Archive for September, 2010

Dream Casting, Sandman Casting Call Part 12: Ladies (please say in Flight of the Conchords voice)

September 30th, 2010 by Susie

Rose Walker is an American teenager that becomes embroiled in one of the earlier plot lines of the series.  She is central to the second arc, but also pops up later on in a smaller role.

She is shown at first as having her hair dyed in several wild colors.  Later she has a more muted red-brown hair, with just a single streak.  Her face is round and youthful, regardless of her eventual age.

My pick for the role is Amber Tamblyn.

She looks the part, and she could handle Rose’s sarcastic shell that protects her more vulnerable nature.

Nada is an African princess from an unspecified time period.  Pre recorded history, most likely.  She became involved with Morpheus, and it led to her down fall.  Despite the tragic turn her story takes, she has an innate strength of character, and dignity.

I’m going with Lauryn Hill to play her.

( I could not find a picture of Nada anywhere.)

She is best known as a musician and singer, but she has acted as well.  She looks a bit like Nada as drawn, but more importantly she projects the integrity inherent in Nada, as well as the charm that would captivate the Dream king.

Finally for today is Thessaly.  She is one of the more mysterious characters in the book.  It is implied that she is many centuries old, and that she is a witch.  She is also rather ruthless, or at the least not very concerned with politeness.  She usually knows more than she says about any given situation, and she doesn’t have much patience for those who know less than her.  She is depicted as being very petite, with brown hair, and a heart shaped face.  She usually wears round glasses that are too big for her face.

My choice for the part is Elisabeth Moss.

She is currently playing Peggy on Mad Men.  She can play shrewd, and intense, like nobody’s business.  It would be really fun to see her play intimidating.

Up next will be sundry gods and goddesses.

Dream Casting, Sandman Casting Call part 11: Mortal, Immortal, and Other

September 29th, 2010 by Susie

Shakespeare was a character that popped up in Sandman from time to time.  There was no gimmick to it.  He wasn’t a time traveller, or a wizard.  He was just Will Shakespeare, Elizabethian Era playwright, struggling to make good.

I think I’d cast Gary Oldman.

I don’t really have much to say for my reasoning behind the choice.  I just think he’s a good actor who looks good with a beard, and who seems comfortable with Shakespearian dialogue.

Hob Gadling is another character that didn’t appear often, but made quite an impression.  He is first seen in the fouteenth century, claiming that dying is for suckers.  Dream overhears this, and makes a deal with him.  Death won’t come for him until he decides he is tired of life.  Dream checks up on him once a century, and we get to see him go from rich man to beggar, and back again.  We see him happy with a full life and family, to a man that has outlived everyone he loved.  And regardless of his circumstances he always chooses to go on.

His physical appearance remains pretty much the same through out, just his clothes changing to match the times.  He is shown to have reddish brown hair and usually a beard.  My pick is Ewan McGregor.

For no other reason than I like him.  I think he is charming, and so is Hob.

Morpheus had a son named Orpheus.  And a couple of daughters named Blorpheus and Shmorpheus, I kid!  Orpheus is in fact the same Orpheus from the Greek myth Orpheus and Eurydice.  He actually has pretty pivotal role to play in the series, and it’s one I am loathe to spoil, so I won’t go into it too much.  He starts as a relatively carefree youth, but goes through a trauma that changes him a great deal.  His appearance is mainly of a nice looking young man, but with a haunted look in his eyes.

Who better for that than Matt Smith?

He is of course the latest actor to take up the mantle of the Doctor, and he’s done a bang up job of it.  He often comes across in the same scene, as very young boy and an old old man.  Which is just right for Orpheus.

Rounding out today’s post is Daniel Hall.  To say what Daniel’s role in the series is, would be to give away a major plot point.  So I won’t.  I’ll just say that he begins as an adorable human baby, and by the end he is neither a human or a baby.  So for the early scenes he should be cast with a beautiful, blue eyed baby , with curly blond hair.  For the later scenes I would cast Mitch Hewer.

He played the talented and impish Maxxie, on the first two seasons of Skins.  He has a very youthful, and sweet look, and is drop dead gorgeous.  Daniel needs to look innocent, but also wise.  I think Mitch would nail that.  And with that, I am officially out of pretty blond males.  This cast has taken them all!

Next post will probably involve important ladies.

Dream Casting, Sandman Casting Call Part 10: Beautiful Dreams and Nightmares.

September 27th, 2010 by Susie

The next three dreams, did not appear in Sandman as much as the others I’ve already featured, but they did make an impression.

Eve may be the biblical Eve, or she may not be, or both could be true.  She lives in a cave, and seems to have great knowledge and power.  She could have been the first woman.  Or a goddess of prehistory.  Or an old crotchety witch.  Or any of a number of other female archetypes.

