If you’re a fan of Brandon Sanderson’s epic fantasy and haven’t been lost in the far reaches of the Northwest Territories for the better part of the past week, you already know about the exciting announcement that hit last week. DMG Entertainment now owns the film and licensing rights to the entire Cosmere, placing them in the position of holding a massive franchise with immense potential for years decades to come. Excited, much?
I first saw the news when someone posted it to a beta-readers group, and after a few minutes of general rambunction, we promptly began the debate over who should be cast as Hoid. Which naturally leads to why we’re here today…
Before we get to our casting picks, let’s address some of the most common questions and worries fans have expressed.
The original statement mentions plans for a movie adaptation of The Way of Kings, but many believe it would work better as TV series. Lucky for us, DMG can choose to do either one. Right now they’re looking for a big-screen adaptation—because who doesn’t want to watch these epic scenes play out on a screen as big as a house? When they start writing the screenplay, they may well decide that it needs to be done as two or three films (the book is written in five parts, after all), or they might decide that it would work better as a weekly television series. They’ve got the choice, and they’ll make it when the time comes. Brandon has also made the point that the people he’s working with are not just movie-makers – they’re fans. They really want to do this justice.
I’ve also seen calls to start with Mistborn first, and I personally agree. Introducing the franchise through a manageable story with a female lead makes sense. As much as I want to see Kaladin learn to fly, I believe they’d be better served by starting with Vin—but that’s just one fan’s opinion.
Finally, the purchase of film rights doesn’t guarantee a film. In fact, most such purchases never turn into anything, and eventually the rights revert back to the author, and someone else buys them and the cycle begins anew. So our enthusiasm is restrained, eh? We can get well and truly pumped when they announce a good screenplay and a cast.
Which brings me to… DREAM-CASTING! It also brings me to admit that I’m a total loss at this. Fortunately, I can go to the same people Brandon and Peter go to: the beta readers. They are awesome, y’all, and I owe a round of drinks, or dinner, or something. In fact, I’m just going to step aside now: the true dream-casting comes as a guest post by the most excellent Lyndsey Luther:
Greetings, Brightlords and ladies! Lyndsey here! The Sanderson fan community was taken by storm (haha, get it?!) with Brandon’s recent announcement of his big Cosmere film deal, and we—his beta and gamma readers—have come up with a tentative “dream-cast” for your speculation pleasure! I have the fun job of condensing our thoughts/opinions on the matter for you into a handy-dandy list of actors who, we postulate, would be the perfect cast for a potential Stormlight Archive film.
Before we get into the fun stuff, I’d like to tell you a little about our decision-making process. For the purposes of this dream-casting, we are focusing on how actors or actresses look now (as opposed to, say, “Yul Brynner from the days of the original Magnificent Seven”). Some of these choices are big names (and we do mean big), but for the most part we tried to stick with more inexperienced actors, basing our choices in these cases primarily on the way they looked. (Casting unknowns worked well for Game of Thrones, after all.) We also put a lot of thought into the question of characters’ race and ethnicity. Unless you read the books very carefully, you may be surprised by some of our choices in this regard, so I’d like to fill you in briefly on Brandon’s comments regarding ethnicity in Roshar. (If you’d rather just get to the casting, feel free to skip this paragraph.)
For the most part, Brandon has stated that characters in the Stormlight Archive should have the epicanthic fold in their eyes; on this Reddit thread, he said:
Alethkar natives other than the Shin have the epicanthic fold, but the Alethi wouldn’t look strictly Asian to you–they’d look like a race that you can’t define, as we don’t have them on Earth. I use half-Asian/half-arab or half-asian/half-Polynesian models as my guide some of the time, but Alethi are going to have a tanner skin than some of those. . . . Shin would look the closest to Caucasian to you. . . .
With this in mind, we attempted to limit the majority of our cast to Asian actors and actresses. If we couldn’t find an Asian actor or actress who was perfect for the role, we did branch out to other races and ethnicities, but one of our main concerns was not white-washing the cast.
Now that we have that out of the way, on to the list! We’ll begin with the primary characters, and move on to a few secondary cast members that we were unanimously able to agree on…
Kaladin Stormblessed – Alex Mallari, Jr.
Let’s start with the focus character of Book One – Kaladin Stormblessed. Kaladin begins the story as a slave and undergoes some hardships along the way, and – let’s face it – is pretty angsty for a good portion of The Way of Kings. He struggles with his conceptualization of honor and what constitutes it, but is fiercely loyal to those he loves. Being Alethi, he would have the epicanthic fold and is described as being very tall, darker of skin, with long brown hair and a muscular physique. We started off with quite a few possibilities for Kal (eleven, to be precise) but ultimately we decided on Alex Mallari, Jr. He isn’t very well known yet, with parts on Dark Matter and Designated Survivor.
While he is a little old for the part at 28, we think he could pull off the younger look for Kal (who is supposed to be 19). He is also only 5’10”, but height isn’t necessarily a killing blow – as Lord of the Rings taught us, the viewer can be cleverly tricked into believing a character is taller or shorter with camera work.
Not only does he have the look and build for the part, but we believe he has the acting chops to pull it off as well. We were particularly impressed with one specific scene in Designated Survivor, in which Alex plays a Navy Seal talking to the President. In this scene he demonstrated a manner and way of carrying himself that screams “Kaladin.” It was noted that while he looked young in this scene, his eyes seemed much older and mature, which is very in-character for Kaladin and his experiences in The Way of Kings.
Honorable Mention: Luke Pasqualino for looks alone, particularly in his The Musketeers role. Thanks to tumblr user SquireNonny for “discovering” him.
Dalinar Kholin – Ken Watanabe or Donnie Yen
Next up: Dalinar Kholin! This Alethi highprince is supposed to be on the older side, probably in his 50s, with two sons in their 20s. In his younger days he was a formidable warrior (and he can still sling a Shardblade with the best of them), but during the events of Way of Kings he starts taking more of an administrative role in the ongoing war. He is described as being powerfully built, with wings of white in his black hair, and would be darker of skin (similar to Kaladin).
The beta reader group was a bit more divided on this casting choice – Ken Watanabe just barely beat out Donnie Yen as the winner. Watanabe is 57 years old, perfect for Dalinar, and strikes an imposing figure at 6’0”. He also displays the gravitas required of the role – one need only look at his performance in The Last Samurai to see that. He usually plays characters who are honorable and driven by duty. If there’s a better description for Dalinar, we have yet to hear it.
On the flip side, Donnie Yen is also approximately the right age (53) and has the martial arts training to do Dalinar’s more physical scenes justice. He’s a little short for the role at 5’8” and admittedly has a somewhat limited range, but the type of character he usually portrays (honorable older statesmen or warriors) is perfect for Dalinar. Not sold yet? Go check out the 1993 Kung Fu film Iron Monkey and get back to us. (We’re excited to see what he does in Star Wars: Rogue One as well!)
Shallan Davar – Rose Leslie
Shallan Davar is the next character we debated. Shallan begins the story as a naïve girl with a surprisingly devious mission, and is very young – around 17. She is described as being slim and pale with freckles on her cheeks and nose, and long auburn hair. For Shallan, we broadened our casting net to include actresses without the epicanthic fold, despite the fact that Shallan would have eyes like most other Alethi. Our reasoning is that since Shallan is from Jah Kaved (and hence foreign compared to the majority of the rest of the cast), it would make sense for her to look noticeably different.
Our choice for Shallan is Rose Leslie, of Game of Thrones fame (she played Jon Snow’s lover, Ygritte). Not only does she have the requisite red hair, she also has the young, naïve look that we associate with Shallan, despite the fact that she’s a bit old for the part at 29. Her role in Downton Abbey serves as a good example of the naivety and immaturity of which she’s capable, in contrast to the tough-as-nails Ygritte. (That toughness would come in handy for some of Shallan’s later scenes, particularly those in Book Two, Words of Radiance.)
Just as long as she never says “You know nothing, Kaladin Stormblessed,” she’s got the part, in our opinion.
Honorable Mention: Chloe Bennet
Adolin Kholin – Godfrey Gao
Fangirls rejoice, because we’re on to the pretty boy, aka Adolin Kholin! One of Dalinar’s sons, Adolin is half Riran and takes after his mother’s side. He is described as being lighter of skin than his father, with blond hair with black strands in it. Being very handsome, Adolin is a bit of a playboy, jumping from brightlady to brightlady when he’s not on the battlefield. He is an accomplished warrior and commander for his age (early 20s) and owns his own set of Shardplate and a Shardblade. There’s some inconsistency on Adolin’s height, but it can be surmised that he is of a similar height with his father.
For Adolin, we considered quite a few actors. Getting the right combination of handsome, young, Asian, muscular enough to pull off a warrior role, and a charming smile proved to be more of a challenge than we anticipated, but we finally decided on a relative unknown, Godfrey Gao, for the part. He’s got just the right mix of looks and charm from what we can tell from his photos. He’s a bit old for the part at 32, but we’re pretty sure if he lost that scruff he’d look quite a lot younger.
Jasnah Kholin – Morena Baccarin
Jasnah Kholin, Dalinar’s niece, was the next character we considered. She’s a bit older than Shallan, Kal, or Adolin (in her early 30s) and described as having long black hair. She always dresses impeccably and is stoic and regal, exemplifying both her chosen occupation as a scholar and her hereditary role as sister to the King of Alethkar. She is tall and slender, and spends the majority of the first book as Shallan’s mentor.
This choice was unanimous on the part of the beta readers. We chose Morena Baccarin, primarily known for her part as the escort Inara in Firefly and, more recently, as Vanessa in Marvel’s Deadpool film. (Do we really need to say anything more than “She was Inara”?) While Morena doesn’t have the epicanthic fold in her eyes, we couldn’t think of a single actress who exemplified Jasnah better. (Also, it should be mentioned that the skin tone of most Alethi is sometimes described by Team Sanderson as being more Brazilian, which is where Morena is from. So while she may not have the right eyes, she does hit the bullseye on another front.) She’s done a lot of genre work, which is always a plus, and is 37 – not too far off from Jasnah’s age. As Inara, she portrayed poise, elegance, and an airy dismissal of the antics of the rest of the crew that feels very similar to Jasnah. She is feminine (and undeniably beautiful) yet also tough when she needs to be, and can stand on her own against anyone who opposes her.
Szeth-son-son-Vallano – Michael Rosenbaum or Aaron Paul
Other than Adolin, the character we had the most trouble casting was Szeth-son-son-Vallano. An assassin tortured by the morality of what he is forced to do, Szeth is a Shin, and hence the only character in the main cast who would not have the epicanthic fold in his eyes. Because of this, he is often described by other characters as having “big” eyes and as looking younger, more innocent (despite probably being nearly 40). He is short and, what we discovered made for the hardest casting criteria of all, bald.
Now, anyone can shave their head or wear a bald cap, but it is very difficult to imagine what someone will look like without hair! Often they will look like a different person entirely. Most of the actors we considered without very short hair (or who were entirely bald) in photos we eventually dismissed, and wound up as a result with one winner and one close runner-up.
The winner for Szeth was Michael Rosenbaum, who you may remember played Lex Luthor in Smallville back in the day. He’s 44, which puts him at right around the right age group for Szeth, and we know he can pull off the bald look! Not only this, but in his part as Lex he did a wonderful job oscillating between the sympathetic and the villainous.
The runner-up for Szeth was Aaron Paul, of Breaking Bad fame. If there’s one thing we know Aaron can pull off, it’s regret and tragic angst. His acting in the last few seasons of Breaking Bad was a tour de force, and we believe that he can very effectively pull off Szeth’s gradual descent into insanity. He’s 37, which is perfect for Szeth, and possesses a certain youthfulness (when he’s not spouting obscenities as Jesse, anyways). Other than Breaking Bad his roles have been relatively small, but we’re confident that he can pull this one off. He’s got a slight advantage in that he is a little shorter than Michael (5’8” to Michael’s 6’0”), but since neither is quite as short as Szeth is described as being, this isn’t a deal-breaker for either actor.
Hoid – Tom Hiddleston
On to Hoid, because of course we had to discuss everyone’s favorite snarky world-hopper! (For those not in the know, Hoid – aka the King’s Wit – shows up in all of Sanderson’s Cosmere-related novels.) He’s a bit difficult to pin down physically, since his appearance changes from book to book. Hoid is a trickster by nature and uses disguises and magic to conceal or change his appearance, though in The Way of Kings he’s described as tall and thin with black hair. We have no way of knowing if he has the epicanthic fold to his eyes – as a foreigner to Roshar he probably would not, but since none of the characters make any mention of his eyes, he may have changed his appearance to look more Alethi. We chose to widen our casting net to include all nationalities for Hoid, and as such, one choice rose naturally to the top as a unanimous decision.
Who better to play a devious, charming-yet-snarky trickster than Tom Hiddleston? He’s a big name, yes, but Hoid would be a minor part (maybe ten minutes of screen time) over the course of The Way of Kings. A cameo certainly wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility, and none of the other choices we came up with held a candle to him. Tom’s popularity skyrocketed with his portrayal of Loki in the Marvel films (Thor, Avengers, etc) and it is this role which caught our eye for Hoid. As Loki, he’s portrayed a huge range of emotions: devious, joking, smarmy, serious, tortured, snarky, charming, loving. We’d choose Tom Hiddleston if for no other reason than to see him eventually deliver Hoid’s line “If I have to watch this world crumble and burn to get what I need, I will do so.”
Sylphrena – Evanna Lynch
Last but certainly not least of the primary cast is Sylphrena (aka Syl), Kaladin’s spren friend. Spren are the manifestations of emotions and elements in Roshar, and Syl – unusual for her kind – displays intelligence and can speak. She is described as a tiny (about 5”to 10” tall) young woman with an angular face and long flowing hair. She is usually entirely white with bluish tints, and glows. She can change her shape at will and sometimes appears as a glowing ribbon of light swirling in the air.
Syl’s apparent age is never addressed, so our choices ranged from 12 all the way up to mid-20s. We initially skewed a little younger, mostly because Syl’s personality is very childish and immature, but our final choice wound up being older than we expected. Once again we had a clear winner: Evanna Lynch, who played Luna Lovegood in the Harry Potter series. She’s young (25) but not too young, and her part in Harry Potter is very close to Syl’s personality. She’s a little flighty, a bit eccentric, but can also be serious and endearing when she chooses to. Above all, we think she can pull off the airy silliness that is so central to Syl’s character.
Phew! Now that all of the main characters are taken care of, we have a few choices for secondary characters as well. We’re only submitting our choices here if we were unanimous in our estimation that these actors or actresses were perfect for their respective roles (with one exception, which I will save for last)…
Torol Sadeas – Oliver Platt
Sadeas is described as having a bulbous head with curly hair and ruddy cheeks. He’s the type of character that you just love to hate, and Oliver portrayed this type of character perfectly in his part in The Three Musketeers.
Sigzil – Don Cheadle
We know that Sigzil has dark skin and black hair. He is one of Kaladin’s fellow bridgemen, and used to be a Worldsinger. Cheadle is a lauded actor that could definitely bring the right feel to the character – plus we loved him in as Rhodey/War Machine in the Marvel films.
