Variety magazine is reporting that Mischa Barton will star in the upcoming "Russian coming-of-age drama" Finding t.A.T.u., which is all about--you guessed it--the faux lesbian girl band of the same name. Barton has played queer/queer friendly before, in Once and Again, The O.C. and Lost and Delirious, respectively. And if that's not enough proof that she's well-suited for Finding t.A.T.u., note this photo of her butching it up with a basketball, sports jersey, and, um, a miniskirt.
Here's the lowdown on the film per Wikipedia:
"The story is based on actual events, but the story is derived from the book t.A.T.u. Come Back, not a direct interpretation. Set against a background of music, internet chatrooms and hedonistic Moscow nightlife, the story follows friendless American teenager Janie Sawyer who is trying to escape her lonely life in Moscow through her love of music. Janie meets Lana Starkova in a fansite for the popular pop-band t.A.T.u. Trapped in a provincial Russian town, Lana is desperate to flee her mundane life and the two girls develop an instant connection. Their trip to a t.A.T.u. concert becomes the catalyst for a series of adventures that will not only test their newfound friendship, but also their ideals and aspirations."
The film will be helmed by formerly respected director Roland
Joffé, best known for the Academy Award-winning The Killing Fields as well as a little gem called Goodbye Lover (starring Ellen DeGeneres and Patricia "Should Have Been On the AfterEllen.com Hot 100 list" Arquette).
Remember t.A.T.u.? Here's a pic of them in their heyday taking the whole "lipstick lesbian" thing way too literally.

Yeah, they were designer imposter schoolgirl lesbians, but they were cute. In fact, they had my full attention with their video for "All the Things She Said," which I initially assumed was a gutsy stab at homophobia. But then I found out it was pretty much just Skinemax-ish "lesbian" erotica. Oh well.
Finding t.A.T.u. will be filmed in Moscow this summer and is slated for an October 2007 release.
Hmm...
A lesbian twist to "Katerina in the City"?
True glory consists in doing what deserves to be written and writing what deserves to be read.
Barton...
don't forget...
word!
what?
Oh Mischa
when type-casting works
Best thing about Mischa besides her name is that she quit the OldCrap cuz how her character was gay/bi one epiaspde and straight the next. I like Mischa and I hope doing this film will enlighten her more. ;)
is it type-casting or tight-casting?
-Nathiest
Mischa's acting seems to
holy-product-placement-batman
holy-product-placement-batman
Sounds like a real stinker too. I mean, how many story arcs or seasons can be squeezed from the premise of a young woman in a new town, coming to grips with her sexuality? Hasn't South of Nowhere already got this covered? The only difference is the cultural isolation angle and the whole tATu thing. *shudders*
Wow.
Blah
Looking forward to this movie
I'm looking forward to this movie. I like Tatu, I've been following their career a bit, and I saw that they attended Moscow Gay Pride in May and supported it on their website and in interviews (which is a big deal seeing the rampant homophobia in Russia). Their message has always been: tolerance, acceptance, love who you want to love, simply be yourself. Their last album was great, same message: Don't conform, be who you want to be. That seems to be the message of this movie as well, and it's awesome that Mischa Barton plays a lead role. Go, Mischa! :) I hope it will be out on DVD. I heard there will be a soundtrack, too.
Patricia Arquette? not hot!
Sorry, but watching her in Medium every week - I can definately say she is far from hotness. She's even annoying.
However, Rosanna is a different story! ;)
Mischa can only act
Mischa can only act when her object of affection is a girl. And I'm not being biased.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
""My love life is terrible. The last time I was inside a woman was when I visited the Statue of Liberty."
I hear you there NorthernStar.
I hear you there NorthernStar.
Rosanna gets my vote over patricia every day.
and she was great as Cherie Jaffe in TLW
and i wonder how bi-curious miss barton actually is. i mean - is this 3 girl on girl roles now? surely not a coincidence :P
~I've been watching your world from afar, I've been trying to be where you are, I've been secretly falling apart...~
I have to say...
That Mischa defends young lesbian teenagers staunchly and certainly doesn't shy away from gay roles; not even the kind of roles that are aimed at the straight male viewer, but at the gay community. What is really interesting is that, she is so accepting of them, and I have to agree with the above comments: the girl is better when she's gay...
Perhaps she is simply more comfortable alongside Olivia, Piper etc (remember that little gem ladies?) but one must ask WHY she is so much more comfortable and clearly -
in her element
with the ladies....hmmm
Just a thought.
Misca and queer characters
thanks for expressing my thoughts
Mischa and queer characters
thanks for expressing my thoughts
......
all the things she said
I def agree with what stROKe
Don't know if...
I should be weirdly intrigued or terrified. Granted, I'm a secret lover of Tatu *pulls on cap of shame*, but I'm not sure if this type of movie would work or not. Sadly, I'll probably watch it either way.
well,
like Mic, i'll admit that i bought the album because of the lesbian premise... so i suppose i'll watch the movie for that same reason.
but i hope it's good.
:\
Sad isn't it?
oh
god, i know. but it was all we had. *sigh as well, also, additionally, too*
but that has changed now! now we have bands like tegan & sara and the ditty bops... where their sexuality is not a "marketing ploy," it's just who they are.
and that is quite nice. :]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Andre: Sh!t, Miss Mary, I ain't the only one who don't got no root.
Mary: Andre, we don't use profanity... or double negatives here at True Directions.
Amen
hallelujah.
damn straight.
hehe, i guess "straight" isn't the most opportune word.
...your user pic is making me sleepy. :]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Andre: Sh!t, Miss Mary, I ain't the only one who don't got no root.
Mary: Andre, we don't use profanity... or double negatives here at True Directions.
*laughing*
I get that a lot. It makes me sleepy too.
Yeah, straight would probably not be the most appropriate word. *wink*
*wink wink*
*nudge nudge*
yeah.
that's all i wanted to add.
gahd i must be bored.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Andre: Sh!t, Miss Mary, I ain't the only one who don't got no root.
Mary: Andre, we don't use profanity... or double negatives here at True Directions.
I have mixed feelings about
Her co-star
How come no one is talking about her co-star Dannielle Panabaker? She is really beautiful even though I've only seen her in Summerland.
Dannielle Panabaker
Danielle, Mischa and t.A.T.u.
I've never seen Danielle Panabaker in a movie or TV show, but I looked her up on imdb.com, and she has an impressive filmography for someone so young. Not to mention she looks beautiful. :) Can't wait to see her with Mischa Barton.
t.A.T.u. will mostly serve as a background for this storyline as far as I can tell, as an inspiration for these two girls who bond over their love for t.A.T.u. - I read that there will be t.A.T.u. concert performances, and the two protagonists will meet Lena and Julia, but this will mostly be a storyline about Janie Sawyer and Lana Starkova, and about Russia, I guess, though such a love story is certainly universal. I think this might very well turn out to be a very interesting and unusual movie.
yeah but