Dreamcasting: Tess of the D'Urbervilles

It's time for another round of Dreamcasting, my ongoing series about the books I love and the movies I'd want to see made of them! This time around, I'm looking at a classic that I think could actually do well with modern audiences, because the themes around sexual coercion, slut-shaming, and both secretly and not-so-secretly garbage dudes that put you on a pedestal still resonate in today's world. So who would I cast in the lead roles?

Tess Durbeyfield: Sophie Turner

I've tried not to just reflexively go for the Game of Thrones "kids" (they aren't kids anymore really but they're still the kids in my head) when looking for British actors, but sometimes they're right. I don't know if her red or blonde hair is her natural look, but I'd love to see her in the red for this role. I've been impressed with her range over the years on Thrones, and I think she can pull of Tess's fundamental goodness throughout hardship and she's such a classic English rose.

Alec d'Urberville: Aaron Taylor-Johnson

Aaron Taylor-Johnson is an interesting actor, and I really liked him as Vronsky in what was honestly not an especially great version of Anna Karenina a few years back. He's got the kind of intensity I think works for Alec and I think he could play a sort of simmering malice well.

Angel Clare: Nicholas Hoult

Angel seems like a good dude at first but turns out to be pretty damn problematic (intentionally). Hoult's big blue eyes lend him an innocence that works for his initial presentation, he's both good looking and seems sweet so the appeal for Tess makes sense, and he's got enough edge for the turn Angel's character takes later in the book.

Liza-Lu: Maisie Williams

Liza-Lu's not a huge part, so this feels like a waste of Maisie Williams, but she and Sophie Turner already play sisters on Thrones, so having them play sisters again here just feels right.

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Dreamcasting: Tess of the D'Urbervilles

Dreamcasting: The Other Boleyn Girl

Some of my favorite guilty pleasures are the Phillipa Gregory Tudor books. I know, I know, they are of dubious historical accuracy, and veer towards the trashy, but they're soapy and fun. I will confess that I never watched the movie they made out of The Other Boleyn Girl, the most popular of the books, a decade ago that had Natalie Portman in it, but that's because I heard it was very bad and life is too short to watch crappy movies. So if we decided to give it another go, who would I put in the lead roles?

Henry VIII: At the time all of this was going down, Henry was in his early 30s. This was before he messed up his leg and started to gain weight...he was still very active and boisterous. James Norton is about the right age, talented, from the UK, and looks good as a redhead. Perfect.

Catherine of Aragon: She's not a major character in the book, but she is a big presence in the story at large, and you can't really have an Anne Boleyn story without Catherine. Catherine actually didn't look like what we'd consider Spanish people to look like today...she was fair with light hair and eyes. Also, she's often portrayed as much older than Henry, but she was only about five years his senior. Samantha Morton's about the right age, and she's been one of my favorite actresses since In America.

Mary Boleyn: Although history tells us she was likely the oldest of the siblings, she's positioned in this book as the youngest, so I'm putting her in her late teens. She's also given the "good girl" role to her sister Anne's "bad girl", even though Mary was apparently the one who came in with a reputation. When I dreamcast I usually go for people who won't have to do accent work, but Elle Fanning is super talented and seems perfect for the role.

Anne Boleyn: Since the book is told from Mary's perspective, I suppose it's unsurprising that she's the hero of her tale...and that her sister is her foil (and the villain). Natalie Dormer was so perfect in this role on The Tudors that it's hard to think of anyone else playing her, but Emily Browning (even though she's Australian rather than English) was the best part of the first season of American Gods and I think would be great as the flirtatious, ambitious Anne.

George Boleyn: Thomas Brodie-Sangster, once the adorable moppet in Love Actually, and lately good in a kind of thankless role as Jojen Reed on Game of Thrones, has the foxy, mischievous look I picture for George.

William Carey: Mary's first husband, who she marries shortly before she begins her affair with Henry. This actually isn't a very prominent role and he dies before it all wraps up, so let's throw this at Freddie Highmore on hiatus from The Good Doctor, eh?

William Stafford: This man Mary weds for love after she's widowed. I'd like to see the undeniably talented Daniel Radcliffe take on a period piece role...and I would also enjoy the LOLs of seeing him dwarfed by Elle Fanning, who's much taller than he is.

