Pike Casting Thoughts

[Notchbeard]

I am a bit disheartened by the choice of Pike, while she is a great actress she is both the wrong look and presence for Moiraine. Moiraine is supposed to be 5'2" while Pike is 5'9". Height is a major factor in WoT nationalities and this just makes me suspicious of other Casting choices. Pike's voice is far too deep and while she is attractive no one would call her a little doll as Moiraine was when a novice. Pike plays confrontational, angry and emotional roles all of which are in exact opposition to Moiraines questioning, calm and emotionless attitude. Finally, she does not have any experience with special effect acting, Moiraine will spend entire episodes with only a green screen and Lan. I feel like this decision was made for funding because now they can sell it based on her star power. This derailed my hype train and moving forward I will keep anticipation in reserve. How do you feel about her casting?

[Pandemonium]

2 hours ago, Notchbeard said:

I am a bit disheartened by the choice of Pike, while she is a great actress she is both the wrong look and presence for Moiraine. Moiraine is supposed to be 5'2" while Pike is 5'9". Height is a major factor in WoT nationalities and this just makes me suspicious of other Casting choices. Pike's voice is far too deep and while she is attractive no one would call her a little doll as Moiraine was when a novice. Pike plays confrontational, angry and emotional roles all of which are in exact opposition to Moiraines questioning, calm and emotionless attitude. Finally, she does not have any experience with special effect acting, Moiraine will spend entire episodes with only a green screen and Lan. I feel like this decision was made for funding because now they can sell it based on her star power. This derailed my hype train and moving forward I will keep anticipation in reserve. How do you feel about her casting?

 

she is an actress so maybe she has more range that she can show here.  not too worried about green screen experience.  

 

height can visually altered based on filming techniques.  I already know that not everything is going to match the book description.  that is ok, that is why it is an adaptation.  just wait until some of your minor characters are removed entirely.  there are going to many things we disagree with, but none of that is in our control.  I'm going reserve all judgement until the airing.  hopefully I like it, but if not I'll just keep rereading the books to keep alive my own version of the story that I love.

 

 

[DemandredFO]

Tricks can be played with height, thing is they need to make sure that Rand is the tallest one there and his appearance is different from everyone else because those things truly are important. Also regarding height, unless the producers rent out WNBA and NBA teams, they'll have to play tricks when it comes to the Aiel

Edited June 21, 2019 by DemandredFO

[Ron T]

Why not Pike? I prefer to give this adaptation a chance. It will be better than having to watch Cupcake Wars with my wife. Of this I am sure.

[DemandredFO]

I saw someone say she's only played confrontational or angry characters. Don't forget, for the first little while none of the characters know where moraine stands and also AS are evil(or at least everyone believes so). If she's veers too much from the mystery with a hint of danger, then that's not Moiraine.

 

[mandersen]

In P&P she played sweet/demure and pulled it off, in GG she was a manipulative sociopath and was nominated for an Oscar for it. So I’m pretty sure she can manage a little mystery if that’s how she’s directed. Rafe mentioned that he was convinced after a conversation with her about the character that she was the one. If you don’t at least somewhat trust Rafe’s judgement on such things, there’s no way this show will be to your liking.

Edited June 20, 2019 by mandersen

[Dagon Thyne]

People said that Heath Ledger didn't have the range to play the joker, I don't think it's wise to judge someone based solely on their previous acting.

 

However, just on looks, don't think she's the right choice. 

1; She's several inches too tall.

2; While attractive, she wouldn't be able to pass for the age that Moiraine physically looks (without taking into account the ageless look, which I would say is mid-late 20's, perhaps early 30's. 

 

If they are choosing her just for the drawing power of having an award winning/nominated actress in the lead role, they could have better suited actresses.  

Tatiana Maslany is one.  She is much closer to how I would see Moiraine looking, and she is much closer in height.    She's won Emmies and Golden Globes for her work on Orphan Black.

 

Edited June 21, 2019 by Dagon Thyne

[Ferra74]

On 6/20/2019 at 1:52 PM, Notchbeard said:

/ Finally, she does not have any experience with special effect acting, Moiraine will spend entire episodes with only a green screen and Lan. /

Wrath of the Titans feels like a green screen movie, or did they use dolls? ? jk.

 

I dont mind her play Moiraine, since I do not want the tv-show to be how I read the books, the tv series will be same but different, just as A song of Ice and Fire books are compared to GoT... (both the written media and the played media was very good and I would never imagine the actors in GoT after reading asoiaf) - it is as it is and it will be awesome either way!

