Tobey Maguire Joins Kate Winslet & Josh Brolin In Jason Reitman’s ‘Labor Day’; Won't Appear In 'Life Of Pi'

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by Edward Davis
July 11, 2012 5:03 PM
5 Comments

Tobey Maguire's career in recent years resembles a guy who won the lottery. Between 2002 and 2007, the period of the three Sam Raimi-led "Spider-Man" films, the now-37-year-old actor only worked on two films in between the trilogy -- "Seabiscuit" and the supporting role in "The Good German." Post "Spider-Man 3," the actor has all of three credits on screen. The voice work he did for "Beyond All Boundaries," his severely underrated performance in Jim Sheridan's "Brothers" and "The Details," a Weinstein Company indie that was shown at Sundance in 2011 which the studio is apparently releasing this fall via their VOD Radius shingle.

The long and short is that the married actor and father of two kids has taken it extremely easy since he became "Spider-Man,"even long after he passed on the torch to Andrew Garfield. But a surprise role has turned up. While it's already deep into production, Deadline reports that Maguire has joined the cast of Jason Reitman's "Labor Day" starring Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin. Co-starring J.K. Simmons, James Van Der Beek, Clark Gregg, Micah Fowler, Brooke Smith, Gattlin Griffith, Alexie Gilmore, Tom Lipinski and Brighid Fleming, the film is a Reitman-written adaptation of Joyce Maynard's novel.

"Labor Day" focuses on a thirteen year old boy from New Hampshire who learns valuable life lessons over a five-day Labor Day weekend when his mother (Winslet) inadvertently offers a ride to a wounded, escaped convict (Brolin). Maguire will play the adult version of the boy, and the actor will also narrate the film. "Labor Day" began shooting in early June in Massachusetts and presumably Maguire showed up to shoot a few simple scenes near the end. Next up for the actor is Baz Luhrmann's 3D-adaptation of "The Great Gatsby," but despite reports Maguire will not appear in Ang Lee's 3D version of "Life Of Pi."

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More: Tobey Maguire, Labor Day, Jason Reitman, Life Of Pi

5 Comments

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jingmei | July 11, 2012 10:48 PMReply

I used to like him a lot. Maybe his narrating Labor Day is gonna remind his narrating of Spider-man.
OOGLE MONSTER | July 11, 2012 10:25 PMReply

He was great in Brothers, regardless of what those nuggets say below (above?) me. I wonder what character he's playing in Labor Day. My guess is, Reitman probably expanded the roles from the original text or added new characters because all of the main roles have been cast (including the father who isn't so much a main role but is probably the only other meaty role if we're looking at supporting players). I have a special spot for this novel, so I'm eager anticipating it's release. For McGuire to be lured into doing this film, there had to have been a good role waiting for him... hmmm... someone, theorize!
Oogle monster | July 11, 2012 10:29 PM

Ah shit, I skimmed the part where you guys mentioned what role he's playing. That's interesting he will play the adult version. In the novel, he is only shown as an adult in the last chapter or two (although he narrates the entire novel). Anyone else think it's funny/cool/interesting that Maguire is playing 2 characters (Nick Carraway and Henry from Labor Day) who both serve as our unreliable narrators..?
Ryan Sartor | July 11, 2012 6:28 PMReply

I like early-Maguire a lot ("Pleasantville," "Wonder Boys," "The Ice Storm"), but I did think that his performance in "Brothers" was pretty goofy. It's interesting to hear it defended, though. I hope "Labor Day" gets him attention and more roles.
Liz | July 11, 2012 6:41 PM

I thought he was downright abysmal in Brothers. Whenever I hear people praise that performance, I begin to wonder if I somehow saw a completely different movie.