Picspammy: The Once and Future King Book Casting
A cast for...
THE ONCE AND FUTURE KING
Book IV: The Candle in the Wind
by T.H. White
I very nearly didn't post this because I am still unsure of a few of them and The Once and Future King is my favorite book of all time, and I've been thinking about how it would be cast for so long, I wanted to do it justice. Hence why the comments you find below will sound very... well, invested, to say the least. I got a little obsessive about getting things just right. As it stands, I still have some issues, but want to post it anyway since I have put a lot of thought into it (as you shall see lol). For the most part, I am quite taken with this cast. Oh, and feel free to skip over the commentary and just enjoy the pretty! ;)
I chose only to cast Book IV: The Candle in the Wind (the final book in TOAFK) for a couple of reasons. First because it would be a whole lot easier than casting all four books; second because I didn't want to have to cast the same character more than once; and third because if The Once and Future King were ever made into a film, I'm pretty sure it would be split into four installments, since each of the four stories is unique and complete on its own.
Anyway, hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed putting it together. :)
SIR MORDRED
Rúaidhrí Conroy
Oooh, Mordred. Why so difficult? I was down to the absolute wire hemming and hawing over this casting... If this movie were ever really made, I think the best bet for Mordred would probably be for some amazing young British stage actor/newcomer to audition and magically be perfect for the part lol. No one I thought of was quite up to par for this, the most intense, unique and enigmatic of the characters in this book. BUT, in the end I chose Rúaidhrí Conroy, based on his brilliant performance in Six Shooter, a short film by Martin McDonagh (available to view on this DVD of short films from 2005), and despite him being about 5 years too old to play this part...
The thing about Mordred is: he's really quite young (early- to mid-20s at this point in the story), but his entire life focus is on murderous revenge. This makes for a volatile mixture of immaturity/frivolousness and single-minded purpose for this young lad. He is also described in the book as very pale and light-haired - almost Albino - and as having a slight humpback. So not necessarily the most attractive fellow you ever did see. Would be v. hard to pull off this character, both for an actor and a director. Hence why he was so hard to cast. And trust me I looked all over and wracked my brains over this one for a few weeks...
(Jamie Bell was a second possible choice I considered for this role.)
~.~
KING ARTHUR PENDRAGON
Tim Roth
Tim was an epiphany. IMO he is the PERFECT Arthur. So much so that I actually have a clear picture in my head of him in costume, on set, doing a scene from the book. XD He's just... well he really is perfect for this part. (How I came upon the epiphany: I thought of my two favorite 50ish British actors - Gary Oldman and Tim Roth - and then it just clicked: "OH.")
~.~
SIR LANCELOT DU LAC
James Nesbitt
OK the thing about Lancelot, similar(ish) to the Mordred situation, is that he is characterized as being ugly (see Book III: The Ill-Made Knight, the book devoted to Lancelot's character), and it is a defining feature of his character (though moreso in Knight than Candle). Basically, it's his personality that Guenever falls in love with. But I couldn't think of any "ugly" British actors who would be able to play the role sympathetically and sufficiently heroically, and James literally just popped into my head, and I went, "Oh yeah, him." I thought of a bunch of other people after him - partly because though I was purposefully sticking with UK/Irish actors for the most part, one of Lancelot's cool features is that he is actually French (from Gaul), and I considered a favorite French actor of mine, Mathieu Amalric, for a few minutes - but in the end it I knew it had to be James. So there ya go. I would kill to see him play this character.
~.~
QUEEN GUENEVER
Samantha Morton
I fucking love her? She'd have to put on a massive, long, dark brunette wig, but other than that she's it. She's one of the only ones here I came to a conclusion on quickly and never thought of changing. Her acting chops are so necessary for this character, who is otherwise easily played as a silly archetype. I think she could knock it out of the park. (Can totally see the chemistry with both Tim and James as well!)
