IGN.com reports that Monty Python and Fawlty Towers alumnus John Cleese — who has lately taken bit parts and supporting roles in the James Bond, Harry Potter, Charlie’s Angels and Pink Panther movies, among others — has joined the cast of Scott Derrickson’s remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still:
Cleese will play physicist Dr. Barnhardt, a Nobel Prize laureate who plays a key part in figuring out the mission and meaning of the arrival of the alien Klaatu [played by Keanu Reeves].
The part of Prof. Jacob Barnhardt was played in the original film by Sam Jaffe, and his performance has often been interpreted as a riff of sorts on Albert Einstein, who was still alive at the time. Presumably Cleese’s take on the character will be a little… different.
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