Casting Couch
It's Monday, it's cold, it's raining, I think a little distraction is required....
A few things recently got me thinking about the actors that have played roles in the various Hornblower productions over the years. nodbear's fascinating post on contemporary portraits of Sir Edward Pellew reminded us that Robert Lyndsey looks nothing like the tall strapping red-head Pellew was in real life. Also several people have remarked that they were initially nonplussed by ITVs decision to cast Paul McGann as Mr Bush, although I think it's fair to say that he won the fangirls over PDQ :) And what of Hornblower himself? I don't think I need to add that Ioan Gruffudd was a pretty popular choice for the role, although I did once see an article in the Torygraph that made a snide remark about Welshmen playing English heroes *sigh* For some viewers though Gregory Peck will always be the quintessential Hornblower despite the fact that the title role in Captain Horatio Hornblower was allegedly intended for Errol Flynn, presumably as a result of his success in Captain Blood and The Sea Hawk. Personally I can't even begin to imagine Errol Flynn as Hornblower!
So now's your chance, would you recast any of these roles? Are the actors so intimately associated with the characters that you can't imagine anyone else playing these parts? What about the other book characters? Who would you cast as Gerard, or Polwheal, or Lady Barbara?
And as for Archie? Well given that he only exists in the ITV series I can't imagine him being played by anyone other than Jamie Bamber. However if you really want to recast the unluckiest man in the Age of Sail, now's your chance!
A few things recently got me thinking about the actors that have played roles in the various Hornblower productions over the years. nodbear's fascinating post on contemporary portraits of Sir Edward Pellew reminded us that Robert Lyndsey looks nothing like the tall strapping red-head Pellew was in real life. Also several people have remarked that they were initially nonplussed by ITVs decision to cast Paul McGann as Mr Bush, although I think it's fair to say that he won the fangirls over PDQ :) And what of Hornblower himself? I don't think I need to add that Ioan Gruffudd was a pretty popular choice for the role, although I did once see an article in the Torygraph that made a snide remark about Welshmen playing English heroes *sigh* For some viewers though Gregory Peck will always be the quintessential Hornblower despite the fact that the title role in Captain Horatio Hornblower was allegedly intended for Errol Flynn, presumably as a result of his success in Captain Blood and The Sea Hawk. Personally I can't even begin to imagine Errol Flynn as Hornblower!
So now's your chance, would you recast any of these roles? Are the actors so intimately associated with the characters that you can't imagine anyone else playing these parts? What about the other book characters? Who would you cast as Gerard, or Polwheal, or Lady Barbara?
And as for Archie? Well given that he only exists in the ITV series I can't imagine him being played by anyone other than Jamie Bamber. However if you really want to recast the unluckiest man in the Age of Sail, now's your chance!