Her appearance changed with each time she appeared in the series.  Sometimes she was an ancient crone, sometime a middle aged motherly type, and sometimes a beautiful voluptuous young maiden.

Since she always looked like the same woman, but at different ages, I would cast her with a single actress and put her in the appropriate aging makeup.

My choice is Christina Hendricks.

Eve is drawn as having black hair, but I’d rather keep her as a redhead, and hope the Sandman super-fans will forgive me.  Hendricks first impressed me on Firefly, where over the course of a single episode, she went from a naive farm girl, to a dangerous, seductive con artist.  She was equally convincing as both.  Lately she has been utterly mesmerizing as Joan on Mad Men.  It is one of the most nuanced performances on television.  She has been powerful, and also vulnerable.  Confidant, and also petty.  Charming, and also manipulative.  Sympathetic, and then repellent.  She owns every scene she’s in.

Fiddlers’ Green is unique in that he is actually a location.  An idyllic patch of land, that travelers, sailors in particular, often dream of.  Fiddlers’ Green decided one day to go traveling, himself.  He took a human form and set out to see the Waking World (which is what our world is referred to, in the Dreaming).  He took both the appearance, and general personality, of the prolific late nineteenth, early twentieth century, English author G.K. Chesterton.  He called himself Gilbert (which was Chesterton’s given name), and was genial, lovely man.  I didn’t know that he was based on Chesterton, when I first read Sandman.  In fact, I only learned it this afternoon, when I was reviewing the Sandman character page on Wikipedia.  I am just not as familiar with English fantasy authors as Neil Gaiman is.  Before today I had identified Gilbert as Teddy Roosevelt.

But the fact that he is English rather than American, works even better for for the actor I chose, Jim Broadbent.

Gilbert is an incredibly lovable, somewhat blustery, fellow.  Broadbent is very good at playing endearingly, bombastic men.

Finally there is the Corinthian.  The Corinthian is a nightmare.  Nightmares have just as much a place in the Dreaming, as any other dream.  He too escaped into the Waking World.  In which he became a serial killer that preyed on adolescent boys.  He is one of the most chilling characters I’ve ever come across.  He looks like a handsome, well built, blond man.  He almost always wears sunglasses.  That is because he doesn’t have eyes.  Where his eyes should be, he has two small mouths.  It is really creepy.

My choice for the part is James Marsters.

He has appeared in countless scifi and fantasy series.  Such as: Torchwood, Caprica, Smallville, but he is best known for playing Spike on Buffy, and later its spin off Angel.  He, like Hendricks, is a top rate scene stealer, but he manages to do it while making everyone he is playing against look better.  He has great comic timing, but also excels at imbuing his characters with depth.  He can go from broad physical comedy, to intense emotional soul barring, in the blink of an eye.  He is also capable of scaring the living daylights out of me.  Which is essential for the part.  But his range will also come in handy for some aspects of the Corinthian’s storyline, that I don’t want to give away.

I also want to put in a quick plug for Marsters’ audiobook narration of Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden series.  They are a blast.

Next time, some notable humans.

Dream Casting, Sandman Casting Call Part 9: Faeries!

September 26th, 2010 by Susie

Dream Casting, Sandman Casting Call Part 9: Faeries!

In Sandman all religions, and mythologies were welcome.  You could see Odin one eye, rubbing elbows with the Lords of Order and Chaos.  There were several denizens of Fairyland, that would come in and out of the narrative at their will.

The king and queen of Faerie’s appearances were few, but memorable. They came across as haughty, a touch petty, and very powerful.  They appeared of humanoid, but not human.  They are longer, and thinner than us.  Their faces are elfin.  Oberon has green skin and greenish white hair, and rams horns.  Titania has light blue skin, and dark blue hair.

My pick for Oberon would be Jude Law.

He played a character in the Talented Mr. Ripley, that was prettier than everyone else, and damn well knew it.  That is exactly the quality that is needed most for Oberon.

For Titania I’m going with Cate Blanchett.


She played an Elf queen in the Lord of the Rings, so she certainly has the look for it.  It would also be fun to see her playing a devious, self serving, fairy queen, to contrast with Galadrial’s almost angelic nature.

The most prominent fairy to grace the pages of Sandman, was Nuala.  She was sent to the Dreaming as an ambassador of Faerie.  Or so she thought.  She was actually sent as a gift to Morpheus, from the king and queen.  Morpheus had no interest in her, but as it is unwise to refuse a fairy gift, he allowed her to stay.

When she first appears it is as a stunning blond.  It is soon revealed that that is a glamour.  Her true appearance is a very petite, slightly awkward looking brunette.

For the glamoured version I propose January Jones.

I think the reasons are obvious.

For the non glamoured version, I’ll go with Emma Watson.

She has that new adorable pixie cut, and is tiny, and has plenty of experience playing awkward despite being gorgeous.

