Who would you cast in a movie?

[Lopar]

Those are alot of good suggestions Jonn.

 

I still think Kevin McKidd would make a perfect Rand if they can make him look young enough in the first couple movies. I tbelieve what he endures as the series progresses ages him beyond his years rather quickly.

 

Also I think Ken Watanabe would make a good Dobraine Taborwin.

[Jonn]

Those are alot of good suggestions Jonn.

 

I still think Kevin McKidd would make a perfect Rand if they can make him look young enough in the first couple movies. I tbelieve what he endures as the series progresses ages him beyond his years rather quickly.

 

Also I think Ken Watanabe would make a good Dobraine Taborwin.

 

Ken Watanabe seems a bit tall to play a Cairhienin. Then again, I don't remember if Dobraine was described as tall or just average height. If he is tall for a Carhienin, then I can see Ken Watanabe doing fine.

 

Yeah, I was thinking the same about Kevin McKidd and Heath Ledger as well as Paul Bettany. I just couldn't do it though. I gotta stick with the idea that the principles need to be authentic as possible. Rand is really important to be true to. He's the heart of it all. To have him miscast in age or in any way...that's a big mistake. You have to get as close as possible.

 

It'd just be too distracting for the fans. Fans of the book will check the actual age of the actors who play the main roles and if they see that the actor chosen to play Rand is 30 or 35 when Rand is 18 starting out...I don't know. As a movie fan and a fan of these novels, that kind of detail bothers me.

 

I read that the original Aragorn in Lord of the Rings was a younger actor, by the name of Stuart Townsend (I have him on a list to play Asmodean later), but Peter Jackson felt he was too young and he settled on Viggo Mortensen at the last minute. That's was a great decision. I can't imagine seeing a young-faced Aragorn up there on the big screen. I would have been distracted.

 

To cast a movie like Eye of the World, these details have to be considered.

[GTPapabear]

My Personal opinion is that Rand being the principle Character in ANY movie dealing with WOT, it should be a profile actore. Some big name around 18-20. Maturity enough to handle a lead part but young enough to be beliveable and a little naive.

I think casting anyone older than that age range would be drastic and perhaps even alittle desperate. 18-20 can look like a 16 year old.

Also keep in mind that if more than one movie is made, it may take awhile for each movie to finish production. You saw what happened to Harry Potter. The kids almost got to old to be in the part! I'm interested to see how they are going to handle another movie.

[mike]

i feel safe in the comment that jonn has this thing covered as he has filled most pages of this thread.

 

:D

[Jonn]

Hey, it's a very real thing to think about when it comes down to it. There's bound to be some kind of movie made down the line.

 

Anyhow, here are some more tenuous picks of mine. They're probably going to change. I really do like my Morgase pick. I forgot to include her in my initial repost.

 

Siuan Sanche- Helena Bonham Carter

 

http://ralf.silicon.org/data/girls/Helena_Bonham_Carter.jpg

 

Morgase-Rebecca Romijn

 

http://www.damag3-inc.com/gallery/albums/miscfemalecelebs/rebecca_romijn_7.sized.jpg

 

http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800018689/photo/970400136

 

Lord Dobraine-John Lone

 

http://www.imdb.com/gallery/ss/0113360/Ss/0113360/1-10.jpg?path=pgallery&path_key=Lone,%20John

 

Alanna Mosvani- Salma Hayak

 

http://www.supersalma.com/picture/Salma_Hayek007.jpg

 

Verin Mathwin- Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding)

 

http://www.jnautographs.com/captures3/NiaVardalos1006.jpg

 

Aviendha- Anna Kournikova

Yeah, I know…I wish I were more sure that she can act. It is a major role later on, but I just don’t have anyone in mind right now who looks right and has good athleticism. She is a bit too old as well. It shouldn’t be too big a problem though as she’s about 18-20 years old when she is first introduced. Still, I’m not too sure of this pick anyway. She certainly does look right.

 

http://sites.evc.net/sport/Anna%20Kournikova/Anna%20Kournikova%2022.jpg

 

http://sites.evc.net/sport/Anna%20Kournikova/Anna%20Kournikova%2020.jpg

[Lopar]

I love the thread and enjoy seeing who everyone thinks should play the various parts.

