Michael McElHatton picture image

Michael McElHatton

Michael McElHatton plays Roose Bolton on Game of Thrones  and since its Sixth season is starting up agian and it has a plethora of awesome actors I thought let’s cast from that pool. To be honest I was between picking McElhatton or Stephen Dilane who played Stannis but picked McElhatton first because of reasons but mostly I just thought of him first.

Michael McElHatton picture image

Michael McElHatton

 

So why would McElHatton make a good Frollo? Well he’s got the right look. He has an austre yet elegant look and has some good angle going on in his face.

Michael McElHatton picture image

Michael McElHatton

Second, his speaking voice, it’s amazing. It’s very cool yet smooth. If a movie ever did Frollo’s monolouge, his voice would be ideal for just saying those lines. And if not can he just do a Hunchback of Notre Dame audio book?

Michael McElHatton as Roose Bolton in Game of Thrones picture image

Michael McElHatton as Roose Bolton in Game of Thrones

Aside from Game of Thrones, McElHatton hasn’t done much film work (though GoT is a TV show). He mostly does TV, shorts and Voice work BUT the acting he has done on Game of Thrones is very good. Roose Bolton is a horrible person and he captures Roose’s cold and calculating persona perfectly. Frollo and Roose don’t have much in common of an acting front but it’s clear that McElHatton has the acting to pull off Frollo.

Michael McElHatton picture image

Michael McElHatton

What do you think?  Would Michael McElHatton make a good Frollo?

Game of Thrones Hype.

Anna Kendrick picture image

Anna Kendrick

It’s a fantasy of mine that one day there will be a great well done movie version of Notre Dame de Paris. Let’s just say for fun that someone in Hollywood banking on the success of Les Miserable wanted to make it who is an actress in Hollywood that looks the part of Esmeralda, can sing and is popular? Seems like a tall order but all signs point to Anna Kendrick.

Anna Kendrick as Cinderella Into the Woods Picture image

Anna Kendrick as Cinderella

Anna Kendrick has been a lot of successful/popular movies like the Twilight saga, thou we won’t hold that against her, as well as Pitch Perfect movies and Into the Woods. She also a very talent singer who has performed on Broadway. She was in High Society at the age of 12 where she earned a Theater World Award as well as nominations for Featured Actress in a Musical at the Drama Desk Awards and Tony Awards. Kendrick is a very effortless actress, meaning that very natural and it seldom feels like she is playing a role.

Anna Kendrick picture image

Anna Kendrick

Kendrick has a chameleon voice as she can easily to do many style of singing however her natural voice seems to be fairly low to middle range and I think she’s considered a Mezzo Soprano as she is a great belter. Esmeralda’s voice typically is in this range so it suits her voice but more than that, she would bring a bright warmth to the songs.

Anna Kendrick picture image

Anna Kendrick

Notre Dame de Paris Esmeralda run the gambit of looks but there is a standard which is she typically brunette or a red head. Her hair is often also wavy. That is pretty much Kendrick hair style, so it’s easy to envision her in the role.

Anna Kendrick picture image

Anna Kendrick

Anna Kendrick would make a ideal Esmeralda for a movie version as she a great actress/performer/singer and she just bring a likability to to her roles. But what do you think? Would Anna Kendrick make a good Esmeralda? And would you like to see her sing Esmeralda to a Taylor Swift Fleur de Lys?

In light of the way the 2016 Oscars acting award nominations went and with the general whitewashing of roles in mainstream big budget Hollywood movies, Esmeralda is an interesting role to discuss as her book self and her film presence are at weird odds.

Patsy Ruth Miller as Esmeralda Hunchback chaney version 1923 picture image

Patsy Ruth Miller as Esmeralda

In the book Esmeralda is presented as a Romani, and without getting it into too much, the Romani people are Ethnically different from the rest of Europe specifically France.  However Esmeralda’s backstory in the novel is that she was born Agnes to a French woman and raised by the Romani. This backstory is really only presented in two movies (three if you think the Dingo version count), those versions are the 1923 version and the 1999 Parody version albeit that version flips things around whereas she is born Esmeralda to Cubans and raised as Agnes by mean French people.