Nuala’s brother, Cluaracan, also frequently pops up in Sandman.  His personality can best be summed up as amusingly drunken, braggart.  He too, often wears the glamour of a tall, beautiful, blond.  His real appearance is more modest.

For his glamoured self I would go with Alexander Skarsgard.

He is best known as Eric on True Blood. Between the angels, the fey, and a few other characters coming up, I am exhausting my supply of pretty blond boys.

For the non glamoured version, I cast James McAvoy.

He could handle the comedy, as well as the slightly tragic aura that sometimes leaks through.  He isn’t a conventionally pretty boy, but he rocks what I like to call the homely hot factor.

Coming up, a few more dreams.

Dream casting, Sandman Casting Call Part 8: Heavenly Creatures and Hellspawn.

September 25th, 2010 by Susie

Sandman played host to gods and demons from a vast array of pantheons.  This post will concern itself with the biblical.

One of the most complex characters in the series is Lucifer.  So much so, that he was given his own long running spin off series.  His arc is one of the most surprising in the whole series, so I won’t go into it.  I’ll just describe his back story.  He was the light bringer, God’s most beloved Angel.  He decided that he didn’t like being a servant to his creator, so he led a rebellion of Angels.  They lost, and were cast out of Heaven.  They fell and became the residents and staff of Hell.  Lucifer became the Lord of Hell, also known as the Adversary.  He was fond of saying it was better to rule in Hell, than serve in Heaven.

This version of the Devil is erudite, calm, slick, and very dangerous.  He is drawn to look like the angel he once was, but with (for  lack of a better word) a certain edge.  His hair is sometimes shown as blond, sometimes as red.  His eyes are piercing, his cheekbones sharp.  Everything about him is sharp, including his taste in clothes.  He favors tuxedos, with a jaunty scarf, for accent.

Neil Gaiman apparently based him on David Bowie, and it’s hard to argue with that.  Except to say, I would not cast him.  Only for the reason, that I would find the fact that it was David Bowie playing a very David Bowie part, at this point in his career, distracting.

So instead I nominate Jonathan Rhys Meyers.

He already played a Bowie-esque character in the film Velvet Goldmine.  And he did it with great aplomb.  He’s also played sinister characters very well.  Most recently he played a self centered, hot tempered, king on the Tudors.

Lucifer had a demon lover, by the name of Mazikeen.  She was devoted to him, and she rules.  She is a badass!  And I kind of love her.  She has a very distinctive look, one that would have to be replicated with a lot of prosthetics, and probably CGI.  One side of her body looks like a beautiful brunette, the other is a twisted, mangled approximation of a human woman.  She is equally proud and confident with both.  My pick for her is Famke Janssen.

(This picture is taken from the Lucifer series, after Mazi’s “deformity” was corrected.  She was not at all pleased by that.  She continued to wear a mask over the side of her face where it had been.)

Famke is best known for playing Jean Grey in the X-Men films, but it was her turn as a sociopath on the first season of Nip/Tuck, that put her in my mind for Mazikeen.  I haven’t considered anyone else since.  She projected intense strength and intelligence in that part, even as she did super crazy stuff.

There were a couple of non fallen Angels in Sandman.  They were almost always together, so I will cast them as a team.  Remiel, was the mouthpiece of the two.  Only because Duma, the Angel of silence, never spoke.

They look very similar.  Slight, feminine, beautiful men, with curly blonde locks.

I would put Joe Anderson, as Remiel, and Eddie Redmayne, as Duma.

Anderson has played supporting parts in Across the Universe, and Becoming Jane.  He is very nice to look at, and he could properly convey the arrogance that is hiding under Remiel’s humble exterior.  I have only seen Redmayne in an adaptation of Tess of D’Urbervilles, in which he played a character named Angel.  That wasn’t what made me think of him.  There is something unusual about his face.  It isn’t necessarily ethereal, but it is otherworldly.  I think he could bring out the enigmatic quality, of Duma.  He is silent, but he is very present.

Coming next, faeries!

Dream Casting, Sandman Casting Call Part 7: Dream Boys

September 24th, 2010 by Susie

Morpheus’ realm is called the Dreaming.  It is where we all go when we dream.  It contains all the people and things that we dream of.  The setting and populace shift constantly.  However there are some fixed (or as fixed as things get in the Dreaming) characters, they are known as major dreams.  They are part of our collective unconscious.

Possibly the most important is Lucien (at least in his role).  He is in charge of the library of the Dreaming.  It contains every book ever dreamed of, which includes books that were written, and books that were only ever written in the author’s head. That spy thriller you wrote two chapters of, lost interest in, then forgot it existed?  It’s there.  Want to read the version of Tale of Two Cities where Darnay gets guillotined, and Carton assumes his identity and gets the girl?  It’s there.

