Lea Seydoux picture image

Lea Seydoux

Ah, Ms.Seydoux, we meet again. For those of you who read thehunchblog with some regularity you will recall Lea Seydoux played Belle in the the 2014 French version of Beauty and the Beast, read review here. I didn’t get much into the acting though I did say it was good despite the material, I don’t think there was much to work with in that movie.

 Lea Seydoux as Sabine Moreau in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol picture image

Lea Seydoux as Sabine Moreau in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol

As for Lea Seydoux as Fleur-de-Lys, this casting as been recommend a few times and even as a comment on the Belle et La Bete review by Theodore Black. Seydoux is a fairly big name actress, she was in the critically acclaimed Blue is the Warmest Color , Midnight in Paris, Farewell My Queen and a small role in The Grand Budapest Hotel (I love that movie). She has also been other big movies like the 2010 Robin Hood , Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Inglourious Basterds, and the new James Bond movie, Spectre. I would say for the role of Fleur-de-Lys the movie would have to be attracting big name actors or have a power-house director or the they would have to up the role of Fleur-de-Lys, or both. Personally I find Fleur-de-Lys more interesting than Esmeralda and one could do a lot with the character other than making her just a haughty bitch, though nothing is wrong with that.

Lea Seydoux as Madeleine Swann in Spectre picture image

Lea Seydoux as Madeleine Swann in Spectre

I think Seydoux has the acting chops for however the film depicts Fleur-de-Lys‘ character. Seydoux has a very warm and natural acting sensibility that translate to most characters she plays.

Lea Seydoux picture image

Lea Seydoux

For looks, Seydoux has a very classic French look. She is lovely but there is an interest to her that makes her interesting than just a typical pretty person. Her seemingly standard look is blond hair and blue eyes, though she does sport other hair colors like brown. Blue eyes and blond hair is the classic foil to Esmeralda’s exotic darker look, so she fits that criteria.

Lea Seydoux picture image

Lea Seydoux

All in all Lea Seydoux would make a flawless Fleur-de-Lys, she is definitely one of the stronger hypothetical casting picks I have posted about. What do you think? Lea Seydoux for Fleur-de-Lys? Or someone else?

Chris Pine picture image

Chris Pine

Recently Chris Pine was suggested for Phoebus but I think I have seen this suggestion before.  Phoebus is an interesting character for films to adapt, he can be the smug jerk or a hero , do so casting for the role is based on what the script calls for, though to be fair you can say that about any character in Hunchback. Pine however would be a good choice for either need, he can be heroic or a jerk.

Chris Pine as James. T Kirk from Star Trek   picture image

Chris Pine as James. T Kirk from Star Trek

Pine has been in a few popular movies, most notably as James T Kirk in the Star Trek reboot. He was also Prince Charming in Into the Woods and a smarmy jerk in that Princess Diary sequel. It’s pretty fair to say that if Pine were casting he probably would follow suit and his Phoebus would be an arrogant yet likable jerk. Maybe not a hero but more likable than book Phoebus but that does take very much.

Chris Pine  picture image

Chris Pine

 

How is Pine for looks. The only thing we really know about Phoebus is he is handsome in a resplendent way with a mustache, most version just make him handsome in a fashionable way. Pine has no complainers in the look department but his fairer features would be a nice contrast to Esmeralda’s darker one so yes Pine looks the part.

Chris Pine  picture image

Chris Pine

Chris Pine seems like  the perfect choice for Phoebus but what do you think?

Jim Carrey picture image

Jim Carrey

I asked on Facebook for a casting suggestion and I got an Anti-Hypothetical Casting for Jim Carrey as Clopin. My first thought was “Oh, Dear God!”

Jim Carrey picture image

Jim Carrey

Jim Carrey is known as a comedy actor so for him to even play Clopin the tone would have to be comedic, which has been done before but I REALLY doubt Hollywood would do that to a Victor Hugo Novel or the casting director would have to high as fuck or bribed. Though maybe Canada would make a humorous Hunchback movie starring Jim Carrey as Clopin. Or the scariest option and one that is more likely, Disney’s Live action remake with Jim Carrey as Clopin.