Teft – Liam Cunningham
Teft is the older Bridgeman who begins to serve as Kaladin’s second-in-command. He has military experience and is described as “long past his 20s” with salt and pepper hair and a neat, short, and square beard. Liam’s role as Davos Seaworth in Game of Thrones is so close to Teft that it’s almost uncanny (especially as of the last season), not to mention the physical similarities. A grizzled older man serving as a confidant and advisor to a younger, battle-hardened commander? Add in the fact that he’s got some sort of tragic backstory that haunts him? Yep, sign Liam Cunningham up immediately, please.
Amaram – Ian Anthony Dale

Amaram is Kaladin’s old commander, and would be showing up in flashbacks over the course of The Way of Kings. He’s a battle-hardened commander described as tall and imposing, and the actor who portrays him will need to come across as likable . . . at first. We determined that Ian absolutely has the right look for Amaram.
Lopen – Pedro Pascal
Ah, Pedro. He won over everyone’s hearts with his (ahem) eye-opening role as Oberyn Martell in Game of Thrones, and he’s our overwhelming choice for Lopen, Kaladin’s one-armed bridgeman friend with the incorrigible sense of humor. Pedro’s certainly got the charm to pull this one off, not to mention the fact that he’s from Chile, which is right next door to Sanderson’s stated influence for Lopen’s nationality/country of origin, Bolivia.
Taravangian – George Takei
Oh myyyyy. This was a fun choice for us, and only partially because we all adore “Uncle George.” Taravangian is described as an elderly man with a wispy white beard and a kindly face. He’s the king of the country in which Shallan finds herself in The Way of Kings, but the character takes some . . . interesting turns in later installments. We’d love to see George’s take on this character; he’s certain got the “kindly face” for it, and we’d love to see him stretch his acting muscles in a serious role.
Gaz – Mark Shepperd
Mark’s a well-known face in fandom, having been in everything from White Collar to Supernatural to Firefly to Doctor Who to Battlestar Galactica. He plays lovably villainous characters with an enthusiastic flair (we’re looking at you, Crowley) and would be a fabulous choice for Gaz. Kaladin’s slave-master in The Way of Kings is short, with one missing eye and a scraggly beard, all of which Mark could absolutely pull off with the right makeup artists. Gaz is one of those characters you love to hate, like Sadeas, and Mark’s wry humor would be a welcome addition to the cast.
Navani Kholin – Lucy Liu
Our final unanimous choice, Lucy Liu not only looks the part (Navani is older, closer to Dalinar’s age) but also has both the queenly gravitas and the “I don’t give a s*** what you think” attitude that anyone who intends to play Navani desperately needs. Her role in Elementary proves that she can certainly get across the message that “I’m here to do what I need to do and I don’t care if it makes you uncomfortable.”
Rock – Dave Bautista

While this choice was not unanimous, Ted and Joel felt so strongly about it that we decided to include it anyway! (The rest of us were simply “eh” on it, not violently opposed.) Rock, whose real name is . . . practically unpronounceable, is another one of Kaladin’s bridge crew and the erstwhile chef for Bridge Crew 4. He’s a big man with a low, rumbling voice (at least if you consider the audiobook canon) and a healthy sense of humor. Ted and Joel feel that Dave is a particularly good choice for Rock based on a few factors: first of all, his physical appearance—Dave Bautista is a Pacific Islander, which Rock’s people are described as being similar to, and he’s 6’4”. They were also very impressed with Dave’s portrayal of Drax in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, a role that demands a similar cadence and sense of comedic timing.
How’d we do? Do you agree? Vehemently disagree? Have some people to suggest that we might have missed? Let us know in the comments!
Contributors to this article (part of the Sanderson beta reading team): Ted Herman, Nikki Ramsay, Jory Michael Phillips, Joel D. Phillips, Ross Newberry, Trae Cooper, Gary Singer, and Mark Lindberg.
Alice Arneson is a Sanderson beta reader and regular Tor blogger, currently in the early stages of rereading Warbreaker. Lyndsey Luther is also a Sanderson beta reader, as well as a fire performer, cosplayer, and moderator over on the Stormlight Archive subreddit. You can find her Celtic-inspired fairy-tale novelette “One Last Moment of Silence” on Amazon.
This project was a blast to work on! Thanks Tor for giving us the opportunity to contribute in such a fun way!
-Jory
I dunno about Rock. In my head, I always picture him as Dwayne Johnson (aka ‘The Rock’). Silly, I know, but there you are…
Love, love. love Morena Baccarin as Jasnah and Lucy Liu as Navani! In my head however, I always pictured Mark Shepperd as The Lopen. Oh, and Oliver Platt as Sadeus? Perfect!
Funny, I assumed Mark Sheppard would play Hoid. (If only because he played the sort of role so well on Leverage). Don’t know who would play Gaz in his absence, though. On the 17th Shard, I seem to recall a call for Dichen Lachman to play Jasnah, although she’s dipped into the villain roles nowadays.
However, I did notice an overarching problem with the beta-readers’ dreamcasting: Eye color. A lot of the distinguished actors you have playing lighteyes (Watanabe, Dale, Platt, Liu, I could go on) have dark eye colors. Did you guys discuss this, or is CGI (or contacts for that matter) presumed to cover a multitude of sins in this regard?
Hmmm. I kinda like Matt Smith as Hoid…
@Landis963
We figured that eye color is so easily changed by contacts that we didn’t bother using it as a criteria! It’s definitely a good point, though.
The way I’ve always wanted to see the Cosmere was not live action but animated. Where each planet has its own animation style and any worldhoppers retain their home style. Except Hoid, he’s too clever for a thing like that to give him away.
Lol at Freddie from Skins for back up Kaladin.
It’s so funny – I never pictured the Alethi as Asian at all – I actually pictured some form of Hispanic more than anything else. But I can dig it :) Great list!
Love the job you did on this! Most of these would have been on my list (if I’d taken the trouble to make an actual list!!). I love the idea of Tom Hiddleston as Hoid, but it’s so close to his Loki role I don’t know if it would work out. I think the idea of @FSS of Matt Smith would possibly be better. And he was fabulous as The Doctor with some darker bits along with the silly (and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, it’s pretty much all sill).
@FSS, now that you’ve mentioned Doctors, I don’t know HOW we missed the possibility of David Tennant as Hoid either…
Most of those work really really well for me. In fact, the only one that rubs me off the wrong way is Dalinar, perhaps because he is too much on the Asian side. Years of whitewashing are difficult to shrug off, man =\
Great job Beta/Gamma Team!! (and the other lucky readers that see everything early)
I love the casting. Of course, the reality will be younger actors that highlight similar traits to these actors.
I will say, I want Naveen Andrews in the cast somewhere. He is a beautiful man and great actor.
@@.-@, Landis963 – Eye color of the actor almost has to be ignored. These are a race of people that do not exist on Earth.
Jasnah is described as having pale violet eyes. The last actress I know of who had pale violet eyes was Elizabeth Taylor. I believe Navani has the same eye color. Yet in my head, the color should look like a clear purple.
I think the Light Eyes of Roshar have stronger pigment colors than Earth eyes. One of the random Dark Eyes claims his eyes are green, but a very dark green.
Plus it would add an interesting element to the acting. Imagine all the talk show hosts dancing around the prejudice of the Roshar world, while talking to these actors that have been on the receiving end of prejudice.
But I will add my random casting for Mistborn: Maisie Williams as Vin!!!
I would propose
Bridget Regan (Kahlan in Legend of the Seeker; Dottie in Agent Carter) for Jasnah; and
Kenneth Welsh (Windom Earle in Twin Peaks; the VP in The Day After Tomorrow) for Taravangian;
Moon Bloodgood (Lt. Blair in Terminator Salvation; Anne Glass in Falling Skies) for Sadeas’ wife.
If one of Nicole Kidman’s daughters acts and looks like her mother, she should be cast as Shallan. The picture of Shallan in the inside cover of WoR reminds me a a young Nicole Kidman (down to the shape of the nose).
Thanks for reading my musings.
AndrewHB
(aka the musespren)
We had so much fun debating. I’m personally pleased because two that I found in my searches ended up being our choices. There was much discussion on EVERY character, making sure we had unanimous agreement or nearly so was extremely important. Hope you enjoy our picks as much as we did choosing them.
I think Iwan Rheon would be a marvelous Hoid. Quirky and funny when doing the King’s Wit gimmick, but then can turn dangerously serious when needed.
Uncle George as King T is the best choice by far.
I always imagined the Alethi looking something like Middle Eastern, though.
@7: animation would open some great doors for voice actors. They age much slower and their looks do not need to matter much.
Plus, animating shulls, axhounds, and chasm fiends would be much easier. Those as CGI are going to be a pain.
I’ve thought the same thing for the Wheel of Time show.
To me Dalinar has always looked exactly like Kaoru Kobayashi from Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories on Netflix.
It was a great honor participating in this!
@@@@@ 12 Thanks for your kind words :D. I liked Maisie Williams for Sylphrena, but agreed that she would make a great Vin!
Eye roll at Tom Hiddleston, but I admit I am in the minority of not liking him much.
For Hoid, I’d suggest Stanley Tucci.
I want to see Kristin Connolly in everything, basically. I think she’d be a good Shallan, though she is a bit old for the role. In the interests of honesty, I also think she’d be a great Elayne OR Morgase in a WOT adaptation.
Poor Renarin. He gets ignored again.
Gaz is cast, but no one for Renarin? So I pick Harry Shum Jr.
I also found a fun link with more Asian male leads.
Hrithik Roshan is beautiful! I now need to find a movie he is in to see what his acting is like.
We talked about Renarin, but as a non-primary character in TWoK, we didn’t force a decision. We didn’t have a strong consensus, or anyone who felt all that strongly about a casting choice, so… we didn’t. But that’s part of what this thread is for, so GO!!
Dream casting is not a big thing for me, but I think the beta and gamma teams have made some great proposals.
Comments…
— I can definitely see Robert Carlyle as Hoid.
— I never imagined Rock with full-sleeve tats, but that’s not a show stopper.
— My mental picture of Kal is, oddly enough, keyed to Michael Whelan’s concept. I do like Alex Mallari, Jr., so I’m willing to adapt.
ETA – Daniel Dae Kim could roll with Amaram also, IMHO (not that I think Ian Anthony Dale is a poor choice).
@@.-@, Landis963, Dichen Lachman was one of my original suggestions for Jasnah! I really think she’d be great in that role.
@21, Braid_Tug, I was thinking of Harry Shum Jr. for Renarin as well! But as Alice (@Wetlandernw) pointed out, we never came to an enthusiastic consensus about that choice, thus the lack of inclusion.
In book 1, I thought Jasnah was explicitly stated to be 34 in one of Shallan’s chapters, and Szeth was 36.
I was thinking maybe Sean Bean for Dalinar, Hiroyuki Sanada, or Idris Elba for Szeth, Blake Lively for Shallan, Aaron Paul for Kaladin (because he’s so good at playing brooding misery) Jake Gyllenhall for Adolin, and I actually was thinking Tom Hiddleston for Hoid too. Haven’t really thought of the rest.
Also, I always pictured Rock as Hawaiian. Jason Momoa maybe?
OK – what if we gender-swap Hoid? I mean, does a Wit have to be male? Or any of his other roles in the Cosmere? Who would be the best actress to embody Hoid’s qualities? Funny/Snarky, but with hidden depth…
thoughts?
I’m just here to say that Rock’s real name is Numuhukumakiaki’aialunamor. (and no, I didn’t have to look that up)
Also, I think this is a terrific list. I’m on board (or at least not opposed) to all of the unanimous choices. For the undecided roles, I like Ken Watanabe for Dalinar and Michael Rosenbaum for Szeth.
Of course, I’d also love to find a role for my younger brother who is trying to break into acting, but Roshar is a hard place to find a role for a 6’2″ ginger…
@@@@@29: One of Rock’s cousins. Remember him and Shallan are cousins due to the red hair. :-)
Or he could be one of her brothers.
@@@@@ 28: Helena Bonham Carter
@26 We considered Sean Bean for Dalinar though that may be too spot on for his theorized fate :(. Also, we considered Idris Elba for Nale the Herald, based on his Herald-like role as Heimdall.
I’m for Alex Mallari, Jr. for Kaladin. As for Adolin, I will continue looking. :-)
I never thought about Robert Carlyle as Hoid. Rumplestiltskin was my favorite part of Once Upon A Time. That constant twisting of everything he says and does, and the permanent look on his face that says that the world is funny as hell and he’s the only one in on the joke, are the defining characteristics of Hoid, IMO.
yes yes yes yes yes yes!!!! a million yesses!! Especially to Evanna Lynch, Alex Mallari, Rose Leslie and Ian
@28 I like the idea, in not sure if, in the Alethi society a woman could get away with the same kind of speak. Possible, maybe so, I’m just not sure. I do think Helena Bonham Carter would be an excellent choice tho. ????
@33
Exactly!
@34 Leanna thank you.
Thanks Alice and Lyndsey,
I appreciate the intentional approach to not whitewash the characters. A focus on diversity in film and/or TV is definitely important, and I like that this process started with that perspective in mind.
I didn’t have any strong opinions about possible casting choices going into this (or much of any weak opinions, for that matter) and I didn’t experience any strong objections to the suggestions here (I personally think Michael Rosenbaum is way too tall for Szeth, but that’s not a deal breaker). I like your Kal, Adolin, Jasnah (Inara? Hell yes!) and Hoid suggestions. I see Ken Watanabe as Dalinar more than Donnie Yen, and think Rose Leslie might be a bit old for Shallan (but the same argument could be made for the actors for Kal and Adolin, so I don’t think that’s a strong reason why she wouldn’t fit. For the secondary characters, I like Lucy Liu as Navani; I just have a hard time seeing her as Morena Baccarin’s mother (also curious to see what Elhokar would look like with that genetic pool). The Bridge 4 crew is fine; no strong opinions here either way.
All in all this was a fun exercise and I applaud the beta/gamma readers for their work!
So, I had Hiddleston, Watanabe, Lynch and Baccarin for mine. I saw Rock actually as The Rock….maybe a tad of name suggestion there. But Ways’s suggestion of Carlyle is great! My second choice for Hoid hasn’t been mentioned. I also like Gustaf Skarsgard as Hoid. He’s Floki in Vikings.
@@@@@ LyndseyLuther – David Tennant’s been Hoid in my head for as long as I’ve been reading Cosmere, and he’s basically the only character I have any sort of mental image of (ironic for a character whose appearance is constantly changing… but then, that makes it even more appropriate for him to be played by a Doctor).
You know, Roshar is a place where it would be easy to cast Native American actors too.
As Sherman Alexie pointed out in his interview on the Daily Show, “we become so ambiguously ethic.” (6:30) but really the whole interview is wonderful.
I say “we” as a Choctaw.
@@@@@ 30 – Ooh, good call. I don’t know how I completely forget about the fact that one of the primary characters is a redhead (especially considering that there’s a picture of red-headed actress for her right in the article…)
I would be interested to hear who people have in mind for Kabsal. I’ve been listening to the audio book and I can’t really imagine him too well. Bald and light eyed, and handsome, that’s really all I can recall being said about his appearance.
