Fun stuff - "Casting" the Movie (hypothetically)

[Ari]

storycasting.com
You can "cast" imaginary film adaptations of your favorite books.
I don't know if a lot of people are aware of this website, but it's a lot of fun to think about what actors or actresses you would cast in the roles from favored books. More importantly, why cast that person over another? I've had a lot of fun casting my favorite books the last few weeks, but I seem to be the only person to have cast Poison Study or Magic Study (Fire Study isn't available). I would love to see who other people cast, so give it a try!!

[A]

OOOooooh! Fun! I always cast famous people in my head when I'm reading, although Yelena is often yours truly. ;) Thanks for the link, Tina!

[Liz]

I was thinking aboout this just last night. So I am curious, who would you cast as Yelena and Valek?

[Ari]

I've had a hard time with Valek and the commander. There don't seem to be any actors that come close to how I picture them in my head. Currently I have Emmy Rossum (her skin is to pale, but I like her) as Yelena but i've been thinking about changing it to Brenda Song. What do other people think?

[Liz]

Is Brenda Song from the Disney channel? lol sorry I'm not good with names. I think Yelena has to be an unknown medium to dark skinned green eyed girl though. Who has nice green eyes in Hollywood and could get a tan? Hard to picture someone like that. As for Valek, he has to be rugged and manly... GerrrrrARRRRd Butler (300) or Clive Owen with less scars somehow lol. I totally pictured them while I read the Study books. Sometimes each individually, interchangeably, or an awesome hot combined version of them. =) This game is fun!

[A]

I think whoever is Yelena has to be not-quite pretty. I know it drives a lot of people crazy that Emma Watson is too pretty to be Hermione, who's supposed to be geeky and frizzy all the time!

My all-time favorite pick for Valek would have to be James McAvoy. But then he's my favorite for just about every guy.

What colors are Ari and Janco's hair again? I can't separate them in my mind, have to read the books again!

[A]

Oooh! re-cast. I don't know how to add actors who aren't in the database yet and I'm supposed to be studying art history so I'll figure it out some other day. But here's another Valek possibility:



Mark Heap from Spaced. He's got the granite-face down pat.

[Lexie]

Alethea-- James McAvoy for the win every single time.

For Yelena? Is it bad that I was always picturing Jessica Alba as Yelena? Especially Dark Angel Jessica Alba. I know the eye color is wrong though. Morena Baccarin is another favorite of mine, but she's definately too pretty for the part.

I'd really like to have David Tennant or John Barrowman find their way into the universe somehow. (as Ari and Janco? dye their hair...)

I think the Commander would be really hard. You need a guy/girl who isn't very pretty, but still delicate in face.

No wait what about James Marsters for Valek? I think he has the right 'face' for it (angular, but attractive). Wonder how he looks with long hair?

[A]

Oooh I love Morena Baccarin.

Commander Ambrose/Ambassador Signe is almost always Tilda Swinton in my head.



She's almost the right age (47 I think? and Commander Ambrose is supposed to be in 50's but very young-looking and tall and thin)

I keep thinking Ray Stevenson and Simon Woods should be in there somewhere, but I don't know who they'd be. Let's face it, I just like HBO's Rome and everyone in it.

[Lexie]

I am down with the cast of Rome being re-used for Poison Study. If the two who played Pulio and Veranis (sp?) weren't so old I would call them for Ari and Janco on the spot. Also James Purefoy is just made of fun, he can be Brazell I suppose. I can see him being Brazell for some reason.

[Emily]

Tilda Swinton would make an AWESOME Commander. Good pick Alethea!

I could see Jessica Alba as Yelena, too.

For me James McAvoy wouldn't work as Valek. He's too... British. Don't get me wrong - I love him. But, I'm thinking of someone a little bit tougher. I must ponder....

Will post later with awesome suggestion. :o)

[Jane]

Mmm... I think James Purefoy is too good looking to be Brazell, but he's definitely got that Antony attitude. ... Yeah, why don't we just throw in the whole cast of Rome?

There's no way I can imagine Brenda Song as Yelena-- the Disney stuff pushed her over the edge with the peppiness, but she does have the right skin color and hair I guess.

I think Clive Owen or JJ Field (Northanger Abbey, 2007) would be good for Valek.

[Lexie]

::starry eyes:: Oh gosh JJ Feild, how did I forget him? the man makes me go 'guhhhhh' with his smile and voice. I'm okay with him being Valek. I mean he's not classically handsome, Valek that is, but he's attractive and striking. I think JJ Feild manages that quite well in tight pants and a loose white see through lawn shirt especially

I pretty much ignore anyone who comes out of Disney lately. I think the last actress I liked was Christie Carlson Romano. I'm more of a Nickelodeon girl (can we fit Miranda Cosgrove in somehow? I love her. She's so snarky and smart and cute. I like Amanda Bynes too).