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Dreamcasting: The Other Boleyn Girl

Dreamcasting: Sabriel

I'm back with another take on Dreamcasting, where I combine my love of movies and books by casting some of my longtime favorites. Today, it's Sabriel, a book that I've loved ever since I picked it up as a teenager (and passed on to my sister, who loves it as much as I do!). It's a fantasy adventure story, about a young woman who uses seven bells to cross into Death and fight necromancers who try to bend the Dead to their will against the living. There are two sequels in the original trilogy, with another two novels having come out since, but the original book is the one I've returned to most often.



Sabriel: Saoirse Ronan

She's actually a smidge old for the role (Sabriel should be about 18, Ronan is 23), but by Hollywood standards that's practically dead-on. She's done dark hair for a role before, she's played a bad-ass in Hanna, and she's a talented enough actor to play a lot of things just with her face...Sabriel's not a talkative character, so whoever plays her needs to be able to be subtle and I think she'd be just perfect.



Touchstone: Armie Hammer

He's gotten rave reviews for his portrayal of a romantic lead lately, and he's got the kind of warm attractiveness that would make it easy to understand how an otherwise-down-to-earth teenager like Sabriel would get a big crush real fast. But Touchstone isn't a one-dimensional character, and Armie has the range to give light to his dark side, too, I think.



Colonel Horhees: J.K. Simmons

Horhees is a military man who interacts with Sabriel early in her journey and plays a bigger role at the end, but still not a ton of screentime. But he's someone that we do need to connect with, and I think Simmons has the right mix of gruffness and warmth to make the most of it.



Mogget (voice): Tim Curry

If you love this book, just shell out the money for the audio version, which is narrated by...Tim Curry. His version of Mogget is so perfect I can't imagine anyone else doing it better.



Abhorsen: Ralph Feinnes

Sabriel's father is a relatively minor character and only has a few scenes, but because it's the search for him that prompts the entire story, he's an important prescence. He should have an almost-otherworldliness since he's been in and out of Death for his whole life, and even though he's unquestionably a good guy, Fiennes' excellent turn as Voldemort made me think he's been great in the role.



Kerrigor/Rogir: Benedict Cumberbatch

Since I think a lot of Kerrigor's non-flashback appearances would need to be CGI'd, I wanted someone with a distinctive voice that could be menacing...but was also young enough to appear as Rogir in flashbacks.

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Dreamcasting: Sabriel

Dreamcasting: Catherine, Called Birdy

One of the books I look back on most fondly from my childhood is Catherine, Called Birdy. I was always a feisty child (surprise!), so this story about a high-spirited medieval teenager scheming to thwart her father's plans for marrying her off delighted me. Thinking back, it was fairly accurate about what life would have actually been like for a daughter of the minor gentry in that time: her parents plan on marrying her off despite her only being 13, she's expected to endlessly sew, and hygiene isn't really a thing. Assuming everyone would get aged up to about 16, here's who I would cast in the major roles:

Catherine: Rowan Blanchard

Catherine has been a great favorite of mine since I was a teenager myself, and I really think Blanchard could knock it out of the park. She's got the mischievous twinkle in her eye that seems perfect for the high-spirited Catherine, who amuses herself by repulsing her various suitors.

Aelis: Mackenzie Foy

Catherine's only real friend her own age, the Lady Aelis falls for Catherine's favorite uncle, George (see below), bringing out her green-eyed monster. When nothing becomes of this mutual attraction because of differences in social status, Aelis ends up married to a child duke and eventually, Catherine's own brother. The only other thing I've seen Foy in is the Twilight series and she's lovely and charismatic onscreen and seems like she might be able to capture Aelis's sparkle.

George: Josh Hutcherson

Although it wasn't uncommon to see massive age gaps between couples in the Middle Ages (see who I've cast as Catherine's own suitor below), George and Aelis are supposed to be a couple who might have married for love, so I wanted to keep the difference between them not tooooo bad. Josh Hutcherson looks young for his age and exudes kindness without the kind of scary manliness that would probably be off-putting to a teenager.

