LONDON (Reuters) – Stuck at home with the kids? Meryl Streep, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Cate Blanchett may be able to help.
Artwork of the “Roald Dahl – James and the Giant Peach with Taika Waititi and Friends” fundraising storytelling series is seen in this undated handout illustration provided by The Roald Dahl Story Company 2020/Quentin Blake /Handout via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. MANDATORY CREDIT. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY IN REPORTING ON ? ‘JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH’. IMAGE MUST BE USED IN ITS ENTIRETY – NO CROPPING OR OTHER MODIFICATIONS. NO NEW USAGE USE AFTER 2359 GMT ON DECEMBER 31, 2020. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES
Oscar-winning New Zealand filmmaker Taika Waititi has lined up some of his Hollywood friends by videolink from their living rooms for a coronavirus lockdown charity reading of Roald Dahl’s classic “James and the Giant Peach”.
Waititi, director of “Jojo Rabbit” and “Thor: Ragnarok”, reads the British author’s 1961 children’s novel while his friends chime in, voicing characters and having fun.
Cynthia Erivo, Beanie Feldstein, Josh Gad, Mindy Kaling, Gordon Ramsay, Eddie Redmayne, Olivia Wilde, Ruth Wilson and Archie Yates are among the cast.
In trailers released on Monday, Chris Hemsworth boasts of his “loveliness” to his sceptical brother, “The Hunger Games” star Liam, in what is billed as their first performance together.
Streep’s silly voices are among the highlights, earning a laugh from Cumberbatch.
The novel will be read in 10 instalments, with the first two available from Monday on the Roald Dahl YouTube channel. Funds raised will go to Partners In Health, a charity for maternal health in Sierra Leone.
Waititi described himself as “an adult child myself”, who has read the book many times to his daughters.
It is about an orphan boy’s adventures in a surreal magical world inside a giant peach, and Waititi says it is the perfect story for our locked down times.
“This wacky, wonderful tale is about resilience in children, triumph over adversity and dealing with a sense of isolation which couldn’t been more relevant today,” he said.
Reporting by Peter Graff; Editing by Mike Collett-White