@Lyndsey Luther, yes! David Tennant would be amazing! And he has already been on film as having Scottish, English, and American accents… Now I will never be able to get that out of my head. I’d always pictured Hoid as older, almost like Dumbledor because he’s super old, but he obviously doesn’t age properly so why not!
Also for what it’s worth, I had always pictured Rock as a version of Yao from Mulan- short and sometimes a bit angry- only more Polynesian. Never as “the Rock”, I figured Brandon would never go for a straight cut-and-paste in something as epic as this. It’s one of the things that make him great.
I think half-Asian people would make great Alethi. Their ethnicity can be hard to pin down, which is perfect. Take Joanna Gaines, star of HGTV’s Fixer Upper, for instance. For a long time I didn’t know what her ethnicity was until I finally googled it (half-Korean and 1/4 German and 1/4 Lebanese).
Oh, as for Syl, I don’t know who voices her for the Graphic Audio adaptation, but she is absolutely perfect, voice-wise. Combine that voice with an actress and you have a winner!
For Dalinar, I suggest Yun-Fat Chow of the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon fame. He is 61 years old but he can get away to be in his 50s. At 6’1 (1.86 m), he has the stature of an Alethi. :-)
@47, Chow Yun-Fat was #3 in the running, I believe.
Love Morena Baccarin, but in this case I don’t think that she’s the right cast. Ziyi Zhang would perhaps be a better choice for Jasnah Kholin.
Impossible casting, but Rock has always been Andre the Giant for me.
Love the idea of Hiddleston as Hoid! As for the Lopen, I always inagined him as that one Latino guy from Ant Man. Don’t remember his name
I vote for Karen David to be an Alethi scribe of some sort, especially if it should grow into a larger role (she can kick ass).
@53: as one of Adolin’s ex girlfriends? Like the one mixed up with the Diagram?
Edit: Danlan
Oh, I am so happy that even if Luke Pasqualino did not end up as the top choice, he at least got an honourable mention! For me, he has been the PERFECT Kaladin from the first moment I saw him in the first episode of “The Musketeers” and I have suggested him as Kal in these comment threads at least twice. I almost feel like going out to the casting department of DMG with a sign “Luke for Kaladin” :)
Don’t agree with the rest of the list exactly 100%, but oh, are there SO many good picks. Rose, Tom, Evanna, Pedro – simply perfect. Michael Rosembaum was a good catch, and I just love that Mark Sheppard’s name came up. Yes to Liam!
@Braid_Tug: YES for Maisie as Vin! And I’ve always liked Naveen :) I hope they’ll find a way to cast him. Also, I was also wondering about Renarin, your pick seems a good one.
My thought on Hoid was that he shouldn’t look like he comes from anywhere known, shouldn’t sound like he comes from anywhere known, and should always tend to blend into the background. So in my head, I cast him as Benicio delToro. It just seems to play right into his strengths.
What about Tilda Swinton in her Ancient One garb for Szeth? That would totally work.
Call me crazy, but I actually think that instead of just CGI the spren should be animated. Like by hand. By the fine folks over at Studio Ghibli. acid wasn’t really sold on the Asian thing until you got to George. Dear God what a great idea. of course if the studio ever went that way they would cast rain as Kaladin
I think Booboo Stewart looks more like how I pictured Kaladin
Kylo Ren…I mean, Adam Driver for Szeth!!!!
@45 Exactly! Avoiding whitewashing is great, but it’s not really accurate to use completely Asian actors either. The best will be actors of mixed heritage. I saw a little girl the other day that looked almost exactly how I would imagine a Saldaean like Sheriam (WoT) or mixed Alethi like Shallan, with tilted epicanthic eyes and tan skin but otherwise mostly Caucasian features, including reddish blond hair. The exact hue doesn’t matter so much since it could be dyed, and the eye color can be altered with contacts, but the shape really can’t be changed, and that kind of hybrid look just can’t be duplicated by someone that doesn’t have enough mixed blood. Also, Morena Baccarin is all kinds of awesome and does have a hybrid look, even if it’s not Asian, but I’m not quite sure she could be hard enough for Jasnah, who needs to be very queenly.
The other consideration is that the look needs to be more consistent than just using Asian actors for the main characters and whoever else is good for the others. Ken Watanabe for Dalinar Kholin? Fine. Oliver Platt for Torol Sadeas?? Maybe his personality is dead on, I don’t know, but Sadeas is Alethi too! You need an Asian actor for him also if you’re going to be consistent about the Alethi = Asian thing.
@61 I don’t dispute what your saying…. But also Sadeus is described with curly hair, the bulbous nose thing….. We tried but we just weren’t going to come up with Asian or partial Asian including that….. So we went with what was nearly the obvious choice for us….. He has played someone with sword before so likely could move and carry himself warrior like enough without problem…… Lol it just wasn’t going to be perfect. Makeup or not the bulbous nose and curly hair and gut seeing the difference for us.
Paul Bettany for Szeth
Molly Quinn for Shallan
Michael Clark Duncan is how I pictured Rock, but in his absence (RIP) The Rock I think could be good
Great casting. Kaladin and Shallan great. Kaladin is quite outside the box as to how I usually picture him, but I think the actor works. In his case, a bit older works fine, but I agree with others a younger actor would be preferable. I love Lucy Lu as Navani, good thinking.
I love most of your other pics except perhaps for Dalinar whom I picture as being more massively built than the chosen actors. They seem too small to be Dalinar. In my mind, Dalinar is built like the actor you have chosen for Rock. He is massive, physically imposing, towering.
This being said, I disagree with your pic for Adolin: he might be Alethi, but he is blond which doesn’t come naturally in Asia which means the actor would have to dye his hair. I am strongly against it as it would not look natural: they would look like black hair dyed blond… I personally dislike when actors have to alter their physics too significantly to play their role. Considering the fact Adolin physically resembles his mother (and not his father) and considering he is canonically paler skinned than most Alethi, I would ignore the eyes and cast him with a real natural blond head. Adolin is supposed to stand out among Alethi, l would let him stand out. Also, the actor, while certainly handsome, is too old. Adolin is supposed to look youthful and young, not mature. Therefore, just as Shallan can’t realistically be cast with an Asian actress, neither does Adolin, IMHO.
There are no pic for Renarin… For him, I’ll go for specific ethnic mix in order to have him be the link in between Dalinar and Adolin. I have no one specific in mind, but Brandon talked about choosing actors with a specific ethnic baggage.
@63: MCD voice is my thought too with Rock. but with red hair.
There are twin boys at my son’s school with the look. they have natural red hair and a unique complexion. they have a Caucasian mother and African American dad.
Like @45, I like the idea of lots of mixed ethnic actors.
@64: hello again. I’m not surprised you disagree about Adoilin . :-)
@65 – They have red hair but have an African-American dad? Is that genetically possible?
@64: Hi. Yeah… Well… I personally do not feel dying the hair of an Asian actor just to avoid casting a potentially Caucasian actor is the way to go. If the author of the casting is unwilling to do it for Shallan, then why do it for Adolin? If Shallan can’t realistically be cast with an Asian actress (and I agree she can’t for basically the same reasons), then why is it acceptable for Adolin? It is a small transgression, but a plausible one considering the fact the proper ethnicity simply does not exist on Earth.
I understand however those are highly unpopular thoughts.
@66: I happen to know a black woman who’s son has blond hair and green eyes… Genetic testing proved he inherited 95% of his genetics from his white father and only 5% from his mother, thus making look completely white despite having a black mother. Such things, while extremely rare, do genetically happen.
I also happen to know a blond haired and greened eyed young man who’s mother is Indian… You would never guess his ethnicity as he merely appears to have a slight permanent tan (which isn’t darker than Caucasian skin having tanned under the sun during the summer days), much like I always figured Adolin had.
I always figured Adolin was one of those cases.
I’d really like to see the majority of this cast be from the Middle East.
@66: very possible. I tried to find a picture that represented them, but mostly women were showing up.
i would cast Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Hoid, he is a brillant actor who can play light and dark and always has an air of mystery and pain behind his roles. when i think of him as Hoid i think of his part in the Gormenghast mini series.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEEEEEAAAAAASE GET ROSE LESLIE AS SHALLAN! That would be so perfect.
Isn’t Adolin biracial in-universe? We’re casting him as if he were full Alethi, looking like they could pass for a young Ken Watanabe (who would make an incredible Dalinar), and he isn’t. Also, do we even know where his mother was from? She was blonde, wherever she was from.
This would be a cool casting, a lot of diversity, and press for actors who normally wouldn’t get it, unfortunately.
@72 Adolin’s mother is described as white skinned (the text doesn’t say white, but it says she is much paler than Alethi which we can presume implies white) with golden hair and slender limbs being almost as tall as an Alethi: Dalinar called her a “candle in the dark” or something along those lines. She is Riran (which apparently isn’t the same as being Iriali) and Brandon has confirmed both Adolin and Renarin were pale skinned for Alethis, being paler than Dalinar and Kaladin (all fan art portraying the opposite are thus wrong).
Adolin is purposefully described by any third person’s observer as NOT looking like his father:
Where Dalinar is tall and physically imposing, Adolin is shorter and not physically imposing without his plate on.
Where Dalinar has dark black hair and is considered by all who ever seen him as “not handsome”, Adolin has unruly golden blond hair and is said to be very handsome.
Where Dalinar has never been seen as “young”, everyone states Adolin looks young, is youthful and insists on calling him “lad”, “boy” or “youth”.
Adolin just isn’t a full blooded Alethi: every single one of his description is made precisely to emphasis the fact he isn’t. He has a foreign mother and he can’t hide it: just by looking at him people know his blood is impure.
Diversity is great and everything, but with 95% of the cast being Asian, I doubt having an actor who might be white skinned would be a tragedy for the one “odd looking blond headed” character.
Casting Adolin as if he were a full blooded Alethi is thus canonically wrong.
I would love to see Kristin Kreuk as Jasnah! She’s gorgeous, Eurasian and an extremely talented actress. The age is pretty similar too :)
@64 – Gepeto, I believe that you can find actors of Asian descent who can pull off blonde hair and lighter skin convincingly. A good example of that has been mentioned above: Dichen Lachman.
Now we just need to find a man with a similar look. Just google Asian actors with blond hair to get an idea. As for your belief that it “would not look natural,” Alethi eye and hair genetics are quite different from Earth’s, so it can be rationalized that what looks natural there can differ from what you think looks “natural” here. Also, professional hair and makeup artists can be quite good if given a chance.
@66 – Yeah, it’s quite possible. A couple of “famous” examples (although it could be argued that the latter has pale, blond hair) are Blake Griffin of the Clippers and Jimmy Graham of the Seattle Seahawks.
Griffin and parents
Graham, when he was with the Saints.
Plus, there’s always hair and makeup for the actor selected for Rock as well.
Welcome back Gepeto. I miss you. Glad you’re back. :-) xoxo
@74: I have googled blond hair Asian male and none of what I saw was entirely suitable.
When it comes to Adolin, I sincerely believe you can’t get him right with casting. No matter what you choose, you will get something wrong. I thus much prefer the option which does not require intensive make-up and dyes, with the risk of making the character look unnatural, when you can actually cast him with an actor with actual blond hair.
The same is true for Shallan.
In my head, those two simply cannot be cast with Asian actors. Besides, the only physical aspect a Caucasian actor would have wrong, when it comes to Adolin, are the eyes and if it acceptable to ignore this characteristic on Shallan, then it should be on Adolin. It is also easier to find an actor with slightly slanted eyes which could pass for “Asian-like” (think Slavic or Icelandic) than finding an Asian actor with actual blond hair.
I guess I simply prefer when the actors do not have to undergo massive modifications to be deemed physically proper for a given role. Adolin is blond. It is his most defining physical characteristic and it should be the driver when it comes to casting him. To me it should be, this is.
@76: Hi :-) Go see my message. Good stuff in it about Adolin. Not much, but much more than Brandon has been willing to allow to slip lately.
Techincally, Adolin’s hair is “blond mixed with black.” So some coloring is going to have to be done to his hair, no matter who you choose. For that matter, there will be others in the cast with the same need, as hair on Roshar seems to come in locks of specific genetically-derived colors.
We did consider this guy, but decided against him for reasons:
Part of the reason we went so far different with Shallan is that she is a different nationality, and we stretched that a bit. Yes, in a way her eyes are wrong for Roshar, period, but we accepted that.
@79: This picture is exactly what I wish to avoid: Asian with a blond dye. This does not work for me, not at all.
I simply do not think it looks natural and when it comes to an epic scale fantasy movie, I’d rather the casting looks as realistic as possible. In this essence, the bizarre hair coloring would probably have to go as well. It isn’t overly significant within the story, so I would be willing to drop it in order to favor more a more natural-looking casting. Eye contacts are inevitable, this is one concession I would have to live with, but yes I would most likely drop the few black hair within Adolin’s hair which as mixed with so much gold they a hardly show.
So no I am sorry, but I am not within the “Asian Adolin with a blond dye into his hair” bandwagon. The stretching was made for Shallan, I’d make it for Adolin as well because his mother is from a different nationality: same justification. Of course, it isn’t entirely exact, but this picture above isn’t either. Also Adolin is a few shades paler skinned than Dalinar/Kaladin: if this is your chosen skin tone for Alethi (tan skin is a rather loose term), then you have to go lighter for Adolin.
My point is no choice is perfect when it comes to Adolin. You can’t get him right. It thus ends up to which part do we feel needs to be right and which part we are willing to compromise on. I personally would never compromise on his hair coloring because it is his major character defining characteristic: the rest is not as important.
Alice @@@@@ 79 – I do understand your point. Still, being a big fan of cosplay, anime and Harajuku and Japanese fashion, having an Asian actor with blond hair just look too anime for me. And with a very big anime fan base all over the world, then Adolin is in danger of being an anime character. And as a Final Fantasy fan, I just cannot see Adolin as Tidus. LOL Don’t get me wrong, I loved Tidus in FF. I just don’t want Adolin to be identified with Tidus. Or Cloud from FF7.
I might be going against the grain here but I see Adolin as white but not Anglo Saxon. Italians and Greeks have olive skin though they are classified as white. People from the Mediterranean Sea area usually have olive skin but they are still classified as white. Adolin can even be Spanish with those Hispanic features. He can even be French with Gallic features.
@81: Thank you for having better words to express my thoughts. Adolin as an Asian with blond hair would indeed look too cartoonist. It is what I meant when I said it wouldn’t be “realistic enough”. Not that cartoons or anime are wrong, but with an epic fantasy movie which will already be very hard to market/sell, I feel those elements would hurt it more than help it. Too may fantasy movies have felt to connect with the public because the viewers couldn’t relate.
I also agree there are a lot more variation within the Caucasian race than British…. I do not know where people took “white skin” came only in one tone, British being the only valid choice… If we go towards Eastern European, we might find someone not too white with the proper hair coloring and slanted eyes which could realistically be the offspring of a mixed union.
It is easy to launch an open casting for an early twenties blond haired male actor with blond hair with ethnic feel to him. There is more choices out there than 100% white and 100% Asian.
