Press Gang DVD, Swede list, Archer's Goon casting
My Press Gang season 2 DVD has arrived, and I'm taking great pleasure in watching/listening to the extras, since the season 1 DVD had no extras at all. A couple of favourites so far:
Steven Moffat saying "It's a children's BAFTA, which is just like a regular BAFTA except that when you squeeze it, it goes 'ik'."
Julia Sawalha saying (a propos the end voiceover of Breakfast at Czar's) "I really phoned that one in. Bloody hell!"
Both Steven and Julia making comments on Julia's puffed-up face every time the credits come on (she'd just had a tooth pulled out).
And endearing me to him forever, Steven said in the old documentary footage that once he started trying to think like a 17-year-old girl, he repeatedly got angry that someone as gifted and ambitious as Lynda would always have a harder time than she would have had if she was a boy.
Another fun thing about the documentary were the accents. Steven's Scottish is more pronounced there than in the voiceovers, and while I've heard Dexter Fletcher's real English accent before, it has never been while he was still looking like Spike. (Steven made a comment about how Dexter was so good as Spike that you never stop to think if the American accent sounds real or not, and compared it to BtVS-Spike's, which he said was quite unconvincing, except that James Marsters' performance made it work. Somehow I'm not surprised that Steven Moffat watched BtVS.)
***
pingviini has a very fun list of signs that you've been in Swedish too long here, and it's very true. Do check it out and see if you're compatible with our crazy nationality. It's been up for quite some time, but for obvious reasons I haven't been able to post a lot lately.
***
While I was away, I barely had any time to think at all - it's one of the drawbacks of around-the-clock jobs. But I did engage myself in a game of imagining the dream cast for a film version of Diana Wynne Jones's "Archer's Goon". I'm well aware that it has already been made into a TV series, and for all I know it was excellently cast then, but I'm not going to let that stop me from having fun.
Casting the children was too tough, since child actors have the unfortunate tendency of growing up. For example, I think Brad Renfro would have made quite a nice Howard once upon a time, but it's obviously too late now. And so I skipped the humn adults as well and only cast the seven siblings running the town.
I don't bother with LJ cuts here, because if you haven't read the book yet, I think the urge you might get to do so from this breakdown is more important than any shielding from spoilers. :-)
So. Oldest sibling is Archer, in charge of banking and technology. He's described as attractive and charming (the tall-dark-and-handsome variety), with an unassuming look about him; when Howard and his family first meet him, he's wearing a blue overall. As it turns out, he's a complete megalomaniac who openly admits that he wants to take over the world and is both surprised and hurt when not everyone immediately thinks that's a good idea. According to the other siblings, Archer likes to do the "wounded innocence" routine even when he's guilty as hell. For Archer, I could imagine George Clooney, or, if he can manage the characterisation, Paul Gross (who has the right kind of looks).
Next comes Dillian, in charge of law and order. Dillian too has charms, but hers are more of an old movie star's, all glamour and queen-like behaviour. Like her older brother, Dillian wants to take over the world, and she would run it very strictly. She will be less immediately appealing than he is, but more enchanting - it will be very hard to say no to anything she suggests. Her beauty is mentioned, but we also have Awful pointing out that she's probably really old, so I imagine a fake kind of beauty, perhaps with a lot of makeup. Cher has both the talent and the plastic face to pull it off, but her real age sadly interfers with any illusion of youth, so I'd prefer someone a bit younger who's made up to look very fake (better than a real "fake" without the talent). Nicole Kidman would probably be fantastic with her hair dyed blonde, but Portia de Rossi might work too.
Third sibling is Shine, the fat, vulgar, leather-wearing gangster chick in charge of crime. Shine is a very funny character and in all her amorality oddly appealing. She's more upfront about her brainwashing techniques than her older siblings, and also more willing to resort to violence. I think quite a few overweight actresses have played enough similar characters to do Shine, but of all of them, I think Rosie O'Donnell is a good choice.
