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Mistborn Movie Casting


Chaos

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And since I just finished reading Mistborn again, I'll add my two cents into this. I'm gonna say right now that for some reason with these kinds of hypotheses I tend to base more off the appearance of the actor than the skill of the actor. So there are a lot of actors (like Nathan Fillion) who aren't on here simply because I don't think they look like a certain role (like Kelsier), and that might only be because they have dark hair and the character is a blonde. Or vice-versa.

And now. To the casting.

Vin--Although it's useless to speculate on Vin, since apparently she's already been cast, I'm going with Dakota Fanning, although I do also really like the look of Maisie Williams (haven't ever seen her act), and Hailee Steinfeld. Chloe Moretz could be pretty good as well. I'm just most familiar with Dakota and I know she's phenomenal as an actress.

Kelsier--I LOVE the idea of David Wenham, but I'm also rather partial to Aaron Eckhart as well. Kevin McKidd isn't a bad choice either.

Dox--Adam Baldwin. He's old enough to play Dox, since Dox is supposed to be about 40-50, and he's got the look of how I think of Dox. The dark hair and that goatee. And I think he could get the personality of Dox right as well. Hugh Laurie wouldn't be bad either. Nor would Colin Firth, although I have a better idea for Colin Firth.

Breeze--When I saw Oliver Platt earlier, I thought that was perfect, but then I saw James Spader and Paul Giamatti as well, and I think any of those three would make an excellent Breeze. Breeze is supposed to be portly, and all of them fit that bill. Plus the humor.

Ham--Jeremy Renner or Michael Chiklis. Or Michael Fassbender. There's no one that I really like for this role thus far. And I'm not really liking Michael Fassbender for it since there's a whole slew of other roles in this that he could do. Hence, I think my favorite so far is Jeremy Renner, but that could just be because I'm kind of a major fan of him. And his awesomeness as Hawkeye....Although that's probably just because I have a thing for guys and bows....And that's totally irrelevant to this discussion. :)

Sazed--Ben Kingsley. He's a pretty good pick, appearance-wise. If not him, I like Anthony Stewart Head and Jean Reno.

Clubs--I think John Noble is perfect. If not him, I could deal with Clint Eastwood, Jack Nicholson, or Robert de Niro. But John Noble is by far my vote. He is literally exactly the way I pictured Clubs.

Spook--Arthur Darvill.

Renoux--Colin Firth. I think he's got the noble look that Renoux would have, and he's skilled enough to pull off that kandra impersonating the nobleman.

Yeden--Norman Reedus. He's got a little bit of the look I imagine with Yeden, although Norman is far, far too good an actor to play a role as simple as Yeden.

Marsh--Benedict Cumberbatch. Or Zachary Quinto. Or Michael Fassbender. Leaning the most towards Benny Batch. Although, I guess I'm not sure how he'd look bald, and missing that great head of hair. I do think he'd look pretty cool as an Inquisitor and he looks somewhat similar(ish) to either of my top choices for Kelsier. And he's got the acting chops for Marsh.

Elend Venture--Andrew Garfield. I think he could totally pull off Elend. At 29, h's a little on the old side to play a 21-year-old, but at the same time, he can look really young. I mean, less than a year ago, he played a high school aged Spider-Man. And it was believable. So, yeah. I think he could definitely play a 21-year-old Elend. And he'd totally peg the personality of Elend as well. I think he's a great actor, and totally under-utilized. Kid's got skillz.

Straff Venture--Daniel Craig. Or Christopher Eccleston. For some reason, I picture Straff with that kind of craggy face. I don't know why. I just do. And both these actors are awesome. I actually feel a little bad casting them as the douchebag Straff....

Shan Elariel--Jennifer Lawrence, Amanda Seyfried, or Emma Stone. I'm leaning more towards Jennifer Lawrence.

TLR--Tom Hiddleston. I've heard so many options for TLR, and actually I've liked most of them. Hiddles I like the most. I think he'd be insanely good as TLR. The only thing that makes me hesitant is the fact that he'd only be in FE, and I want his awesomeness in more than just one.

Bendal--Michael Fassbender. I know, I've said him before. However, this is actually the role I like the most for him. I think he'd look great as an Inquisitor, with his face shape and everything, and Bendal is the most prominent Inquisitor in FE.

Kar--Zachary Quinto. Since he was one of my other Marsh choices, and I think he'd look fantastic with spikes. And I love him. It'd be a great semi-small role for him, and he can kind of reprise the evilness of Sylar. It's been too long since I've seen that.

WoA

Zane--Ben Barnes. I like the idea of Ian Somerhalder, but I'm going with Ben, because he could probably pull off the crazy, and he and Elend need to look somewhat alike as they're half-brothers (and the book does mention that he looks like Elend) and Ben does look a bit like Andrew Garfield.