~.~
SIR GAWAINE OF ORKNEY
Shaun Dingwall
Took me a while to find someone right, but Shaun's got the fatherliness (yeah yeah Doctor Who, I know lol) Gawaine needs, and I can completely see him as the jovial, fiercely loyal type that is Gawaine. (I can even see him playing Gawaine in The Green Knight, but that's a whole other thing.) It also helps he's already ginger. ^_^
~.~
SIR AGRAVAINE OF ORKNEY
Hans Matheson
Hans has been my Agravaine for as long as I can remember. I can't really describe how perfect he is for this character, so uh... you'll just have to take my word for it. :) (Or go out and rent all his stuff and see what I mean.)
~.~
SIR GARETH OF ORKNEY
Sean Biggerstaff
Right, ok, so Gareth is my favorite character in The Once and Future King, based mainly on how he is characterized in the previous Book II: The Queen of Air and Darkness. This one for me was almost as hard to cast as Mordred. Gareth has to have an air of total innocence/goodness, though he is presumably older than Mordred (er, I tried... oh well). So he basically has the opposite problem Mordred has in that he is a bit older, and thus more mature and intelligent, but much more pure and loyal - almost Mordred's foil. IMO Sean has the 'innocent' look down cold, and I thought he proved himself quite well as an actor in Cashback. I also love that his eyes tend to speak volumes. In my mind, that is Gareth to a T.
(Jamie Bell also almost got this one - he's a good actor, but I guess he just doesn't quite fit anywhere in this cast!)
The only real problem with Sean is that he looks too young for this role. He could almost play Gaheris. But he is, in reality, the correct age (mid 20s). And hey, Cashback came out in 2006, so he's gotten older looking since then. I just couldn't find any appropriate pics. ^_^
~.~
SIR GAHERIS OF ORKNEY
Skandar Keynes
Also tough to cast, mainly because it was hard to get the age right while at the same time getting someone who could pull off the character correctly. I settled on Skandar because he's at almost the right age now to play Gaheris, the youngest Orkney brother, I think he has the capacity to give the character a bit more depth than he has in the book. (Also, yeah, I have a soft spot for Skandie lol.)
THE ONCE AND FUTURE KING
Book IV: The Candle in the Wind
by T.H. White
I very nearly didn't post this because I am still unsure of a few of them and The Once and Future King is my favorite book of all time, and I've been thinking about how it would be cast for so long, I wanted to do it justice. Hence why the comments you find below will sound very... well, invested, to say the least. I got a little obsessive about getting things just right. As it stands, I still have some issues, but want to post it anyway since I have put a lot of thought into it (as you shall see lol). For the most part, I am quite taken with this cast. Oh, and feel free to skip over the commentary and just enjoy the pretty! ;)
I chose only to cast Book IV: The Candle in the Wind (the final book in TOAFK) for a couple of reasons. First because it would be a whole lot easier than casting all four books; second because I didn't want to have to cast the same character more than once; and third because if The Once and Future King were ever made into a film, I'm pretty sure it would be split into four installments, since each of the four stories is unique and complete on its own.
Anyway, hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed putting it together. :)
SIR MORDRED
Rúaidhrí Conroy
Oooh, Mordred. Why so difficult? I was down to the absolute wire hemming and hawing over this casting... If this movie were ever really made, I think the best bet for Mordred would probably be for some amazing young British stage actor/newcomer to audition and magically be perfect for the part lol. No one I thought of was quite up to par for this, the most intense, unique and enigmatic of the characters in this book. BUT, in the end I chose Rúaidhrí Conroy, based on his brilliant performance in Six Shooter, a short film by Martin McDonagh (available to view on this DVD of short films from 2005), and despite him being about 5 years too old to play this part...
The thing about Mordred is: he's really quite young (early- to mid-20s at this point in the story), but his entire life focus is on murderous revenge. This makes for a volatile mixture of immaturity/frivolousness and single-minded purpose for this young lad. He is also described in the book as very pale and light-haired - almost Albino - and as having a slight humpback. So not necessarily the most attractive fellow you ever did see. Would be v. hard to pull off this character, both for an actor and a director. Hence why he was so hard to cast. And trust me I looked all over and wracked my brains over this one for a few weeks...
