• Welcome to The Worlds of Katherine Kurtz.
 

Recent

Welcome to The Worlds of Katherine Kurtz. Please login.

March 28, 2024, 07:05:22 PM

Login with username, password and session length
Members
Stats
  • Total Posts: 27,486
  • Total Topics: 2,721
  • Online today: 180
  • Online ever: 930
  • (January 20, 2020, 11:58:07 AM)
Users Online
Users: 1
Guests: 109
Total: 110
tmcd
Google (2)

Latest Shout

*

DerynifanK

March 17, 2024, 03:48:44 PM
Happy St Patrick's Day. Enjoy the one day of the year when the whole world is Irish.

The Casting Call!

Started by Bynw, March 06, 2007, 07:07:52 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 5 Guests are viewing this topic.

AnnieUK

Problem I'm having with some of these is age.  Morgan and Duncan are supposed to be 29/28 respectively in DR and some of these actors are well into their 40s.  In terms of looks, I used to picture Morgan as Ewan McGregor, but since someone mentioned Paul Bettany earlier he has pretty much become my "minds eye" Morgan.  So someone who looks a lot like Paul Bettany but is younger would be great  ;D  PB has the height, too, I think he's 6' 3" or thereabouts, and much is made of Alaric's height throughout the books.

If we ever need a young Alaric, I'm picturing the lad who played the young Jacob in Lost as being a lot like Alaric around about the Marluk time.


BalanceTheEnergies

I think age is somewhat fungible, in part because of technology and in part because of improved health and nutrition. People make cracks about what age is the "new 40" frequently, but I think they have a point. Think about it: Does Hugh Jackman really look 40, as we're used to thinking of "40" as "middle-aged"? Mr. Jackman is only one example.

The other, related point is stress, and the toll it takes on people, and by extension, their looks. (I speak from experience; my mother has been living with chronic pain for some years, and it has aged her appearance rather dramatically.) We're talking of filming characters who lived in the equivalent of our late medieval Western Europe, and many of them living for extended periods under emotional and physical stress. I hold that living in the Eleven Kingdoms, and particularly being a Deryni in the Eleven Kingdoms, would age people's appearance, and that this gives the people doing the casting for the movies some considerable leeway in their choices.
Dubito ergo sum

Alkari

Well, I would much prefer to have quality acting over actors chosen merely on looks or because they happen to be the right age.  If you look at the Harry Potter movies, Alan Rickman and Gary Oldman were too old to play Snape and Sirius Black: according to the books, they should have been more than ten years younger.  But Rickman is the absolutely sneeringly perfect Snape, and Oldman was a wonderful Sirius. 

I think the main thing for the Deryni movies is to get the relevant age differences reasonably correct.  In terms of the Deryni world, where people are adults at age 14 and women can be married at 14-16, we are essentially looking at a generation between Kelson, and his mentors in Morgan and Duncan (and Nigel).  So if you cast Morgan and co with actors around 40, you can then go for an actor of around 20 for Kelson.    Arilan, Cardiel and co can then be into their fifties. 


 

BalanceTheEnergies

Quote from: Alkari on June 05, 2010, 11:08:08 PM
Well, I would much prefer to have quality acting over actors chosen merely on looks or because they happen to be the right age. ...

I think the main thing for the Deryni movies is to get the relevant age differences reasonably correct.  In terms of the Deryni world, where people are adults at age 14 and women can be married at 14-16, we are essentially looking at a generation between Kelson, and his mentors in Morgan and Duncan (and Nigel).  So if you cast Morgan and co with actors around 40, you can then go for an actor of around 20 for Kelson.    Arilan, Cardiel and co can then be into their fifties. 


 

I concur on both counts. Good acting counts for a lot. Colouring can be fudged a bit with makeup and other things. I didn't settle on Mr. Roxburgh as Alaric Morgan for his colouring as much as his teamwork with Mr. Hart (see my earlier post) and his propensity for audacious villians (he has almost more fun than should be legal in Van Helsing)—Alaric Morgan is rather more than a "bad boy," for he carefully cultivates his sinister reputation as a means of protecting himself, while suffering the toll that discrimination/persecution take on a disfavoured minority and rising above it with style (only consider what he does with that fellow's whip early in DR).

