Casting the Cullens (and Co.)
This post was contributed by Cappy, a regular, guest contributor on this blog. Cappy is a fellow aspiring novelist, and she is hard at work on a children’s novel while she also studies for her masters degree. Her favorite authors include Jane Austen and J.K. Rowling.
December 8. 2008.
If you’re a fan of Stephenie Meyer or vampire movies in general, mark that date on your calendar. It’s the working release date for the film version of the first book in the Twilight series, the young adult vampire love story that has a cult following of girls (and women) across the country.
A little over a year ago, I read both Twilight and New Moon, practically back-to-back. As I told the friends I recommended the series to, the books inexplicably suck you into them, no pun intended. I honestly believe it’s because Bella Swan’s love interest, vampire Edward Cullen, seems to be everything a girl could want in a guy. Meyer managed to create the romantic Holy Grail when she wrote about Edward and his manners, dashing good looks and (most importantly) his devotion to a clumsy plain Jane. If you peruse various Twilight-related message boards, you’ll find banners and avatars of girls declaring their love for Edward and joking about the fact that they’re in love with a fictional character. Hey, I get it. I was in love with Fitzwilliam Darcy for quite a while. (…okay, maybe I still am.)
When the series was optioned for a film, the fans started to go crazy, guessing and arguing about who would play the leads. The speculation is actually what inspired me to write my December blog entry, “Ah, the chaos that ensues when books and films collide”. I thought it was fascinating to watch these fans vying for their favorites to become Edward and Bella onscreen. Ultimately, they were fighting to cast who they saw in their minds. And, that’s when I began to pity the casting directors. Edward is described as being muscular and bronze-haired, with male model good looks. Bella is short and petite with brown hair. Do you know how many young actors and actresses could potentially meet those requirements? Quite a few, and I am sure the fans touched on each one at some point. To each reader, Edward seemed to morph into her dream man. Mine, of course, was Henry Cavill. Again, I felt sorry for the casting director. How could he or she potentially find an Edward that fit every girl’s idea of a “dream man”? That’s damn near impossible.
Ultimately, Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson were cast as Bella and Edward. Both decisions were largely criticized at first. Angry fans made YouTube videos to broadcast their manic reactions to the casting. They complained that Kristen Stewart is too tall, too pretty, too ugly, too boyish, etc. Robert Pattinson is too skinny, not good looking enough, not American… oh, the list goes on. I’ll admit that I was shocked about both of them, but pleasantly surprised. I hadn’t considered either one, but I find them both to be talented, capable actors. As time went on, the fans started to come around too. It’s funny now to see the plethora of Robert avatars on the boards when there was such a hullabaloo about him at first. They’ve finally realized that complaining will go nowhere because Robert’s hair is already bronzed up. He is Edward Cullen.
After Bella and Edward, fans were really concerned about the casting of the Cullens, Edward’s vampire “family”. They have to be inhumanely beautiful, pale and mysterious. Again, pretty hard standards for mere humans to live up to. In the past few weeks, we’ve finally learned who will be playing Carlisle, Esme, Alice, Jasper, Rosalie and Emmett. The trend of sporadic casting announcements turned into massive casting announcements and we nearly have a full cast of characters for Twilight. Granted, some actors have been announced but not confirmed for specific roles, but I think it’s pretty clear who they’re playing. Here are my thoughts on the actors playing the Cullens, and a few other recently announced cast members.
Peter Facinelli as Carlisle Cullen
Edward’s “adoptive father”, Carlisle is a respected doctor in small town Forks. He’s also 360+ years old and in the body of a 23 year old. Now, to be honest, that was always something that bugged me in the books. In the real world, who in their right mind would believe that a 23 year old is a brilliant doctor AND foster father to five teenagers? Yes, I know, vampires don’t exist in the real world either, but humor me for a moment. 23 year olds are not brilliant doctors and caring fathers. That’s one of the reasons I was happy to hear that Peter is playing Carlisle. He’s not exactly what I imagined, but it works. He’s a father of three girls in real life, so I’m sure he’ll bring that fatherly air to Carlisle.