Middle child Hathaway, in charge of transports and communications, surprises Howard and Awful by being quite a decent sort - the so far unimpressed Awful ebcomes quite enamoured of him. He's described as shorter than the others, with fair hair and a ginger beard, and unlike his siblings he seems content with life. Though he got himself stuck in the 16th century quite by accident, he's happy there, and is the only one of the seven who has a family. At the same time, even the mild-mannered Hathaway causes the family quite a bit of trouble, and just like the others he thinks his own goals are more important than the inconveniences of humans. The ginger beard makes this one a giveaway - I can see David Wenham doing the part.
Torquil is a favourite. He runs shopping, religion and music, and is the most outrageous drama queen I've ever seen described in a children's book. I can't recall what he looks like, since the main focus of his descriptions is on what he's wearing: Torquil will go around dressed as an ancient Pharao, a priest, or Aladdin's genie, whichever he prefers, and he'll surround himself with disco dancers and church choirs just for the fond of it. Now, Torquil may be a gay stereotype, but unlike many such characters, he's in no way a sissy, but as tough as any of the others (and as self-absorbed too). This was another giveaway: with the mannerisms and moral ambiguity, he's so Sparrow-like that it has to be Johnny Depp playing him.
Erskine, the Goon of the story, appears to be no more than a big thug working for Archer. But despite his catastrophical attempts at flirting and his tendency to express himself in incomplete sentences, Erskine is actually quite smart, and he was the only one to recognize Howard at sight. He's nicer than most of the others, if understandably enraged at being stuck working with things like sewage and recycling. At the same time, he's quite manipulative, and his long-time lying to Howard's family requires quite an acting talent. I think either Peter DeLuise or Abraham Benrubi (who played Kube on Parker Lewis, Jerry on E.R. and Olaf the troll on BtVS) would be great choices.
Venturus, the ruler of education, was the most difficult choice, in part because the adult Venturus features for such a very short period of time, and in part because obviously the most important factor would be to match him with the performance of the person playing 13-year-old Howard, and as I've already said, I don't even want to try casting the children. The most vital physical characteristic I suppose is size; Howard is quite surprised when he sees his future self all grown up, even before he knows that he's Venturus. I think maybe Marc Blucas would work well; he's tall, and he's rather stocky without being thuggish like Erskine.
I'd love to hear more input from those of you who have read the book, and those of you who haven't should do so pronto and get back to me. :-D
Steven Moffat saying "It's a children's BAFTA, which is just like a regular BAFTA except that when you squeeze it, it goes 'ik'."
Julia Sawalha saying (a propos the end voiceover of Breakfast at Czar's) "I really phoned that one in. Bloody hell!"
Both Steven and Julia making comments on Julia's puffed-up face every time the credits come on (she'd just had a tooth pulled out).
And endearing me to him forever, Steven said in the old documentary footage that once he started trying to think like a 17-year-old girl, he repeatedly got angry that someone as gifted and ambitious as Lynda would always have a harder time than she would have had if she was a boy.
Another fun thing about the documentary were the accents. Steven's Scottish is more pronounced there than in the voiceovers, and while I've heard Dexter Fletcher's real English accent before, it has never been while he was still looking like Spike. (Steven made a comment about how Dexter was so good as Spike that you never stop to think if the American accent sounds real or not, and compared it to BtVS-Spike's, which he said was quite unconvincing, except that James Marsters' performance made it work. Somehow I'm not surprised that Steven Moffat watched BtVS.)
***
pingviini has a very fun list of signs that you've been in Swedish too long here, and it's very true. Do check it out and see if you're compatible with our crazy nationality. It's been up for quite some time, but for obvious reasons I haven't been able to post a lot lately.
***
While I was away, I barely had any time to think at all - it's one of the drawbacks of around-the-clock jobs. But I did engage myself in a game of imagining the dream cast for a film version of Diana Wynne Jones's "Archer's Goon". I'm well aware that it has already been made into a TV series, and for all I know it was excellently cast then, but I'm not going to let that stop me from having fun.
Casting the children was too tough, since child actors have the unfortunate tendency of growing up. For example, I think Brad Renfro would have made quite a nice Howard once upon a time, but it's obviously too late now. And so I skipped the humn adults as well and only cast the seven siblings running the town.