I'm pretty sure at one point I had a really good Cett, but now I can't remember what it was. And Allriane (that was the name of Breeze's girl, wasn't it? I can't remember exactly, and I'm at work so I don't have my book to verify). I'll have to find some good actors for them (along with Spook's girl, and that one Atium Misting obligator who I can't remember the name of but think it started with a Y or something like that....) when I re-read WoA. And HoA.

Also, while searching for a Yeden (since I didn't have one when I started this), I found a decent Hoid. Maybe. Simon Pegg? I think it could work. What say you all?

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  • 3 weeks later...

After some thought on this topic, I think Simon Baker would make a great Kelsier. He seems to fit my picture of Kelsier, and he definitely has the wit and charm.

Simon Baker

Ill second that.

 

Tbh, he almost already plays Kelsier in the series... mentalist.. something whatever its called:), and hes low rank enough that its possible,

 

Vin should be a new face I think. Better that way. Try to get a big name in somewhere else instead if financers demand it. Kinda like they did in Stardust, where the male lead is unknown, the female lead only "rather big", but both Robert De Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer have "big minor" roles.

 

As for Paul Bettany, wouldent he make a better Zane? ;).

 

Lord Renoux... Leonard Nimoy? (aka, Spock). He should have the right age, and without vulcan makeup, he could do nicely.

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For some reason I went through the book picturing Rob Lowe as Kelsier, but dear Lord, please let nobody actually make that happen.  I think there are a lot of people I would be happy to see play Kelsier, among them Tom Hiddleston, Michael Fassbender, and John Barrowman.  I think they all have that element that is really needed in Kelsier - the ability to bounce between disturbingly dark and light-hearted in seconds.

 

As for Vin, I always pictured her as Alexandra Chando.  I know she's meant to be pale and would probably look nothing like Alexandra, but ever since I watched The Bleeding House I can't help but feel she'd be perfect for the role.

 

For Breeze I will not accept anyone but H. Jon Benjamin

 

For Allriane, I pictured Viva Bianca, who would bring just the right amount of vivacity and mischeviousness to the role, I think.

 

For Ham I think Tom Hopper, but he's probably too young.

 

I've got nothing for the rest of the characters, haha.

Edited by fyoosha
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  • 1 month later...

Okay, so I may be little late, but I hey I have a suggestion for the big V. .....What do you guys think of Isabelle Fuhrman as Vin? She can really pull off that boyish street skaa/elegant noble look. And she has done one "violent movie" (LOL Hunger Games counts, right? Handy with those daggers...). And she can do serious. I mean, she did play that freaky girl on the Orphan.  And she is pretty young. And very little. Thoughts, anyone?

 

Isabelle+Fuhrman+ELLE+17th+Annual+Women+isabelle-fuhrman-premiere-the-hunger-gam

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  • 3 weeks later...

I just recently started rereading Final Empire, and for some reason I always picture David Tennant as Kelsier.  I've seen him in DW, and I think he'd be able to get across the humor and intensity in the part.  For Vin, I've been thinking Maisie Williams (Arya on Game of Thrones).  Give her a year or two and she'll be the perfect age, and she definitely has the emotional range.  I need to think about the other roles, but I could see these two actors working very well together!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Oh my god Maisie Williams as Vin! She would definitely be able to pull the character off, but I don't think she has the right face for it...I've always imagined Vin's features as rather pointy. 

 

Ellen Page looks a lot like the cover art for Vin, which is why I think a lot of people are leaning towards her. Personally, I'd love to see Vin played by someone who looks like her, but I don't think she has the depth or agility (even considering her performance in Whip It) to capture Vin. 

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Ok, I have most of a cast.  But first some clarifications on my thinking.  First I chose a British/Irish/Scottish cast.  I wanted some general cohesiveness to accents and if you want to take your audience to another world, those accents are excellent for that. 

 

Second, the race of the cast is somewhat homogenous.  Here is why, There is no distinct appearance difference between Skaa and the nobility except factors that could largely be attributed to diet, etc.  As for the Terrismen, remember TLR is Terris and there is no appearance distinction given for Terrismen in the books except that they are tall (Sazed is bald because he shaves his head, i.e., cultural not ethnic). 

 

As a final note I do not have a casting for Vin or Elend.  I just haven't found anyone that fits the bill yet (Maisie Williams just looks wrong to me).  So that being said here it is:

 

Kelsier:       David Tennant

Vin:             ????

