Tuesday, June 5, 2007

The Wheel Of Time (Dream cast)

I've just finished the last volume in the Wheel of Time series, excluding the prequel (once I find where I misplaced A New Spring I'll remedy that). So, now I'll play my picks for the dream cast (if it ever became a movie).

Essential casting:
Character: Mat Cauthon
Actor: Dominic Monaghan
Why? Hands down, he was born to play the role. And though Mat and Perrin of the Two Rivers call up the mind of the duo of Merry (a role Dominic played) and Pippin of the Shire, Mat and Perrin turn out nothing like the two. Perhaps it is my imagination, but I've often wondered if screenwriters hinted at it. For instance, in the movie version of LOTR, Dominic's Merry is mischievous, quite like Mat. In Lost, Dominic plays Charlie, who at times like Mat plays the "bad boy with a good heart". Like Mat, Charlie comes near death as he is hung from a tree, and is revived from the brink.

Character: Moiraine
Actor: Kate Mulgrew
Why? Yeah, Voyager was an okay show at best. But Kate played a cool and collected leader. She did the best with the material she had. She has this air about her that screams Aes Sedai--only under a veneer of calm and sophistication.

Non-essential casting (actors that seem good for the roll):
Thom -- Ian McKellan (hardly an original idea)
Faile -- Lucy Liu
Morgase -- Meryl Streep
Elayne Trakand -- Bryce Dallas Howard
Aviendha -- Kirsten Dunst
Min Farshaw -- Sabrina Lloyd (remember her from Sliders?)
Egwene al’Vere -- Liv Tyler

Of course, I haven't thought out Rand and Perrin, much less Nynaeve or Lan or--obviously this is a fantasy cast in progress.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

The only bad thing with making a casting list, for any book, is the amount of people who disagree with it.

Me for example.

I understand why we all do these kinds of things, but be honest with me. Wouldn't you rather have a bunch of unknowns in the role?

I think it would be a tremendous advantage. One, I'm not going to be so focused on whether a famous actor/actress is representing the role correctly. In fact with out the big name to play the part I'll probably focus more on what I'm seeing. Secondly, I don't have to worry so much about someone who is established trying to put their own "feel" to a character. I've noticed that most up and comers tend to stay more strict with the material. Of course that's more of a second point to my first comment than a second point all together, oh well.

...This could all just be me. I do agree with a few of your opinoins though.

Jeff Reid said...

We've created a website just for casting books and other stories. It's called Storycasting.com, and it will go 'live' in the next 30 days or so. Sure, there's going to be a lot of typecasting when people use known actors instead of new faces, but when HUNDREDS of people cast it, at least the consensus actors will bubble to the top. And, some people WILL use it to suggest new faces, I'm sure.

Christopher Scott Owens said...

Anonymous, Geoffery,

My apologies for the late response. This posting is so old, that I hardly remembered it.

Anonymous,
It's been so long, I'd probably disagree with myself by now. And since I'm nobody, if this ever does get filmed, there's no danger I'll have any input.

Geoffery,
If I remember, I'll give it a peek.

Devin V. said...

I know I'm 2 years later in finding this post but I'm glad I did. I look to begin working on the upcoming Eye of the World Movie and this list you have is quite terrible. Too many Lord of the Ring people. I'm not being averse or in any way trying to be rude but as a fan I think you should really take a step back and think more on who should play these roles and remember, no names are better than names with this kind of movie. Only a handful of big actors can be cast in this or it will never work. To many people see certain actors as other character so the suspension of disbelief would not happen.

Anonymous said...

Some of your cast seems a bit old man. no offence to liv tyler shes old enough to play moiraine tho ha

Michelle said...

I never would have thought of Dominic Monaghan for Mat, but I can see it. Good thinking.

Also love your choice for Moiraine.

I've been thinking about this some and here's what I've come up with:

Min Farshaw- Keira Knightley (though Keira would make a good Egwene, too)

Some good suggestions here: http://www.grupthink.com/topic/index.php5?id=2224&page=2

Ms. D said...

I have to say, I totally agree with the concept of a cast of unknowns... maybe at least partially because I want to be a part of that cast.

It makes sense though.. a big name actor is going to have a hard time sticking with a role. In movies adapted from long book series (Harry Potter comes to mind, don't ask me why) it is better to start with people whose careers are entirely built upon the role they are playing in that series of movies, because they are less likely to jump ship for a better role. The best way to destroy a series of movies in my opinion is a lack of continuity in the cast between movies. It allows you to put more of the budget into other aspects of the movie, as well.. an unknown isn't going to be as expensive as a big name, leaving more in the budget for everything else required to make the movie a screaming success.

I want to see these movies take off, because I love the books... and personally, I dream of playing one of the roles myself.

Anonymous said...

I completley agree with all of use. i think that dominic would play a great mat. i would also only add one more person from the lord of the rings and that is vigo mortensen as lan.take out liv tyler she is to old.and i believe that i should play perrin i could get that ruggid blacksmith look n i wouldnt mind doin some scenes with faile if all u guys catch my drift. lol. but i would make a good perrin for true