I don't bother with LJ cuts here, because if you haven't read the book yet, I think the urge you might get to do so from this breakdown is more important than any shielding from spoilers. :-)
So. Oldest sibling is Archer, in charge of banking and technology. He's described as attractive and charming (the tall-dark-and-handsome variety), with an unassuming look about him; when Howard and his family first meet him, he's wearing a blue overall. As it turns out, he's a complete megalomaniac who openly admits that he wants to take over the world and is both surprised and hurt when not everyone immediately thinks that's a good idea. According to the other siblings, Archer likes to do the "wounded innocence" routine even when he's guilty as hell. For Archer, I could imagine George Clooney, or, if he can manage the characterisation, Paul Gross (who has the right kind of looks).
Next comes Dillian, in charge of law and order. Dillian too has charms, but hers are more of an old movie star's, all glamour and queen-like behaviour. Like her older brother, Dillian wants to take over the world, and she would run it very strictly. She will be less immediately appealing than he is, but more enchanting - it will be very hard to say no to anything she suggests. Her beauty is mentioned, but we also have Awful pointing out that she's probably really old, so I imagine a fake kind of beauty, perhaps with a lot of makeup. Cher has both the talent and the plastic face to pull it off, but her real age sadly interfers with any illusion of youth, so I'd prefer someone a bit younger who's made up to look very fake (better than a real "fake" without the talent). Nicole Kidman would probably be fantastic with her hair dyed blonde, but Portia de Rossi might work too.
Third sibling is Shine, the fat, vulgar, leather-wearing gangster chick in charge of crime. Shine is a very funny character and in all her amorality oddly appealing. She's more upfront about her brainwashing techniques than her older siblings, and also more willing to resort to violence. I think quite a few overweight actresses have played enough similar characters to do Shine, but of all of them, I think Rosie O'Donnell is a good choice.
Middle child Hathaway, in charge of transports and communications, surprises Howard and Awful by being quite a decent sort - the so far unimpressed Awful ebcomes quite enamoured of him. He's described as shorter than the others, with fair hair and a ginger beard, and unlike his siblings he seems content with life. Though he got himself stuck in the 16th century quite by accident, he's happy there, and is the only one of the seven who has a family. At the same time, even the mild-mannered Hathaway causes the family quite a bit of trouble, and just like the others he thinks his own goals are more important than the inconveniences of humans. The ginger beard makes this one a giveaway - I can see David Wenham doing the part.
Torquil is a favourite. He runs shopping, religion and music, and is the most outrageous drama queen I've ever seen described in a children's book. I can't recall what he looks like, since the main focus of his descriptions is on what he's wearing: Torquil will go around dressed as an ancient Pharao, a priest, or Aladdin's genie, whichever he prefers, and he'll surround himself with disco dancers and church choirs just for the fond of it. Now, Torquil may be a gay stereotype, but unlike many such characters, he's in no way a sissy, but as tough as any of the others (and as self-absorbed too). This was another giveaway: with the mannerisms and moral ambiguity, he's so Sparrow-like that it has to be Johnny Depp playing him.
Erskine, the Goon of the story, appears to be no more than a big thug working for Archer. But despite his catastrophical attempts at flirting and his tendency to express himself in incomplete sentences, Erskine is actually quite smart, and he was the only one to recognize Howard at sight. He's nicer than most of the others, if understandably enraged at being stuck working with things like sewage and recycling. At the same time, he's quite manipulative, and his long-time lying to Howard's family requires quite an acting talent. I think either Peter DeLuise or Abraham Benrubi (who played Kube on Parker Lewis, Jerry on E.R. and Olaf the troll on BtVS) would be great choices.
Venturus, the ruler of education, was the most difficult choice, in part because the adult Venturus features for such a very short period of time, and in part because obviously the most important factor would be to match him with the performance of the person playing 13-year-old Howard, and as I've already said, I don't even want to try casting the children. The most vital physical characteristic I suppose is size; Howard is quite surprised when he sees his future self all grown up, even before he knows that he's Venturus. I think maybe Marc Blucas would work well; he's tall, and he's rather stocky without being thuggish like Erskine.
I'd love to hear more input from those of you who have read the book, and those of you who haven't should do so pronto and get back to me. :-D