Lucien is Dream’s most trusted subject.  He is fastidious, loyal, and a touch snarky.  He is the Dreaming’s butler, professor, CEO, and nanny, all rolled into one.  He is tall, rail thin, with rust colored hair that sticks up in tufts.  He wears small wire framed glasses, and formal, slightly Victorian style suits.

My choice for the part isn’t actually an actor, and isn’t a perfect match physically, but he reminds me of Lucien in the way he carries himself.  Tim Gunn.

I could probably come up with an actor, that could do the job very well, but I like Tim.  He is my choice.  He feels like Lucien to me.

Next up is Cain, of Cain and Abel.  Aka the first murderer.  That is who he is more than the Cain of the bible, though he is that as well.  He is the first being that came into existence that took another being’s life.  When the story of Cain and Abel came into existence it was about him, and so he became Cain.

He is loud and aggressive, and sarcastic.  He is constantly going through the cycle of seeking out his brother for company, finding some flaw in him to pick at, going into a rage, and killing him.  Over and over again.  It is as much his function, as it is Destiny’s to observe it.  Despite his unpleasantness, I rather enjoy his scenes, when he isn’t killing Abel.  It helps that his victim, always gets up again (yet that also makes it worse, it’s complicated).  And his sardonic commentary on the action is pretty funny.

He is drawn as a tall man with brown hair, that sticks up in two points to give the illusion of horns (this hairdo is also known as the wolverine).  He has a beard, and dresses in shabby brown suits.

I would cast Christopher Eccleston as Cain.

He can play the manic energy, and the wit.  He also can work a homicidal glint in his eyes.  By the by, this cast list by the time it’s done, will include a lot of people from Whedonverse shows, a few more cast members from Skins, and likely Eccleston will not be the only Time Lord.

There needs to be an Abel to go with our Cain.  Abel is the first murder victim, to Cain’s first murderer.  He too is stuck in a cycle.  He can’t get away from his brother.  He desperately wants them to get along, but he knows  the inevitable outcome.  He is timid, and a stutterer, and has a tender heart, which he knows he has to conceal from Cain.  He is not capable of standing up for himself.  He is both adorably sweet, and cringe inducingly pathetic.

He is a short, stout man, with black hair, in a Wolverine cut of less prowess, and a goatee.  He too wears shabby suits, in blue.

I had a two top contenders for the part, both specialize in playing sad little men.  Ricky Gervais, and Paul Giamatti.  Gervais looks more like the character, but I think I’m going with Giamatti.  Gervais’ brand of SLM usually is not aware of how pathetic he is, while Abel knows all too well.  A Gervais character that is self aware loses some of the necessary patheticness.  On top of that Gervais has recently lost a great deal of weight, and looks too good to play Abel anymore.  Giamatti can do a self aware SLM, that is still a sad-sack.

(I had a lot of trouble finding pictures of Abel, and could only come up with this one of him recently murdered.  He does recover I promise.)

Next up, Angels, Demons, and the devil himself.

Dream Casting, Sandman Casting Call Part 6: Tail End of the Endless

September 23rd, 2010 by Susie

Rounding out the Endless, are Destruction, and Destiny.  In Sandman things are rarely what you expect them to be.  Ie: Death is a perky, optimistic young woman, and Dream is a dour, moody guy, that mopes around in a long black robe.

Likewise, the embodiment of Destruction is a laid-back, Zen-ish drifter.  Although he wasn’t always.  He had to work pretty hard to achieve calm.  Which doesn’t mean he used to be a rageaholic, by all evidence he was pretty gregarious.  I don’t want to go too much into his arc, because it us pretty interesting.  So I’ll just get straight to his physical description.  He is impossibly tall, and broad, with long red hair, and a beard.  According to the Sandman Companion, the early inspiration for his look, was the English actor Brian Blessed.  Who could open his mouth so wide when he laughed, that it looked like it took up his entire face.  He is still working, so he could concievably do the part, but he is in his seventies now, and looking older than Destruction ever did.  And Destruction’s final look never did look that much like Blessed.  My top choice is Adam Baldwin

Even more than casting Summer Glau as Death, casting Adam Baldwin as Destruction, would have the Whedonites rejoicing.  He has played any number of lovable, and not so lovable, sociopaths over the years.  Lately he has become beloved in the geek world for two roles, col. John Casey on Chuck, and Jayne Cobb on Firefly.  He is appropriately physically intimidating, for the part, and his hair could easily made the right color and length.  He is a very good actor, he could play both the exuberant Destruction of the flashbacks, and the more subdued one of the present.