Reading this basically just got me excited thinking of all the incredible Korean actors that could play Alethi roles. I’d love to see Kim Woo Bin, Bang Sung Joon or Ji Chang Wook as Kaladin! Any of them could do it, they pull of the young, angsty, talented warrior thing well. Small hurdle might be the acting while speaking in English.
@5, @10, The first time I read Way of Kings I pictured David Tennant as Hoid, though more because of his turn as Hamlet.
@40, Same with me, re: mental image of characters
@7, Definitely agree, animated would do the worlds better justice, especially Roshar. Don’t know if Roshar can be done well live action, for me the only thing that can do it justice is James Cameron’s Avatar level CGI Personally, I’d like to imagine the team behind Avatar: The Last Airbender and/or Legend of Korra stepping in–think first season Korra and Final Empire-era Scadrial.
For added reference:
Kim Woo Bin
Bang Sung Joon
Ji Chang Wook(on the right)
Gosh, these are so perfect! Loki as Hoid….now, that’d be something to see. I did kind of picture Dalinar as a bit of bigger person, though.
My two cents (or rather two choices):
Elijah Wood for Szeth. He’s supposed to be short, slender, look younger than he actually is, have large eyes, generally NOT look like a kick-ass warrior, but be able to move fluidly and kick ass with magic and skill. For reference, see Sin City.
All of the Dr Whos as Hoid. Hoid’s description is different in each world, and at this point, Hoid is really pretty meta, so what would be better than to have a different Dr Who actor play him for each storyline? If you filmed Elantris first, Tom Baker gets that one, and so on. Wouldn’t be a nice bone to throw the fans (especially if they didn’t announce it, just made us work it out)
I don’t wish to be derogatory towards again people here, but the denizens of roshar (the shin, not included in this) always struck me as being rugged and sturdy, solid. With the world for the most part having evolved to live in the extreme conditions of frequent highstorms , I always imagined the inhabitants to look more akin to what we would class as the paragon of our own species. For the most part the cast choices, while I initially thought were excellent, fall short when you consider this point.
These are awesome. I especially love Takei for Taravangian and Rosenbaum for Szeth.
But you are dead wrong about Rock. The whole reason Shallan looks weird by Vorin standards is that Vedans intermarry with HornEaters. Rock needs to be the whitest non-Szeth character in the show. You need some giant, bearded Scotsman or Swede or something.
Yes, he talks like a Hawaiian, but he doesn’t look like a Hawaiian.
Actress Lindsay Price looks like a tanned Alethi
How about Adrian Paul (from the Highlander TV series) as Aladar?
Thanks for reading my musings.
AndrewHB
Former Superman Dean Cain as Dalinar? He’s 1/4 Japanese.
@87: Now that would be funny. But I’m wondering if having Doctors play Hoid would be too much of an inside joke.
@88: You said:
What the hell does that even mean? Actors and actresses tend to be paragons, because they tend to be people with the most symmetrical features on the planet. Across all cultures, we find symmetry beautiful. No other beauty standard exists for “paragons” of Earth.
I want James Earl Jones to voice the Stormfather. Others would want Morgan Freeman or Sean Connery or Val Kilmer. People from other cultures would want vocal icons they know.
Braid_Tug @@@@@ 93 – It’s a toss up for me between James Earl Jones and Morgan Freeman for the Stormfather. I want Sean Connery for Pattern. LOL I just imagine Sean Connery saying those lines. He has a great sense of humor. I can almost hear it in Pattern. :-)
sheiglagh @94 – Oh. My. Stars. Sean Connery for Pattern? Love it!!!!!!! Oh, that would be absolutely priceless.
And yes, James Earl Jones or Morgan Freeman would be my picks, too. We talked about that, but didn’t do a casting.
Even Brandon doesn’t think that Adolin is interesting enough for a backstory, so who cares about his hair color?
@89 “But you are dead wrong about Rock. The whole reason Shallan looks weird by Vorin standards is that Vedans intermarry with HornEaters. Rock needs to be the whitest non-Szeth character in the show. “
WOB from Reddit: Some Horneaters might look Caucasian to you–but then, most will not. They’ll seem like something alien, and not all of them have light skin;
I think Dave Bautista, aka alien Drax the Destroyer suits Rock perfectly
Link: https://www.reddit.com/r/Stormlight_Archive/comments/4shyds/no_spoilers_til_that_the_people_who_live_in/
“Brandon has also made the point that the people he’s working with are not just movie-makers – they’re fans. They really want to do this justice.”
You’ll forgive me if I’m not very comforted by this, Terry Brooks said the same thing…
@97: Thank you for the link!
I love that it links to this picture of Rock. It’s one of my favorites.
I almost used it in JordanCon’s 2016 People of Sanderson slide show. But the artist had not done all the bridgemen, so I opted for a different image. by Ktep on the 17th Shard
@85: I love the second choice for Elhokar. He has an kingly air and he is handsome, so he does fit. When I saw the pic, I automatically thought: Elhokar.
@96: Adolin’s hair color is about one of the most important physical characteristics of the character. It is his most defining physical attribute. Now, of course, if you decide he should be removed from the movie because there isn’t enough time for him, then fine. I would however think it a mistake for reasons which aren’t personal. However, as soon as you choose to cast him, then you have to stay true to the character and this character is blond. It is important because it makes him standout within the Alethi crowd, it is proof his bloodline is impure and no other character has had more physical description than Adolin. If you want to stay true to canon, then you need a real blond headed actor. Also being Earth humans, as soon as you put in an Asian with dyed blond hair, most of your viewers are going to take the character dyes his hair, not that is natural because to our human eyes, it is not natural.
Therefore, if you want to convey the idea Adolin is the blond headed outsider within the Alethi, then you have to cast him accordingly. If you are ignoring this attribute, then why put so much faith onto the other tributes from the other characters? Why not make Shallan Asian brunette, who cares about her hair color? Wouldn’t it be better if everyone was Asian in the movie? Why make an exception for her and not for the other obvious choice? Besides, if Adolin is as unimportant as you make it sound, who cares if he cast with a non-Asian actor?
Bottom line is when it comes to casting, you more or less have to decide what matters the most. For my part, I tend to focus on the physical elements of a given character which are important to his proper portrayal.
Stuff such as:
– Kaladin is tall and a very typical Alethi, he has to look Alethi
– Dalinar is tall and physically imposing
– Shallan is a red head with freckles, though the freckles could go, but the red has to remain.
and… Adolin is blond.
The fact his eyes are Alethi does not matter when it comes to his portrayal, but his hair color does matter. Hence, insisting on casting with an Asian actor which cannot pull off the one defining physical characteristics he has is an odd choice. In fact, by casting Asian, you have about everything wrong about Adolin: the only think you have right are the shape of the eyes which isn’t significant within the story. His hair though are.
I thus once again disagree with this casting direction.
As for Brandon’s plan for Adolin, well, I shall not comment on that. It might not be what we think it might be.
While I love the casting of Dave Bautista as Rock, I would LOVE to see Geno Segers, who played Chayton Littlestone on Banshee, as a backup. His voice alone, never mind his build, fully qualifies him. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3732491/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t18
@Braid_Tug about 93……. You’re awesome. Agree completely about paragons. Nearly made me snort my lunch out of my nose. Lol thank you.
@Wetlandernw. Ahem! I think someone needs to tell Michael Kramer he needs to voice Connery whenever Pattern comes up. Lol
Great news about the film rights to the cosmere and a focus on the Way of Kings. I preferred this book to its sequel. It had a better ending that would also work for a stand-alone film (a long 3 hr + type film like the LOTR ones). In terms of actors, I feel that Brandon’s prescription for their ethnicities is too limiting. The actual description in the books doesn’t mention an eye fold, as I recall, and it shouldn’t constrain the choice of actors. Nor should eye color necessarily be governing since colored contact lenses can compensate for natural eye color to some extent (although changing naturally dark eyes to a lighter shade may be a problem). I certainly have no objection to having actors of Souhteast Asian ethnicity. However, the issue of light eyes vs dark eyes may be a problem for some roles (Dalinar, Adolin, Yasnah, Navani, Sadeas, etc.). Height can also be an issue since the Alethi are depicted as being tall. Shallan is presented in the book as light skinned, lightly built, with reddish hair and light freckles – which may be an additional hurdle for some ethnicities. Szeth is depicted as being short, round-eyed, and a graceful fighter. I would chose someone with a martial arts as well as acting talent for this role.
Awesome that you’ve been casting Morena Baccarin where I would’ve been casting her as well. Seriously, I can’t imagine anyone else as Jasnah.
I would like to nominate Benedict Cumberbatch for Hoid as well, though.
AND YAY FOR GEORGE TAKEIVANGIAN!
So find an actor and dye their hair. Tons of people dye their hair, and it can be impossible to spot. Movies are make believe anyway. Actors wear makeup. And costumes. And wigs. And fake beards or mustaches….
Ezra Miller – Hoi
@Gepeto
Out of curiosity, how would you go about casting individuals who have the Royal Locks, like they are described in Warbreaker?
It’s worth noting that eye color cannot be a determining factor, because some characters have eye color that changes during the course of the story – Szeth, Kaladin, and Moash, so far. If they’re going to use the light-eyes/dark-eyes issue that is so central to the book, they’re going to HAVE to be able to change the colors of people’s eyes. Whether they do it with CG or contacts, it’ll have to be done. Which is why the dream-casting threw out eye color as a determining factor.
Likewise, hair color can be adjusted, and any actor cast for Adolin or Renarin will of necessity have some dyeing done. Both are black/blond mixes, though of different proportions. Unless the directors decide to ignore hair color altogether, of course.
I’d like to point out again that this is merely one group’s ideas of the actors who would make a great cast. Everyone who does visualization when they read will have their own ideas, naturally. More importantly, when DMG starts casting, they will make some decisions about physiology and what they think is vital to an appropriate portrayal of the planet and its people. For this post, we made a very conscious decision to consider what the author has said about the physiological differences between races on Roshar, though again, that wasn’t always the issue that tipped the scale. We strove for a balance between ethnicity, physiology, presence, acting ability, and a handful of other minor issues; whether or not we succeeded in your mind is a matter of taste and preconception.
I know this is not important to some of you, but as a group, we felt it was important not only to avoid white-washing the cast, but also to avoid the “token diversity” so often observable. In doing so, we often had to consciously set aside our initial impressions and habitual types.
Just… some thoughts from behind the scenes.
_____
Also, LOL for “George Takeivangian” :)
Braid_Tug @99. The first picture of Rock looks exactly like Tyler Mane as Sabertooth in the first X-Men film. Rather than Dave Bautista as Rock, cast Tyler Mane in this role.
Thanks for reading my musings.
AndrewHB
I just finished bands of mourning and Hoid had white, sight less eyes when Wax encountered him in the bushes outside that party! man of many appearances for sure :)
I’m seconding the idea of Dwayne Johnson as Rock. Stunt casting, yes. But he’s definitely got the physique and sense of humor for it.
Hoid is a tough one… Tom Hiddleston would be great now that I think about it, but I’d always pictured him as Jeffery Combs. Matt Smith would also be interesting. Like Hiddleston, he can pull off the silly, snarky, smarter-than-thou — HOLY CRAP SUDDENLY MENACING thing. Also, I could see either Hiddleston or Smith react appropriately flabbergasted at Shallan’s glomping in Words of Radiance.
I may have missed it (LOTS of comments to look through, and I’m on a very short break), but did anyone consider Native Americans for some of these roles? I’ve always pictured Kaladin, at least, as Native American, with almond eyes and high cheekbones.
@94: Connery as Pattern? – Like Alice, I now love that idea! Sadly I don’t think Kate Reading is up to that voice. Since Pattern only talks in Shallan’s POV, and Reading reads her.
@102: Awhh.. Thank you! Hope your nose is okay. That would hurt!
@112: I had that suggestion @41, but not for a main cast member. But I think it would be very easy to include Native American actors.
And really any good actor that is of a mix ethic heritage. As a TV Series, this could be a great launching pad for a number of actors not typically cast in Hollywood blockbusters.
I have to throw this out for consideration. Theo Rossi for Szeth would be perfect. The look is spot on with the big eyes and the bald whiteness (not to mention the super shredded-ness). I also think based on his performances in Luke Cage and Sons of Anarchy, he’d be able to pull Szeth off really well. That’s all.
I like the idea of lesser known actors for most of the parts except I have to vote for George Takai and Lucy Liu. They are just perfect for those roles.
I agree with those who say the choices for Dalinar aren’t “enough”. He just feels like big person due to personality and temperament. It seems like he must walk into a room and everyone immediately knows who is in charge.
I’m so sad that Brandon has no real feeling for Adolin as one of the real players. I’m still fearing for him to get killed off like the “red shirt” he seems to be from what I hear of WOB on his importance.
Yes to all of this! I love these books (come on let’s get that 3rd booo out already!) and a series would be just lovely! 8 hope HBO picks it up with GOT coming to an end soon.they know how to do Sci-Fi Fantasy right! Those character actor selection were spot on, especially Rock, Shallan, Teft, and Syl!
I love the idea’s for the actors. I own both the “Way Of Kings” and “Words of Radiance” books. I have read and reread them many times (about 10 times each, give or take) and love the story and character development. Although, for Lopen i think he would look hispanic, not really a hardened warrior but in actuality a mentally resilient, care-free jokester. But you know what you’re doing and I’ll leave it up for you to decide. this can be the greatest movie of the decade, so long as you don’t screw it up. good luck.
I love the idea of Jessica Chastain as Jasnah. I watched Crimson Peak once and all I could think of was how she behaved exactly like Jasnah does. There is no one else. <3
ive thought about the person who could pull of Shallan’s witty personality and i think Dakota Blue Richards of the golden compass and skins fame would be a great fit. she can play feirce and sassy as well as darker characters as she does with franky in skins and i can totally imagine her as Shallan
Wetlandernw@108. I believe that we are just discussing the filming of the Way of Kings and the actors who are being touted to play the roles. I don’t recall that anyone in that book has their eyes changing from dark to light. As I recall, that happens when actively bonding to a shardblade (or sprenblade). Kaladin doesn’t touch one, nor does Moash in TWOK. Szeth, for all that we know always has those light blue eyes in the book. I agree, however, that temporarily changing eye color, even from dark to light, could be done digitally. Permanently (in the film) changing the color sounds like a lot of CGA work, however. Putting on tinted contacts would work for a simple change of eye color, but may not work too well to change the brightness aspect, i.e., from dark brown to light blue or green or, even, hazel, since the contacts aren’t opaque..
The idea of casting all the Alethi roles with actors of Southeast Asian ethnicity may be adopted by the Chinese company that has bought the film rights. It may not sit too well, however, with a western audience who may miss their favored actors (I’m deliberately trying here to underplay any prejudices that may be involved). I like the suggestion of Elijah Wood playing the role of Szeth. He has the height and eyes for the role together with the ability to convey the anguish that characterizes Szeth’s view of his ostensible fate. It remains to be seen whether he has the movement skills that the role demands. I can also see Liz Tyler as Navani or Jasnah. She has the height and beauty for those roles together with suitable acting talent. The leading actress who played Galadriel in FOTR would make a superb Jasnah. Besides her great acting skills (and height), she has the authoritative voice that goes with the character. Vigo Mortensen, to continue with the LOTR cast, would make a good Dalinar except for the height aspect. Perhaps Sean Bean (Boromir in FOTR) would work even better (It would also be a ‘compensation’ for having been killed off in the 1st season of the Game of Thrones (Ned Stark). Kaladin’s role could, perhaps, be filled by Ben Afleck who has the physicality and acting ability for this major role (I don’t know about the height aspect).