Lesley-Anne Down as Esmeralda, 1982 Hunchback of Notre Dame picture image

Lesley-Anne Down as Esmeralda, 1982 Hunchback of Notre Dame

Esmeralda in most movie versions of Hunchback is depicted as a full Romani, though the 1982 version  there was a throw away line that questioned her background but it went no where, so it hardly matters.

Gina Lollobrigida as Esmeralda, 1956 Hunchback of Notre Dame, picture image

Gina Lollobrigida as Esmeralda, 1956 Hunchback of Notre Dame

This brings us back to the topic, as Hollywood whitewashes many roles it interesting to note that in Esmeralda’s case they take role of girl who despite having dark hair and eyes  with tanned skin is for all accounts a white girl and instead makes the role one for a very specially ethnic minority and yet casts mostly white women. So far in movie versions only Gina Lollobrigida and Salma Hayek have looked the way the film versions theoretically want to depict the character.

 

Maureen O'Hara as Esmeralda

Maureen O’Hara as Esmeralda

While in my own naive  little world I think casting should go to right person for the right part but it’s not that simple. A lot of roles are specific to someone’s looks and background. Hollywood however does of course forget that or ignores it and has a history of awarding parts that should go to people of minorities to white actors. Like the casting  of Emma Stone in Aloha or Rooney Mara in  Peter Pan or pretty much everyone in The Last Airbender or Scarlet Johansson as Major Motoko Kusanagi in the upcoming Ghost in the Shell movie, heck Lucy was a Akira knock-off… I digress. The list of whitewashing practices in Hollywood is long.

And as this pertain to the Oscars, actors who fall into minority seldom get nominations and seldom win. Just for example Asian actors which Indian actors fall into, Only two Actors won the Academy Award for Best Actor, Yul Brynner (1956) and Ben Kingsley (1982). Kingsley also  got a nominations in 2003. For Actress only Merle Oberon got a best actress nomination in 1935 and no one else since. For Best Supporting Actor, only Haing S Ngor has won in 1984  and only five others have been nominated, Sessue Hayakawa (1957), Mako (1966), Pat Morita (1984), Ben Kingsley (1991) and Ken Watanabe (2003). Oddly the same goes for Best Supporting Actoress with only one winner and five others nominated. The only Asian winner was Miyoshi Umeki in 1957. The five who were nominated were Meg Tilly (1985), Jennifer Tilly (1994), Shohreh Aghdashloo (2003), Rinko Kikuchi (2006) and Hailee Steinfeld (2010).

Salma Hayek as Esmeralda, 1997 Hunchback of Notre Dame, picture image

Salma Hayek as Esmeralda, 1997 Hunchback of Notre Dame

So how does this apply to Esmeralda? The Hunchback of Notre Dame as I have said before, could be one those movies made specifically to win  awards. The role of Esmeralda could be deepen which has been done in the past like in 1939 version or even the Disney version. It could be made into one those Oscar bait roles with relative ease. If that did happen given the state of Hollywood I would prefer to see an Actress who fits into the Romani look more than being a purist to the book. Either an Indian actress or Hispanic actress could fit nicely, though ideally, a young Romani actress would be ideal.

Melanie Thierry as Esmeralda

Melanie Thierry as Esmeralda

Though given Hollywood’s warped sense of itself they probably would make Esmeralda a Romani, as  is the traditional method to her character and cast a popular blonde actress.

Is there an actress you would like see play Esmeralda?

 

Rupert Grint picture image

Rupert Grint

Rupert Grint was suggested by Neala897 to play Quasimodo. Grint is most known for playing Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter film series. So let me just make a VERY unpopular statement, I’m not a big fan of Harry Potter. I have seen most of the movies but the story and characters never captured me. I don’t hate it but it’s not my thing.

Rupert Grint picture image

Rupert Grint

One thing that Grint has going for him in my opinion is that he is young. You can’t know how tired I am of seeing 40 years old actors playing Quasimodo. So the idea of a younger actor playing Quasimodo is great. Also he already has the red hair so double perk. Also base looks for Quasimodo don’t matter that much since the make-up should do the work on that score.