Ethelfritha: Amy Poehler

After his budding connection with Aelis is broken off, George marries Ethelfritha, a wealthy older widow who's been a bit scrambled ever since she was struck by lightening. She's comic relief, but she's also supposed to be good-hearted and someone that Catherine grows genuinely fond of. I feel like that sounds like a perfect fit for Amy Poehler's warmly offbeat comedy.

Shaggy Beard: Tom Hardy

Now, both you and I know that Tom Hardy is very good-looking indeed. But in full giant beard, to a teenage girl? He'd probably be horrifying. Shaggy Beard is Catherine's most persistent suitor, and I'd like to see Hardy stretch a bit into a comedic role.

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Dreamcasting: Catherine, Called Birdy

Dreamcasting: The Secret History

I could talk for hours about how much I loved my AP English class. I read so many great books for the first time in that class, including one of my all-time favorites: The Secret History. Donna Tartt's novel about a small group of private college students studying the ancient world trying to keep an awful secret has incredible characters and a twisty story that I think would make for a great movie. So who would I cast?

Richard Papen: Logan Lerman

Papen is a working-class Californian who finds himself in the middle of a circle of Classics scholars at an elite liberal arts school in the Northeast...in other words, our obvious audience-insert character. He's kind of bland, and Lerman played a role as a passive, kind of quiet character in The Perks of Being a Wallflower very well, so I think he'd fit right in here.

Bunny Corcoran: Paul Dano

He's a smidge older than I'd like, but Bunny is an important character in the drama so he needs to be done right. Dano is a really talented actor and I think could do really great work as the outwardly glad-handling, inwardly scheming Bunny.

Camilla Macaulay: Dakota Johnson

Camilla is the only girl in the group, and the object of fantasy for several of the boys. Dakota Johnson is beautiful, but in an approachable, college girl kind of way that I think works for Camilla. In 50 Shades, she created an interesting character out of a completely ridiculous idiot on the page, so I'd love to see her bring her charm to this role.

Charles Macaulay: Miles Teller

Charles is Camilla's fraternal twin, and has the kind of dark, moody intensity that I think of when I think about Charles.

Francis Abernathy: Ezra Miller

Francis is a dramatic spirit, and Ezra Miller has played a role with a similar vibe alongside Logan Lerman before, in Perks. Miller has become one of my favorite young actors because of his incredible screen presence and he could really be a scene-stealer as Francis.

Henry Winter: Matthew Lewis

The tall genius is really the main character of the book, and I had a really hard time trying to figure out who could pull it off. He needs to be big, attractive but not a stereotypical dreamboat type, intense. I have no idea if the erstwhile Neville Longbottom could pull off an American accent, but he's the closest I could come in the right age range that I feel like meets the picture in my head.

Julian Morrow: Dominic West

The professor at the center of the very tightly knit group, Julian needs to be European and charismatic and morally questionable. Kind of like McNulty in The Wire, except a polished and without the need for the (patchy) accent work. 

Judy Poovey: Jennifer Lawrence

Judy is the ditzy party girl that serves as the comic relief in this otherwise dark novel, and even though this role is so small that it's definitely beneath her stature, I'd love to see Jennifer Lawrence do the few scenes it would require because she'd be hilarious.

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Dreamcasting: The Secret History

Dreamcasting: Lolita

It's always been hard for me to pick just one "favorite" book, but Vladimir Nabakov's Lolita is always right up there. I first read it in high school and fell completely in love with his lush, rich writing. I've re-read it several times and it only gets better. Somehow, despite the fact that it's got a pretty twisted story, it's gotten made into a movie not just once, but twice. When I decided to do a dreamcasting series, I couldn't neglect it. So assuming there was a third version, who would I cast?

Delores Haze: I feel like you have to age up Lolita from the book a little to keep it from being too obscene, and even though Kiernan Shipka is 18, she could play younger. She was incredible as Sally Draper in Mad Men, and the way she handled that role makes me think she could really create a whole person out of Lolita, who we only see through Humbert's eyes in the novel but is obviously much more than the object of obsession he craves.

Humbert Humbert: He's supposed to be suave, European, and ultimately the kind of dude who could essentially kidnap an orphaned pre-teen to keep her as his plaything. I actually think Jeremy Irons was fantastic casting when he played Humbert, but for an update, I think Jude Law would be perfect. He's both charming and believably dissolute.