@115: Yeah… That one was a bummer. Brandon has not been very encouraging when it comes to Adolin related questions. I am sorry he feels this way about the character as many of his readers do disagree with him here as not everyone believes an individual has to be secretive to be interesting. Also, there are a great deal lot of readers who do feel Adolin is one of his best characters. Sigh.
For the rest, I believe I have rested my case. I would however point out advocating to have one, relatively minor, character not to be portray by an Asian actor with dyes isn’t white-washing. White-washing would be insisting everyone has to be white: nobody has said such thing, but I sincerely believe some characters are better portrayed with white actors. To state it is not white-washing, but to admit Asian actors have their limitations when it comes to realistic portrayal. I also feel there is few enough of them not to jeopardize the integrity of the ethnicity of the Stormlight Archive. When 95% of your cast is Asian, including your major protagonist, it isn’t representation, it is an ethnic cast. One or two white actor toss into the lot won’t matter, but an blond haired Asian might break down the suspense of disbelief of many viewers.
Also, has anyone ever thought dyed blond Asian Adolin might not be a good seller outside Asia? Sure, we could argue to no end as to how important the character is or not, but sincerely, I think it would the worst casting decision ever. He is one of the few characters the producers have the latitude to use to bridge their Asian cast with their western viewers: it would be folly not to use it.
@120: You are raising the real issue, the one nobody has been willing to talk about. Can a movie being produced in China with an all-Asian cast be commercially successful within the western market? Technically, it isn’t impossible, it has happened in the past, but we are talking high fantasy, a genre which has always struggled to succeed on the big screen.
Dreamcasting is done perfectly imho :D
The Kaladin pick is not bad. He’s pretty good in Dark Matter.
Then I got to Shallan…
Then I got to Jasnah….
Then you pick the second most fanboi-obvious for Hoid (next to Cucumber Bandersnatch) and I just nope’d out.
I really hope y’all don’t get a say in the actual casting.
@123 – Would it be rude of me to say, “Well, duh!”? Because as noted multiple times, we’re a bunch of beta readers, not a casting agency. Sheesh. Even Brandon isn’t likely to have much any say in actual casting, much less us.
Go back and read @108, or read the part of the post BEFORE the list of actors, and you might understand where we were coming from a little more. Or, you know, not, if you just want to throw rocks. Whatever.
Ah, the commercial aspect, that is the true measure of casting, sad to say. And though Hollywood has been accused of whitewashing, which BTW is true to a certain extent, it is actually “profits” that decides who to cast.
I read somewhere (forgot where) that Julie Andrews was passed over for Audrey Hepburn for the role of Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady. The reason was that Julie Andrews was not big enough. Obviously, Julie Andrews sings better than Audrey, but the “bankability” of the name made the final decision. Of course, Julie Andrews starred in The Sound of Music and the rest is history.
Since Eliza Doolittle is obviously Anglo Saxon, then it is not Hollywood whitewashing. I’m giving this as an example so that many will see that “whitewashing” is actually a by product of the pursuit of profits. It’s not because Hollywood just like hiring white actors.
Just my thoughts.
Different people have different dreams? Film at eleven…
I like most of these picks either way it will be hard to match the book description on some here’s a couple I’d like to see
Hoid – David Tennant
Dalinar or Amaram – Russell Wong
Shallan – Molly C Quinn
Lopez – Micheal Pena
If they don’t go with a full asian/ethnic cast, I’d want Lliam Neeson for Dalinar
@125: Obviously. Casting is one way to help secure profits for movies: viewers are more inclined to go see a movie if they see a familiar figure within it. Should they? No. Do they? Yes. Why? I would hazard myself into saying it is link to the emotional attachment. In order to invest themselves into the movie, most viewers require to make an emotional connection with the story. One of the easiest way to ensure the magic operates is to give the viewers actors/actress they actually love seeing: each generation, each decade has its favorites.
I would also hazard myself in saying it is where most fantasy movies have failed in the past: they failed to create this connection. Why? I think it might because, being fantasy, viewers have a harder time connecting with the characters, they have a harder time feeling something for a story which generally revolve around grand evil threats completely alien to their reality (science-fiction is dodging the problem by presenting a future for humanity thus allowing a link to remain). It isn’t real, it bears no resemblance to any known reality which is might be where most fantasy movies failed: they didn’t anchor their viewers. They didn’t give them something to relate to, they forgot the human aspect of the story.
It might be why I am ill-at-ease with casting discussing. Most completely ignore this reality, most ignore the difficulty selling something as niche as Stormlight Archive might be. I feel, at times, most people merely ignore it might be a factor stating it shouldn’t be. It shouldn’t be, but it will be nonetheless.
I am thus a ardent defender of compromise when it comes to casting, because otherwise the movie might sink. Or not. I cannot say, but I do fear it. I fear for it because it doesn’t have mass appeal.
These are just thoughts which I haven’t seen much of in all discussion about the movie.
@angry posts: While there certainly is a better way to phrase an opposition as the one chosen by @123, the hateful comments which followed shouldn’t be. This is a fan casting made by fans: people are going to love it and people are going to hate it. Some might be more vocal on their personal thoughts than others, some might lack the diplomacy to state their disagreement and yearn to add their voice to the others. Either way, behind the keyboard, there is a human being whom can be hurt by random (or not) hateful comments. For real. I should know.
While there is a way to state a disagreement, there is also a way to tell someone else they haven’t phrase theirs in a polite way. And there are words which shouldn’t be used even when disguised.
@Gepeto. How can you consider yourself an ardent defender of compromise when it comes to casting…… Yet you refuse to compromise on the possibility of a blonde mixed with black haired slightly/mostly Asian man?
Where in the world did you get 95% Asian cast? We feel we came up we with our best possible list. Mixing race where we did. I am fairly certain there are a ton of actors out there that will appear over the next few years. Few because any movie probably won’t even be ready for casting for I bet two years at least.
Compromise? Please try it. For whatever reason you refuse to let your favorite character be the slightly Asian appearance he’s been written as. You have your right to your views, ideas and dream choices, to me you just seem to have race issues you just refuse to acknowledge ms defender of compromise.
I’m even more offended by the complete and total white washing Kalaxin did @120 there are so so many actors/actresses of non white races out there that are hugely popular. With all the different ways to watch a TV show or movie or mini series…..Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and all the cable channels that have amazing wonderful shows too many to count. We are long past the days of Must See TV with 2 shows reaching out to black people. The NEED by people to have white actors almost primarily just isn’t what it was IMO. Yet you and a couple others keep pushing for it or as long as it’s not my favorite Adolin.
This was a fun thing for us to do. I fully expected multiple people to have other ideas and that’s fine. I did not expect the issues people have with Asian eyes and or skin color…. Especially when you know your author you love so much has clearly stated what the Alethi are like. I was surprised when I heard it, I rolled with it and I like it. Open your minds people. Give it a shot. Compromise.
Jeeezzzz!!!!!
Nick Fury. as played by Samuel Jackson.
A case to be made for not paying too much attention to character’set exact attention.
Game of Thrones: a case study in casting mostly unknowns with a few big names, but ending up with a wild success.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: a case of Eastern actors connecting to a Western audience.
As was said At The Beginning, this is casing them as they look at This Moment. It will be 3-5 years before anything is committed to the screen.
TV vs Movie will affect the casting .
I want to say more, but kids are demanding my attention.
And I’m tired of the coded phrases.
@130: What I meant by compromise is to allow non Asian actors for roles where they would be unsuitable due to physical restriction. Of course, it could be a compromise, but I do not find dying black hair blond to be a reasonable one because the end result is highly likely not to look natural. All pictures I have seen are completely unconvincing, hence I advocate for another compromise.
And please read my posts carefully: I have said they should open up casting in order to find a compromise in between “white” and “Asian”. I believe I also mentioned the numerous countries and ethnicity existing in between Asian and America claiming there is a way not to sabotage Adolin’s specific origin without having to use dyes into deep black hair. I believe I mentioned Slavic, Eastern European and Icelandic, all ethnicity (for the lack of a better word) having particular physical attributes which are reminiscent of Asian features while allowing natural blond hair. There are other choices out there, so I disagree being called out for my “narrow vision” merely because I do not endorse the one suggested within this thread.
I have given ample justification as to why I dislike the idea of dyed black hair: it doesn’t look natural. It makes the character look more cartoon-like than real. It also ruins the character’s most important physical attribute. Those are ample reasons to advocate for another choice, another compromise than the one suggested because I do not personally believe it works. This being said, it might be you are right, maybe it can work, but nobody has managed to convince me, yet.
The casting by itself was nicely done, but it isn’t consistent with itself. For instance, why is Sadeas, a full blooded Alethi, cast with a non-Asian actor? You advocate dyeing black hair blond is the best possible compromise to maintain the racial integrity of SA and yet you cast Oliver Pratt as Sadeas? Of course, he is described with curly hair and a red face which seems more suitable for a “white” actor, but why is it more important to give credence to Sadeas’s hair style when choosing to ignore Adolin’s who is, by far, more distinctive (not to mention it is mentioned rather often in text)? This has bothered me as well, not because I particularly disagree with your casting of Sadeas, but because I wondered why?
These are, in essence, my problems with it. I love a great deal lot of choices you have made. I love your vision of Kaladin even if it clashes with my own (and it does), I am willing to give it a try. I love the greater majority of the choices you have made, but I disagree with your vision of Adolin.
I have expressed my thoughts to the best of my ability. These discussions are tiring and emotionally draining for myself. I do not believe there is more I could say which I haven’t said yet. All I hope now is to be treated with respect because I feel disagreement should be voiced out and I have tried to voice mine as respectfully as possible.
Hi, all–since the discussion seems to be getting a little heated in places, just stepping in with a reminder to please be respectful toward one another and try to keep the spirit of the original post in mind: dream-casting is supposed to be fun (and it’s certainly non-binding.) If you disagree, that’s fine, but that’s no reason to be less than civil toward the posters or other commenters.
Here’s the essence of what we were trying to consider, from Peter Ahlstrom:
ETA: It’s also worth noting that “blond” isn’t quite accurate. According to TWoK Interlude 5,
In chapter 18, the hair of an Iriali leatherworker is described as
So, yeah, I don’t honestly see any way that’s going to look “natural” to our eyes, if it’s done according to the book description. But if that’s part of the point, then… okay, I’m good with that.
Oops. The quotes about the Iriali hair are correct, but Adolin’s mother wasn’t Iriali; she was Riran. So… blond. Oops.
Important note that seems to have been missed: the ages of the characters as given in the books is in Roshar-years, not Earth-years. A Roshar year is 500 days, not 365, so the ages of these actors is actually a lot closer to the mark than one might originally suspect.
Alex Mallari: 20.4 Roshar Years for Kaladin who is 19 Roshar Years.
Ken Watanabe: 41.6 RY for Dalinar who is 50 RY
Rose Leslie: 21.2 RY for Shallan who is 17 RY
Godfrey Gao: 23.4 RY for Adolin who is 23-ish RY
Morena Baccarin: 27.0 RY for Jasnah who is 33-ish RY
Michael Rosenbaum: 32.1 RY for Szeth who is 40-ish RY
Tom Hiddleston: 25.6 RY for Hoid who is 9999999999 RY (he was there for the Shattering, after all, and as evidenced by Roshar’s history of the Desolations, it’s been tens of thousands of years minimum since then; possibly longer given the account of Scadrial’s creation by Ruin and Preservation).
Evanna Lynch: N/A. Syl’s physical appearance and behavior change with time. At times she can be girlish while other times she can appear as what is likely later 20s (in Earth-years) when she goes full-size.
On to my personal feelings on the casting choices (because of course this was coming):
I generally think this would be an awesome cast to see, though I’m not sure how I feel about Alex Mallari. At least from what I’ve seen, he seems a bit too harsh to pull of Kal’s gentler aspects, but then again, you mainly see those in flashbacks which Alex wouldn’t portray so I guess it works. Also, I have zero idea who Godfrey Gao is, but he absolutely looks the part for Adolin.
As for the minor cast members, I love the idea of Platt as Sadeas; he fits it perfectly. I disagree with Liam Cunningham if only because I don’t want Teft to just be Davos Seaworthy in a bridgeman’s vest. Cunningham does an excellent job as Davos, but I don’t think I could ever unsee Davos.
George Takei as Taravangian is probably my favorite casting choice on here. This would be amazing!
@Michael
On behalf of the beta readers:
You get the biggest of gold stars!
Thank you for your excellent thinking and kind words!
@Michael so well said sir. Like Mr Congar said. Well thought out….. I’m curious how it took you to do the math tho? Lol
@134: I had never read this particular words from Peter, thank you for sharing. I thought I had gotten my hands onto pretty much everything with respect to Adolin, but this one I truly never saw. I had always thought Adolin’s hair were more along the line of 90% blond and 10% black (they say his hair are peppered with black which led me to believe there weren’t a lot of it), not 60%-40%, hence my disagreement. If it is 60-40%, then the casting choice makes more sense, though I am highly ambivalent on the mixed hair thing over the big screen. I fear it wouldn’t come out right.
I knew about the blond, but it was another thing I though could be done with regular blond. I fear too much make-up. I fear the end result would make the movie look like a bad relent of the 90s…
Still, I have a hard time being convinced. I am trying, but it is extremely difficult for me to visualize it in a positive manner.
Gepeto @138 – Lucky for me, I’m TERRIBLE at the practical aspects of things like hair color, so I have to let the professionals worry about making it look believable – or, in this case, fantastic (in the literal sense). I’ve seen movie-makers do enough awesome effects that I’m willing to trust them even if I can’t quite envision it myself.
As with everything else about making a movie from a book, there’s a fair chance they’ll do all sorts of things I loathe and despise. (Like adding in a load of collapsing staircases in Moria, anyone?) But I can’t stop that happening; I can only hope that they do more things right than wrong, and that they get the epic things right and only screw up some of the small stuff. It’s even possible that they’ll do a very good job – but no matter how well they do, they will get some things “wrong” for every fan, because we all imagine things a little differently. Nothing we can do to stop that.
ETA: Don’t feel bad, you didn’t miss one. The quote from Peter is from internal sources; I’ve had occasion to ask odd questions at times, and much of it doesn’t get posted publicly for a variety of reasons. I got specific permission to share this one tonight; Peter would have done it himself, but he was occupied.
I think that sticking to primarily Asian actors and actresses would limit the marketability of the movie/show. While I don’t necessarily agree with this myself, that I the world in which we live.
Someone made a comment about an Asian cast or Asian movie connecting to the western audience. While it is very true and those are also commercial successes, my concern is that those are Kung fu movies. Unfortunately, Asian actors are typecasted for that.
