HOLLYWOOD (CAP) - Producers announced today that Jessica Simpson, who played Daisy in the 2005 Dukes Of Hazzard movie, would be switching into the role of Boss Hogg for the upcoming sequel Hazard County, USA.
"We wanted to keep Jess' role switch a secret and surprise audiences when the movie came out," said executive producer Brian Glasston. "But, Jess is throwing herself into this, and people have started to notice the weight she's putting on for the role.
"We thought it best to just come out and tell people," added Glasston, "rather than have them scratching their eyes out after they look at her."
Joe Simpson, Jessica's father and manager, said this opportunity provides the singer a chance to be taken seriously as an actress. "If she can pull this off, it will be the greatest acting feat since Tom Cruise playing a hetero race car driver in Days of Thunder," he noted.
"It may not be Oscar material," Simpson said, "but it should at least be good enough for one of those stupid Golden Orb awards or something."
However, not all hard-core Dukes fans agree with Simpson's assessment, with many saying that Sorrell Booke, the original Boss Hogg, would be "rolling over in his grave" if he knew what Hollywood was trying to do with the character he made famous.
"Well, technically that would be impossible, because he barely fit into his plus-sized casket back when he passed in 1994," said Alex Frostrothes, president of the DOH Fan Club based in Alpharetta, Ga. "So there definitely wouldn't be room for him to roll over, but you get my point."
Frostrothes said that if Simpson actually does portray Boss Hogg in the next Dukes movie, "I am going to resign as president of the DOH Fan Club, bathe, put on clean clothes, move out of my parents' garage and get a job.
"Is that what you want, Jessica Simpson?" Frostrothes cried to no one in particular.
Stars of the Dukes franchise seem to be supportive of Simpson. Johnny Knoxville, who plays Luke Duke, admitted he'd been helping Simpson with her weight-gain efforts by enrolling her in a bacon-of-the-month club and by smashing her in the face repeatedly with cream pies. Sean William Scott, who plays Bo Duke, said that he hadn't seen Simpson since her binging began, but that he would be able to offer her "all the meat she could eat" to help out.
With this casting shift, the open role of Daisy Duke will reportedly go to Transformers actress Megan Fox, who, unlike Simpson, says she has never eaten an entire gross of Twinkies in one sitting.
Hazard County, USA is slated for a fall 2010 release, and will most likely be seen by no one.
- CAP News Staff