Destiny is probably the least interesting of the Endless (at least to me).  He is also the only one not to have been created by Neil Gaiman.  He is a character that had been knocking around the DC universe since the early seventies.  He really doesn’t have much of a personality.  His job is to observe everything that happens, and make sure it goes down exactly as written in his book.  Which is pretty easy, as everything that happens, has happened, and will happen is written in the book.  Including him reading the book.  He doesn’t have opinions, or preferences, or emotions.  His main physical characteristic is a long brown cloak, with a hood that is always drawn down over his eyes.  Since his eyes are never shown, and he is described as being blind (although he still reads, and moves in a way that proves it is not a hindrance), it is possible that he doesn’t have eyes.  The other main feature, is the enormous book that is always chained to his wrist.

Given that you don’t see his face, and that he doesn’t need to posess much charisma, you could put just about anyone under the hood, and it would work.  So I’m going with Bill Nighy, just because I like him.

It almost seems a shame to hide that much charm under a cloak, but he can do restrained and aloof as well.  Maybe he can even manage to make the character a little less dull.

Up next a few prominent dreams.

I’m not going to link to the previous posts anymore since there are too many now.  They should all be available on the main page, or by clicking the tags.

Dream Casting, Sandman Casting Call Part 5: Worst Double Date Ever

September 22nd, 2010 by Susie

It’s interesting that in a series that included, demons, serial killers, trickster gods, and the Judeo-Christian devil, the most malevolent creature of all, is Desire.  It’s true that desire is not an inherently bad thing, but it can make people do dangerous, reckless things.  And Desire of the Endless seems to represent this aspect of the concept, more than any other.  Desire is neither man nor woman, rather it is both, and therefore is always referred to as it.  This makes sense, since desire is not a gender specific concept.  Then again, neither is any of the other concepts the Endless represent, and the others all stick to one gender identity.

Desire the concept is not solely about lust.  You can desire just about anything.  Lust is however desire, and the entity Desire seems to concern itself most with lust.  And it seems to derive pleasure from making people desire things that are not good for them.  It is safe to say that, while it is not specifically a woman, Desire is a petty bitch.  Get on its bad side, and it will make it its mission to take you down.  It holds grudges, and goes to great lengths to get revenge.  Usually manipulating things at a great distance, to keep its hands appearing clean.

Desire’s appearance is one of androgyny.  Most often looking like either a handsome woman, or a beautiful man.  Its clothing was often either menswear, when looked the most feminine, or fetish-wear, when it was more masculine.  The artists tended to make it resemble those nineties icons of gender blurring, Annie Lennox, and KD Lang, and occasionally David Bowie.

There is really only one actor in my mind that could pull it off, Tilda Swinton.

Not only does she favor a somewhat androgynous look in her personal style, she has already played a gender bending supernatural role, as the title character of Orlando.  She also demonstrated bone chilling maliciousness, as the White Witch in the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Desire has a twin sister, Despair.  They aren’t twins in that they look alike.  Far from it.  They simply came into existence at the same time, and are often intertwined.  Desiring something too much can make you miserable.

While Desire the character, is almost entirely unsympathetic, Despair is not.  She does not wish to make people unhappy, it is simply her function.  Just as Death does not cause people to die, she just takes them when they do.  Despair embraces the miserable to her bosom, and drowns them in it, but it’s not out of viciousness.  In her own way, she is helping them.  She seems to have genuine affection for her twin, and a few of the other Endless.  And she seems to be a little lonely, since most non depressed people, do not wish to be anywhere near her.  And she tries to stay away, since as I said, she does not want to cause misery, it just leaks off her like radiation.  Just like being around Delirium, can make a person crazy.

Despair looks like a female sumo wrestler, if the sumo was the height and scale of a twelve year-old child.  Even if there is a person out there that fits that description, it would be a miracle if they also possess the acting chops to convey the nuance of the part.  So I am proposing hiring a very good actress, and then putting them in extensive makeup, and maybe augmenting it with visual effects.  My candidate is Judi Dench.

That is in no way a comment on her looks.  I think Judi Dench is gorgeous.  If I look half that good at half her age, I will be very happy.  She is such a good actress, that I think she can make the character sympathetic through the makeup, while still being very creepy.  In fact, the idea of lovely, warm Judi Dench, speaking in Despair’s skin crawling voice, and ripping at her flesh with a hook, sends wonderful shivers up my spine.

In the next post I will finish off the Endless, and we will see from there.

Read parts 1, 2, 3, and 4, by following the links.

Dream Casting, Sandman Casting Call Part 4: Crazy Cute.

September 21st, 2010 by Susie

Now that I’ve got Dream and Death well cast, I’m going to try to tackle the most variable character in the series.  Delirium is the youngest of of the Endless.  Which is a bit like calling a 150 foot Sequoia, small because most get up to 160.  Nevertheless, she does have a childlike quality to her.  As the embodiment of insanity, she is unpredictable, sometimes sweet, playful, and careless.  Sometimes dangerously sensitive to slight, and quick to anger.  She is easily distracted, and nearly impossible to have a coherent conversation with.  All of which makes her the most compelling character in the series to me.  And many of her scenes are the ones I find most entertaining.