There is the Memoirs of a Geisha and Farewell my Concubine, but those stories are also very ethnic and stays within the context of the Asian culture. Truth is, except for a very few, Asian actors are typecasted for kung fu roles in films.
With the current shows, only Priyanka Chopra of Quantico is an Asian who is not typecasted for any role. But, of course, her skin is so light, very few people realize that she is Indian. There is also Shay Mitchell at Pretty Little Liars. She is half Filipino on her mother side. Again, she is so light that people don’t see her as Asian, just someone exotic looking.
We have become so politically correct that if someone has an opinion that an actor who is European descent is chosen for a role, it is uncool. Sad, isn’t it.
But then again, I have not seen anyone suggest Vanessa Hudgens for any role here though she is half Asian. Her mother is Filipino. Or Adam Jacobs of the Alladin (Broadway) fame. He is half Filipino through his mother. Is it because they are not good actors or is it because they have been identified as white? Or, the better answer – is it because they don’t fit the role?
BTW, Alex Mallari is full Filipino, just in case you don’t know.
Just food for thought because Asians come in so many shapes and sizes, you might be talking to one but don’t know that he or she is Asian. And even if you know, the Japanese, Korean and Chinese are so light skinned they are fairer than the Italians and Greeks at times.
Below is Fan Bing Bing, a Chinese actress. She can be Shallan Davar if we color her hair and give her contacts
It sounds like the only absolute requirement for casting is that all the actors have to be willing and able to change their appearance in some way. Cast first for acting, then looks. Then contact lenses, hair dye or wigs, and makeup can change a lot. If it is to look like a truly alien world, as it is, the people should be recognizably different from our world. Either that or animate it.
I have recommended before that a Mistborn film could be set in a CGI world with rules; they could even film it in a video game world, but render it to the highest quality, and use motion capture when needed. Each of the metal powers should have specific parameters and limitations to avoid the vagueness that so often comes with live action superhero films.
The same idea could work for Stormlight. I like the idea that each Cosmere world could use a different style of CGI animation. The radiant powers should also be clearly defined, so a video game world would be ideal. Then release a lesser-quality version of the world in a tie-in game.
How about native american actors for portraying the Alethi?
The real irony?
The people of Roshar don’t pay attention to skin tone. They notice hair and eyes. I guess hair dyes are not too common there.
The people of Earth do pay attention to skin tone (sadly). We don’t notice hair and eyes much. Hair dye and color contacts are too common.
We can hope WoK becomes a world-wide success, like Game of Thrones. As such, the cast should come from the world. And yes, cast for acting first. But a set family, the Kholins, still have to look related. Just like the Stark family had to look like plausible relations.
And the Altethi could look about as similar as the Brazilians. I.E. Not really that uniform, since their heritage comes from everywhere. But Brandon has stated as a whole the Altethi do have a type of eye shape. This eye shape can be found in several ethnic groups. I hope the casting and extras are pulled from all of them, including Native American tribal members.
Dalinar? Two words: Liam. Neesons.
Also, I nominate myself to be background bridgeman #4. Or any other role, really, I could die happy if I got to be in any cosmere film in any capacity. ANY….CAPACITY! I’m 6’4″ with a big nose, so clearly I bring a lot to the table.
jophil @@@@@ 130. Calm down. I am far from your conception of a racially prejudiced person. I was merely alluding to what I feel tends to be favored by an American movie audience. Nor do I believe that a commercial undertaking involving a large investment need necessarily follow the author’s envisioning of what earthly ethnicities best model his characters – particularly when it adds to the description in the book. Requiring a Southeast Asian ethnicity for nearly all the leading characters seems too limiting. As to the ‘whitewashing’ accusation, if you paid attention to what I actually wrote you will find that all the actors (except for Ben Afleck as a possible Kaladin) that I listed were in the LOTR films. I used those well loved and highly successful films as a model for a similar hoped for success in creating a film from TWOK. I personally would see the film if it was not an abortion regardless of the ethnicities of the actors.
If we are indeed going the asian route, without a doubt Rain as Kaladin
Rain
Heh. I find it exceptionally entertaining that internet commentators (and, to be fair, pretty much everyone everywhere) can get so emotionally invested in hypothetical, ultimately meaningless explorations of opinion.
As for me, I thoroughly enjoyed this casting exploration, and wanted to express my thanks to all the beta/gamma readers who took part in this.
Ultimately, should the Stormlight Archive eventually make it to the big (or small) screen, and whoever ends up being cast for these roles, I think we all share the hope that the presentation is done exceptionally well, and the acting is top-notch. There will certainly be challenging aspects of the setting, and hopefully, as Alice says, they get more (and bigger) things right than they get wrong.
As an aside, part of me honestly hopes that SA does NOT get made anytime real soon. I’d prefer that there isn’t too much of a revolving door of actors playing the parts, and given the number of years between now and when the final book comes out, that would likely become a necessity.
Here’s one (meaningless) vote for starting out with Warbreaker…
@99 That picture of Rock looks identical to Triple H. Intriguing.
On another note, if you are looking for caucasian options with kind of squinty-looking eyes, the Hemsworth brothers may fit the bill, although Chris is too well-known as Thor by this point, but Liam could work for either Kal or Adolin really
I see most of the comments are about the dreamcast, but I wanted to echo Alice’s opinion that they should start with Mistborn. First off, that series is finished and movies about books are generally better when the screenwriters can have to whole story at the beginning. Too many important things get left off, when you don’t know where the rest of the series is heading. Also, I think that Mistborn is more cinematic. Just imagine the scenes of the fights and the flying through the air. Sure, they’d have trouble visualizing the burning of the metals, but I think could be overcome.
I’m glad that someone is taking this on, but I hope they end up making the right decisions, so that they do it justice. The first movie/show needs to make money, if the rest are going to get made. I could be wrong about Mistborn being the best one to start with, so if they go with Way of Kings, then I hope it is a hit.
@139: I wish I had your confidence. I have always had a hard time trusting others to do a good work and so many fantasy movies have been plain terrible. It is true make-up artists have done amazing work in the past, but it is hard to rely on something you have no control of.
While I certainly am not an expert on hair either, I do recall the early 2000 years where it was fashionable to have dark and light hair mixed together (such as black and blond or deep red and blond). It seemed every “transformation” beauty show I watched featuring the poor lady getting what had become referred to as the “skunk” hair coloring. There are also several inside jokes going around this particular coloring which I cannot share as nobody would understand due to I not exactly living in the same country as you guys.
It is thus the combination of dark and blond hair does not carry any particular appeal, worst it carries a rather negative one. Hence my personal fear it would not create an interesting aesthetic, my fear it would look… shall I say it.. Ridiculous? Perhaps I am being foolish, but some things are hard to get over with…
I hope however they will not restrict the casting too much. I still think a real blond headed Adolin is possible with careful casting, so I hope they will not bar it out and allow for various actors to audition.
I never had the chance to interact with Peter and/or Brandon nor am I likely to get considering I do not live in a wordily region where tours happen. I only very rarely get to push forward my own insignificant questions, so thanks for sharing yours.
@141: It have had the same perceptions as yours… The politically correct seems to have gone too far down the other side. Maybe it is a reaction to all else happening in the world, but I find it hard to deal with at times.
@143: I love the Native idea. I really, really do. Also, mixed blood Natives are fairly common, so you could actually find someone with actual light eyes with physical characteristic acceptable for an Alethi.
@149: No Hemsworth brothers, no. Both are too old for the roles anyway.
To be honest, this casting clashes 100% with how I imagined the Alethi look, especially keeping Michael Whelan’s art in mind. I always imagined they’d look more Middle Eastern, Indian or Native American, with people from some regions even looking like Inuitic, or even Sami people, mainly because a lot of them naturally do have epicanthic eye folds. I could easily imagine a Sami girl playing Shallan, being lighter skinned and with red hairI Though, for some reason I keep seeing Aladdin in my head (Syl = Genie, anyone? xD) whenever I read about Kaladin, so I might not be the person to trust when it comes to casting. Hah!
Anyway. I certainly never imagined the Alethi as South East Asian, though that might just have to do with being mixed-race Arab/Scandinavian myself, and therefore leaning more towards the Arab look. Though obviously Brandon himself has said that it would be natural for a lot of people to see the Alethi as Arab or East Indian. It’ll certainly be interesting to see how this all plays out, because as we all know from previous books being translated into films, people put a surprising amount of emotion into seeing their favorite characters come to life! And since no-one ever imagines a character the same way
Well, I totally crocked at @134. Okay, not totally, because the original quote from Peter is correct, but I was thinking that Adolin’s mother was Iriali, and she wasn’t. She’s Riran. So… scratch the whole bit about the metallic gold; it’s just very blond blond.
I’ll scratch that out.
Gepeto @@@@@ 151 – Actually, when you work on a project, you have to trust others to do their jobs. After all, they are professionals. Case in point – hair and make-up. Hair stylists go to school, undergo so much training and work on hair everyday, so you can be rest assured that they know what they are doing.
For you to say that it is hard to trust others when you don’t have any control is a lot of hubris. Because even the most powerful men and women in this world have to trust others to do their jobs. The President of the U.S. do not go to war, he sends the military to do that for him. There are Generals and Admirals and whole flotilla of personnel who follow the chain of command so that a mission can be accomplished.
Same thing with working in a movie. The Director has the final say of course. He or she has the vision. But, make up, hair, costumes – there are people who specialize on those and the Director though he or she has something in mind makes the decision of the final look based on the drawings, illustrations and suggestions of the people in the team.
As for casting a real blonde for Adolin, I don’t think you need a real blonde for that. You just need the proper look for Adolin. His hair can be easily colored. Cases in point – Marilyn Monroe is a not a true platinum blonde, but that is the look that made her famous and we always think of her as a platinum blonde.
Tom Felton of the Harry Potter fame is not a platinum blonde either. But the whole time of the Harry Potter movies, he had to keep his hair platinum blonde. It was only after Harry Potter that he was allowed to keep his real hair color which is brown. The funny part is that when I first saw him with brown hair in a photo, I was actually shocked and he did not look the same to me. Though he was born with brown hair.
So, if the actor hired for Adolin is not a real blonde, don’t worry, you will not even realize he is not a real blonde. Unless of course you are his significant other then… you know… Ah… wicked!!! LOL
I don’t know where you are physically. And please don’t think of this as a criticism because it is not. It is more of an observation and something I find hilarious. The thing is – there must not be a good hair dresser where you live if you find changing the color of one’s hair as a challenge and the result as “not natural looking” LOL A good hair dresser is a need. In fact, I remember when my hairdresser told me she was moving to another state, my first reaction was OMG what do I do? LOL I had to ask my hairdresser for recommendation on who will be a good replacement.
Perhaps, it’s just living in a big city. Or maybe it is just Dallas. LOL But believe me when I say that no self-respecting fashionista will be caught without a good hairdresser. LOL
Ciao!!!
I have to admit most of the casting choices are not what I picture in my head while reading the books, but I did have fun reading the post and looking at the pictures of various actresses and actors. ( And reading all the comments of course!)
On the Adolin hair color debate, I agree with Gepeto and would prefer a natural blonde in the role. I also read Adolin as mostly blond with only a few locks of black, so hearing that its 40% black is hard to reconcile in my head.
@153: Ah I actually knew about that one :-) Though I’ll admit Brandon has not been wanting to expand on the genetic differences in between Iriali and Riran. He merely said Adolin/Renarin were an Riran/Alethi mix and not an Iriali/Alethi one as most people have been assuming. I did catch on the metallic comment in your post though, but I thought I perhaps had not nailed the proper differences in between both countries. So honestly, I wasn’t sure myself, so I figured you probably got it right.
@154: Having been plagued by early grey hair, I do have a good hair colorist and I do live in a big city. It is actually bigger than Dallas. I even live in the city, I can almost see the skyscrapers from here. So do not worry, there are plenty of good hair dresser around. I go to real fancy salon, all white and everything, you’d love it.
As for trusting, it isn’t so much I do not trust the hair people to do their job as the best of their ability, I have let mine do whatever she wants with my hair often enough, I merely fear the proposed mix might be aesthetically unpleasing to the eye. It is just hard to picture and perhaps I just lack the proper imagination or I am too set up in what was fashionable 15 years ago, but it isn’t an easy one.
@155: I am glad to see I am not the only one who though the percentage was different. The black is hardly mentioned in the book which makes the 40% surprising. I so love completely blond Adolin, it is a hard one to remake. It is great I am not only one struggling with my personal imagery and the proposed one.
sheilagh@141 – Hi. A few of your points that I’d like to respond to:
But a great way to counteract perceived (or real) typecasting would be to cast those actors in something else, correct?
I have to strongly disagree with you here as there are actually a number of shows that have actors of Asian descent as regular cast members where I would argue they are not typecast (unless there is a broad definition of Asian-typecasting) including: Agents of Shield, Big Bang Theory, Crazy Ex Girlfriend, Dr. Ken, Elementary, Hawaii Five-0, Mistresses, Blindspot, Designated Survivor, The Good Place, Pitch, etc.
Um… I think this is blatantly false as I think the vast, vast, vast majority of roles in Hollywood go to actors of European descent, even in the shows that either you or I listed. Did you mean to say that “…an actor who is of European descent is chosen for a role that is historically/canonically associated with a non-European character…”? Then yes, because the perception is that the role is being whitewashed, which is problematic (and often offensive) for a number of historical, cultural and societal reasons, not to mention the impact on employment opportunities to generally underrepresented groups.
I am unclear of what point you’re trying to make here. Soooo many potential actors were not/have yet to be suggested. Why did you select these two? What is the purpose of picking two actors out of the blue, was it just because they are of Asian descent? Emma Stone wasn’t suggested even though we were talking about redheaded actresses, nor was Brian Blessed (!!!) suggested even though we were talking about older white male actors or actors with notable voices. I question how much it adds to the conversation to list actors that loosely fit generic criteria without even attaching them to a role; whereas I think every suggestion made here so far is because the poster envisions the suggested actor fitting the associated role for whatever reason.
Interesting suggestion; glad you added her to the list. I liked her in Days of Future Past, even though I didn’t think they gave Blink a lot to do. She wouldn’t necessarily be my choice for Shallan, but I’d be curious to see what she would look like with red hair, as I wasn’t the greatest fan of her with the purple…
Gepeto @151 – “It is true make-up artists have done amazing work in the past, but it is hard to rely on something you have no control of”
I believe the main point here is that we don’t control any of it. These dream casting posts can be (and preferably, should be) fun fan activities, but unless someone here is a director/producer/casting director/network executive then commenters are just suggesting plausible hypotheticals for their beloved characters. If you are so convinced that the only actor that can fill this specific role (where the main identifying characteristics are eyes with an epicanthic fold and a 60/40 blend of metallic-gold/jet-black hair) is one of European descent, then please enlighten us as to who this actor is. If you don’t have one in mind, then I’m unclear as to why you so vehemently oppose any/every actor of Asian descent compared to some vague/generic idea of an actor of European descent. A number of European actors may look unnatural, cartoonish or ridiculous with the blended hair and a fabricated epicanthic eye-fold. A number of Asian actors may not, especially re: the eye-fold :)
Alice@153 – I appreciate the clarification, but I definitely wouldn’t suggest accidentally switching Irialian with Riran means you “totally crocked.” :) Thanks for the Word of Peter!
