Hypothetical Casting; Benedict Cumberpatch as Frollo

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Benedict Cumberbatch picture image

Benedict Cumberbatch

The time has come to talk about Benedict Cumberbatch and Frollo.

Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes in Sherlock picture image

Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes in Sherlock

Cumberbatch has been in many poplar things of late, he was the voice of Smaug and the necromancer in TheThe Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug , Khan in Star Trek Into Darkness, and he plays Sherlock in the BBC version o fSherlock. He was also in 12 years a slave and is rumor to be up for a role in Star Wars VII.

Benedict Cumberbatch picture image

Benedict Cumberbatch

Cumberbatch would make a wonderful Frollo. In addition to being a popular actor is also a good actor. He display a great deal of intensity which is necessary for a Frollo. Cumberbatch is also very aware of the camera, meaning that he understands that connecting to the camera will connect to audience. This skill would enhance the depiction of Frollo.

Benedict Cumberbatch picture image

Benedict Cumberbatch

As far as looks go, Cumberbatch has an angular face which could be made to look austere and make-up and styling can give him more of a Frollo look.he is also 6 feet so that would work very well to be an imposing goblin monk. Cumberbatch voice is very similar to Alan Rickman, which is a plus.

Benedict Cumberbatch picture image

Benedict Cumberbatch

What do you think would Benedict Cumberbatch make a Frollo in a film adaption of The Hunchback of Notre Dame?

Anti Or Pro Hypothetical Casting; Taylor Swift as Fleur de Lys

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Taylor Swift picture image

Taylor Swift

I admit, I don’t care for Taylor Swift. Her music does nothing for me and  the fact the she plays an instrument and writes her songs maybe a feat in the current music scene but it’s not like she a huge talent that warrants vast praise. No, I’m not a fan of  Taylor Swift and I had intended this post to be anti-casting but the more I thought about her as a Fleur de Lys for an English version of Notre Dame de Paris the less I dislike the idea. I would say that if this ever did happen, I would complain but it’s way a more  palatable casting choice than most pop singers.

Taylor Swift from Love Story picture image

Taylor Swift from Love Story

 

Taylor Swift was up for the role as Epoine in Les Mis. It’s unclear if she did get the part or not but Epoine didn’t suit her but Fleur de Lys does. Swift has a reputation for being sweet and speaking to the teenage girls but on the flip side, she can be mean if you piss her off. Fleur de Lys in Notre Dame de Lys is both these things. At the start, she in love but as the play goes on she gets cruel and demands Esmeralda’s death and she gets away with it. Vocally, the English version is something I could see Swift being able to pull off.

Taylor Swift picture image

Taylor Swift

Swift also fits the standard looks for Fleur de Lys, fair skin and blond. Only four Fleur de Lys have differed from this look and three were Korean. Most other Fleurs have to wear blond wigs.  So she at least looks the part.

Taylor Swift picture image

Taylor Swift

 

As much as I don’t like Swift, she wouldn’t be the worse choice, I can see it working but it pisses me off at the same time. I’m on the fence for this hypothetical casting. What do you think? Yay or Nay on Taylor Swift?

Scary Hypothetical Casting for Esmeralda

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Seeing how it is the month of Halloween when frights and terrors rule the land, let’s imagine a truly terrifying casting option for Esmeralda.

In my mind, the idea of Miley Cyrus playing Esmeralda is cringe inducing.

 

Miley Cyrus picture image

Miley Cyrus

Cyrus isn’t an actress. She fits more into celebrity end of fame. She says one thing on twitter and it’s everywhere. She shocks, so that people will talk about her.

But let’s discuss her as actress as that is what she started out as I guess and that is the point of this post. To put it bluntly, she can’t act. I have seen her in the Hannah movie, Bolt and 30 grueling minutes of Last Song. Cyrus can only act like herself; a self-indulgent women-children who thinks having fun is partying and being overtly vulgar.

The idea of her playing any character from literature is bone-chilling. She can not play characters that have any complexity or depth. Even Esmeralda in the novel is too complex for her acting skills.