Edited June 21, 2019 by Ferra74

[Dagon Thyne]

My main issue is that she is far too old.  Moiraine is supposed to generally look arounf 25, same as Nynaeve. 

 

Her agelessness is more based on the vibe that people get from her, the maturity and wisdom in her eyes, and how she holds herself, more then her actual appearance.  

[Mladen]

I am so sad that some people don't understand what a great news this is. We are talking about Oscar nominee playing Moiraine, an actress with incredible range, beautiful stature and overall, great career. This is "Sean Bean is Ned Stark" kind of news and I believe people's criticism is somewhat unfair.

 

1. Height is important in WoT, That said, none of adaptations put that much emphasis  on height of the characters, unless like in the case of John Rhys Davies and Gimli, we speak about dwarfs. I suppose Rand will be the tallest, but I doubt they will nail everyone's height. 

 

2. Rosamund Pike has incredible range and for non believers I suggest watching this If you think she can't act with green screen, watch it and think again.

 

3. She can pull Moiraine, that is for sure. Moiraine is a true lady, sharp, intelligent, strong, but also gentle and caring. Anyone who has watched Pike can verify that she can pull that off. 

 

I am very happy for WOT adaptation. I hope the further choices will be as inspiring as this one. Looking forward to seeing her in WoT.

[Jaglover]

On 6/22/2019 at 10:14 PM, Mladen said:

I am so sad that some people don't understand what a great news this is. We are talking about Oscar nominee playing Moiraine, an actress with incredible range, beautiful stature and overall, great career. This is "Sean Bean is Ned Stark" kind of news and I believe people's criticism is somewhat unfair.

 

1. Height is important in WoT, That said, none of adaptations put that much emphasis  on height of the characters, unless like in the case of John Rhys Davies and Gimli, we speak about dwarfs. I suppose Rand will be the tallest, but I doubt they will nail everyone's height. 

 

2. Rosamund Pike has incredible range and for non believers I suggest watching this If you think she can't act with green screen, watch it and think again.

 

3. She can pull Moiraine, that is for sure. Moiraine is a true lady, sharp, intelligent, strong, but also gentle and caring. Anyone who has watched Pike can verify that she can pull that off. 

 

I am very happy for WOT adaptation. I hope the further choices will be as inspiring as this one. Looking forward to seeing her in WoT.

 

This basically

It is a very good sign for the scale, seriousness and budget of the show.

 

I have seen Pike in a number of different movies and she has been decent to  very good in every single one. Aside from the height (which is somewhat of an issue) I am sure she will do a fine job. 

 

I also like all the rumours that she will be the focus of the first season, because tales of farmboy chosen ones are a bit too common. 

 

[Cillian]

Her height is the only issue for me really, maybe age too when you consider this series is probably aiming to go 10 years, but I have no doubt she can play Moiraine performance wise.

 

Appropriate physicality will absolutely need to be observed for certain characters however, like Rand, Perrin, Lan & the Aiel in general. You cannot cast a shortarse as Rand.

[Jaglover]

3 hours ago, Cillian said:

Appropriate physicality will absolutely need to be observed for certain characters however, like Rand, Perrin, Lan & the Aiel in general. You cannot cast a shortarse as Rand.

 

Not someone who is short no, but how many actors are there out there who are 6'6?. Probably again it would be good to get a better actor who doesn't meet the exact physical parameters, like they did with Morraine. 

 

 

[KingRodel]

Personally, while I didn't see Pike's casting coming at all, I now can't envision anyone else in the role. I give the decision full marks. I'm on the #PikeTrain

[Beidomon]

I don’t care about Moraine’s height. That sort of stuff is probably getting a little too granular. 

 

I’m pleased they landed such a big time actress for a different reason: I read a (hopefully) very stupid article in something like Vogue which seemed to indicate that the series would center on Moraine.

 

But Pike’s casting indicates that Moraine will exit fairly early, like in the books, for the simple reason that Amazon probably  can’t afford to keep her heavily involved. Similar to Sean Bean’s casting in GOT.

[Jaglover]

44 minutes ago, Beidomon said:

 

But Pike’s casting indicates that Moraine will exit fairly early, like in the books, for the simple reason that Amazon probably  can’t afford to keep her heavily involved. Similar to Sean Bean’s casting in GOT.

 

Well it cant be exactly the same as Sean Bean, because she doesn't leave until book 5. Depending on structure it would be a departure in series 3 or 4 I guess. By that point though the focus should have already switched to other characters. 

[DemandredFO]

Besides, Amazon probably has a little more budget leeway than HBO and it's stipulated in his contract that Sean Bean must Die in fantasy series

Edited July 9, 2019 by DemandredFO