See I think James would be good because when he wants to look badass or sneaky or flat out EVIL he pulls it off with a charming flare. I think he would be a too good looking Brazell, but I think he'd pull off his oily personality rather well. S'long as we don't cast him as Mogkan I think I'd be happy however. Maybe one of the other MD leaders?

Who does everyone see as Moon Man?

[Peanut]

Alethea - SPOT ON for the Commander. That is too perfect.

I had never really pictured anyone for these characters.

[Ari]

I'm completely on board with Tilda Swinton for the commander, except for the fact that casting a woman for the part would give away the secret to people who haven't read the book. Choosing Brenda Song was all about the proper coloring (and working in day care where all I ever hear about is Disney Channel stars) but Jessica Alba would be good. How about Alan Rickman (aka Professor Severus Snape) for Brazell-he certainly has oily and creepy down pat after six movies as Snape?

[Lexie]

Tina--I always feel so guilty about seeing Alan Rickman as oily and creepy. I'm not sure why. Heh my main argument after Book 6 was 'Alan Rickman would NEVER do that!'

Tilda Swinton would be a good choice, definately striking and strong enough to pull off being male, but delicate enough to be a female. Maybe she can work under an assumed identity during the filming?

[A]

> Maybe she can work under an assumed identity during the filming?

Hey, I met enough people who were confused by Natalie Portman as Padmae and Queen Amidala in SW: Ep1 (even though there was a giant cardboard cutout of her as both characters with her name emblazoned all over it in front of the theater, there were still hundreds of gasps of surprise when they unveiled her alter ego at the end), I think it'll be fine with just her one identity!

[Lexie]

true I mean its not like anyone auto-assumed that John Travolta's role in Hairspray was suddenly changed to male because he was playing the role right?

[Ari]

Oh it's not that I see Alan Rickman as oily and creepy, I just think he has practice playing oily and creepy. I liked him just fine in Sense and Sensibility.
Does anyone have ideas about who to cast as some of the supporting characters in Magic Study? Irys, Roze, Leif, or Cahil mostly?

[Lexie]

Hands down I want Gina Torres for Irys. Ever since her first appearance, contrary to some stated details, I have seen Gina Torres as her. I can see Bianca Lawson as her though as well (but that might be because Bianca as Kendra in Buffy was very much the 'voice' I heard for Irys in my head).

For Cahil I was thinking Kevin Connolly (sp?) even though he might be a bit old for the part now (looks young though). He's from Entourage in case anyone wondered.

For some reason Roze has firmly been portrayed by Marina Sirtis, Deanna Troi from Star Trek The Next Generation. Possibly because I despised TV!Deanna (but loved Deanna in the Imzadi Forever book by Peter David) and I despised Roze from the get go.

[Ari]

Oh, I love Star Trek! I like Deanna, but I can see Marina being good as Roze. What about Roxann Dawson (B'Ellana Torres on Voyager)for Irys

[Lexie]

Hmm...I can see that. I liked B'Ellana a lot though I haven't seen the actress in anything else. She's very pretty though isn't she?

I think I like Gina or Bianca because I see Sitia as the Caribbean (what with the colorful clothing, warm climates etc etc).

[Jeanne]

What do you think about David Anders as Cahil? I thought of this as I was watching Heroes last night and I think he'd be a great Cahil.
(Well, maybe I only think this because I fell in love with him as Sark in Alias, so I think he would be great for a lot of roles. I want him in every movie/tv show... Sort of like James McAvoy. You can't go wrong with casting him in my opinion!)

[Jane]

David Anders... the one that plays Adam? He's like 35 years, right? I really like him, but I think he's too old for Cahil. Isn't Cahil like 20 years old or something?

Revise: Yikes, never mind. He's only a year older than me. I guess Anders could play Cahil, but for some weird reason, I think Cahil should be someone who looks like he can't handle a sword. Though, I just can't help but like Adam in Heroes regardless of his villain status, so that might be good for Cahil too.

[Lexie]

omg David Anders played Sark? dear lord no wonder I love the man XD Adam is just...so cute. in an evil indifferent sort of way.

i think he's be an interesting Cahil. lol Jane I'm not sure he can handle one--well I guess that's unfair since his time as Takezo was mostly him getting drunk...he looks more like one of those guys who is all talk and then says 'oh yes let's fight. Oh Bruno take care of him for me' and waits at the sidelines.

[Kristen]

I think David Anders would be perfect for Cahil, I think about the setting in the book and I think that he would look an aged 20 something year old and David definitely looks young for his age. He is so yummy.

[Jeanne]

(I'm glad I'm not the only one who likes David Anders.) The more I think about it, the more I think he'd make a good Cahil. He can totally pass for younger than he is.

I can't think of anyone good for Moon Man though.

