Ah, the chaos that ensues when books and film collide…
This post was contributed by Cappy, the new JenWriter regular, guest contributor. Cappy is a fellow aspiring novelist, and she is hard at work on a children’s novel while she prepares to begin studying for her masters degree. Her favorite authors include Jane Austen and J.K. Rowling.
As a part of many lit fandoms, I have obsessively followed the news about the inevitable move from best-selling book to film more than I’d like to admit. I remember the casting of Daniel Radcliffe like it was yesterday, and I’ve been there to find out every Harry Potter film cast member ever since. I moaned over Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon, swooned over Henry Cavill as Stephen Colley and waited patiently for the gradual acceptance of Keira Knightley as both Lizzie Bennet and Cecilia Tallis. Now, I can add one more entertaining memory to the list: today, Robert Pattinson was cast as Edward Cullen alongside Kristen Stewart’s Bella Swan in the film adaptation of Stephenie Meyer’s young adult, cult classic Twilight series. I’ve spent the past hour reading snark, hate and love over today’s announcement about Pattinson. Fandoms are a funny, funny thing.
When it comes to casting book-to-film adaptations, casting directors are stuck between the cliché rock and hard place, especially when fanbases are making homemade YouTube videos of who they believe should play their beloved characters. For Twilight alone, there are hundreds of fan-made videos featuring movie clips mashed together to look like actual Twilight scenes. It’s crazy, but quite impressive. The bulk of them feature Emily Browning as Bella and there’s a split between Gaspard Ulliel, Tom Sturridge and Henry Cavill as Edward. When rumors began to spread that model Colton Haynes would be playing Edward, videos featuring him and Kristen Stewart popped up within hours. Despite the fan’s love for those choices, the casting directors ultimately chose two actors who were barely on the radar. In a year’s time, the fans will find out whether Stewart and Pattinson can live up to what they’ve imagined many times over.
In my opinion, people should really hold out on the disappointment until the movie is actually released. Does anyone remember Anne Rice’s vitriol when Tom Cruise was cast as Lestat? Granted, Lestat was created in her mind and she had the right to complain, but she had to backtrack when Cruise rocked as Lestat. Fans were angry when Elijah Wood got the role of Frodo, but Peter Jackson clearly saw something in him no one else did; now, most people couldn’t picture anyone else in the role.
I’m not going to say that I am not guilty of feeling disappointment (or even anger) over certain casting choices. Sometimes I am wrong and sometimes I am right, but over the years, I have learned to save the judgment for the usual post-movie chat I have with my comrade as we walk out of the theater. Truth be told, you never know how actors will take to the roles. Most of the time, they were cast for a reason, whether it is acting ability, physical appearance, chemistry with a co-star or all three. Occasionally (and I’m talking to you, Twilight fans), we just have to have faith that casting directors know what they’re doing. And when they don’t, believe me, they find out!
So, in wrapping this up, I give you three lists about book-to-film adaptation casting choices: my favorites, the surprisingly good and the massive, epic failures. Note that none are in any particular order; they’re simply my favorites or least favorites. I also admit that I have not seen some of the classic, older adaptations so feel free to add your own suggestions in the comments!
The Massive, Epic Failures:
- Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon in Tha DaVinci Code
- Demi Moore as Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter
- Keanu Reeves as Jonathan Harker in Dracula
- John Travolta as whatever-he-was in Battlefield Earth
- Julia Roberts as Tinkerbell in Hook (based on Peter Pan, obviously)
My Favorites:
- Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
- Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O’Hara in Gone With the Wind
- Emma Thompson as Elinor Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility
- Alan Rickman as Severus Snape in the Harry Potter series
- James McAvoy as Robbie Turner in Atonement
(honorable mention: Jeffrey Wright as Belize in Angels in America, Renee Zellweger as Bridget Jones in Bridget Jones’s Diary)
The Surprisingly Good:
- David Thewlis as Professor Lupin in the Harry Potter series
- Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice
- Michelle Pfeiffer as Lamia in Stardust
- Tom Cruise as Lestat in Interview With the Vampire
- both Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling, for making The Notebook’s Allie and Noah better movie character than book characters.
Comments
Good points, Cappy. Though I do still think Anne Rice rescinded her vitriol about Cruise only because it was explained to her that if she trashed him, she’d be helping lower grosses on the movie, and then she’d make a lot less money.
Rickman as Snape is perfect.
Excellent observations, Cappy. Was a bit surprised that none of the trio of HP kids made your surprisingly good list. If I can add one of my own, everyone loves Jack Nicholson’s portrayal in The Shining, but I was really disappointed. Great performance but very much not what I pictured.
Tom Hanks was also a dismal Sherman McCoy in “Bonfire of the Vanities”.
He’s a curse to the blockbuster.
Well, “Cappy”, I’m not much of a reader OR writer and you know my feelings on Harry Potter (I’d kick him in the face if I saw him in the street), BUT…..I love you and therefore, am leaving some love. LOVE YOU!!! congrats!
I just want to say a special thanks to Cappy for such a great post! I love the lists. I’m going to have to add Hayden Christensen as Darth Vader as a disaster. That didn’t work out at all.
What worked? Johnny Depp as Sweeney Todd! Oh wait…that wasn’t a book…eh, I’ll say it anyway.
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