It also makes her very difficult to cast. Like her fellow Endless, her appearance changes frequently.  Unlike the others, hers changes rapidly, often mid-scene, sometimes mid-sentence.  She has few consistent physical characteristics.  She most often looks like an adolescent girl, though occasionally looks as young as nine, or as old as twenty.  Her clothing is usually in tatters.  Her hair, is often a wild variety of unnatural colors, although sometimes it is partially, or completely shaved.  Her most consistent feature is that she has one blue, and one green eye.  However, the most reliable way to identify her is by her technicolor word balloons, and nonsensical dialogue.

In my last entry, I site the fact that Summer Glau’s breakthrough role on Firefly, had too much in common with Del (as she is affectionately referred to), to make her my choice for Delirium.  It would feel a bit like a repeat performance.

So I hesitated a little with my top choice for the part, Hannah Murray, because she has also portrayed, a spacey, vulnerable, occasionally dangerous, character.  She played the mentally ill, anorexic, Cassie, on the British, out of control teens drama, Skins.  I’m giving her the part though, because fewer people who would be going to see Sandman, would have already seen Skins, than would have seen Firefly.

She demonstrated on Skins, that she possess all the necessary skills to play Delirium.  She made Cassie, a character that could have been played for laughs, or as a freak show, into someone you couldn’t take your eyes off.  She had me constantly yelling at the screen, for someone to please pay attention to her, as she desperately needed help.  Anytime someone hurt her feelings, I felt it, and demanded vengeance.  And when she was happy, it was magic.  She managed to make me entirely invested in her safety, even when she was the one endangering it.  And she scared the bejesus out of me, in her darker moments.

She looks young enough, and with good wigs, and makeup, she can pull off Del’s ever-changing looks.  The effects department will have to work out how to add the frogs, fish, and or butterflies, that tend to manifest out of thin air, around her.

My alternate choice, should the imaginary studio require a bigger name, is another Whedon alum.  Sarah Michelle Geller.

The second image, is a portrait of Delirium, that I found in a book called Vertigo Visions.  The strong likeness of the Del in this picture, to Sarah Michelle, is what put her in my mind for the role.  The books dates it as having been done in 1995, two years before Buffy made her a household name.  It could be a coincidence, or the artist Sherilyn van Valkenburgh, could have spotted the then unknown (and at that point brunette) actress in something, and used her as the model.

Either way, I think she could handle the part.  She displayed a lot of versatility over her seven years as Buffy.  Displaying strength, and spunk, along side vulnerability, and introspection.  She is in her thirties now, but she is on the tiny side, I’m sure with the right costumes and makeup, she could be made to look the appropriate age.

Okay, that’s it for the major parts.  The next entries will be two or more characters each.  Starting I think, with the twins.

Click to read parts 1, 2, and 3.

Dream Casting, Sandman Casting Call Part 3: Death Wish List

September 20th, 2010 by Susie

In part 1, I gave my reasons for embarking on this project.  In part 2 I cast my Dream.  Now it is time put my casting cap back on, and pick an actress for the role of Death.  In the universe of the Sandman Death is an upbeat, very cute, goth girl.  As with all the Endless, her appearance changes, depending on her surroundings.

However, she is one of the more consistent of them.  Her clothing does change according to the era, but for the most part, she is thin, pale, dressed all in black, with black hair, that is only slightly less messy than Dream’s.  She always wears an ankh, somewhere on her person, usually as a necklace.  And she has a black curlicue, under one eye.  She is most often seen wearing a black tank, and black jeans, and occasionally finishes it off with a top hat, and umbrella.

She is the most relatable, down to earth, member of the Endless, and she is probably the series’ most beloved character.  She is also the character that I have had the most trouble casting.  She has to be instantly likable, and yet formidable.  She has to be both glib, and insightful.  I kept coming up with actresses that worked in one aspect, and failed in another.  Natalie Portman, is cute enough, but I’m not sure she’d be able to convey the character’s power.  Angelina Jolie could cover the power, but is too intimidating.  Amy Adams, too cute, no edge at all.  Death had to be all of that and more.  She has to be someone who you’d actually be happy to see at your final moment.  I went back and forth.  I think I’ve finally got it.  Summer Glau

She is probably best known for her roles on two short lived Scifi series.  She played Cameron, a cyborg assassin, on The Sarah Connor Chronicles.  And on Firefly, she played River, a brilliant, psychologically damaged, young girl, made into a sleeper agent by the government.  She was so good at portraying River’s insanity, while also showing her vulnerability, and under lying danger, that I was considering her as the top contender for the part of Delirium.  But I felt that actually might be like casting her in the same part, especially since there is a big overlap in the audiences for Firefly, and Sandman.  Then as I was crossing out another name to play death, I remembered the charm, Glau brought to the role of River.  The fact that she moved with a preternatural grace.  The way she could deliver the strangest non sequitur, in way that made you think it would make perfect sense if you were just inside her head.  Most of all, the looks she gave to her big brother when he was being an idiot, would translate perfectly into the, affectionate yet exasperated, way Death relates to Dream.