Sazed:        Anthony Head

Dockson:    David Wenham

Breeze:       Rupert Everett

Ham:           Clive Owen

Clubs:         Brendan Gleeson

Spook:        Thomas Brodie-Sangster (for lack of a better yet choice)

Yaden:        Paul Bettany

Marsh:        Benedict Cumberbatch

Renoux:      Terence Stamp (Bill Nighy as an alternative)

TLR:           Henry Cavill (Richard Armitage as an alternative)

Elend:         ????

Kar:            Hugo Weaving

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One point I'll mention regarding tall Terrismen - this is actually something that can happen as a side-effect of castration. I'll try and remember to link the source later, I'm on mobile now which makes it fiddly

 

 

If I recall, Sazed is described as being tall even for a Terrisman.  It is discussed that this is the result of his castration from birth.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Really like your thinking Shardlet, excellent reasoning, I would make some subs though;

 

Kelsier:       David Tennant Nathan Fillion - I think he can play the combo of light-hearted / ruthless / tragic intensity

perfectly, but straying from your excellent rationale, so maybe Jude Law, good actor, not entirely likeable,

full of bravado and swagger,

Vin:             ???? Isabelle Fuhrman - Dimkaluv's made a great shout there - I haven't even seen H/G but I think going for

relative unknowns for Vin and Elend is the right move, so there's no baggage coming with the actors,

Sazed:        Anthony Head  not enough gravitas, I would have Benedict Cumberbatch here, although he'd need a haircut,

Dockson:    David Wenham   not old enough, I always thought of Docks as more senior, I'm thinking Gary Oldman

Breeze:       Rupert Everett  not portly enoughm how is Paul Giamatti's English accent

Ham:           Clive Owen  not muscly enough, how about Tom Hardy?

Clubs:         Brendan Gleeson - too chunky, I think of Clubs as lean and haggard, old soldier, wonder if John Hurt is

too old?

Spook:        Thomas Brodie-Sangster (for lack of a better yet choice) - Yes!

Yeden:        Paul Bettany - I agree

Marsh:        Benedict Cumberbatch - I think Jason Isaacs for me

Renoux:      Terence Stamp (Bill Nighy as an alternative) - Yes! - although I think he'd be a good Straff Venture too

TLR:           Henry Cavill (Richard Armitage as an alternative) - don't think these guys have authority, Christian Bale has

the intensity,

Elend:         ????  Nicholas Hoult - I think he can do bookish and ineffectual, but still bring the 'heroic' when required

Kar:            Hugo Weaving - ?????

Edited by Robinski
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I envision a lot of these guys like Breeze and Dox being older, but I just did a reread and most of these guys are in their 30's.  It is easy to forget that that.  The only one I got the impression that he might actually be in his 50's would be clubs. But temper that with the fact he's got a 15 year old nephew.  John Hurt is definitely too old and Cumberbatch has too much of a cynical edge for Sazed.  I would be fine with Fillion as Kel if he could pull of a solid accent (recall: one of my conditions was a British/Irish/Scottish accent cast).  I haven't seen him with an accent so I could not say.  Same goes for Fuhrman.  Giamatti doesn't have the right look to me (my opinion).

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With the help of IMDB, I've filled up my list.
Kelsier: Joel McHale However David TennantChristopher Eccleston, and Ewan McGregor would also be brilliant.

Spook: Danny Pudi. Hands down. Tall, skinny, adorable, and easily plays a teenager.

Tindwyl: Yvette Nicole Brown.

Vin; Alison Brie, in keeping with my Community theme, or Elyse Levesque.

Elend: Daniel Radcliffe

Breeze: Johnny Lee Miller, or perhaps Hugh Laurie.

The Lord Ruler: Either Chris Addison, Benedict Cumberbatch, or Matt Smith

These three actors 1) Look very handsome with black hair and 2) can portray a character of any age exceedingly well. Cumberbatch's roles slide easily from men in their 20's to late 40's. Smith just looks like a baby, but we know he can be deadly serious thousand year-old bordering on madness. My favourite single moment in FE is at the start of the Kelsier's last fight, when he steps out, and he's young, black-haired and handsome. In my head he's played by my best friend who matches the description, but he can't act.

Also, Daniel Radcliffe could do well in the role.

 

Brandon himself should play a random Nobleman, a la Stan Lee.

 

Two things I have to disagree with;

1) An all-white cast is a horrible idea. It's a trope that's horribly overused in fantasy in movies and TV, often inaccurately. I thought I remembered the main differences between the Skaa, Noble and Terris races was their height? The Terris people, having a smaller population, probably don't vary too wildly in appearance. The Nobles are all descended from 10 people, but we can't assume that they all had the same colour skin; they were the Nobles could very likely all be (what we would call) mixed-race. The term Skaa covers a huge population that probably isn't homogeneous. Granted, the closest thing we have to knowing the complexion of all these people is that ash is still visible on people's faces, so most likely no one has really dark skin.

and remember, an important part of this series is all about rising up against racial oppression. If it's an all-white main cast, you've already ruined the story.

