Dark Tower Casting: Aaron Paul as Eddie Dean?
Since Ron Howard and Co. announced the deal they've made with Universal to adapt Stephen King's Dark Tower series, there's been all kinds of discussions all over the internet about casting. It's been interesting to see Aaron Paul's name popping up at least a couple times in every one of those threads as a possibility to play Eddie Dean, especially as he's one of the only people I've seen named more than a couple times who's actually viable (people seem to forget just how young Eddie is). It occurred to me about a year ago that Aaron is the perfect choice to play my beloved Eddie (there are scenes from the series that I can imagine Aaron playing, and even in my head he's so fantastic it makes me teary), but now that there might be some chance of it happening in reality I don't know how to feel. He's still the ideal choice, and I'm thrilled to see other people recognizing that, and certainly I'd be a little pissed if he didn't get considered, but as a fan of him and as someone invested in his career I'd kind of rather he not go near this thing.
For one thing, if there's the slightest chance the scheduling would pull him away from Breaking Bad, I would be inconsolable.
For another, there's a good chance that they're going to make choices about how to condense the series that are going to hurt Eddie as a character more than anyone else, so it may end up as a role not worthy of Aaron's talents.
And, it probably doesn't behoove Aaron to be playing another sweet, young, snarky, vulnerable drug addict with a complicated but intense relationship with a damaged surrogate father figure so soon after making a name for himself with a similar role. Not that Eddie is really that similar to Jesse; he's stronger, and funnier, and a hell of a lot smarter, his arc is a much cleaner, clearer one of redemption and growth, he has more than the father-figure relationship going for him, and being an addict defines him much less than it does Jesse. It still carries the risk, though, of Aaron getting type-cast as the lovable junkie.
And all that's not even considering the (unfortunately large) possibility that the entire project could be a massive failure and an embarrassment to everyone involved.
At the same time, though, I've loved Eddie Dean intensely since I was in 7th grade. He's my favorite Stephen King character -- one of my favorites in all of fiction, honestly -- and I don't want to let anyone touch the part who isn't as absolutely perfect for it as Aaron. And there's no one else that I'm aware of. If I could forget, like so many others seem to have done, about the age thing, there might be someone out there. It did occur to me that PJ Ransone (Ray Person in Generation Kill) might be a good choice, although I'm not sure he has the dramatic chops, and he might just be too small. (I know Aaron's small, too, but Last House on the Left showed me that he can make himself seem and even look bigger than he is...to the point of being physically imposing, even.) So, I don't know how I feel, really. It has been so awesome to see how many other people think he's the right choice, though. It's nice to see that so many people even know who he is.