The dreaded LMB casting thread

[trixtah]

I re-read A Civil Campaign by Lois McMaster Bujold a couple of weeks back, and I couldn't stop myself from mentally casting all the characters. I specifically wanted to use actors as they appear now, or within a few years, anyway. In the interest of not spamming the LMB mailing list (since I'm sure they're all heartily sick of casting threads), I'll inflict it on you here:

Cordelia    Susan Sarandon/Glenn Close
Aral    Ian McKellen (as in Richard III)
Miles    Peter Dinklage/Danny Strong (depends how dwarfish we want to make him)
Ekaterin    Rachel Weisz
Gregor    Adrien Brody/Goran Visnjic
Laisa    Kate Winslet
Ivan    Rupert Everett John Barrowman/Rufus Sewell
Kareen   Reece Witherspoon
Martya    Scarlett Johansson
Olivia    Keira Knightley
Delia    Kate Hudson
Lady Donna/Lord Dono    Catherine Zeta Jones (yes, I have just spent the last half hour drawing a beard on CZJ's face. It works well enough. In fact, I borrowed Riker's beard - it was a good fit.)
Illyan   David McCallum/Anthony Hopkins
Lady Alys    Anjelica Houston
Byerly    Robert Downey Jr
Galeni    Colin Farrell (although after Miami Vice, I'm not sure)
Pym    Hugh Laurie
Roic    Keanu Reeves/Brendan Fraser
Drou    Linda Hamilton (she may need to pump it up a wee bit from recent pics)
Kou   Christopher Walken
Extra bonus Quinn    Angelina Jolie (I'm ambivalent about the character and the actress)

Comments

[countrycousin.livejournal.com]

This seems like a better place. You could post a link . . .

Illyan is pictured in my mind as Patrick Stewart. Hopkins, in my mind, can do anything, but I don't see him as Illyan. Yeah, that's a contradiction. I could see Hopkins as a good Aral.

I don't see Everett as Ivan. I think he'd make a good Gregor. How about Rufus Sewell as Ivan? Don't know Brody that well - looks like Byerly to me, but I don't recall him in action well.

Laurie as Galeni? No doubt he'd do an excellent Pym - I just see him wasted there.

Sarandon is an excellent physical match for Cordelia, but I don't recall her in anything that reminds me of Cordelia. Yeah, she's an actress - no doubt she'd do well. I'd be one of those people who would never let anyone out of a typecast :<{. How about Glenn Close for Cordelia?

like the Donna/Dono suggestion :<)

[trixtah.livejournal.com]

You're right about Rufus Sewell as Ivan. I found a pic of Rupert Everett taken last year, and he's looking a bit the worse for wear. Nice suggestion.

Gregor is "thin" and intense-looking - I think Adrien Brody suits that look well.

I don't think Laurie is wasted as Pym. Pym needs a sense of humour and that way of silently editorialising for everyone around him. He nudges things along at a few critical junctures. More so than Galeni does. Since I don't read Galeni as having any sense of humour at all, I'm happy for an actor that can just play straight (and who looks reasonably tough, but not too tough).

As for Susan Sarandon, ignore all the lighter stuff she's done. It's all about those eyes and how they can look through people. I think she'd be great at doing Cordelia's emotional dissection routine, and she has a fantastic voice. Dead Man Walking is the model for my choice there. And Thelma and Louise.

Thanks for the food for thought! I think I will put the link onlist - good idea. :-)

[litalex.livejournal.com]

Actually, I was just looking at Rupert Everett pics on Getty Images. I think he suddenly started looking pretty good again, with some white/grey at his temples. I think it's just his middle years that're giving him trouble.

But of course, now we can't cast him as Ivan. The Cetagandan Emperor? Aral?

[trixtah.livejournal.com]

Yes, I think he'd be great as Fletchir Giaja, nice thinking. He's a little bit too pretty for Aral, I think, still. :-)

[mmegaera.livejournal.com]

Rupert Everett as Fletchir Giaja? Oh, *yes,* please.

He does supercilious aristocrat *so* well.