Look at her here, imagine it as a top hat, and that’s our girl.

It doesn’t hurt that she bears a slight resemblance to Fairuza Balk.  Who at one point, I’m not sure if it’s still the case, had been set to play the part, in the film adaptation of Death the Time of Your Life.  Which was a spinoff miniseries of Sandman.  Considering the film was set to be directed by Neil Gaiman, it would be fair to say Fairuza is his top choice.

However, as popular as Summer may be with the geek community, it may be necessary to pick a bigger name, to get the movie made.  So under duress I would submit my next choice.  Zooey Deschanel.

She has been the winsome, indie, girl next door with an edge, du jour, for the past couple of years.  For good reason, she’s charming, and beautiful, and talented.  She’d be very good for the part, I just like Summer Glau a little bit more.

Coming up in part three, Delirium!

Dream Casting, Sandman Casting Call Part 2: Casting Dream.

September 19th, 2010 by Susie

I already gave my reasons, for why the Sandman should never be made into a movie in part one. I’m going to try casting it anyway. From now on I’m going to play the part of a casting director, for my ideal imaginary version the film. And in the world of Sandman, imaginary versions of things, are just as valid, as real ones

The most important part to cast is of course the Sandman himself.


Some background on the character, before I get to my casting pick(s). The Sandman of the title* is actually Dream the anthropomorphic embodiment of dreams. He is a member of the group of beings known as the Endless. Each of whom is the living representation of a universal concept, that happens to start with a D, in English. Some of the others are Death, Destruction, etc.

Dream has many names, all of which are either the word for dreams in another language or variations there of, or the name of the god or king of dreams from a specific culture. However he is most often referred to in Sandman, as Morpheus, so that is what I’ll call him from here on.

One of the qualities that all the endless share, is their tendency to shift their appearance depending on whom they are speaking to. For example when Morpheus had an affair, with an African Princess, he looked like an African Prince (albeit an African Prince with several of his more unique features). When he met with a house cat, he looked like a house cat version of himself. In those scenes, the casting would have to be done accordingly.

But, for the most part Morpheus looks like a very pale, thin man, with messy black hair that defies gravity. And eyes, that are depicted as pieces of the night sky, with stars shining out of them. Not an easy look to find in nature.

My top pick for the part, is a little known actor, named Peter Wingfield.  He recently had a small part on Caprica, but he caught my attention, over a decade ago, when he got a prominent part on the television series Highlander. Which was a surprisingly good adaptation of the silly Highlander movies. Peter played an immortal named Methos. He was at least five thousand years old, and often came across as morally ambiguous. He did a great job of projecting the character’s age, despite his youthful appearance. A trait that will be useful for playing Morpheus, who is only slightly less old than existence itself. He also would be able to portray the character’s humanity, along with his other-worldliness. Beside that he just looks the part to me. Morpheus was most often depicted as having a long, angular face. As does Peter.

(And look how good he is with the naughty smirk! Not a skill he would really be able to put to use in the part. Morpheous’ default expressions, are mope, and scowl.)

He can even pull off the ridiculous hair, without looking a complete prat.

(Well not too much, at least.)

The only drawback in my mind is how little well know he is. Which I don’t really consider a drawback, as I think the role benefits from there not being any baggage being brought in by the actor. However my imaginary studio bosses probably would not see it that way.

So when they say, “This simply won’t do! No one has heard of this guy! We need a name for the poster.”

I will stomp my feet, and storm out of the meeting, and hold my breath until I turn blue. And when I have picked myself off the floor, after realizing that they could not care less if I died of asphyxiation, I would submit my alternate choice. Guy Pearce.

He has the bone structure, and the liquid eyes the part calls for. While his resume carries some stinkers, such as The Count of Monte Cristo, and the Time Machine, in both of which he came across as rather wooden. He was impressive in both Memento, and the Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Dessert. Which shows some range. Although neither part had much of the Dream king in them. Still, at least he’s a recognizable name.**

Stayed tuned for part three, where I try to conquer Death! Er, I mean find a suitable actress to fill the part. Sounds more dramatic the first way!

*There are two other Sandmen that appear over the course of the series. They are both DC comics heroes that have used the title in the past.

**Phooey, Methos forever!

Dream Casting, Sandman Casting Call Part 1: In which I explain why I hope the Sandman movie never gets made, and then decide to assemble my dream cast anyway.

