visually unbelievable" hit parade that entails elaborate choreography, complex staging, eye-popping costumes, 14 dancers and four aerialists. Bob Mackie designed all the costumes.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.

To post a comment, you must register and login.