Actually, I put forward Patrick Malahide as a candidate for Arilan in part because Arilan seems to be of a different generation, though in fact he's only some eight years older than Morgan and Duncan. To me at least, Arilan represents an older, more cautious generation of Deryni, preferring to work behind the scenes. A running theme/subplot involves a basic dispute between Deryni who live discretion to extremes and those who feel that hiding only promotes the fear that fuels the persecutions; this is dramatised in the tension between Arilan and Morgan & Duncan during the Chronicles (Didn't Cardiel remark upon it when he and Arilan were alone? And wasn't the situation the impetus for Arilan revealation of himself to Cardiel?), and again when Duncan is torn between Dhugal's desire to be open and Arilan's penchant for secrecy (specifically recall Arilan's displeasure with Duncan after Dhugal's accolade, and Duncan's response). When Duncan gets to consecrate the Camber Chapel in KKB with the archbishops at his elbows, Arilan attends but watches discreetly from the back, as if passing the torch to a younger, more open generation of Deryni.
Dubito ergo sum

Alkari

#79
Quote from: BalanceTheEnergies on June 07, 2010, 12:57:35 AM
... Arilan seems to be of a different generation, though in fact he's only some eight years older than Morgan and Duncan. To me at least, Arilan represents an older, more cautious generation of Deryni, preferring to work behind the scenes. A running theme/subplot involves a basic dispute between Deryni who live discretion to extremes and those who feel that hiding only promotes the fear that fuels the persecutions; this is dramatised in the tension between Arilan and Morgan & Duncan during the Chronicles ...

You make an excellent point here: it's one of the ongoing tensions in the books, and it will be interesting to see how it works out.  Mind you, Arilan has had to work behind the scenes, because of his situation.  If Loris and co. excommunicated Alaric and Duncan, and later tried to burn Duncan, imagine what they would have done to Arilan!  Yes, Patrick Malahide would be excellent for the role - or you could grab Richard E Grant.

When you look at the characters' ages, there is considerable leeway to fit in actors of the 35-55 age group.  Nigel, for example, always has that air of 'seeming' older than Alaric and Duncan, but in fact he is only about 6 years their senior, and Jehana is almost exactly their age.

I *do* like your suggestion of Roxburgh and Hart as the Morgan / Duncan combination - Alaric Morgan definitely had some fun cultivating his image, even though much of it was for self-protection.  Whoever plays the role must have a definite twinkle in his eye at times.  

ETA:  You earlier suggested Tilda Swinton as one option for Richenda.  She is an excellent actress, but for me, altogether too 'hard' for Richenda.  But I think Swinton would make a really superb Jehana, because she would be able to portray the older/thinner and anguished Jehana we see in the later trilogy, after her return from the convent.  It is only later in HKKB that we get a glimpse of her softening, both physically and in attitude, and I think Swinton could really handle that.



Evie

Wow, this is a tough one. I have no clue who I would cast in a present-day movie, although back when I first read the books, I had also just recently watched the movie Labyrinth, so my mental images of Alaric and Richenda are inextricably linked with Rutger Hauer's "Etienne of Navarre" and Michelle Pfeiffer's "Isabeau," and the guy who played the Bishop of Aquila will forever be my mental image of Archbishop Loris.  I never have found an actor, past or present, who quite lived up to the Duncan McLain who lives in my head.  As for Kelson, I don't envy any casting director that decision! Dhugal, on the other hand, is ridiculously easy for me to imagine now, at least as he first appears in the books.  I have a fifteen year old freckle-faced redhaired son.   :D

I noticed, however, that on my recent "reading" of the audiobooks, for some inexplicable reason I kept picturing Denis Arilan as Timothy Dalton.  That's a bit disconcerting, as up until now I've never been much of an Arilan fan, but if he looks anything like Timothy Dalton, I might have to reconsider....   ;)
"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

Gyrfalcon64207

The movie you're thinking of is Ladyhawke, isn't it?  That you'd just seen?