Sheilagh@154 – Ha! I totally didn’t know that about Tom Felton; I naively thought they had found a kid with that type of hair to play the role. And I echo your sentiments about a good hair dresser (or barber, for that matter).
Gimme NPH for Hoid.
Interesting chooses. I always imagined that the Alethi would be Middle Eastern or Mediterranean looking. I never saw them as being Asian.
Imma just say that TOM HIDDLESTON IS THE PERFECT HOID CAN WE PLEASE.
I also think Morena Baccarin and Evanna Lynch would be perfect in the roles you’ve given them.
GEORGE TAKEI AS TARAVANGIAN!? I didn’t even know I wanted it but now I do.
I’ve just been in a constant state of squealing through this.
@@@@@ 157 KiManiak – Brian Blessed for Stormfather!
@157: I believe the point @141 was trying to make is it has become nearly impossible to talk about the possibility to cast actors with an European ascendance, even if they would physically befit the role, without being labeled negatively. Each post where someone suggested Asian might not be the right choice for a given role has been met with aggressiveness which is making discussion difficult as many end up feeling they just cannot share their thoughts.
This isn’t happening with this thread only, but elsewhere as well, on other topics than SA. For instance, it isn’t politically correct to state you disagree with Idris Elba being cast as Rolland in the Dark Tower adaptation even if there are real reasons to disagree with the choice based on the narrative (FYI I couldn’t care less about who they cast here and I do think Idris is a good choice, but others have arguments against it which are valid).
For the same reasons, stating Adolin would probably be best portrayed by an actor of another ascendance than Asian is met with the aggressiveness. Even if there are several valid arguments to support this idea, it is still not politically correct to state it. Apart from the hair color, nobody has mentioned the fact Alethi aren’t exactly Asian: they are a mix in between Asian and “something else”. Brandon himself has stated Asian would not be the most accurate representation, but it might be the easiest to implement/cast. Adolin is only half Alethi which makes him only a fourth Asian: it might not be the right choice nor the most accurate one. Most people are browsing over the fact he just isn’t a full-blooded Alethi and since it has been one of my favorite aspect of the character, the fact he is basically an outcast, physically, I would have preferred if the casting would have reflected that. The suggestions currently made aren’t currently conveying this idea and I don’t feel a blond dye on an Asian actor is going to be sufficient, but YMMV.
Also, if it is OK to cast a white actor for Sadeas, then why isn’t it OK to look outside the Asian mold for Adolin whom is much less Alethi than Sadeas?
And no, I do not have a valid suggestion to make. Even if I did, I would probably not share it anyway. I would however mentioned Asian aren’t the only ethnicity with an eye-fold. There might be better choices out there.
As for the hair color, the WoB about the percentage of hair color has been unknown until two days ago and it contradicts the book descriptions of the character where it is stated Adolin has much more blond than black in his hair. It is stated they are peppered and peppered typically means a few random hair, not locks. 60-40% is basically equal. Therefore, if this is canon, then the descriptive elements within the books aren’t conveying the right portrayal of the character. A lot of readers did think the percentage of blond was much higher, not just myself.
On Tom Felton: I did notice his hair were dyed when I watched the movie and yes, I had wondered why they didn’t cast a real blond headed boy. There seem to be no particular reason.
I am just going to say this. One of the many great things going for this adaptation is that it is a complete fantasy story on a completely foreign world. That opens up a lot of diverse possibilities. Combined with the fact that the world itself is pretty diverse. My only hope is that it ends up being a very skilled and very diverse cast. Yes I would be very disappointed if they white washed the whole thing. I would also be very disappointed if it was an all Asian cast. This is a great opportunity for a balanced and diverse cast that should not be missed.
If you try to do a weird races=nations thing that’s not like the books, just remember Avatar the Last Airbender and how that went over with viewers… Adolin was described as a blue eyed, blonde kid in the books for example haha. Don’t pull an M. Night Shyamalan on this fandom, please!
@164: but on Roshan, that doesn’t mean a Viking dude either.
Looking to cast a man with mixed heritage will be best. This thread has made more people aware how the people of Roshan look like to Brandon. I think this is great.
This post has unfortunately focused undue attention on racial features and the ethnicities of proposed actors including mixed ancestral makeup. Aside from people with a more obvious ‘Asian’ look, it is hard for me tell whether someone has the Asian eyefold or not – nor should it matter. Other physical characteristics should be of greater import, and acting abilities should be even more so. Far more important to me than the look of the actors in a proposed film of TWOK is the question of screenplay. Brandon would be best suited to create that, but it could take him away from finishing his 3rd SA book should he be induced to work on it in the near future. It would be best were he to complete the Oathbringer book before starting on a screenplay. On the other hand, there are very competent screenwriters who could substitute for him. I was very impressed, for example, with the work of Peter Jackson et al on the LOTR films. Their love of Tolkien’s writing was reflected in their screenplay and in the films. The writers and director of a TWOK film should be similarly imbued. I suppose that the film could be made basically in a studio since the landscape is depicted as unearthly (it is rocky, populated by strange plants, and broken up into narrow canyons – at least in the Shattered Plains, whereas the scenes with Shallan are in an unearthly looking city).
Kalaxin @166 – A couple of thoughts:
One, Brandon won’t be doing the screenplays. Period. If we’re supremely lucky, DMG will let him or his team review the screenplay before they film it. They might even make some revisions based on that input. Being fans themselves, they might… or they might not. Calling him “Executive Producer” doesn’t mean he has any control over it.
Two, of course there are many decisions other than casting that will have far greater effect on whether the movie (or TV show) is great, lame, or in between. But those are, generally, not something we can begin to address as fans. (Someone suggested “casting” the director/producer, but we chose not to go there.) The Dreamcasting effort is supposed to be a fun exercise for fandom, and in this case, the people doing the initial dreamcast chose to make a point of attempting to heavily weight the author’s stated, if extra-textual, visual references. Whether we succeeded in balancing physical characteristics, acting chops, and everything else… well, that depends on who’s reading it and how strongly they feel about different elements. That’s why there’s a discussion thread for it.
____
I have to admit I have mixed feelings about this. I have no problem with someone disagreeing with our choices – especially if they can articulate their rationale. I have no problem with people suggesting other actors. I have no problem with people who simply prefer their own mental images over the ones we chose to portray, as long as it’s done with civility.
I do have a problem with personal attacks on the people who worked hard, and spent a LOT of time, on putting this together. That’s just rude.
I have always imagined Dalinar as Edward James Olmos (Admiral Adama from Battlestar)…honourable, military father figure with a touch of the benevolent dictator. Probably too old now, but I would have loved to see it.
That said, really enjoyed this cast list, and the Asian casting nicely sets it apart from LOTR/GOT, as well as all the many far lower quality western medieval fantasies that have been made over the years.
I’m all for a Doctor for Hoid. Either Matt Smith or David Tennant would be great. I forget the current Doctor’s name, but he is too old (especially since Hoid will probably be in all the movies and needs to stay the same age throughout).
Hoid is very similar to the Doctor. Going about, doing good……ish. Lot’s of hidden backstory that we know is there, but we don’t know all the details. Angst, righteous anger, pride. Is Hoid a good man, Clara?
@168: Edward James Olmos would be a good choice, I think. His Bill Adama was very similar to my mental image of Dalinar.
On a similar note, Luke Pasqualino’s William Adama in Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome was pretty good as well. It was comparable to Kaladin pre-betrayal at least: smart, protective, trusting, charming. I’m not sure how well he could portray Kaladin on the bridge crew, but I would certainly love to see him try. (I may be a tad biased though since I’m a bit obsessed with BSG)
All I can say is, it’s a real shame Majel Barrett died a few years back, because Asian or no, she would make a perfect Navani!
Wetlandernw @167, if you referring to me with your taking umbrage at those engaging in personal attacks on the beta-readers involved in the Dreamcasting effort, I vehemently deny that implication. I don’t engage in ad hominem attacks. I don’t even recall anyone here doing that. There is a world of difference between criticizing a stance and criticizing the person. I now regret having participated in this session thinking that the discussion had some real aspect rather than an exercise. Had I known that we were obliged to follow the rule that Alethi must be represented by actors with an ‘Asian’ look or at least with an epicanthic eye-fold, I wouldn’t have made my comment. Nor was I aware that Brandon has, apparently, no say in the script to be developed unless so granted by the owners. That’s unfortunate to say the least. But, don’t mind me – have fun.
Kalaxin @172 – Heavens no. The first part of my comment was in response to you, but the second part – the part below the line – was general musing. You have always been good about engaging with ideas, even when we disagree vehemently.
Personally, I’m torn about Brandon’s involvement in the film. On the one hand, I’d like him to have major creative input, because if they’re going to do it I want it done right. On the other hand, if he gets too involved in the movie-making, that’s just going to cut further into his writing time, and I’d rather have new books any day! (I can always skip the movies, if they’re awful.) As for him writing the screenplay, I don’t think I’d want that either way, because as I understand it, creating screenplay is rather different from writing prose, and I don’t want him wasting time learning a whole different skill. Not that I have any say in it, either way, but those would be my preferences.
As for the personal attacks, as I said, that’s just general reflection on this post. I have a fairly thick skin when it comes to people disagreeing with me; if you don’t have rhinoceros hide to start with, you have to develop it quickly if you’re going to put yourself out there with an opinion on a regular basis. As I do. But when someone gets personal and I feel like they’re criticizing my people – and make no mistake, the beta readers are most definitely my people, every bit as much as all of you, my fellow rereaders here on Tor – I get angry. My friends volunteered their time and energy; on a guess, I’d say at least 40 hours of work went into this. That included debating the selection criteria, weighting the different criteria, etc., as well as identifying actors and winnowing the lists. It was a LOT of fun – but it was also a lot of time, and they weren’t getting paid by the hour. (Or at all, actually, except when I fulfill the promise for dinner/drinks!) We all do these things for love of the books and the author, but that’s not to say it isn’t a sacrifice sometimes.
In addition to all that, Lyndsey worked hard to attempt to communicate what our priorities were, and why, and when we decided to sacrifice one aspect for another. So when I read comments which indicate that someone skipped right over all the text and just looked at the pictures so they could say “Nope” a lot… I growl a bit. Did I expect it? Yes, of course. It’s the internet, and far too many people are “too busy” to read anything – they just come to look at the pictures. I know that. But that doesn’t make it any less rude, or any less dismissive of the work that was done.
One other issue that created a lot of frustration was that we tried to consider Brandon’s visual references, as well as the interplay between the world-building and the physical attributes he had in mind; the epicanthic fold on this highstorm-ridden world is important in that regard. There were a few cases where we shifted the emphasis for one reason or another, such as with Shallan: While she should have the same epicanthic fold as everyone else except Szeth, we also wanted to stress her “foreign” aspect. Since most of the main characters are Alethi, it was important (to us) to let them look like they came from the same general ethnic background. That same factor also made it important to bring in other backgrounds for people (mostly bridgemen and Shallan) who were not Alethi. Did we fully succeed? Probably not. Did we satisfy everyone’s personal mental images? Hah – that was never going to happen, of course. But while we didn’t set ground rules like “No one who’s been in GoT or LOTR,” we did actively avoid “every fantasy must be set in medieval Europe.” In general, we also chose not to worry about whether we had “big names” that people would expect to see; in fact, we kind of deliberately avoided that too. So… we didn’t do what people expected, and I’m good with that. But I had hoped that people would look at our list, consider why we chose these actors, and maybe rethink their own stereotypes.
I suppose my disillusionment comes down to the contrast with the kind of thoughtful comments I usually see on the rereads, where everyone is discussing and trying to make their point clearly. While we obviously don’t always succeed, on the reread I see continual evidence of people who make an effort to be clear and to interact with others courteously. Here… well, there were some who made that same effort, and some who clearly didn’t. I’ve always defended the right to express an opinion, even if it irritates me to read it yet again, even if I’ve gotten to the point of just skimming certain comments. But I do expect people to at least try to show some basic courtesy in the process, both in language and in attempting to understand before disagreeing. Perhaps it’s a foolish expectation, but I still expect it, and I’m still disappointed when it doesn’t happen. That’s all.
Wetlandernw @@@@@ 173. Thanks for the clarification. I have a tendency to focus on and question assumptions that are being made – even when there appears to be general agreement, and to offer an alternative viewpoint. Perhaps it’s due to my scientific training, or perhaps it’s just me. In any case, I can see where my attitude could rub some people the wrong way. In addition, I should not have expressed my ‘unorthodox’ or non-PC viewpoint being that I don’t watch the shows on TV (other than some news and mental challenges (Jeopardy, WOF) and don’t often go to the movies. Hence I don’t have an informed opinion of who are current suitable candidates for TWOK roles – whether ‘Asian’ or ‘western’. That’s why I focused on the LOTR films as a model for another epic fantasy. Those films were beautifully made – although I would have made other editing choices, and brilliantly acted. There was also much dedication on the part of the writing team, the director, and cast. I would hope that a TWOK film (or films) would be comparable in quality.
I like the idea of Liam Neeson for Dalinar, he’s got a matching personality, but I don’t know if he would be the perfect match. I think Rufus Sewell should be Sadeaus.
Hoid could be Benedict Cumberbatch, or one person suggested Ewen Mcgregor. Or Ewen could be Amaram, or I think Chris Hemsworth could be him. I also like the idea of David Tenant being Hoid.
Honestly, I think the majority of your casting has been kinda biased to one side: strictly Asian. While it’s true that Alethi are based on the looks of an Asian ethnicity, we have to remember that it isn’t strictly “Asian”. Brandon Sanderson even said that the Alethi’s are more of a mix of Asian and Hawaiian. So, a pretty good picture would be that of an Arab or East-Indian, if we were to be more specific.
I honestly think that Kaladin Stormblessed would be better suited for Luke Pasqualino. Despite being Italian, I think he has the suited features that would perfectly reflect who Kaladin is in appearance alone. Plus, being 6”2 is perfect for a person as tall as Kaladin. Alex Mellari Jr. looks the part too, but I honestly think he’s too old to play Kaladin. Even if he were to shave down and prep up to look younger, he’d still look too old. We have to remind ourselves that this is a not only an Epic Fantasy novel, but also geared towards YA. All we need to do for Luke, is to have him bulk up for the role, which shouldn’t be a huge problem. Just give the guy 6 months.
For Shallan, I thought Molly Quinn could have been a great candidate. Again, the same situation with Alex, I think Rose Leslie looks too old for the part. Molly Quinn has the acting chops and the humor and wit to play a perfect Shallan.
Sooo…for some off the wall casting choices, how about, the Rock as Dalinar and Vin Diesel as the Assasin in White! Lol.
Radintflower @@@@@ 177 – I can see Vin Diesel as the Assassin in White but it is hard for me to see The Rock as Dalinar. Though I like The Rock very much, he does not strike me as princely. The Rock has the charisma of a General in the army. Dalinar is more than just a warrior. He is also a ruler. And that is a quality that is hard to find.