[trixtah.livejournal.com]

I meant to say - I do think that Glenn Close would do a terrific Cordelia as well. :-)

[mmegaera.livejournal.com]

Can't picture Ian McKellen as Aral, although the man is basically a chameleon, I admit.

I still think Goran Visnjic, from ER and the recent TV movie of Spartacus, is the ideal Gregor. I don't know if either of those programs have made it outside the US, though.

And I have to vehemently disagree with having a real-life dwarf play Miles. I like Peter Dinklage a great deal, but Miles is not described in the books as having the looks/frame of a classic dwarf. And he's not anywhere near as short as Dinklage (who is 3' something, IIRC).

But then I don't have a substitute readily available. I want a time machine so's we can go back and get Michael J. Fox before he got Parkinson's.

Roic needs more physical presence than Keanu Reeves will ever have. How about Brendan Fraser?

Robert Downey Jr. as Byerly is inspired. And hysterical.

Why do I love casting threads so much?

[trixtah.livejournal.com]

Here (http://hawemann.com/jan/kino/96/images/richard1.jpg) are (http://bilder.filmstarts.de/verzeichnis/film/filme/r/richard.iii/RichardIII-01.jpg) a few (http://www.mckellan.com/images/1265.jpg) more Ian McKellen pics for your perusal. In those, he's very much as I picture Aral in ACC. He's certainly got the acting range. :-)

Yes, Goran Visnjic would make quite an, erm, quite attractive Gregor. He's got a great smile, but looks appropriately dour when not smiling. He'd probably fill out a uniform nicely as well. Nice one!

I have similar reservations about getting a real dwarf to play Miles. That's why I thought Danny Strong (on the left (http://home.flash.net/~mirka23/photos/sd2004/images/08.jpg)) would be a good alternative. He's certainly got the right colouring (dark hair and grey eyes), and he's short (5'2").

While Michael J. Fox had the right look, I unfortunately didn't think much of his acting style. I don't think he would have been able to carry off "humble" sufficiently well - although the manic, cocky part, I grant you. :-)

Keanu Reeves has been buffing up nicely as he gets older, I think. But, yes, I think Brendan Fraser, when he's all toned up, would get the right effect. We need to be getting the "GUH!" effect with the shirt off, after all.

I'm glad you like the idea of Robert Downey Jr for Byerly. I think he'd be perfect. :-)

Casting threads are fun!!

[mmegaera.livejournal.com]

I love that version of Richard III, so I knew which version of Chameleon McKellen you were referring to. I just don't see Aral looking like that. Or maybe I'm just prejudiced because McKellen's Richard is a character I love to hate, and I don't feel that way about Aral. I just plain love him [g].

Danny Strong was in Buffy, right? He just looks too round in the face for my idea of Miles (who describes himself as having "sharp features" so many times).

Miles is the hardest-to-cast fictional character I've ever run across.

And, yeah, casting threads are fun!

[litalex.livejournal.com]

I watched "Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang" recently and Robert Downey Jr. would be *perfect* as Byerly.

[litalex.livejournal.com]

Is there something you can imagine James Spader doing? 'Cause he's a damn good actor, that's for sure. And he does dry, deadpan very well.

[coalboy.livejournal.com]

Susan Sarandon & Linda Hamilton are both way too short for Cordelia & Drou, but I have no alternative suggestions as I am not up on the current film world (or an older version either, come to think of it.)

[mmegaera.livejournal.com]

There's a Canadian actress named Francesca Hunt, who used to be on a show called The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne. Tall, redheaded, strong-featured, could kick butt with the best of them. But she's a Shards-era Cordelia (or used to be), not ACC.

http://www.twoevilmonks.org/sajv/rebintro.htm

She's a thought, anyway.

If she played opposite, say, Kenneth Branagh as Aral, she'd be the right height... [g,d,r]

:)

[kikibug13.livejournal.com]

Nice! :) I would prefer _not_ Peter Dinklage as Miles, because his _face_ is very dwarfish (and I do believe his face is normal). And I think Rachel Weisz will do quite well for Ekaterin :))
Am not _quite_ sure about Kate Winslet as Laisa, although I could live with that (I just think Laisa is ... shorter).
Reese Witherspoon. Hm. Am definitely not sure about that - I think Reese has a colder... aura? than Kareen. I just can't imagine Mark feeling as if he has stepped into the sun in Reese's presence.