September 18th, 2010 by Susie

Anyone I’ve ever spoken to that has read Sandman, says the same thing.  That it should never be made into a movie, because it couldn’t possibly be done right.  Yet it has been in development, at one studio or another, for at least ten years.  The reason for this is that it is a beloved property, that many consider comic books first masterpiece.  So why don’t it’s many fans (me included) want to see it filmed?

To start off with it, it is seemingly impossible to film.  The story is long, taking ten years, and seventy-five issues to tell, not including spin offs, and follow ups.  Trying to compress that into a single, or even several two hour movies, would be very difficult.  Beyond that, it is a story that jumps around in time, and space, and worlds (Faerie, other planets, heaven, hell, and most often dreams).  It often requires a strong background in history, mythology, religion, and DC comics, to fully understand.  And it sports a cast of characters that number in the hundreds, many of whom are important, to the tale as a whole, and absolutely essential to their small part of the story.  In short it is a story that has already been told, in the best way it could be.

Still in the right hands it could be done.  There could be someone out there, talented enough to simplfy that complex narrative into something satisfying, that still holds the charm and beauty of the original.  And we would all still have the comics for when we wanted the real thing.

The bigger issue in my mind, is how integral to the story, the art is.  Not just because, it being a comic, all the action is drawn, but because of how the various artists chose to interpret it.  The artist usually changed every time a new story arc started.  Which meant the characters often looked different each time you saw them.  Which gave the reader a fresh perspective on them.  Many of the characters appearance changed according to whom they were speaking to, or where they were, at any given time.  Which could get very confusing, if it was attempted on film.

The main reason I don’t want it filmed, is because I love it so much.  Anything short of brilliant would be heartbreaking.  And there is so much potential for failure.  I have often said if it was made into a movie, I’d boycott it , just to spare myself the agony of seeing what was done with something I hold so dear.  That is a lie, though.  I would absolutely see it.

Partly because I want to support, Neil Gaiman and all the artists that worked on it, by paying for a ticket, and hoping a little of the money gets back to them, after the theater, the studio, the director, the cast and crew, all get their cut.  Mainly, on the off chance, that somehow it turns out like that other beloved franchise, that people claimed was utterly unfilmable, Lord of the Rings.  Even though those films were not a direct page by page adaptation of the books, most fans agree that Peter Jackson got it right nevertheless.  And it caused many people to buy and read the books, that likely would not have otherwise.  If the Sandman movie did the same for the comics, more the better.

No, I could not resist seeing it.  Although I am totally one of those assholes, who would complain loudly afterward, if it was bad.  Actually, I doubt I could wait until the end, I would likely  jump to my feet, screaming “No! No! No!” the second the credits read, “and Jennifer Lopez* as Death.” And I would keep screaming the whole two hours, or until I was asked to leave.  I’m not proud of it, but it would happen.

I am also the type of person who loves coming up with fantasy casts, for movies that haven’t been made yet.  I seriously once stayed up most of the night, coming up with the ideal cast for a production of Pride and Prejudice, as done by a mix of humans and Muppets.

Which brings me to the point of this long winded post.  I have decided to do a series of posts, in which I pretend that by some twist of fate, I am a bigwig, hotshot casting director, who has been tasked with putting together the cast for the hypothetical Sandmam movie.  I will do individual  posts for each of the major characters, and subsequent posts will have two or three of minor characters lumped together.  We will see how far I get, before running out of steam.  I will try to avoid divulging too many details of the character’s fates, for anyone reading who has not yet read Sandman, but still may.  And if you like comics at all, I suggest giving it a try.

My pick for the person to play Morpheous, will be coming either later today or tomorrow.  I will choose my directer right now.  The only director I think could do the project justice, would actually be the combined forces of Guillermo del Toro, Spike Jonze, Michel Gondry, and Alfonso Cuaron.

*I actually don’t universally hate Jennifer Lopez.  She was very good in Out of Sight.  She just should under no circumstances be cast as Death.

ReadComics Podcast #048 – Minneapolis Indie Comic Expo

September 14th, 2010 by Martin

In this episode, Marty, Jason, Florence, Sharyn and Susie talk about the Minneapolis Indie Expo, a one-day comic book festival/convention that took place in Minneapolis on August 21st, 2010. We plug far too many artists and creators to list them all in this blog post, and we probably only listed half of the cool stuff we saw at the con.

Listen to ReadComics.org Podcast Episode #048 (25 MB, 54 minutes)

ReadComics Podcast #047 – Book Club #18 – Hellboy: Seed of Destruction

September 2nd, 2010 by Martin

This podcast, featuring Marty, Florence, Jason, Angela, and Susie, was actually recorded over the course of two nights. We talk about our impressions of the first Hellboy TPB, Seed of Destruction, and also some about the second TPB, which only some of us had read. Additionally, we do go into how it compares to the first Hellboy movie, which loosely follows the same storyline.

Listen to ReadComics.org Podcast Episode #047 (18 MB, 40 minutes)