If she were to play Esmeralda can you imagine the dance scene *shudders*. And then the rest of  it would be hackneyed and hammy. Of course, Cyrus doesn’t seem to be concerned with acting these days but the threat looms, like Slenderman lurking in a deep dark forest.

If however she ever got it in her head to play Esmeralda she has means to do it. Let that  thought  steep into your mind and then stop your heart in the small-hours of the night when hell opens upon you.

Hypothetical Casting for Frollo; David Bowie

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While the prospect of an English movie version of Notre Dame de Paris is probably the last thing Hollywood would ever do, it’s still fun to contemplate who should be cast in a role for it. Obviously for a musical you need actors who can sing and act. So who would make a good Frollo?

David Bowie picture image

David Bowie

I think David Bowie would make a great Frollo. First off, he can sing and he has a lot of theatrically to his voice which is necessary for Frollo. Second, he can act.

David Bowie as Jareth from Labyrinth

David Bowie as Jareth from Labyrinth

Bowie is most well known for his role as Jareth the Goblin King in Jim Henson’s Labyrinth. Jareth on the surface isn’t the most complex role but there is a lot shades of complexity which Bowie communicates very well.

David Bowie as Maj. Jack 'Strafer' Celliers in Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence picture image

David Bowie as Maj. Jack ‘Strafer’ Celliers in Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence

He did play a more dramatic and complex role in Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence . In that  he plays Maj. Jack ‘Strafer’ Celliers. The film is about the relationship between four men in a Japanese prisoner of war camp during World War II. Bowie’s character is rebellious and he harbors a secret that torments him (fun hint, it involves a Hunchback).

David Bowie picture image

David Bowie

David Bowie also has a good angler look for Frollo. He just seems to be an all round great choice for the role.

Hypothetical Casting for Esmeralda; Alica Vikander

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You know who would make a really great Esmeralda? Alica Vikander!

Alica Vikander , picture image

Alica Vikander

Alicia Vikander is a Swedish actress who has been in some major films recently. She was the star in A Royal Affair, she played Kitty in the 2012 Anna Karenina film and she is in the upcoming Seventh Son and The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

Alica Vikander picture image

Alica Vikander

Vikander has a very good look for Esmeralda. She has a nice olive complexion, dark eyes and dark hair.  She also has a very expressive face. In addition to being a fine actress she was a dancer. She studied Ballet for nine years before making the decision to quit when she was sixteen.

Alica Vikander picture image

Alica Vikander

 

She just seem like she would make the perfect Esmeralda especially if a film went with Esmeralda original backstory.

Alicia Vikander, picture image

Alicia Vikander

What do you think, would Alica Vikander make a good Esmeralda who is there a better actress for the role?

Hypothetical Casting for Fleur de Lys; Julie Delpy

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Julie Delpy pixture image

Julie Delpy

Julie Delpy maybe a little old to play Fleur de Lys but I think she has the right look for her.

Julie Delpy, picture image

Julie Delpy

She has very classic features and I admit I tend to think of Fleur as a blond as she is meant to be the foil to Esmeralda’s dark and sensual look. So the Blond hair lighter eye is my preference for Fleur.

Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke in Before Midnight picture image

Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke in Before Midnight

Delpy is a French who best known for “Before Sunrise.” The third is this series of movie “Before Midnight” was just released. She was also in the 1993 Disney version of “The Three Musketeers” but only briefly.

Julie Delpy in Before Sunrise picture image

Julie Delpy in Before Sunrise

She a good actress and I think she do the role justice however she is a bit old to play her . However if Quasimodo can get away with 40 year olds playing him all the time why not the other characters?

Hypothetical Casting for Esmeralda; Hafsia Herzi

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Hafsia Herzi, picture image

Hafsia Herzi

A really good option for an actress to play Esmeralda would be Hafsia Herzi. Herzi is a French actress of Algerian and Tunsia decent.

Hafsia Herzi, picture image

Hafsia Herzi

She defiantly has a good look for Esmeralda but more than that she is a very good young actress. She bring a lot of depth, maturity and subtly to her roles. She also has one trait that an actress playing Esmeralda should have; she has a natural sensuality. I think she could either bring a new facet to the character or pull off Esmeralda persoanlity in the book while still being likable.