OH! How about Mark? Or will he be the same actor who plays Miles?

I heartily go with Catherine Zeta Jones for Lady Donna. Oh yes!
And Angelica Houston... yes!

Galeni - how about Colin Firth instead? For some reason Colin Farell, for me, doesn't have enough impact. While Colin Firth... hm.

I also like the suggestion of Francesca Hunt as Cordelia. It will... reinforce my view of Cordelia - people don't know what to expect of her. And she surpasses every expectation.

Enrique, anyone?

Re: :)

[trixtah.livejournal.com]

Yes, I have similar doubts about Peter Dinklage. I do think Danny Strong would be better.

As for Laisa, I didn't really get a sense of her height, just her "roundedness" and the fact that she's quite a bit shorter than Gregor. Kate Winslet is 5'6", so put her next to a 6-footer and she won't look too tall.

I do kind of agree with you about Reese Witherspoon, but she does do bouncy quite well. Also, I think she's a bit too short, only 5'2". Where are all the pleasantly-rounded female actresses?

I think you've got a good idea with Colin Firth. He can do humourlessness as well and Colin Farrell seems to be going through a playing "bad boys" stage - and I don't think of Galeni as a "bad boy".

I like the idea of Francesca Hunt for a young Cordelia, but unfortunately the aim of this exercise was to select actors to play the characters in ACC as they are now. :-(

Ack! I can't believe I forgot Enrique. I don't know, dorky, gangly, but still attractive and can pass for being of Spanish descent? Gael García Bernal (http://www.imdb.com/gallery/granitz/4836/GaelGarcia_Pimen_8777470_400.jpg?path=pgallery&path_key=Garc%EDa%20Bernal,%20Gael&seq=9) might do the job, but he may be too short (only 5'6"). At least he's young enough, but not too young.

Re: :)

[kikibug13.livejournal.com]

Laisa - I had the impression of shortness from Lady Alys' comment that she should have paraded short and plump beauties before Gregor, instead of tall and thin. But then, I thought Kate Winslet was taller than that (oh, 173 cm - http://imdb.com/name/nm0000701/bio so I was sort of right, more like 5'9") about as tall as me - which is not short, unless I'm standing by somebody quite over 6'. But it's not a strong opposition, just a comment.

Kareen... Kate Bosworth (Lois Lane in Superman returns)? Haven't seen her on the screen, but she's young and sort of has the vision (although she's not quite tall enough for Mark to have to climb places to kiss her (at 5'5"). Or Sienna Miller (Francesca Bruni in Casanova)?

I think Galeni is a man with depth of his own, and I think that Colin Firth did that beautifully in P&P.

About Francesca Hunt - I haven't seen her act, so I cannot judge if she can play the part. I know that with make-up she can look the part. But then, acting Cordelia as Vicereine Vorkosigan would be quite a challenge, I think.

Gael Garcia Bernal. Oh my. I almost fell from my chair laughing. That would work great for Enrique's face.
Or Diego Luna. Not much taller, though. He has a childish look that... could work for Enrique.

(As I already stated in LMB mailing list, I heartily support John Barrowman as Ivan. I saw him in De-Lovely, and when I read the suggestion of him, I just though OH YES! )

More individuals

[(Anonymous)]

Hi!

As an old LMB-listie, and now distant lurker of the list, I saw the casting thread. I too love them. But I tend to go outside of the US to find actors that are mostly unheard of over there.

One of my favourites is Nat Parker. English from aristocratic family. He is the epitome of Barrayar in my mind. He's got a presence in his acting, and his frame is over average. A tru Vor.

http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0662511/

Parade grey and white:
http://us.imdb.com/gallery/ss/0338094/Scan000133.jpg.html?path=pgallery&path_key=Parker,%20Nathaniel&seq=3

Byerly just about for a night out?:
http://us.imdb.com/gallery/ss/0338094/SetsC11-31.jpg.html?path=pgallery&path_key=Parker,%20Nathaniel&seq=4

Regards,
Stella