 

To be realistic, if The Wheel of Time were ever to make it to the big screen there would have to be a huge casting call. Outside of a cameo or two and maybe established actors for Moraine and Lan I think most of the characters would be played by realitive unknowns.

 

Instead of movies I would love to see the story done as an HBO series. Tweleve one hour episodes for the first season could cover The Eye of the World to The Dragon Reborn.

 

Lopar

[mike]

Jonn

 

Hey, it's a very real thing to think about when it comes down to it. There's bound to be some kind of movie made down the line.

 

Aviendha

 

yes, this could be true and more than likely an independant cable series like lexx, stargate, farscape and others along the line of german/canadian productions. hercules and xena are other examples.

 

a movie is a bit to bite off as EoTW is too much for even two 3 hour films. think of the plot and action in just the first half of that book and you have gone through LoTR. the scene where the hobbits are hiding from the dark rider beneath the roots of the tree went on for a couple of pages. EoTW blew through twice that action easily as rj builds too much into the characters/story to breeze through it like a HS play production. imagine a broadway production with all of the gleeman performances. HA-HA!

 

new spring is feasible. its not as fantastic as the rest and was written as a sidebar. that could make it the perfect introduction of AS and the dragon reborn to teevee or film media. any fan of the series would associate with it immediately and the fanbase would grow even larger. if the show "24" was a hit, why not EoTW?

 

BTW - i left avienda hanging because i saw your choice of kournakova. i'll trump that and go with sharapova. she is nice on the eyes, 6 feet tall, an accomplished athelete and 19 years old. she is more than able to act the role of a maiden.

i like your choice for morgase - does she have to be painted blue? how does faith hill look for that part?

dolly parton has to be selucia!

has jessica simpson been mentioned for elayne?

 

it would have to be an unknown cast for the most part. there have been too many big name actors thrown out that the salary cost would be prohibitive. a few big names here and there - esepecially in the odder roles - would be good.

[mike]

Lopar

I love the thread and enjoy seeing who everyone thinks should play the various parts.

 

To be realistic, if The Wheel of Time were ever to make it to the big screen there would have to be a huge casting call. Outside of a cameo or two and maybe established actors for Moraine and Lan I think most of the characters would be played by realitive unknowns.

 

Instead of movies I would love to see the story done as an HBO series. Tweleve one hour episodes for the first season could cover The Eye of the World to The Dragon Reborn.

 

i think you have everyone's sentiment on most points as this thread rolls along.

the feasibility of the project becomes more evident with every post. look how long it took for peter jackson to find and build sets for LoTR. that was a massive undertaking for the reason he relied on a lot of real action. that was what made the films so successful.

EoTW would need double that. skirts and shawls would need to be adjusted every 30 seconds and the camera would have to capture it. all of the tiny little buttons on the backs of the silk dresses would have to be done up just so and we need to see that process. that seems like nit-picking but it is a large partof the story. take all of that out and it is completely different. this story is written, for the most part, about women, their thoughts and habits as seen through the eyes of the author.

rj has paid a lot of attention to women in his lifetime and is able to put his observations into written word in an, over the top, realistic fashion.

[Jonn]

yes, this could be true and more than likely an independant cable series like lexx, stargate, farscape and others along the line of german/canadian productions. hercules and xena are other examples.

 

a movie is a bit to bite off as EoTW is too much for even two 3 hour films. think of the plot and action in just the first half of that book and you have gone through LoTR. the scene where the hobbits are hiding from the dark rider beneath the roots of the tree went on for a couple of pages. EoTW blew through twice that action easily as rj builds too much into the characters/story to breeze through it like a HS play production. imagine a broadway production with all of the gleeman performances. HA-HA!

 

new spring is feasible. its not as fantastic as the rest and was written as a sidebar. that could make it the perfect introduction of AS and the dragon reborn to teevee or film media. any fan of the series would associate with it immediately and the fanbase would grow even larger. if the show "24" was a hit, why not EoTW?