[Kristen]

(I loved him in Alias and still do). I have no clue about Moon Man... I've got to work through the little stars I liked and remember.

[Lexie]

That's my issue, for a while I was just associating Buffy/Angel/Firefly stars with the characters in the book and J. August Richards was Moon Man for me, but now that I think about it he isn't the right choice. Maybe the Hatian (from Heroes)? (;-; my picture doesn't work!)

I really don't know why I am convinced Sitia is the Caribbean area...

[Jeanne]

Ooh! Pretty good. I pictured Moon Man as a little older than the guy who plays the Haitian, but otherwise I like that choice!
I pictured the Zaltanna area as that sort of an area too. The Caribbean. Probably because of the weather and the climate and the flora. But the desert area, not so much the Caribbean.

[Kristen]

That is a good choice! Kudos! I don't watch a lot of tv shows so I don't have a wide range to choose from in my head other than the big movie stars.

[Jane]

Ok... How's this for an idea: get the cast of Rome and mesh them with the cast of Heroes, and we pretty much have the cast for Poison Study. (except I still think JJ Field is still my number one choice for Valek)

[Jane]

Oh yes, a response for MVS weighing in about actors (a comment from one of the polls): I actually prefer her NOT to weigh in on the topic of which actors she prefers for the characters. (I think that was Stephenie Meyer's biggest mistake: by posting who her choices would be because that's one of the reasons why so many people were upset with the actual chosen actors.) I'd like to continue imagining who we'd want. It's like the same thing with having the picture of Yelena on some of the covers-- it takes away from the imagination a little. Of course, that's the publisher's choice. I'd rather it be a surprise if it ever becomes a movie.

[A]

Moon Man! My favorite.

Hey, how about Lance Reddick? You've seen him in Lost, The Wire, Fringe, etc.

http://www.imdb.com/media/rm296521523...

or

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Mr. Eko from Lost--although I think he's still too young.

Of course there's also Chiwetel Ejiofor--again, way too young.

I stick by my first choice.

[Lexie]

Well Moon Man's age isn't ever stated is it? (that's how long its been since I have laid hands on my books, I forget! I hate moving) Adewale is at least in his 30's right? I'm assuming the same for Chiwetel (okay these names are killing me) so that would fit what I 'saw' as Moon Man.

as a sidenote--Chiwetel needs to be in more shows/movies I watch. He's just awesome. Actually same goes for Adewale.

With our luck they'll ask Morgan Freemen or Denzel Washington and we'll all kinda go 'whaaa? He's really THAT old?'

...assuming that he is in fact black.

[Ari]

You guys have really good ideas about who should play these characters. Now go to storycasting.com and put them up so the books will get a high ranking and more people will read them. It's a free site, just register pick your book, pick your character, pick your actor and be sure to save your cast or they'll disappear.

[Kristen]

I think I'm going to seriously have to reread Poison Study now that I'm trying to match up people with characters...

[Meme]

Me too, I just have a serious problem with there real names, I know them from movies and that is it.

[Ari]

check out the movie at imdb in order to find the actor you want
i just re-read the study series this week, and it was still really hard for me to think about who i would cast, because no one is a perfect match and very few people come close.

[A]

I emailed the storycasting.com people about adding actors, and they said eventually they will have a submission page but for now just email them the actor's info and they will try to get to it in a couple of days. A whole bunch of my Moon Man picks weren't on there.

[Lexie]

I do believe our tastes are not of the norm Alethea :)

[Ari]

What's the fun in thinking about it if you're just going to cast the same ten actors as everyone else? It's much more fun to have tastes that are a bit eccentric!

[Lexie]

Bleh can you imagine if Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Julia Roberts and Matt Damon were cast over and over and over again? I'm a fan of Matt Damon but there are just some roles he is never meant to play and some roles he does really well (I think he's a marvelous Jason Bourne, but his comedy needs serious work).

[Julie sims and books]

I'm getting ready to read the 'Fire Study'. I'll be starting soon as I get it from the library. YAHHAH!!

[Alfonso]

I watched The Seeker today and I think that the main girl could play Yelena.

[A]

Only if they make it really soon... although, she is already 26! and played 10 years younger in The Seeker I think.

[Gisela]

hmm... Well, I have a new excuse to reread the series.... :D

[A]

Here's my new vote for Valek:



and if you haven't gotten hooked on Pushing Daisies yet, you'd best get cracking--their contract did not get renewed :-(

[Sanzida]

Jessica Alba is a little too tall…She looks right on, but too tall .MVS said Yelena craned her head back to see Rand…her height should be around Natalie Portman’s or something…
And Valek should not look more than 35. MVS ssaid somewhere he was around 33

[Angela]

For Yelena I was picturing more of an Anne Hathaway or Natalie Portman. As for Valek, I was kind of thinking of a cross between Keanu Reeves and Cillian Murphy.