Way back in 2023 I wrote a post which went through the IMDB trivia page for the “Live action Disney Remake version of Hunchback of Notre Dame,” which Fun Fact is now listed under the title of “Tiana.”
Most of the trivia was an actor expressing interest in a role and according to the Trivia (which may or may not have been true,) Lin-Manuel Miranda expressed interest in the role of Clopin. To this bit of trivia I expressed ambivalence saying in that blog post ” On a personal level I think I would prefer another actor to play Clopin but I’m more ambivalent about this casting should it come to pass.” At the time, the project was still being worked on but there was no real news on it.
So while Disney has since shelved the live-action remake (at least while Iger is CEO) let’s just see if Miranda would/would’ve be a good choice for Clopin or if past me was correct in my ambivalence.
Also Fun fact, it’s been a while since we done a hypothetical casting pick for Clopin.
Miranda as the Leader of The Court of Miracles?
The first point is that Miranda’s interest in the role was for the Disney Live Action version which is a very pointed interpretation of the character. More often than not, Clopin is merged with two other characters making him the de Facto leader of The Court of Miracles which either means being leader of the Beggers, the Romani groups in Paris or both. For the Disney verison this mean the Romani of Paris. The Disney version also makes Clopin the narrator which can be seen as him is being merged with Gringoire, yet another character from the novel. So Clopin does a lot in the movie despite being a side character.
So the Disney version makes it very clear that their Clopin is a Romani, though there is no
specificity to a specific group of Roma people, Disney just does a stereotypical depiction.
In terms of ethnic backgrounds there should be some bases of sensitivity for casting actors in roles for characters that are members of a repressed minority. As for Lin-Manual Miranda’s ethnic background which is primary Puerto Rican, he would most likely be considered acceptable. He is not Romani but there are Roma groups from Spain so tangentially this casting idea is not the worst. There are worst options out there.
On Acting and Singing
So full-disclosure, I’ve never see Hamilton. Well not quite, long story super short, I watched the first 17 minutes of it in 2022 and was forced to turn it off, not because I wasn’t enjoying it, but another reason and I haven’t been mentally able to go back to it. But I 100% understand the appeal and there is no questioning of Miranda’s singing and dancing abilities. But what about acting?
Disney’s Clopin is a combination of levity and menace. He gets very gleeful at some darker elements of the plot. Miranda has done both comedoc and dramatic roles so he more than likely could play Clopin but I get the feeling he would play it very different than Paul Kandel’s voice acting which mixing the fun and danger of Clopin very well.
As it stands Clopin doesn’t seem like a hard role to play but it more relies on a very specific jaunty vibe. Maybe Miranda could pull it off. Despite Clopin having his fans and being a more marketable character for the animated version I get the feeling that Disney wouldn’t really care if a bankable actor like Lin-Manual Miranda couldn’t 100% nail down that fun-loving yet menacing characterization. So I think Miranda would be his own version of Disney’s version of Clopin, for better or worst.
Final Thoughts on Fan-Casting Lin-Manuel Miranda for Clopin
If Disney decided tomorrow to go forward with their live-action remake of Hunchback and cast Lin-Manuel Miranda as Clopin, it would be fine. He more than likely would be fine just fine in the role because again he has a suitable enough look/background and has the skill level to conceivable play the role. Do I think there is a better choice out there for the role, yeah probably. Are there worst picks for the role? Most defiantly! Would I be mad if Miranda was cast as Clopin? No. I’m more accepting to this idea than ambivalent. It’s not the worst which means it’s alright. Even if was a different version from Disney version he would still an okay casting choice.
But what do you think? Would you watch Lin-Manuel Miranda as Clopin? Or is that some kind of deal breaker for you?