 

BTW - i left avienda hanging because i saw your choice of kournakova. i'll trump that and go with sharapova. she is nice on the eyes, 6 feet tall, an accomplished athelete and 19 years old. she is more than able to act the role of a maiden.

i like your choice for morgase - does she have to be painted blue? how does faith hill look for that part?

dolly parton has to be selucia!

has jessica simpson been mentioned for elayne?

 

it would have to be an unknown cast for the most part. there have been too many big name actors thrown out that the salary cost would be prohibitive. a few big names here and there - esepecially in the odder roles - would be good.

 

About Kournnikova. I just thought her look was appropriate. By no means do I expect her to act well.

Also, I've heard Aviendha described as being around 5'8"-5'9"

Anna Kournikova is 5'8, and her face is a bit more girlish. She could pass for about 20 right now, which is pretty close to Aviendha's age when she's introduced.

It's moot as by the time any movie goes into production, Anna K. will be around 27, and that eliminates her in my criteria.

 

I afree about the cast being largely unknown actors. Sheck out my main listing. Most of the principles are unknowns with the exception of Moiraine, Lan, and Nynaeve.

 

I also have Gary Oldman cast as Thom. Oldman hasn't really done anything that rates as a star turn in a while. He's categorically a character actor, although rather good and recognized as one of the most respected actors today. Daniel Day Lewis is a great actor, but again, not really a star vehicle type nowadays. Lan would be a supporting role, although very important. Ziyi Zhang's last big role was in Memoirs of a Geisha, but that movie didn't do quite as well as some expected it. So she's Ziyi Zhang is still not quite a top rated star, although she is talented and supremely graceful. Makes a a perfect candidate for Moiraine. She has a deep fanbase, but is still somewhat under the radar, being more recognized for kung fu than her ability to act (which she does very well).

 

I was very careful to choose actors on the fringes of the high profile status. Heath Ledger being perhaps an exception, but as Lews Therin, he's a cameo apperance.

 

Ralph Fiennes is a pretty big actor, but he again, isn't a star vehicle lately. He did The Constant Gardener, but as it was only critically successful, I can't say that Ralph Fiennes is someone who would be too hard to pick up and feasibly hire for an epic fantasy with such depth.

 

Anna Kournikova is the only pick I'm not that into, and it's only because of the age and the acting.

[Angel of Death]

There are some very good choices there, others not so good. Thats my opinion only of course.

 

Johns Helena Bonham Carter as Siuan Sanche, is great.

 

There are a lot of other i can see.

 

Tilda Swinton as Elaida (Jonn's suggestion) is great, her role in narnia is sooo Elaida.

[keravon3]

i do not belive they should make a movie from the wheel of time series as the story is to long and complex. the movie/movies would have to differ from the books and thus not be as good

[mike]

here ya go....

 

robin williams as thom merrillan

 

faith hill as morgase

jessica simpson as elayne

 

all have acted.

 

i go for goran visnijic as lan as he

is tall and did the stone face in spatucus.

[Jonn]

robin williams as thom merrillan

 

That could be pretty fun actually. Too bad Thom is described as rather tall and lanky.

 

faith hill as morgase

 

That could work.

 

jessica simpson as elayne

 

Though her popularity has gone down of late, I still don't picture Elayne as a ditzy blonde.

 

all have acted.

 

It's not really saying much. I've acted before. lol :lol: Doesn't mean I should play Perrin.

 

i go for goran visnijic as lan as he

is tall and did the stone face in spatucus.

 

that's a good pick.

[mike]

i saw a little of the emmy show and evangeline lilly is what i picture when i think of two rivers or cairhienen charcters. cairhien and manetheren must have been very close as the description of the women from those areas are similar. moiraine, egwene and nynaeve could all be related as far as size. the women from some of the borderlands are not much different. my question of bloodlines comes into this part. why are morgase, gawyn and elayne blonde in a country that is chiefly brunette? is there more aiel blood here than what we are privy to know of? why are the tinkers brunette?