Jim Carrey  as Lloyd from Dumb and Dumber picture image

Jim Carrey as Lloyd from Dumb and Dumber

But the question is why Jim Carrey shouldn’t play Clopin. To be perfectly frank Jim Carrey is one of those actors who is known for the goofy dumb humor a la Dumb and Dumber, Ace Ventura, etc (I’m sure there are more). However Jim Carrey also has been in a lot of roles that while are comedic they do have a seriousness to them like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Truman Show, etc (again I’m sure there are more). So Carrey wouldn’t be a bad option really if the tone of the movie was in keeping with kind of acting style.

Jim Carrey with Elmo and Telly on Sesame Street picture image

Jim Carrey with Elmo and Telly on Sesame Street

So one on level, I could see him working as Clopin on like how Disney portrayed him, where he is the fun-loving, silly leader of the Court of Miracles. However Carrey isn’t that threatening even though he has played a villain before as Count Olaf in Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events but it’s not the same as Clopin’s menace.

Jim Carrey picture image

Jim Carrey

I don’t think Jim Carrey would be the worst casting choice for Clopin but I would deeply question it.

Lily James  picture image

Lily James

Skylar suggested in the comments on https://www.thehunchblog.com/2015/03/the-top-ten-worst-non-disney-princess-movies/ that Lily James should play Fleur de Lys, and I agree I think she was make a fine Fleur de Lys.

Lily James as Lady Rose MacClare Downton Abbey picture image

Lily James as Lady Rose MacClare Downton Abbey

Lily James is most well known for her role as Lady Rose MacClare on Downton Abbey and as Cinderella in the 2015 live action version. She is also in a few big name upcoming projects like Natasha in a War and Peace mini-series and playing Lizzie Bennet in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. She has also been in Fast Girls (which is about running,) Wrath of the Titans, and Secret Diary of a Call Girl . I just want to say this is my third hypothetical casting post with Downton actors.

Lily James as Lady Rose MacClare Downton Abbey  picture image

Lily James as Lady Rose MacClare Downton Abbey

I have seen a few clips of her in Fast Girls and Secret Diary of a Call Girl in addition to Downton Abbey and Cinderella. I’m just going to say that her role as Cinderella is not a very good bias to judge her as Fleur de Lys as she is all sweetness and dreams in that flick. But considering her other work and Rose in Downton Abbey I think that she could carry the role of the haughty yet insecure Fleur de Lys very nicely.

Lily James  picture image

Lily James

As far as looks goes, Lily James sports blonde locks which is the general look for Fluer de Lys, although at times she has brown hair. But more than just her hair, she has this innocence look to her that can look supreme at times. Like a super upper-crust kind of look that a noble like Fleur de Lys would have. In a weird way she reminds me a little bit of Julie Zenatti from original cast of Notre Dame de Paris but I’m not sure why.

Lily James  picture image

Lily James

What do you think, would Lily James make a good Fleur de Lys? Wouldn’t it be cool if he had a Hunchback version that was fill of Downton Actors? And don’t forget to read War and Peace and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies!

Samantha Barks  picture image

Samantha Barks

A movie version of Notre Dame de Paris is a compelling idea. It has an artistic representational quality with a gritty style that could be really fun as movie but who could you get for the roles of such a movie? Oddly, one can just look to the last big budget Victor Hugo movie for a candidate for Esmeralda, one British actress Samantha Barks.

Samantha Barks as Emily Barstow in The Christmas Candle  picture image

Samantha Barks as Emily Barstow in The Christmas Candle

Samantha Barks played Eponine in the 2012 version of Les Miserables which rumor has it she beat Taylor Swift for. Prior to that Barks was part of reality show where the winner got to play Nancy in Oliver, called I’d Do Anything (appropriate name for a reality show) and played Eponine on stage. Since Les Mis (and at the time I’m writing this post) she has been in two other movies, Christmas Candle, and a minor role in Jack And The Cuckoo-Clock Heart. However Barks is in a few upcoming movies, so we’ll see how her career goes.

