Casting Choices - Thoughts?

[DaddyFinn]

RJ didn't care that much about skin color so I don't care much. What next?

[Morani]

For fun, when does appearance in the books REALLY make a difference? As in, when is it important to the story, and if you take it out, the story changes? The only cases I can think of is: 

 

- Rand has to look different from the other people in Emonds Field. 

- Min has to look boyish (so the whole Elmindreda cover works out).

- Aiel has to look more homogenous than most other people. And they have to look like Rand (so I guess we are sticking with tall and red hair). 

- Perrin has to look like a blacksmith (broad shoulders and large stature). 

- Lanfear has to be beautiful.

And very minor - Ilyena should be blonde, because of the "sunhair" thing, and because of that Elayne should be blonde as well, because she reminds LTT of Ilyena, looks wise. Not super important though.

 

Do you have any additional ones? Remember that it actually has to have proper importance, I can't for example think of any situation in the books that would have ended differently if Moiraine had been tall. 

 

Edited October 5, 2021 by Morani

[thehumantrashcan]

1 hour ago, Morani said:

Do you have any additional ones? Remember that it actually has to have proper importance, I can't for example think of any situation in the books that would have ended differently if Moiraine had been tall. 

Tuon.  That's about it.

[Skipp]

10 hours ago, swollymammoth said:

 

 

Dark as a root is also a very broad range. Some roots are white! lol And even white brits can get reeeaaaaally tan if they're, you know, on rooftops all day in the sun (like Cenn, who is a thatcher). Again, the colors of the skin are all relative to one another. There can be light and dark skin colors among a group which is broadly categorized as white or black or anything else. 

 

 

 

Also keep in mind that Elaida pointed out that Rand doesn't fit in with the Two Rivers BECAUSE of his farmers tan.  This indicates that the population of the Two rivers are of "darker" skin than a Tanned Rand.

[DaddyFinn]

1 hour ago, thehumantrashcan said:

Tuon.  That's about it.

I don't remember her color being that important. ? Can you specify?

[Rose]

The world of the Wheel of Time is one where xenophobia exists but racism doesn't and I like it that way. It makes sense, too, because the concept of race as we know it is a) a human invention and b) fairly recent in human history (about 500 years? give or take). So I find it totally believable that two Ages from now people would pay less attention to skin color and more to nationality, culture, and social status. Because that's pretty much how it was 2000 years ago.

 

I'm not totally sure RJ's population genetics make sense though, I think there are definitely inconsistencies in the ways he describes certain things versus his worldbuilding, but since it's fantasy we can pretty easily handwave it. He himself said that it's not always meant to make logical sense. A bunch of gingers in the desert? He literally only did it because he thought it would be funny.

 

In the end, nitpicking the details isn't that helpful in my opinion. Like DaddyFinn said, RJ didn't care about race and neither do the characters (it's literally never a factor in the story because, again, race as we know it is a construct of our time). I for one find it rather refreshing to immerse myself in a world where racism doesn't exist and culture matters more than skin color.

[Morani]

1 hour ago, DaddyFinn said:

I don't remember her color being that important. ? Can you specify?

 

Agree. She is black, but it holds no importance that I can remember. Or is she mistaken for atha'an miere at some point that I have forgotten? Otherwise they could just as well cast a white actress for that part, and she would be the same. Seanchan seems just as diverse and non-racist as the Westlands. 

[Daenelia]

15 hours ago, swollymammoth said:

This is a funny joke, but I hope I don't have to tell you that you've totally missed the point. The point is just that it might look weird if there's a visible age gap between characters who are supposedly the same age and that this could be distracting. 

But why can't Min be older than Rand in the tv series? That would be such a great choice!

[DaddyFinn]

Just now, Daenelia said:

But why can't Min be older than Rand in the tv series? That would be such a great choice!

Isn't Min closer to 30 than 20 in the books?

[Daenelia]

Just now, DaddyFinn said:

Isn't Min closer to 30 than 20 in the books?

I really don't know. It would make sense to me if she was older. So if she is closer to 30 in the books, and Rand is closer to just under 20 in the books... the gap is okay!

 

It's weird, I never take age on board with characters in books, unless it is very very specifically a plot point as in just born or old enough to die of natural causes. ... Hmm. This may explain why age did not matter to me personally in my relationship. Wow. I am discovering things...

[DaddyFinn]

1 hour ago, Daenelia said:

I really don't know. It would make sense to me if she was older. So if she is closer to 30 in the books, and Rand is closer to just under 20 in the books... the gap is okay!

 

It's weird, I never take age on board with characters in books, unless it is very very specifically a plot point as in just born or old enough to die of natural causes. ... Hmm. This may explain why age did not matter to me personally in my relationship. Wow. I am discovering things...

Min is born 975 NE and Rand is 978 NE according to wot wiki. I thought there was way bigger age gap between them. ? That's just my head canon I guess.

[SinisterDeath]

2 hours ago, Morani said:

 

Agree. She is black, but it holds no importance that I can remember. Or is she mistaken for atha'an miere at some point that I have forgotten? Otherwise they could just as well cast a white actress for that part, and she would be the same. Seanchan seems just as diverse and non-racist as the Westlands. 