 

evangeline lilly, erica durance, kelly brook, holly marie combs, jessica alba, jennifer hewitt all fit into the petite and brunette image i draw from rj's writing. i don't get a feeling of asian qualities from the cairhienen or two rivers people. i see the same qualities in min and alliandre but not berlain or faile. the first is an island girl and zarine is hardcore borderland.

 

 

 

what can i say? i think about it because it is fun.

[Jonn]

Here's what I think.

 

The Two Rivers folk are always described as not too dark but not too pale. In fact many times I've read a description of other people in contrast who are too pale to pass for the look of Two Rivers folk. My conclusion is that people from the Two Rivers have some color in their skin. They have generally dark features that stand in contrast to Rand's tall, Scandanavian type features. Now to me this speaks of a sort of western Mediterranean feel, or anything from the north of Spain into parts of Italy. The Two Rivers folk also live in a sort of pristine, wooded area at the feet of some mountains. The real important thing to me in the Two Rivers look is the dark hair and the dark eyes, and that they're not too dark, but certainly not to pale. That's a feature mentioned several times.

 

 

I think we're a bit fooled by the elements of fantasy, with swords and sorcery, which speaks strongly of European culture. We're tempted to apply our own sense of geography to a fictional world. We see in the Two Rivers culture and in RJ's own out of book references to their way of life, the influence of countryside England. The mistake that may be made is, contrary to the physical description we are actually given, we turn these characters into countryside Englishmen. Countryside Englishmen, correct me if I'm wrong, are usually paler in their skin tone, and can have any number of hair types, from dark to red and blonde.

 

Two Rivers people are almost all described as dark haired/eyed and if not deeply brown skin, at least always contrasted to other peoples as not being as pale as them. This is cited most recently in The Last Knot in Knife of Dreams. It's the chapter when the Two Rivers folk come out of the gateways to battle the Shaido and some of the Taraboners from over the moutains have joined them.

 

The Cairhienin are much the same when it comes to physical decriptions. They are pretty much all described as shorter, pale-skinned with dark features. The exception seem to come mostly from the aristocracy who mix blood with aristocrats from Andor, it seems, quite often. Galad is an example. His father was Cairhienin, and though he is fairly tall, his eyes and hair are dark. His height may be from his mother, Tigraine, who is Rand's mother as well. Tigraine is the daughter of Mordrellen, the Andoran Queen. The Cairhienin are predominantly dark haired and dark eyed, short in stature and pale-skinned. To me is sounds a lot like northern Asia into maybe Eurasia, and maybe a hint of Mongolian, Russian...there is definately a Sino-Japanese flavor to their culture and manners. There's a little bit of Imperial France in there as well. I see no problem with casting a pale skinned Asian as a Cairhienin. I see no problem casting a non Asian with short height with dark eyes and hair. See, if you think of it as a painting, to go with definite distinctions in race as a guideline is sort of like bordering everything with a thick black line, with no blending of color.

[Guest cwestervelt]

mike: why are morgase, gawyn and elayne blonde in a country that is chiefly brunette? is there more aiel blood here than what we are privy to know of? why are the tinkers brunette?

 

Several months ago (I think when this was still on the temporary site at ageoflegends.net) there was a discussion that got into the whole recessive gene hair color issue, primarily centered around the racial distictiveness of Aiel during the Age of Legends. I remember raising that same question concering the royal houses of Andor and theorizing that Elayne, should she ever go to Rhuidean, would see a portion of the Aiel history due to being descended from the earliest Tuatha'an.

 

The simple answer to why the Tinkers no longer have the Aiel hair coloring is that they are the ultimate melting pot society. No where else will you get such a mixing of genetics and racial backgrounds. Dominant genetic traits include dark hair and eye coloration. The Aiel, being an isolated society, would have maintained the purity of their genetics, thus the paler hair. (Please excuse the Naziish sound of that, I don't mean any disrespect to people of mixed heritage.)

 

Hair isn't a straight dominant/recessive gene issue, but you still get darker taking precedence. If you want to get technical here are a couple of articles you can read:

 

http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/jun2001/993598918.Ge.r.html

 

and

 

http://www.thetech.org/genetics/ask.php?id=39

[mike]

here are some i saw on teevee recently and thought "why not?"