Samantha Barks as Eponine in Les Miserables picture image

Samantha Barks as Eponine in Les Miserables

On an acting front, Barks seems to be fine. Her depiction of Eponine was heartfelt but I don’t think the role of a tragic girl doomed to the friend zone isn’t all the hard to convey effectively. And her role is The Christmas Candle, it was was okay, though to be honest I really couldn’t get in that movie at all maybe because watching a Christmas movie in April doesn’t have the same impact, also it was beyond sappy, like chokingly saccharine. And I didn’t see the Jack And The Cuckoo-Clock Heart movie. However I think she could pull off Esmeralda on acting and singing end as Barks does have a lovely voice.

Samantha Barks  picture image

Samantha Barks

But how is she on the looks? Much like Esmeralda, Barks has the dark eyes and the dark hair that Hugo described Esmeralda has having, though Notre Dame de Paris does seem to like Esmeralda with red hair, though I think Barks might look ok with a touch of red but that it not a necessity to the role. Barks also has an earthy, natural quality about her which I think for a Notre Dame de paris Esmeralda is a good thing. The musical Esmeralda never seem to be the innocent celestial creature that Hugo described but a beautiful, free-spirited dancer who loves life.

Samantha Barks  picture image

Samantha Barks

Samantha Barks has everything that a good Esmeralda should have, now we just need someone to make the movie and cast her in it. I would love to hear her sing Live for the One I Love, plus how fun would it be if Taylor Swift were to play Fleur de Lys off Samantha Barks’ Esmeralda? Fun might be the wrong word.

Anyway what you guys think of Samantha Barks for Esmeralda in a movie version of Notre Dame de Paris or just in Hunchback in general because she could just pull of the role in a straight adaptation though I see her more as Notre Dame de Paris Esmeralda.

Oh Wait, it’s already happen!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClXeb9B1Fuk&spfreload=10

 

Go to 2:20 for the picture proof.

Kevin Spacey  picture image

Kevin Spacey

Recently I have gotten in to Netflix’s House of Cards which stars Kevin Spacey as crazy ambitious politician and the show just reminded me how great an actor Spacey is but would he be good as Frollo?

Kevin Spacey  picture image

Kevin Spacey

I would say Hell Yes! He is a bit old for Frollo but considering some paths movie versions has taken with the character I would say he is average age. He doesn’t have Frollo’s angularness but make-up could help with that and there is a harshness to him that would work for the character.

Kevin Spacey  as Frank Underwood from House of Cards  picture image

Kevin Spacey as Frank Underwood from House of Cards

On the acting front I think he could pull off Frollo’s torment very well. Another selling point is that Spacey has already played a character who obsessed with a young girl in American Beauty.

Kevin Spacey   picture image

Kevin Spacey

Really I don’t think I need to explain Spacey as a great casting pick for Frollo.

Emmy Rossum picture image

Emmy Rossum

One name that pops up from time to time as a possible casting pick for Esmeralda, especially with regards to musical versions as in Notre Dame de Paris, is Emmy Rossum. Emmy Rossum is most known for her role in the 2004 movie version of The Phantom of the Opera as Christine Daae.

When I first saw the Phantom movie I really dislike it and her performance as I thought she was just weak on the vocals as well as Gerald Butler, however I have since soften on that opinion and I really don’t care. But Christine Daae is a very technically demanding role whereas Esmeralda in Notre Dame de Paris isn’t. Oh don’t get me wrong, you need a good singer but you don’t need someone who can hit that E6. So would Emmy Rossum make a good Notre Dame de Paris Esmeralda?

Emmy Rossum picture image

Emmy Rossum

Well, one thing Rossum has going against her on the looks front is her skin tone, she is pale. However I think musicals are more forgivable for skin tone. I say give her bronzer if she is the best person for the role and there is that pesky little question again. Her other looks fit into the scope of the token look for Esmeralda of Notre Dame de Paris, so she pretty good on the look front.

 

Emmy Rossum as Christine Daae from The Phantom of the Opera picture image

Emmy Rossum as Christine Daae from The Phantom of the Opera

But what about her voice? Like I said Rossum isn’t my favorite Christine Daae, to be honest I don’t have one I have a few but again not the question here. Rossum is often label as a lyric soprano which has warm full quality. Now I’m not going to pretend that I know anything about voice, I couldn’t tell you the difference between was it really means to be a Coloratura Soprano vs a Soubrette vs a Lyric Soprano. However listening to parts of Rossum’s Inside Out and Sentimental Journey I can say I prefer Rossum singing at the lower vocal register which is fine for Esmeralda. I think Rossum could sing to role perfectly well.

