True Grit Needed to Grab the Role of Mattie Ross

Apart from having to cast an infant in Raising Arizona and boys with braces in Fargo and A Serious Man, having to cast a teenage girl is an official first for the Coen brothers. Earlier today, Deadline Hollywood put out the news that Hailee Steinfeld has effectively been plucked from obscurity and can add a Coen bros. film to her career resume. The teen beat out the equivalent to a near sold out show at Madison Square Garden for the role of Mattie Ross.

More faithful to the Charles Portis novel on which the original film was based, the remake would see Bridges take the role that John Wayne played and Matt Damon would take on the Glen Campbell role of a Texas Ranger tracking the outlaw. The story centers on a 14-year-old girl who tags along with an aging U.S. marshal, Rooster Cogburn, and another lawman (Jeff Bridges) to track the outlaw (Josh Brolin) who killed her father. The original told the story from Cogburn’s point of view, but the new version will work from the viewpoint of the girl.