Neverwhere: Casting
I read Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman earlier this year and was completely engrossed in the novel; the idea of London Below is really quite fascinating especially the way some of the tube stations were incorporated into the story. Particularly exciting too since I had just visited London last year :)
I know there was a BBC series, but I haven't seen it yet and from what I've managed to view on youtube, the cast looks nothing like what I imagined the characters to be. Islington in particular looks somewhat laughable (I think it's the hair).
So here's my attempt at casting Neverwhere:
The casting of James McAvoy was really shaney's idea and he definitely fits the role of the ordinary man who suddenly finds himself in a strange world, and somehow ends up as the hero in an adventure he didn't expect. Kind of like what his character in Wanted went through.
On the other hand, I thought of Rupert Grint for the role of Richard Mayhew -- he's just a bit too young at the moment but I think he would be the *perfect* Richard in say, about 5 years' time. I can totally imagine him as someone with little trolls sitting in his cubicle at the office, and his reactions to all the strange things that he encounters in London Below. Either way, I think in this casting, this is the only character I managed to cast more or less the way I imagined while reading the book.
I imagined Door in my head to be someone with short hair and strong features, and thus Natalie Portman came to mind. I'm not really convinced that she has enough of that other-world-ness to her though, but she's best fit of all those I've considered.
The Marquis was ridiculously hard to cast -- I still haven't managed to find someone who looked like he did in my head. Anyway, I think these three actors come quite close but I can't decide who will best fit the role of the Marquis.
Again, I can't decide but both of these ladies do fit the role well. It just kind of depends on whether Hunter should look younger or older. I can see Angela Bassett as a warrior with a reputation, and there's just something about her that suggests more of someone who waited forever for the right opportunity to slay the Beast of London. Yet, I felt like Hunter was one of those people who never seem to age hence Naomie Harris, whom I can also see as a warrior.
The book refers to Islington mostly as 'it' and said it was neither a man nor a woman. Yet later, Richard starts referring to the angel as "him". Straange. I've not seen the BBC series except for some clips on youtube and I noticed that Islington was male. I couldn't think of any actors to play Islington anyway before I thought of Emily Watson, whom I feel has the ethereal beauty and presence to play the angel Islington.
* Mr Croup & Mr Vandemar.
I really wanted to cast these characters as they're pretty important to the story. In the novel, they gave me the creeps and I was also struck by how they looked completely different but yet always operated together. I wanted to cast actors who would look right together as this pair described as a fox and a wolf. Mr Vandemar was easy to cast -- Jude Law, Ralph Fiennes were considered -- but it was Mr Croup, who was supposed to be about two heads shorter than Mr Vandemar that was difficult to find an actor for. Ideas anyone?
I know there was a BBC series, but I haven't seen it yet and from what I've managed to view on youtube, the cast looks nothing like what I imagined the characters to be. Islington in particular looks somewhat laughable (I think it's the hair).
So here's my attempt at casting Neverwhere:
The casting of James McAvoy was really shaney's idea and he definitely fits the role of the ordinary man who suddenly finds himself in a strange world, and somehow ends up as the hero in an adventure he didn't expect. Kind of like what his character in Wanted went through.
On the other hand, I thought of Rupert Grint for the role of Richard Mayhew -- he's just a bit too young at the moment but I think he would be the *perfect* Richard in say, about 5 years' time. I can totally imagine him as someone with little trolls sitting in his cubicle at the office, and his reactions to all the strange things that he encounters in London Below. Either way, I think in this casting, this is the only character I managed to cast more or less the way I imagined while reading the book.
I imagined Door in my head to be someone with short hair and strong features, and thus Natalie Portman came to mind. I'm not really convinced that she has enough of that other-world-ness to her though, but she's best fit of all those I've considered.
The Marquis was ridiculously hard to cast -- I still haven't managed to find someone who looked like he did in my head. Anyway, I think these three actors come quite close but I can't decide who will best fit the role of the Marquis.
Again, I can't decide but both of these ladies do fit the role well. It just kind of depends on whether Hunter should look younger or older. I can see Angela Bassett as a warrior with a reputation, and there's just something about her that suggests more of someone who waited forever for the right opportunity to slay the Beast of London. Yet, I felt like Hunter was one of those people who never seem to age hence Naomie Harris, whom I can also see as a warrior.
The book refers to Islington mostly as 'it' and said it was neither a man nor a woman. Yet later, Richard starts referring to the angel as "him". Straange. I've not seen the BBC series except for some clips on youtube and I noticed that Islington was male. I couldn't think of any actors to play Islington anyway before I thought of Emily Watson, whom I feel has the ethereal beauty and presence to play the angel Islington.
* Mr Croup & Mr Vandemar.
I really wanted to cast these characters as they're pretty important to the story. In the novel, they gave me the creeps and I was also struck by how they looked completely different but yet always operated together. I wanted to cast actors who would look right together as this pair described as a fox and a wolf. Mr Vandemar was easy to cast -- Jude Law, Ralph Fiennes were considered -- but it was Mr Croup, who was supposed to be about two heads shorter than Mr Vandemar that was difficult to find an actor for. Ideas anyone?