Elizabeth Reaser as Esme Cullen
In the same vein as Carlisle’s casting, I was happy to see a 30-something cast as the Cullen clan mother figure. I never had a clear view in my head of Esme, just that she was tall, brunette and had a caring face. Elizabeth has all of that and looks motherly to top it off.
Ashley Greene as Alice Cullen
Second only to Edward, the casting of Alice was extremely important to the fans, most of whom regard Alice as their favorite Cullen sibling. She’s described as extremely short with short black pixie-like hair. Ashley’s face is pretty much exactly what I imagined. She’s an unknown, so it’s hard to gage her acting skills, but physically, she fits the bill. I’m hoping that she has a good rapport with Kristen Stewart because the Alice/Bella friendship is one of my favorite relationships in the series.
Jackson Rathbone as Jasper Hale
Interestingly, Jackson Rathbone was listed as one of Stephenie Meyer’s potential actors-to-play-Edward list. Personally, I think that he’s a much better choice for Jasper. I was initially a bit perplexed by the choice, but after seeing this picture on IMDB, I was immediately sold. Not only is that vampire-esque, that’s Jasper-esque, my friends.
Nikki Reed as Rosalie Hale
If Jackson Rathbone perplexed me, I was downright mystified over Nikki Reed as Rosalie, and definitely not easily swayed by a good picture. This is the one casting decision I can’t quite understand at this point. Rosalie is blond and beautiful enough to be a supermodel. Nikki Reed is gorgeous, don’t get me wrong, but it’s a different kind of beauty. I haven’t seen Thirteen in years, so I can’t even comment on her acting skills. But I will say one thing: I think she can really bring the bitchy side of Rosalie out. It’ll definitely be interesting to see what she does with the character, even if tons of peroxide won’t even bring her close to the Rosalie I imagined.
Kellan Lutz as Emmett Cullen
Along with Esme, Emmett was a character that I didn’t have any expectations for, as far as casting the role went. As long as they got someone big and muscular, I’d be okay with it. Again, Kellan is very close to what I pictured in my head.
(Unconfirmed Casting)
Taylor Lautner as…?
I’m guessing Jacob Black, though there are some reasons why he may have been cast as a different character. They put out an open casting call for Native American young men, so why would they do that if they found an established teen actor? No one can find any information on the recently cast Gregory Tyree Boyce, so could he be the rumored unknown who gets to play Jacob? It’s still up in the air, but since I can’t venture a guess as to who else Taylor could be playing with his specific look, I’m going to assume he’s Jacob. If I can’t have Steven Strait, this isn’t a bad choice at all. I’m a little bummed that he’s not a Native American, but what can you do? As long as he can act, I can deal. I’m a big fan of the Jacob character. In fact, I think part of me is a Jacob/Bella shipper. Calm down, it’s just a little part. But if Taylor can play Jacob well, that’s all a fan can ask for.
Overall, I have to say that I am thrilled about this cast. The producers and casting directors certainly weren’t going to please everybody, but they came as close as they could to doing so. The truth is that no matter what, when actors are cast in literary roles, they will rarely (if ever) match the person you had in your mind as you were reading the book. As fans and filmgoers, we can only hope that they have our opinions in mind. Not only did the producers of Twilight consider the fans, they even asked the author for her suggestions. So mark your calendars: December 8th, 2008. Edward Cullen is coming to bite you… if you’re lucky.
Additional Information:
Check for casting updates at…
Stephenie Meyer’s Official Site
(also the source of the Cullen family pictures)
IMDB pages of…
Rachelle LaFevre (official Victoria)
Cam Gigandet (official James)
Michael Welch (official Mike Newton)
Justin Chon (official Eric Yorkie)
Anna Kendrick (official Jessica Stanley)
Christian Serratos (official Angela Weber)
Billy Burke (rumored Charlie)
Sarah Clarke (rumored Renee)
Edi Gathegi (rumored Laurent)
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Comments
Thanks for the info on the movie. My library patrons will be thrilled.
However, my own soul has died and Edward does nothing for me. Come on, Bella! No matter what man you end up with, 15 years later you’ll be in the basement folding his socks. Move on. And why did she have to be such a door mat in Eclipse?
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