Rupert Grint as Johnny in Moonwalkers picture image

Rupert Grint as Johnny in Moonwalkers

But Quasimodo isn’t so much about the make-up, it’s a physical and emotional role filled with a ton of pathos. Considering Grint played Ron, who is more comedic and his lasted role in Moonwalkers, Grint does comedy role more but that doesn’t mean he couldn’t pull off the role. I think with right director and script, he could pull off Quasimodo.

Rupert Grint picture image

Rupert Grint

I would say all things considered, Rupert Grint wouldn’t be my top pick to play Quasimodo but he would be a fine Quasimodo especially over all the over 40 year old dudes who want to place the role for vanity.

Monica Cruz picture image

Monica Cruz

The Max Ryan movie, we meet again. If people who read this blog will recall when I first mention the Ryan movie like over a year ago it seemed very theoretical but it’s real and it is happening. As it is stand, core characters have yet been cast or have not been announced yet, like Esmeralda or Frollo. According to cinema.theiapolis.com Monica Cruz and John Rhys-Davies are (or were) in negotiations for Esmeralda and Frollo. Now what is interesting is that Steven Berkoff is listed as in negotiations too and he is on the cast list on IMDB. So really who knows where Cruz and Rhys-Davies stand. So let’s just consider Monica Cruz as a possibility for Esmeralda.

Monica Cruz picture image

Monica Cruz

I know nothing about her aside from the fact that she Penelope Cruz’s younger sister and as a joke on 30 Rock said, younger hotter sister. Really, they look a lot a like. Cruz doesn’t have the same long filmography as her sister so I would be lying if I said I have seen much of her sample of work. What I can gather about Cruz from what I have seem is that she is cast for being attractive. She along with her sister are both dancers who have been trained, Cruz studied Flamenco and traditional ballet at The Royal Academy of Dance. So if she were cast it would promise as good dance number.

Monica Cruz picture image

Monica Cruz

Cruz is too old to play Esmeralda as she is the book. Cruz is 38 and Esmeralda is 16. Can a movie cover it up and make Esmeralda older? If the film maker wants yes, they can also put the setting on the moon if they want, doesn’t make a good idea. But really it’s mute point. Most of the time the character Esmeralda is changed so much anyway that making her like her like she is the book would be novel. Esmeralda is typically overtly sexual and with the casting of Cruz that is what it seems they are (or were) going for.

Monica Cruz picture image

Monica Cruz

Cruz does have a good look. Esmeralda is supposed to have an exotic look. Films version seldom do the backstory as the book has it, where she the daughter of a French woman and an unknown father. But that dark sultry look seems to the going look for Esmeraldas. Personally I can see an actress of Spanish decent or Indian being good in the role. So Cruz has it in the looks department.

Monica Cruz picture image

Monica Cruz

Would Cruz be a good Esmeralda for this movie version of Hunchback? I can’t say but I would say yes given the standards ideas Hollywood has for the character even though the Max Ryan version is an independent movie. Then again this version has a giant in it so my opinion of this movie is low and I’m not sure how good it will be in the first place.

Last week this Live Action Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame Fan Casting came up on my google alerts. So let’s review their choices.

First off on the whole this article seems to think singing is needed in the casting though so far none of the Live-action Disney versions have been musicals so that shouldn’t be  a factor.

Josh Gad as Quasimodo

Josh Gad for Quasimodo picture image

Josh Gad

I don’t see it. Gad has a goofy comedian vibe but I don’t see him as sweet, insecure Disney Quasimodo. I would hate, HATE to say it but he is better suited for Hugo and I hope the Gargoyles would be cut out or at the very least CLEAR figments of Quasimodo’s imagination.

Rosario Dawson as Esmeralda

 

Rosario Dawson for Esmeralda picture image

Rosario Dawson

I’m a little torn on this one. On the one hand I can see her pulling of Esmeralda as Disney depicted her but on the other hand I don’t think she is the best casting choice there is.

I think Disney should try for some Bollywood IT girl or something. Deepika Padukone is popular fan choice as well as Priyanka Chopra who is one few Bollywood actors to make the jump to Hollywood as she on ABC’s Quantico which makes Chopra the first South Asian to headline an American network drama series.   Or Jana Perez would be a good option for Esmeralda and has the benefit of being in another Live action Disney movie before like Mr. Gad.