(Jamie Bell was a second possible choice I considered for this role.)
~.~
KING ARTHUR PENDRAGON
Tim Roth
Tim was an epiphany. IMO he is the PERFECT Arthur. So much so that I actually have a clear picture in my head of him in costume, on set, doing a scene from the book. XD He's just... well he really is perfect for this part. (How I came upon the epiphany: I thought of my two favorite 50ish British actors - Gary Oldman and Tim Roth - and then it just clicked: "OH.")
~.~
SIR LANCELOT DU LAC
James Nesbitt
OK the thing about Lancelot, similar(ish) to the Mordred situation, is that he is characterized as being ugly (see Book III: The Ill-Made Knight, the book devoted to Lancelot's character), and it is a defining feature of his character (though moreso in Knight than Candle). Basically, it's his personality that Guenever falls in love with. But I couldn't think of any "ugly" British actors who would be able to play the role sympathetically and sufficiently heroically, and James literally just popped into my head, and I went, "Oh yeah, him." I thought of a bunch of other people after him - partly because though I was purposefully sticking with UK/Irish actors for the most part, one of Lancelot's cool features is that he is actually French (from Gaul), and I considered a favorite French actor of mine, Mathieu Amalric, for a few minutes - but in the end it I knew it had to be James. So there ya go. I would kill to see him play this character.
~.~
QUEEN GUENEVER
Samantha Morton
I fucking love her? She'd have to put on a massive, long, dark brunette wig, but other than that she's it. She's one of the only ones here I came to a conclusion on quickly and never thought of changing. Her acting chops are so necessary for this character, who is otherwise easily played as a silly archetype. I think she could knock it out of the park. (Can totally see the chemistry with both Tim and James as well!)
~.~
SIR GAWAINE OF ORKNEY
Shaun Dingwall
Took me a while to find someone right, but Shaun's got the fatherliness (yeah yeah Doctor Who, I know lol) Gawaine needs, and I can completely see him as the jovial, fiercely loyal type that is Gawaine. (I can even see him playing Gawaine in The Green Knight, but that's a whole other thing.) It also helps he's already ginger. ^_^
~.~
SIR AGRAVAINE OF ORKNEY
Hans Matheson
Hans has been my Agravaine for as long as I can remember. I can't really describe how perfect he is for this character, so uh... you'll just have to take my word for it. :) (Or go out and rent all his stuff and see what I mean.)
~.~
SIR GARETH OF ORKNEY
Sean Biggerstaff
Right, ok, so Gareth is my favorite character in The Once and Future King, based mainly on how he is characterized in the previous Book II: The Queen of Air and Darkness. This one for me was almost as hard to cast as Mordred. Gareth has to have an air of total innocence/goodness, though he is presumably older than Mordred (er, I tried... oh well). So he basically has the opposite problem Mordred has in that he is a bit older, and thus more mature and intelligent, but much more pure and loyal - almost Mordred's foil. IMO Sean has the 'innocent' look down cold, and I thought he proved himself quite well as an actor in Cashback. I also love that his eyes tend to speak volumes. In my mind, that is Gareth to a T.
(Jamie Bell also almost got this one - he's a good actor, but I guess he just doesn't quite fit anywhere in this cast!)
The only real problem with Sean is that he looks too young for this role. He could almost play Gaheris. But he is, in reality, the correct age (mid 20s). And hey, Cashback came out in 2006, so he's gotten older looking since then. I just couldn't find any appropriate pics. ^_^
~.~
SIR GAHERIS OF ORKNEY
Skandar Keynes
Also tough to cast, mainly because it was hard to get the age right while at the same time getting someone who could pull off the character correctly. I settled on Skandar because he's at almost the right age now to play Gaheris, the youngest Orkney brother, I think he has the capacity to give the character a bit more depth than he has in the book. (Also, yeah, I have a soft spot for Skandie lol.)