And though this is going against the grain in this discussion, Liam Neeson will be a good Dalinar. Even Gerard Butler for that matter. Both actors have the soft and hard qualities etched in their faces. I can see both of them being fatherly towards Adolin, Renarin and Kaladin. And still be a force to be reckoned with the the political arena of the Alethi and in war against the Parshendi.
Just like Wheel of Time, this should be Animated in the style of Anime… that way you do not have to worry about age or effects, because you can draw them, and get great VAs to play them. Also time is no longer a factor for people, since this all takes place in what 2yrs so far??!!
I would like to agree that Tom Hiddleston would be absolutely PERFECT for the part of Hoid, and request that DMG Entertainment get him to play the part IMMEDIATELY. And the best part is, it doesn’t matter what he’s in first, because he’s in EVERY COSMERE BOOK!
And of course, Michael Pena as the Lopin.
My friend suggested this, and I love the idea. Hugh Laurie for Hoid.
I have been watching the Netflix-produced Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon – Sword of Destiny. There are a ton of great unknown actors with the natural epicanthic folds! You got Donnie Yen, but I’ve been impressed with several of the actors in this portraying the samurai environment which feels remarkably similar to the Alethi.
I think that people often forget that people of Asian descent can have darker skin tones. I always imagined the Alethi being cast with people of South Asian descent. But mixed race definitely works too.
I know Eshonai is a cameo part in WoK, but I always imagined her played by the reigning queen of large and badass women, Gwendoline Cristie.
love this!!!! However, Rami Malek IS Szeth. We also liked Dave Bautista for Marsh and had Don Cheadle as Dox. Consider also Eva Green for Jasnah. And John Leguizamo for The Lopen. Can’t wait to see where this goes!!!
First off, Bérénice Marlohe would be the perfect Jasnah. She is mature, and still youthful (while not so much that she will ever have to reach too far to command respect.) She has a wonderful vulnerability, vital to her more honest and intimate interactions with Shallan, and to making us understand that saving the world isn’t just an intellectual exercise for her. She is five feet ten inches tall, so she would have the natural stature that Jasnah and Elhokar inherited from Galivar and has a very natural elegance. She is a tremendously talented actress, able to erect all the walls Jasnah keeps around herself without alienating the audience. Most importantly, i think, is that she is very charming, while being able to cultivate a certain mystery and doubt of her character’s trustworthiness which is vital when portraying someone with Jasnah’s intelligence and complicated relationship with her nation’s society and it’s faith. I also think the fact that Miss Merlohe is French will add an nice flavor to Jasnah’s heretical dimensions. Since the list above is based mostly on looks, she is perfect.
Secondly,while Ken Watanabe was wonderful in “The Last Samurai,” and Katsumoto’s struggle against modernity and progress, to prove to his emperor and his countrymen that tradition and it’s disciplines have value in the modern world, draws a nice parallel to Dalinar’s own struggle their characters diverge too far after that for me to have very much confidence in Mr Watanabe. Between Dalinar’s alcoholism, his grief, his waning confidence in himself and his guilt over his brother’s death as well as the fact that he is in love with said brother’s widow, I feel Dalinar is far too conflicted to be played simply as a straight general. In some ways he is the character that requires the most nuanced acting of all.
Someone like Edward James Olmos would do much better (even if he is on the older side, and lacking height to boot.) He had a wonderfully complex relationship with his onstage son and those beneath is command in Battlestar, and in later seasons his character had to overcome his own prejudices and shortcomings to see his people to safety. Best of all, he lacks the royal, giving off a more military vibe, which in my opinion is perfect for Dalinar as prior to the real time events of Stormlight the Blackthorn would have been the dominant part of his personality.
Lastly, I honestly think Lucy Lui is too young to play Navani. By at least 10 years. Better would be Shohreh Aghdashloo. Watch “The Expanse,” and simply imagine her character as doing everything she does for the sake of Elhokar and Jasnah and you will see it too.
My wife and I have been casting stormlight archive for so many years between the two of us! This is awesome! And we immediately and unanimously decided on Tom Hiddleston as Hoid!!! So awesome!
Like some of the commentators I didn’t realize the Alethi were Asian-esque… Which is bad on me. Read stormlight about ten times each and never figured that out. :facepalm:
So I don’t want to comment on any of the Asian actors since I would be a little bias against it as I’ve spent years envisioning differently. Our dear Onion Knight has always been a choice of ours (previously for Dalinar), and we pictured Paul Giamatti (well I did) for Sadeus, though what a great choice you all made! I would suggest Ken over Donnie Yen even though I’m obsessed with Donnie. And we had the same choice for Shallan! With our second option being Sophie Turner. And we also have to wholeheartedly agree with one of the first commentators that we also kind of (stupidly) pictured The Rock for Rock…
I LOVE Stormlight. Have read books multiple times. But I’ve never felt the characters have an Asian look by either description in book or the few drawings. Sorry- just not right for characters.
I think the best choice for Navani us Ming-Na-Wen, She is in her 50’s but is still beautiful. She is also an accomplished actress and has pulled off the serious but sensual role before.
I just realized I have all these years imagined Dalinar akin to Lorne Greene as Ben Cartwright. The build, bearing, etc … Go figure.
I haven’t read many of the other comments yet, but I always picture Paul Bettany as Szeth. I don’t know why, but he’s just who always came to mind when picture what he’d look like. Maybe it was his role in Da Vinci Code, Legion, and Priest. I think he’d be a lot better than Michael Rosenbaum who I actually disliked as Lex Luthor. Aaron Paul and Paul Bettany sort of resemble one another, but I don’t think his acting chops are quite as good as Paul’s.
As for Shallan, I could see Annalise Basso. She’s 18, and has the better eyes for the part. That’s going on looks alone though, not acting chops. I like Rose Leslie, I just feel shes too “old” for the part.
If someone could find a young Manu Bennett look alike for Kaladin, I think that’d be perfect. Haha.
LOVE the picks of Morena Baccarin and Tom Hiddelston, though for sure.
Emma, that’s wild because I was actually just coming on here to suggest Annalise Basso for Shallan.
I agree on the young Manu Bennett too :)
Actually… I do have a better idea for Hoid:
How about Paul Bettany?
Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdWO9ozir1Y
I don’t think your pick for Dalinar is…solid or imposing enough. He needs to cut a striking silhouette befitting of the Blackthorn.
Has anyone looked at Sandersons choice of Kaladin on the cover of Words of Radiance? Definitely not a Molinari
type.
Nice to see these handsome Asian men as possibilities. I know them all. But keep in mind their english must be understandable. Obviously Ken Watanabe’s english is wonderful but for many of them it’s barely passing. This is not a dispersion on them just a fact. The scope of the book, I think, would eliminate the use of subtitles.
I honestly-and this is no disrespect to whomever compiled that list-think that cast is mostly garbage. It wouldn’t work. The alethi are described as having tanned skin, tall and broad. That to me does not describe the average person of Asian heritage. They sound more Middle Eastern to me. Regardless 90% of the cast will end up being white! That’s just how these things work.
@196: Sue, Brandon is on record as saying he wishes he had pushed Whelan into showing a different look to Kaladin. But The cover art was already delayed, and had gone under several revisions. Cover art is not canon, for any work.
@198: The Alethi are a make up that does not exist on Earth as one group of people.
Again, read the quote from Brandon:
I hope that lots of biracial actors are used when they eventually make the SA.
And Holloywood has been making actors like Sylvester Stallone physically imposing for decades. He’s only 5’10”. They can do the same with what ever actor is picked for Dalinar.
Since the company that has the rights is based in China, I hope they have a very mixed, primarily not white cast.
I know I’m a bit late to the party, but I agree with all but one of the casting choices here. The Lopen should be played by Michael Peña, or Luis from Ant Man
As suggested to Brandon on reddit, consider this his audition: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYUFx_Ltjn8
I always pictured the Alethi as a more Mediterranean people than Asian. I feel the casting would have to branch out a little bit, though, because if every race except the Shin have the epicanthic fold, then it’s gonna end up Asian-washed and that would be about as bad as white-washed. Here’s how I pictured it: Shin are white af, Alethi end up dark Mediterranean, Veden are light Mediterranean, Herdazian are Hispanic-ish, Reshi are Native American, Aimian are blue (no question about that), Azish are black, Horneaters are Blaxican, as the black-Hispanic mixed call themselves in Atlanta, and the rest we’ll figure out as we get better descriptions/more important characters worthy of paying enough attention to their casting.
I’d sort of headcast Shohreh Aghdashloo (The Expanse, Star Trek: Beyond) as Navani. I think she does a really good blend of playful and driven.
Your picks were very strange; you casted most of the alethi as asian, yet made Jasnah Brazilian and Sadeas white… too much inconsistency, especially since Jasnahs mother is asian, and her father’s brother, and thus father, is also asian. How do we get a Brazilian out of that combination, I cant suspend belief. Im all for diverse cast, but it has to make sense. If each nation has a prominant race, then its characters and thus actors should reflect that. Or at least family members should be of the same race, unless the character is of mixed blood.
No love for Alan Tudyk as Hoid?? The man’s got humor and wit in spades, and turn sinister on a dime. (Take a look at his role in Joss Wedon’s “Dollhouse”)
I love this series, but my first thought when I finished reading the way of kings was, “I really hope no one tries to turn this into a movie!” If someone was willing to do a full on epic tv series like game of thrones it could possibly translate, but what I think most people don’t realize is that each one of these books is as long as the entire Lord of the Rings saga, and anyone who has read those books knows just how much was left out of the movies. So we are looking at a 3 movie MINIMUM for just book one, which doesn’t go into the backstories/motivations of Shallan or Dalinar, and doesn’t really include voidbringers or Radiants! The books would better be served as an ongoing tv adaptation over many seasons as the books continue to come out.
As far as characters go, Dalinar has to be OLD. A lot of the picks I’ve seen don’t do him justice. He has to be the old seasoned warlord type. With a big jawline, tall/wide build etc. I will be really disappointed if they do his character wrong. He is the most important look in my opinion.
Kaladin is a little easier. He just needs to be thin/fit, dark skinned (possibly Arab would fit perfectly) and have scraggly DARK black hair.
Shallan is easy. I could picture her as any pale red head.
Jasnah needs to be an incredible actress and gorgeous.
Dave Bautista is the perfect Rock! I love Dwane Johnson, but he’s too charismatic. Dave seems like a perfect fit to me.
Other than those characters, I feel like you can choose anyone based on the few descriptors in the book. I don’t think anyone will have their hearts broken if one of the other actors doesn’t look exactly like we pictured them.
I’m very excited to see how this all turns out! It would be incredible if this series made it to the screen somehow!
I am super surprised by the heavy Asian casting for the Alethi. It just had the wrong feel to me. Don’t get me wrong I think there are lots of fabulous Asian actors but now on my 3rd time through the books I just don’t see it. To make them strongly any really distinctive ethnicity just doesn’t work with the story to me. I agree that the dark hair and more tan skin is important but they also have the super light eyes too. I’m really not sure how they would best be portrayed.
I love the suggestion of Tom Hiddleston as Hoid. Robert Carlyle could do well too. I think Evana Lynch would be a marvelous Syl. I see Dalinar as more of a Sean Bean like figure. But there is such a huge pool of talent out there and I’m sure Brandon will have a strong influence on whatever gets made so that the films reflect his vision of the stories.
@@@@@ 208 – Gabriel – the reality of Hollywood might not allow a heavy Asian casting. And it is not “whitewashing” either. To understand this, please follow the trials and tribulations of casting for the upcoming movie “Crazy Rich Asians.” It is the first all Asian lead cast since The Joy Club in the 1990s.
For those who has read the book, there is no need to explain. And the title alone is a giveaway that this is primarily all about Asians.
Just food for thought
I’ve always pictured Kaladin and his family looking more Native American.
This guy. Michael Hudson is almost the picture perfect Kal.
And I vote Lou Diamond Phillips as Lirin!
https://goo.gl/images/EcJQ99
Amber Rose Revah is the perfect Jasnah Kholi
Wow I agree with this. BUT WHERE’S RENARIN?!?!?!?!? :(
I was thinking someone with the look of dave Bautista for dalinar actually. Or someone with a similar look to terry serpico, but with darker skin. Terry is who i have been imagining as dalinar while reading. Jasnah i have a hard time pinning down but definitely not the actress mentioned. I imagine jasnah like Disney’s pocahontas. I think she can pull off the role for sure bc she has played similar parts but the face and body aren’t as i imagined her. But i saw a davids bridal ad that struck me as “thats the look” and i actually kinda love joanna gaines’ face for an alethi, but not for jasnah nor navani. At least, that’s more on the right track. I have been imagining megan follows as navani, but honestly i think the fault of my imagining follows and serpico in those roles is solely due to the way they carry themselves in other roles I’ve seen them in (army wives, reign). I honestly think that caucasian is the wrong ethnicity for alethi, but also feel there is no one earth race that fits. This is why i love what someone said about someone very multiracial like joanna gaines. Honestly if it were me casting, I’d go with all new fairly unknown actors just to mix it up. But gaz and lopen are on point! A other person mentioned paul bettany as szeth, yes i think he’d be an awesome choice over the others mentioned, loved him in priest , BUT….. the book mentions over and over that szeth has a tendency to be mistaken for a child so this will need to be remedied. But man its fun imagining this stuff!
Has anyone considered that some of these actors, most notably Kaladin and Adolin, look NOTHING like the in-book drawings? Just sayin’…
Lopen to me is Lin Manuel Miranda actually playing Alvie from House
Pretty good casting except for Kaladin and Adolin. I DEFINITELY would go with Luke Pasqualino for Kaladin. HE IS KALADIN. And Adolin needs to look less Asian, since his mother was not Alethi—more like a Shallan casting.
Lucy Liu can’t play Morena’s mom. Give Catelyn Stark a dye job and that would be a better Navani. Or Indira Varma. Would never happen but Gal Gadot would make a great Jasnah. For her ward, Rose Leslie is good. Eleanor Tomlinson’s better. Look up “Demelza” and “Poldark” and tell me I’m wrong.
I LOVE this casting though both my friend and myself think that Luke Pasqualino would be a better fit for kaladins look. Sure both are great though.
Navani is supposed to be curvaceous – not sure Lucy Liu is right. Morena Baccarin’s eyes are too friendly for Jasnah.
I like Catherine Zeta Jones and Gal Gadot for the pair.
https://ibb.co/ftbKh6K
In the books the ONLY people who look european descent are Shin.
Everyone else has eyes with epicanthic folds and darker skin.
Brandon literally said that was on purpose.
So, while I love some of the cast, maybe NOT the cousin of Princess Diana for Sadeas? Or a Scottish person for Shallan?
That kind of casting is how we get abominations like The Last Airbender and *shudders* Earthsea miniseries.
And for those claming Asians don’t feel right with light colored hair I present you Haruka Abe
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CfcsQ-nUIAAch1W?format=jpg&name=900×900
I vote Tómas Lemarquis as Szeth! It helps that he has literally no hair on his body, and shocking blue eyes. Really liked him in BR 2049.
https://images.app.goo.gl/gwnDJbWDGnBPBe7K7