 

2) Kristin Stewart is a good actress with a wide range of emotion. Like Robert Pattinson. They only sucked so bad in Twilight, for some reason, probably a bad director?

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Brandon himself should play a random Nobleman, a la Stan Lee.

 

Two things I have to disagree with;

1) An all-white cast is a horrible idea. It's a trope that's horribly overused in fantasy in movies and TV, often inaccurately. I thought I remembered the main differences between the Skaa, Noble and Terris races was their height? The Terris people, having a smaller population, probably don't vary too wildly in appearance. The Nobles are all descended from 10 people, but we can't assume that they all had the same colour skin; they were the Nobles could very likely all be (what we would call) mixed-race. The term Skaa covers a huge population that probably isn't homogeneous. Granted, the closest thing we have to knowing the complexion of all these people is that ash is still visible on people's faces, so most likely no one has really dark skin.

and remember, an important part of this series is all about rising up against racial oppression. If it's an all-white main cast, you've already ruined the story.

 

2) Kristin Stewart is a good actress with a wide range of emotion. Like Robert Pattinson. They only sucked so bad in Twilight, for some reason, probably a bad director?

 

I like the Sanderson Cameo.

 

As to 1), while a racially homogenous cast is generally uncalled for (and even distasteful), I think it is appropriate for the story told (a movie adaptation of the book could very easily be tweaked to allow for visible differences between the Nobles, Skaa, and Terris (be very careful which race you put where).  But I selected the cast I did 1) to reflect my understanding from reading about the visible similarities and differences between the races in the book (i.e., Skaa look like mostly like Nobles <essential for thieving crews to blend with noble society>, and TLR <and therefore Terris> must look like nobles as well or differences would have been readily noted and Vin's revelation at the end of FE would have been pie-in-the-face obvious and 2) I quite simply am not well versed in a big enough cross-section of actors from non-white peoples (Black, Indian, Polynesian, Hispanic, etc.) to form a full cast with any real sense of the actors abilities (I mean, I couldn't even come up with a suitable choice for Vin and Elend given an all-white cast).  

 

As to KS, I doubt she could even remotely adequately pull off the accent and everything I have seen her in she is only good at playing sullen (my opinion, if you like her as an actress, that's fine, I just don't see it). 

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I like the Brandon cameo idea - although it's become overused these days.

 

Harry Potter to play Elend - madness!!! sorry, but I've finished watching HP through again - it's brilliant, but he's HP for life now.

 

No Robert Downey Jr. anywhere please, he's too manic, I can't see him fitting anywhere, superb as Tony Stark, acceptable as Sherlock Homes, but not here please.

 

Now, here's a funny thing. I was just thinking how to express my complete disagreement with the suggestion of Chris Addison, when I actually started to think about it - you know I do believe you've cracked it Jaaaade, that's the sort of left field choice that might be sheer genius, he has an eccentric and slightly unpredictable manner, and a physicality in his delivery that might be spot on for TLR.

 

I think K-stew and R-patz were hogtied by dubious scipts, they are clearly both good actors as you say, but if you look deeper than the script I think the material is just rather shallow. Someone get True Blood up on the big screen and we'll see some fireworks. Sorry for digression!!

 

Like the Hugh Laurie suggestion.

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I found this original image - http://media.screened.com/uploads/0/562/368858-internet_image.jpg - and tweaked it up a bit in photoshop. It was rushed need a few lessons, so don't look too closely. Squint and behold.

(It's hard to draw rings onto someone's hand)

tumblr_momy6aD0B71qjixydo1_500.jpg

 

For Matt Smith however, Google found me one where he's already got the Lord Ruler look, I reckon.

tumblr_lscpaffIaF1qldboho1_400.jpg

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I'm just going to throw Tom Hardy into the pot for Breeze. Slightly unconventional because he better know for playing muscle men but I think he showed as Eames in Inception he showed that he can do the cynical humour part really well as his relationship with the team reminded me of Breeze. Plus his built is better than some of skinnier actors and I reckon he could do the cultured look as well.

 

Also, sadly he is dead but this guy from The Good, the Bad, the Ugly is Clubs as far as I am concerned http://www.rogerebert.com/scanners/opening-shots-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly

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  • 1 month later...

I keep on thinking that Sean Bean should play Marsh.

 

Now I know that I'm suggesting actors who are too old to potray these characters, but after seeing the Hobbit, I would very much like to see Martin Freeman play Elend.

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