Zachary Levi as Phoebus

Zachary Levi for Phoebus picture image

Zachary Levi

I can see this one working. He has the right type of look for Phoebus and could pull off Phoebus’ witty and brave personality.

Alan Rickman as Frollo

 

Alan Rickman for Frollo picture image

Alan Rickman

This a yes and a no. First yes, Rickman as Frollo is like ideal casting that people all want but for Disney Frollo, it’s a little more iffy on that super austere design he has. But considering Disney Frollo’s design is based on Sir Cedric Hardwicke and Rickman has a similar screen presence I will go with a yes. I agree.

Neil Patrick Harris as Clopin

Neil Patrick Harris for Clopin picture image

Neil Patrick Harris

Again yes and no. Harris could pull off Clopin’s personality BUT he does not have the look. His look should resemble Esmeralda unless there something in the script to address it. Like Clopin in the book was the head of thieves I.E the Court of Miracles and not the leader of the Gypsies. In Disney movie he is the leader of  Gypsies. So it’s up to the script and or filmmakers who they can cast. But I think  the role should go to  someone else.

What do you think. Do you like these suggestions?

Adam Sandler picture image

Adam Sandler

If you thought last week’s Anti-Hypothetical Casting post was scary this sone is downright horrific because while Kim Kardashian has the means to set-up herself as Esmeralda I doubt she has the inclination but I could see Sandler wanting to play Quasimodo.

Adam Sandler picture image

Adam Sandler

Quasimodo is a fairly converted role for actors as not only do they get a very emotional role but they physical side of it also a challenge and though psychical demanding roles are REALLY what gets an actor notice, case-in-point  Eddie Redmayne getting the Oscar for The Theory of Everything. So if Adam Sandler wanted to play Quasimodo could and he would.

Adam Sandler picture image

Adam Sandler

Sandler has roots in comedy but he has been in some dramatic roles. He also has been is a decent amount of okay movies but he has been in so major crap that just seems like he wants to go on a trip with with friends and the movie is just an excuse. Unfortunately this how I see a Sandler attempt at The Hunchback of Notre Dame going. He would get his trip to Paris and have all his friends in the various other roles. You can use you imagination.

Adam Sandler as Opera Man from Saturday Night Live SNL picture image

Adam Sandler as Opera Man from Saturday Night Live

Also unfortunately I can really only in vision Sandler giving Quasimodo just a silly voice and that would be it for the acting front. Somehow I think it would be Opera man. I would say the physical side of the performance would be a reprise of Little Nicky. Also given that it would be an Adam Sandler movie maybe this version would follow suit with Enchanted Tales in that Sandler is actully handsome and he gets the girl in the end. And we would  get Rob Schneider saying “You can do it Quasi” when he saying Esmeralda.

Adam Sandler as Zohan with Emmanuelle Chriqui as Dalia in You Don't Mess with the Zohan picture image

Adam Sandler as Zohan with Emmanuelle Chriqui as Dalia in You Don’t Mess with the Zohan

Though one plus side of Sandler playing Quasimodo is that he could get Emmanuelle Chriqui is a popular choice for the role among people on the internet, though it would seem sad that it be wasted in an Adam Sandler movie.

Kim Kardashian picture image

Kim Kardashian

In my life I have to live with the fact that I have two thing in common with Kim Kardashian, which is two more than I could ever wish. One we are both half Armenian and we share the same birthday though a years apart. Because you may not know it though I do, today is our (eww) birthday. So because I like to scare myself  today we have a terrifying casting idea  which is Kim Kardashian as Esmeralda.

Kim Kardashian as Ava from emptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor picture image

Kim Kardashian as Ava from emptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor

First off, No! A thousand times NO to this one! Kim Kardashian couldn’t act her way out of a paper bag even if her role was a paper bag. The lady CAN NOT act. I saw a clip from  Temptation:Confessions of a Marriage Counselor in which she played, I have no idea, some lady named Ava. But in that one clip I could see that she was vapid, flat and unpleasant to watch. It’s like she had no idea what acting is or how to read a line.  It wasn’t even that bad kind of acting that is special to behold, it was like wanting to hammer yourself in the head till it stopped.

