NBC has found its Captain Hook in Christopher Walken! The network announced the news that the veteran actor would partake in their upcoming live musical version of Peter Pan on Saturday.
The upcoming live performance of Peter Pan the musical marks the follow up to NBC’s first crack at airing a live musical production, following their version of The Sound of Music which starred country crooner, Carrie Underwood and True Blood‘s Stephen Moyer.
Walken, who is no stranger to musicals, spoke briefly of his upcoming role, saying he was excited to reunite with Hairspray producers Neil Meron and Craig Zadan.
“I started my career in musicals and it’s wonderful after all this time, at this point in my career, to be in this classical musical I watched as a child and to work with Neil Meron and Craig Zadan again after ‘Hairspray’. It’s a chance to put on my tap shoes again.” said Walken.
NBC entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt also spoke briefly of Walken joining the cast saying, “He’s one of the most unique actors in our business.”
Greenblatt also teased a bit of what fans may expect of Walken’s version of Captain Hook in the upcoming musical saying, “He might really just be a song and dance man at heart…this might be the first tap dancing Captain Hook you’ve ever seen.”
While NBC’s version of Peter Pan may have found its lost boy-hating villain, the network is still on the hunt for an actress to play the coveted role of Peter himself — a role that may have gone to Kristen Bell, who recently lent her voice to Disney’s Frozen, had it not been for scheduling conflicts.
“We were talking about doing it with a man at one point, but we’ve had several women who wanted to do it and they’re either busy or their schedules don’t work. It’s not like we can film this at any time — I need this person from August 5 through December 5, so that knocks out the Kristen Bells of the world,” Greenblatt said. “[Kristen] was somebody I talked to about doing it and she was interested but she’s doing ‘House of Lies.'”
Despite scheduling snags, Greenblatt assures that they’re “close” to finding a lead and that in the tradition of the Broadway musical, fans can expect to see a female Peter.
Based on the beloved children’s book by J.M. Barrie and originally adapted for Broadway in 1954, NBC’s upcoming version of Peter Pan is set to air live on NBC on December 4, 2014.