Evie

LOL!  Yes, Ladyhawke.  That's what I get for trying to write posts while answering phones at the same time.   ;D
"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

Alkari

Quote from: Evie on June 07, 2010, 01:28:09 PMmy mental images of Alaric and Richenda are inextricably linked with Rutger Hauer's "Etienne of Navarre" and Michelle Pfeiffer's "Isabeau,"
Yes, a young Rutger Hauer would have been OK as Alaric, though I am not a Michelle Pfeiffer fan.  However, if we follow BalanceThe Energies' suggestions, and cast Richard Roxburgh as Alaric, then why not go all Aussie and have Nicole Kidman as Richenda?  She's very slim, and her natural colouring is exactly right  :)


BalanceTheEnergies

Alkari: I had put down Mr. Grant for Gorony (his Stapleton in the Roxburgh/Hart Hound of the Baskervilles is quite villainous, and I think he'd do well with Bill Nighy as Loris), but recalling his turn as the Scarlet Pimpernel suggests he could play Arilan—lots of secrecy and dissembling in that part. As always, the actors' preferences and prior commitments will play a part. Come to that, Mr. Jackman may fancy the bigger part of Nigel more than a cameo as Brion, and his stardom will give him plenty of clout in the matter.

As for Jehana, don't forget her anguish over the assassination plot (in TKJ, I think), when she "overhears" the assassins and warns Nigel. Whoever plays the part will have to bring the baggage of a true love poisoned by her internalized hatred of herself and all things Deryni to the early books (the Codex and DR suggest her first marriage did not go smoothly), then face circumstances in which those feelings threaten to cost her a son as well as a husband, then begin to open up and reconsider what she has been taught, and at last to open herself both to her Deryni heritage and a second chance at love with Barrett. Further, she comes from the Eleven Kingdoms' equivalent of France, and I think Ms. Thomas would be better at projecting that as well; I've heard she in fluent in French and has performed in some French films.

I must tip my hat to your suggestion of Ms. Kidman for Richenda. I hate to say it, because I've seen her and Roxburgh in Moulin Rouge (not to mention one of my Derry candidates, Mr. McGregor) and I finally borrowed Australia from the library recently, but it did not occur to me to consider her for the part. I guess I think of her more as a blonde. Silly, really—as you pointed out, her colouring is a natural fit, and as I pointed out, certain aspects of colouring (say, hair) can be fungible. Perhaps that's why I'm not a professional casting director.  ;D
Dubito ergo sum

Alkari

#85
Perhaps that's why I'm not a professional casting director.

LOL - I think your suggestions have been excellent!  Shame that we've probably just blown the budget for at least half a dozen Hollywood blockbusters ...

Oh well, if we are spending imaginary dollars, may I add one person to your list for a Torenthi character, perhaps Wencit or Teymuraz, though he can do good or bad.  Javier Bardem.   Say no more!

I would LOVE to be able to find a role for Gary Oldman, who is such an excellent chameleon actor, both in looks and voice, that he could do anyone between the ages of 35-80.   He'd be great as Gorony, for example, or maybe even the hooded figure of 'Saint Camber' in DR and the Chronicles.  But as he looks like being committed to the role of George Smiley in a movie of le Carre's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (what an inspired choice and a Must See movie!), we will, alas, probably have to give him a miss for the moment.

Evie

Oh, goodness yes, Gary Oldman could do a great Gorony.  Or pretty much most roles short of Kelson or Richenda.   ;)  (OK, I exaggerate, but he is really versatile!)

KK makes so many references to Wencit's "russet" hair and foxlike features, though, I'm having trouble picturing Bardem for that role, though I could see him as Teymuraz.  I see Wencit as looking closer to how Jason Isaacs did in "The Patriot."
"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

wombat1138

Shamefully, I have to confess that on my most recent re-read, my brain cell kept making Wencit look like The Burger King. *headdesk*

Evie

Quote from: wombat1138 on June 15, 2010, 03:26:12 PM
Shamefully, I have to confess that on my most recent re-read, my brain cell kept making Wencit look like The Burger King. *headdesk*

*dies laughing*  Great.  The Burger King, impaling soldiers on pikes.  I'll never think of fast food quite the same way again.   :D
"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

Gyrfalcon64207

That is awesome.  We were just talking about how creepy The Burger King is.  And I can totally see it--in a cartoon sort of way.