It's interesting that the first Queen of Andor was a direct descendent of Artur Hawking and looked similar to "Ath'an Miere". Elayne & her family, look more like the original Manetheran royalty.

  

31 minutes ago, DaddyFinn said:

Min is born 975 NE and Rand is 978 NE according to wot wiki. I thought there was way bigger age gap between them. ? That's just my head canon I guess.

I figured she was closer to 25, while Rand was closer to 19 or 20. This puts them at 20 and 23.
That said, Min has a more lived life then Rand has at this point.
She went through some stuff.

[Morani]

On 10/5/2021 at 3:29 PM, SinisterDeath said:

It's interesting that the first Queen of Andor was a direct descendent of Artur Hawking and looked similar to "Ath'an Miere". Elayne & her family, look more like the original Manetheran royalty.

  

 For sure. Not far fetched that Hawkwing himself was black, then. However, it holds no importance to the story, seeing as race is not a factor in Randland. So both Hawkwing and Tuon could have any race, but Tuon should look like it is possible that she is a descendant of the former. As in, she could not be nordic blonde if he is sub Sahara black, seeing as blonde is a recessive gene.

 

That all being said, I am not trying to white wash WOT, not in the slightest. I think it is fantastic that they have gone against peoples expectations of an all white cast with a token black guy. I just hope that they stick to the look of the characters in the book in the very very few instances where it actually MATTERS (see my super short list above) ?  I guess I should add "Tuon looking like she is related to Arthur Hawkwing" to that list. 

 

[DaddyFinn]

Does Josha use a wig? ? He's not ginger enough? He has really short hair in his social media pictures so just wondering

 

Edited October 6, 2021 by DaddyFinn

[DaddyFinn]

 

Latra Posae lived in the Age of Legends.

 

Tigraine

 

 

Shoutout to Cenn Buie ? I know he's not a new casting.

 

 

 

Lots of other castings as well

 

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt7462410/fullcredits/cast?ref_=m_ttfc_3

[mogi68]

Master Hightower in da house

https://m.imdb.com/name/nm0703522/mediaviewer/rm4075373824/

[themann1086]

27 minutes ago, DaddyFinn said:

Latra Posae lived in the Age of Legends.

Woah.

 

Not directly related to her but my thoughts went from "We're getting age of legends scenes" to "are we going to get to see the strike at Shayol Ghul?" Because that'd be something

[DaddyFinn]

Some other castings:

 

Malkieri child and woman

"Lord Yakota" is supposedly Ingtar according to WoTSeries

[TheDreadReader]

10 minutes ago, themann1086 said:

Woah.

 

Not directly related to her but my thoughts went from "We're getting age of legends scenes" to "are we going to get to see the strike at Shayol Ghul?" Because that'd be something

 

Kind of blows up my theory that Red Eagle wouldn't let them touch the AoL in the series.

 

 

[SinisterDeath]

2 minutes ago, TheDreadReader said:

 

Kind of blows up my theory that Red Eagle wouldn't let them touch the AoL in the series.

 

 

Well, there's parts in the main series that give us flash backs to those times, so they don't really have any leg to stand on.

 

I'm honestly surprised they have any rights to make an AoL fan-fiction series. ? 

[DaddyFinn]

1 hour ago, DaddyFinn said:

"Lord Yakota" is supposedly Ingtar according to WoTSeries

This might be old information. According to WoT Up! he was originally playing Ingtar but got a major role in Disney's Willow and left there. Someone else might play Ingtar in season 2.

 

 

 

[TheDreadReader]

1 hour ago, SinisterDeath said:

Well, there's parts in the main series that give us flash backs to those times, so they don't really have any leg to stand on.

 

I'm honestly surprised they have any rights to make an AoL fan-fiction series. ? 

 

It would depend largely on the legal stuff.   Not sure if we ever got (or even need) a good explanation of the legal arrangements post-2016.   I basically look at anything Red Eagle says as them trying to find a loophole to ensure they get paid.   I am 100% not holding my breath about a AoL trilogy from them.  It is just the type of poison pill I could see them inserting into the contracts to throw a wrench into the works.

 

 

[Deadsy]

On 10/6/2021 at 3:59 PM, DaddyFinn said:

Does Josha use a wig? ? He's not ginger enough? He has really short hair in his social media pictures so just wondering

 

 

I've wondered that also.

[Rose]

2 minutes ago, Deadsy said:

 

 

I've wondered that also.

 

He's been doing interviews with very short hair while filming season 2, so either Rand gets a massive haircut on season 2 or he uses a wig.

[DaddyFinn]

Just now, Deadsy said:

 

 

I've wondered that also.

Someone who works with wigs mentioned in the Dusty Wheel discord that the industry uses wigs very commonly because they are easier to keep "intact" from scene to scene. Natural hair shifts constantly between shots and reshots etc. and that makes editing difficult. Kinda breaks the immersion if hair is all over the place when it should stay the same