 

conan o'brian as thom

 

william macy as tam or elyas

 

patrick stewart as talmanes

 

jim belushi as valan luca

 

george clooney as bashere

 

jennifer anniston as the deposed siuane

 

adam sandler as mat

 

brendon frasier owns perrin

[Jonn]

here are some i saw on teevee recently and thought "why not?"

 

conan o'brian as thom

 

HAHA

 

william macy as tam or elyas

 

I don't know about that. Both characters are pretty tough costomers and I just never saw William H Macy as a tough sort of actor.

 

patrick stewart as talmanes

Um...

 

jim belushi as valan luca

 

...

 

george clooney as bashere

 

Too high profile, and I'd just be thinking...why is he in this movie?

 

jennifer anniston as the deposed siuane

 

maybe.

 

adam sandler as mat

 

No. Too old and...Mat is not the Waterboy.

 

brendon frasier owns perrin

 

Too old. Even if he were younger I'd look at him for Rand first because of his height. Maybe 12 years ago, I would think about casting him as one of the leads.

[Captain Blamo]

Since this story relies heavily on character development I honestly believe that picking established actors would be a mistake.

[RobertAlexWillis]

A movie or series of movies would be a travesty, but yes, if they did make them, the only hope would be to select non-established actors.

[Gorwyn]

I think you all are overlooking the most awsome thom...... Sean Connery. Just about anyone would spend money just to listen to his voice. He would be awsome in High Cant.

[TheDiceAgain...]

I'm guessing Sean Connery can't flips and handsprings anymore though. Then again, neither can Christopher Lee and Count Dooku pulled them off quite easily before he was de-handed, so I guess that doesn't disqualify him...

[mike]

this is another brunette actress that fits the randland casting of women, maybe a good faile or min. reduce her to that of an aes sedai; she has an ageless look.

 

http://www.alanadelagarza.com/

[Nevare]

Come on guys. Johnny Depp- Fain.

Just think about it.

[DemandredFO]

I agree that it would be a travesty to make WOT movies or mini-series but like Lotr I'd probably go see it cuz it's the best we're gonna get for a while. but all in fun here goes

 

Rand: can't really choose(maybe william mosely, Peter from narnia

Mat: Billy Boyd(has the personality and they have makeup and stuff so they could adjust

Perrin: I agree with the person who said Viktor Krum can't remember the actor's name

Thom: I agree with sean Connery(hell he pulled off a russian submarine capitan and he has white hair

Egwene: Um...maybe Irulan from Dune miniseries, can't remember the actresses name

Nyneave: I agree that Piper, Holly Combs, would be good

Elayne: Anna Popplewell(Susan from narnia)

Min: I agree with Natalie Portman(Mrs. Darth Vader seemed like Min :)

Aviendha: Liv Tyler

Julin: Morgan Freeman

Faile: Angelina Jolie(beautiful and manipulative, like Olypias in Alexander, best part in that fiasco)

Tuon: I agree with Jada Smith(they can do magic in moviemaking

Harid Fel: Ian Holm

Olver: no se

 

Bad Guys

Ishamael: John Travolta(on of the best bad guys EVER!!!

Moridin: Christoper Lee

Aginor: Me(well Aginor doesnt last very long)

Osan'gar: Johnny Depp

Balthamel: Collin Ferrel(not good actor but as with Dave Ducoughny, like to see his a$$ kicked by a tree

Aran'gar: Kate Beckansale

Lanfear: Tilda Swinton

Cyndane: Katey Holmes

Samael: Liam Neisen

Demandred: Ian Mckellan

Greandal: Rose Mcgowan

Semirahgue: Morena Bucarrin

Moghedien: I don't know

Belal: Colin Ferrel(fancied he could play alexander, not too many lines and gets permanently dead.

Rahvin: Tom Cruise(most girls go gaga over him, he has large heram of important people AND most importantly he gets permanently killed by Rand) most satisfying though I still like A Few Good Men

Voice of Shaitan: who else, the master of evil shadow voices, James Earl Jones