I’m feeling kind of antic this morning, so I thought I’d play a little fantasy game. Most writers, whether they admit it or not, indulge in a game of imagining who would play what part in films from their books. This comes almost second nature to me, since from an early age I started reading with a movie playing in my head and I would cast the parts. (My most successful casting job was Michener’s Hawaii—I got just about every part right but one, that of Rafer Hoxworth.)
So I thought I’d post my choices for casting in movies from some of my books. What I’d really like is for people to post their choices in comments.
To start with, Compass Reach. The part of Fargo has changed over the years, from a youngish Daniel Craig to Robert Carlyle to Ioan Gruffud (all Brits, imagine that) to more recently Jamie Bamber (another Brit) to my current choice of Ryan Phillipe (an American for once). I still think Daniel Craig would be good. But Fargo is mercurial that way.
But for Lis, one actress just leapt out at me the moment I saw her and I exclaimed “That is Lis!” Franke Potente
Haven’t seen anyone yet who’d do better in the role.
Stephen, of course, is another mercurial one, but I finally settled on James Marsters (yeah, Spike of Buffy fame). He’s it, I think, for the stricken telelog.
Metal of Night is a bit rougher. For Cira Kalinge I have two actresses in mind. The first is Indira Varma of Rome fame, but the other would be Nia Long. I have one actor in mind for the dual role of Alexan and Nicolan Cambion and that is Johnny Depp. Name dropping perhaps, but there it is.
But for Merrick…ah, yes, my ongoing spymaster/corporate magnate/mover’n’shaker. Again, just one actor—Tim Roth.
Tim Kang as Tory Shirabe, Ralph Fiennes as Maxwell Cambion, and for the berserker part of Venner…Rufus Sewell
Peace & Memory has a larger cast and more possibilities, but the actress I have in mind for Tamyn Glass…well, bear in mind that I think if this film has a chance in hell of being made, it won’t be for ten years, by which time she’ll have grown into the part. Eliza Dushku. Which is a bit of a cheat, because everyone else I have in mind would be cast in a film made, say, tomorrow. At one time Sigourney Weaver would have been a shoe-in, but in SF she’s too much Ripley, so it would be Ripley playing Tamyn, and that might not be a good fit. However, as an alternative more in line with what I have in mind, someone like Angela Bassett would be good. But this is up for grabs, really. I’ll stick with Eliza as an image.
Joclen would be well played by Amanda Righetti
Kevin McKidd for Benajim Cyanus. We can stick with Tim Roth for the discorporate Sean Merrick. Then we come to the pivotal role of the prophylactic, Piper Van. I have a couple of names in mind for that, one simply because I like her—well, I like them all—but she has demonstrated an ability to do the physical side: Marley Shelton.  Perhaps a bit too “girlie” for Piper, but as I say, I like her. Katie Sackhoff which after Battlestar Galactica and her performance as Starbuck might be a bit obvious, but she’s got the presence to carry off the part. A less obvious choice would be Thandie Newton. Piper is supposed to be enhanced and, therefore, deceptive.
Naril Van, Tamyn’s lawyer, would be well played by Mary McDonnell, but I could also see her played well by Mary Steenburgen. Don’t know which I’d prefer.
Fisher, the bad guy, I’d cast Jonny Lee Miller. Not, perhaps, an obvious choice, but thin about it, he’d do marvelously.
Which brings us to Ryan Jones, Bool Nooneus, and Elen ap Marik. Ryan I think should be played by Robert Conrad of Wild Wild West fame. Or The Black Sheep. Or a gazillion tv movies. But take a look at more recent pics and he looks perfect. Nooneus, just to be antic, would be Stephen Fry.
Then there is Elen, the woman who falls for Benajim and has such, er, interesting modifications. She’d have to be someone who could carry it off with one artificial eye. My choice?  Maybe I’ll leave that one blank for now and see if anyone comes up with someone for the part.
That’s the Secantis Sequence and certainly not all of the parts. It would be fun to see what people thought of the secondary and tertiary characters, who would be good to play them, but also the alternatives to my list. There are several characters I skipped in this, but we can revisit the topic later if it’s fun.
Ah, fantasy. Now, who would I get to direct…?