I maintain my position that Esmeralda is not a complex role to play but Esmeralda as a role is beyond Kim Kardashian acting powers. Now to be fair Kim Kardashian is not known for her acting prowess, she know she for a sex type and being a reality show star, whatever that means. So the mere idea of her being Esmeralda goes against the concept of the original character, a pure girl who is unaware of sexual appeal.

Kim Kardashian picture image

Kim Kardashian

On the acting front she is a Hell No but let’s not forget what acting is really about, how much a person looks like the character. I would say  Kim Kardashian could look like Esmeralda. Esmeralda has dark exotic yet European beauty at least in the book. As I said Kim Kardashian is half Armenian which is also what Helene Segara is ethically. Unlike Helene Segara, Kim Kardashian has a classic Armenian look. While I don’t think Esmeralda was Armenian in the novel, though we don’t know what her father was so she could be anything, Sister Gudule did wonder if Esmeralda could have been the Queen of Armenia in the book so shrugs. My guess it was an exotic place to Sister Gudule but it’s cool that it was mentioned. So Kim Kardashian gets a pass on looks. Though she is a little too old for the role.

Kim Kardashian picture image

Kim Kardashian

Never have I been more scared of an Anti-Hypothetical casting posting. I mean Anti-Hypothetical and Kayne West could do this if the wanted to and can you imagine Kayne West playing Quasimodo opposite Kim Kardashian  as Esmeralda. Being in a slasher flick would be less painful.

Nicolas Cage picture image

Nicolas Cage

I was talking to my friend and he said it’s better for these Anti-Hypothetical Casting post to have an actor who is wrongly appropriate to the character and thus we have Nicolas Not the Bees Cage.

Nicolas Cage as Castor Troy from Face/Off picture image

Nicolas Cage as Castor Troy from Face/Off

Though he did use to be a fairly well regarded actor now Cage has a reputation for being a parody of himself. This is because his sheer levels insanity and those faces he makes. Basically he hams it up for villains. The idea of hims playing Frollo is something of a scary thought but at the same time I would love to seem Cage hamming Frollo up, it would something of a delightful train wreck.

Nicolas Cage picture image

Nicolas Cage

As far as looks go, Cage has a weird face that matches his weird otherworldly expressions. He can either look soft or more angular pending on angle and/or lighting. In my supreme expert opinion I think Frollo should have an angular look as that is how the book depicts the guy. With some make-up he could look the part quite well, isn’t that scary……evil laugh.

Nicolas Cage as Castor Troy from Face/Off picture image

Nicolas Cage as Castor Troy from Face/Off

Cage is oddly good for the role, he known for playing villains and his overlook isn’t bad for the role. Could you just imagine Cage making insane faces and yelling, “Chose the Grace or my bed!”    It would be either  the most glorious thing ever put to film or the scariest.

Special Note- All this month every Wednesday there is will  be some very scary Anti-Hypothetical Casting posts.

Jane Lynch picture image

Jane Lynch

 

When it was first suggested to me to by Esmee I actually confused Jane Lynch for Jamie Lee Curtis, I don’t watch Glee. However I did see her when she was in an episode of Arrested Development  and in Christopher Guest’s Best in Show and I can say she is completely wrong in type for Sister Gudule.

Jane Lynch as Coach Sue Sylvester Glee picture image

Jane Lynch as Coach Sue Sylvester from Glee

First off, Jane Lynch is a comedy actress so that would mean for her to be cast they film would have to be silly AND follow Esmeralda’s backstory. Wait a sec did they already to that? However even in the 1999 French parody version, Sister Gudule’s counterpart was not a major characters. There is just something wrong making a woman who lost her chid in to a role that would NEED a comedic actress.

Jane Lynch picture image

Jane Lynch

Second, Jane Lynch is a tall lady at 6 feet, she doesn’t seem like a delicate flower. Though maybe Sister Gudule isn’t a delicate flower but she is Esmeralda’s mother and her nickname of Chantfleurie seems to indicate a small fair lady.

Jane Lynch picture image

Jane Lynch

 

Jane Lynch is one of the last people I would except to play Sister Gudule even if they did a comedic version of the story.