Emmy Rossum as Finoa from Shameless picture image

Emmy Rossum as Finoa from Shameless

But then there is acting. Post Phantom Rossum’s movie career took a little bit of a creditable hit as she appeared in some BAD movies. To be fair to Rossum, no actor in the history of humans could have acted well in Dragonball: Evolution, just pick a good actor and imagine them in that movie and they would seem bad. Rossum got some credit back as Fiona in the Showtime show Shameless which I haven’t seen but I saw her in a clip from it and she was good in it.

However like I have said Esmeralda isn’t a technically demanding role but there is some contradictions that a good Esmeralda should keep in balance as she must be sensual while maintaining innocence, she also should have be natural and celestial. Rossum’s role as Christine Daae is a good lead in to these dualities so I think Rossum could handle the role on the acting front.

Emmy Rossum picture image

Emmy Rossum

I think in the same way as I felt about Taylor Swift for the role as Fleur-de-Lys, Emmy Rossum wouldn’t be not my first choice for the role as Esmeralda but if were to happen if wouldn’t be the worst casting.
Actually I kind want Rossum to play Esmerada to Swift’s Fluer-de-Lys. Can we at least get them to sing Beau Comme le Soleil or Shining like the sun as it’s called in English? This is either a great idea or a terrible idea but I want to see it.

Anyway Yay or Nay on Emmy Rossum for Esmeralda from Notre Dame de Paris as like for a movie?

Naomi Scott picture image

Naomi Scott

A while back someone suggested Naomi Scott for the role of Esmeralda and after researching her a little I would agree.

Naomi Scott picture image

Naomi Scott

Scott is part Gujarati and part English giving her a nice look for Esmeralda, pending her backstory, though novel Esmeralda does have dark hair and black eyes so actresses with these features have an edge. She also has lovely yet innocence look to her which I think is lacking trait from the majority of actresses who play Esmeralda. Scott also has an advantage in that she can sing which Esmeralda does a lot but it is rather showcased in movies.

Naomi Scott as Mo from Lemonade Mouth picture image

Naomi Scott as Mo from Lemonade Mouth

As far as acting goes I have only seen her in Disney’s made for Tv movie Lemonade Mouth , which is not my kind of movie, a teen band movie where the lovable underdogs rise above the popular jocks and cheerleaders, yeah not my thing. However I didn’t loath the movie has much as I thought but to be frank a made for TV live-action Disney movie is not really a place to judge someone on acting. However like I have said, at Esmeralda’s core basic characterization, it’s an easy role to play and I think Scott would pull it off nicely.

Naomi Scott picture image

Naomi Scott

What do you think? Would Naomi Scott make a good Esmeralda?

Charles Dance picture image

Charles Dance

I may not be in favor of older men playing Frollo but I would say Charles Dance would make a Fantastic Frollo.

Charles Dance as Tywin Lannister from Game of Thrones picture image

Charles Dance as Tywin Lannister from Game of Thrones

Charles Dance is most popular known for his role as Tywin Lannister in Game of Thrones
but the guy has a very impressive acting resume. I has also been in a Phantom of the Opera adaption and Rebecca, two books I also like. He was also in Bleak House
which I watch but I didn’t read. He also has a lot project come out including the third witcher game and Pride and Prejudice and Zombie.

Charles Dance as  Mr. Tulkinghorn from Bleak House picture image

Charles Dance as Mr. Tulkinghorn from Bleak House

But why would he make a good Frollo. Think Dance just excel at acting and his voice would just be awesome for Frollo. I think he would just knock Frollo’s complexity and torture out of the park. While Dance would be old for Frollo in the purest sense of the novel, he would fit the part in the austere harsh way. The harsh angular look is ideal for Frollo and so many times we don’t see those traits in the Frollo character.

Charles Dance picture image

Charles Dance

If Charles Dance were to play Frollo I would be happy even if the purest part in my mind complain a little it would be quiet when Dance spoke his first line with an intense glare. What are your opinions on Charles Dance as Frollo