Hafsia Herzi as Rym in The Secret of the Grain picture image

Hafsia Herzi as Rym in The Secret of the Grain

She has also played some one named Esmeralda one before in The Source. And she performed a memorable Belly Dance in The Secret of the Grain.

Hafsia Herzi, picture image

Hafsia Herzi

Personally, I think she is a really good choice to depict La Esmeralda but what do you think would Hafsia Herzi make a good Esmeralda or do have another choice for the role?

Hypothetical Casting for Phoebus; Henry Cavill

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Henry Cavill picture image

Henry Cavill

After watching The Tudors, I thought Henry Cavill would make a great Phoebus. Cavill played Charles Brandon in The Tudors who was a close friend of Henry VIII. Cavill possess the sex appeal that Phoebus should have but he also have a smarmy quality as well as a warmth that would translate well to character. I also think he could bring a new angle to the character given the chance. Did I mention he playing Superman in the upcoming Man of Steel.

Henry Cavill as Charles Brandon from The Tudors picture image

Henry Cavill as Charles Brandon from The Tudors

Plus he was born in Jersey which is where Victor Hugo himself lived from 1852-1855. yeah it’s like providential and what not.

Henry Cavill picture image

Henry Cavill

What do you think? Would Cavill make a good Phoebus?

Henry Cavill as Superman, Man of Steel picture image

Henry Cavill as Superman, Man of Steel

Hypothetical Casting for Clopin; David Tennant

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David Tennant picture image

David Tennant

I was reading a blog that thinks that David Tennant should be cast as Clopin. And while the blog tells the reader not to take it seriously I agree David Tennant would make a great Clopin.

David Tennant as The Doctor, Doctor who, picture image

David Tennant as The Doctor

Devaid Tennant is most known for his playing of the tenth incarnation of The Doctor in the BBC version of Doctor Who and for playing Bartemius “Barty” Crouch Junior in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

David Tennant as Barty Crouch, Jr, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Picture image

David Tennant as Barty Crouch, Jr

Tennant is cheerful, charismatic and he has a quick witty way of talking that would be perfect for Clopin. However he can also be threatening. Both of these facets are integral to Clopin’s character.

David Tennant as The Doctor, Doctore who picture image

David Tennant as The Doctor

There just something about his mannerism and looks that I think make him an ideal choice for Clopin.

David Tennant picture image

David Tennant

Hypothetical Casting for Fleur de Lys; Holliday Grainger

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Holliday Grainger picture image

Holliday Grainger

Fleur de Lys isn’t the most fleshed out character in the Hunchback of Notre Dame but she does give Phoebus more of a characterization and with ease she could be made into more of a main character. Notre Dame de Paris did it after all.

Holliday Grainger picture image

Holliday Grainger

So who would make a good Fleur de Lys? I would say Holliday Grainger would make a fine Fleur de Lys. She is very lovely and sweet looking but in such a way that she could be devious and manipulative.

Holliday Grainger as Lucrezia Borgia picture image

Holliday Grainger as Lucrezia Borgia

She is best know for playing Lucrezia Borgia in The Borgias and if this isn’t an endorsement for casting her as Fleur de Lys I don’t know what is. She is also playing Anastasia in the upcoming Cinderella movie so that adds to her  capacity for the role of Fleur de Lys. Thouth I can’t help but to think she would have made a lovely Cinderella, nothing against Lily James. Though a wicked stepsister is more fun to play.

Holliday Grainger as Anastasia with Sophie McShera in Cinderellla picture image

Holliday Grainger as Anastasia with Sophie McShera in Cinderellla

 

But aside from looks, Grainger is a fine actress and she could pull off the character very well. I would just hope that Fleur de Lys would get slightly bigger role in future movie/television adaptations.

Holliday Grainger as Lucrezia Borgia picture image

Holliday Grainger as Lucrezia Borgia

Off Topic – I’m really looking forward to Cinderella as a fan of The Borgias, Game of Thrones, and Downton Abbey. Get any of those actors in a Hunchback movie and my little heart might explode.