Charlotte Haze: Delores' mother, she meets Humbert when he begins to rent out her spare room, and as he's becoming more and more obsessed with her daughter, she's becoming more and more obsessed with him. I initially thought of reuniting the mother-daughter duo of Kiernan Shipka and January Jones, but January doesn't give off the kind of overblown vibe that I get from Charlotte in the novel. Elizabeth Banks, though, knows how to play over-the-top but vulnerable, so I'd love to see her take it on.

Clare Quilty: Quilty is Humbert's rival and even darker reflection. While Humbert believes himself to be in love with Lolita, Quilty's interest in her is much more openly sexual. That she escapes from Humbert to Quilty just goes to show how very smothered she felt by Humbert's obsession. He's not a particularly developed character, so how about reuniting Law with his romantic rival in Closer, Clive Owen?

So what do you think? Have you ever read Lolita? Would you pick different actors for these roles? Do you think there's a reason to make a third version of this book or is it just not really filmable?

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Dreamcasting: Lolita

Dreamcasting: The Great Gatsby

As I've talked about before, I'm super into movies. I've seen more movies (over 1500) than I've read books (definitely less than that), although recently the balance has started to tip in favor of the latter rather than the former. After I finish a good book, I start to toss it around in my head a little...who would I cast in these roles for the movie adaptation? I thought it might be fun to do a little recurring Dreamcasting series here every so often just for something different but still bookish.

I actually loathed The Great Gatsby when I first read it as a high school junior. Gatsby was a moron, Daisy a twit, Nick a fool. But when I was bored a few years later during a summer home in college, I found myself devouring it and relishing the experience. I've continued to re-read it and been grateful that I picked it back up again...while the reading level of the prose is suitable to a high school student, I feel like it's hard to understand before you've loved and lost, before you've drowned in the feeling of wanting another chance, wanting to start over and try again because you messed it all up and you'll do it better the next time, you swear.

And yes, I know, Baz Luhrmann JUST made a new version of this a few years ago. But it wasn't as magnificent as I'd hoped it would be when I first heard about it. Part of it was the casting: Leonardo DiCaprio was too old and had no chemistry with Carey Mulligan, who was competent but not as luminous as I was hoping as Daisy. Tobey Maguire would have been amazing casting as Nick Carraway...except being, again, too old. Here's how I would cast the main roles if I was making it today:

Jay Gatsby: Leonardo would have been amazing casting...if he'd been a decade younger. Gatsby has to be charming, with a willpower that can make you believe he'd make almost anyone believe in him. The one actor that I think could just knock it out of the park? Michael B. Jordan. He's been amazing since The Wire when he was just a teenager...just effortlessly electric onscreen. 

Daisy Buchanan: I think this is one of the hardest roles to dreamcast, honestly. She has to be so beautiful and compelling that you can believe that a man would go to the lengths Gatsby has gone for her, grounded but also floating with deliberate ignorance past the ruins she leaves in her wake. She's the on-the-cusp It Girl of the moment, so how about lovely Haley Bennett? She's actually got kind of a 20s look working for her.

Nick Carraway: For the wide-eyed and relatively innocent Nick, I like Michael Cera. Nick is a reactive character, the events of the novel happen to/around him, and for me he needs to be kind of bland-but-good-hearted-seeming in a way that I think Cera satisfies.

Tom Buchanan: He needs to be attractive but callous, the kind of man that would conduct his affairs openly in front of his well-bred wife and pick up a white trash social climber married to a poor man for his mistress. Jonathan Rhys Meyers has that kind of almost cruel look that I think Tom needs.

Myrtle Wilson: This is kind of a throwaway role, the aforementioned white trash mistress. Someone lovely but with a kind of hardness underneath, sexy but in an almost artificial way. She's as blue-blooded as they come in real life, and a little too young, but once I started thinking about Cara Delavigne in the role, I can't shake the idea...

Jordan Baker: I actually thought Elizabeth Debicki was a perfect Jordan in the Luhrmann version, but if we're recasting, we're recasting. It's a minor role, she really needs to be energetic and charming but capable of casual thoughtlessness. I'm going to go with Nina Dobrev, whose work on The Vampire Diaries had her playing a charismatic sociopath very convincingly.

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Dreamcasting: The Great Gatsby