Garanos Film Casting
Over at Earthsong, awhile back, Lady Yates started up a discussion on who would play her characters in a film adaptation of her comic, and that got me thinking about the same for Garanos. Now, I don’t have any real solid ideas on casting (save for one) so I thought I’d open it up to the floor and see what ideas anyone else has.
There are basic guidelines for each of our leads as far as ethnicity is concerned:
- Naturally, Styx should be played by someone of Indian/Southern Asian ethnicity.
- Garanos can be a little more ambigious as far as race, but I often think of Greek/Mediterranean features when I picture a real-life version of her. Either way, her skin is slightly darker than typical Caucasian coloring. I suppose the actress could get around this by simply tanning. Gara also shouldn’t be too pretty. Her face should be striking, but not too conventionally pretty, if you get what I mean by that.
- The same goes for Senberan and Ethreden and all the rest of the Caywienites.
- Maryoku is pretty much Caucasian. There’s no getting around that one. The actress is allowed to be fairly pretty, preferably in a timeless way, given the immortality and all.
- Lucas, Jack, and the other Kaigan villagers are also Caucasian.
- Gharsena is a darker-skinned Asian. Cambodian, Indonesian, or Laotian.
- Feel free to suggest actors for other characters if they occur to you.
And I’ve already cast Geilen. It actually just occurred to me recently: Jenna Fischer.
If you follow my blog at all, it’s pretty easy to tell I’m a huge fan of the American adaption of The Office. I think Jenna certainly has the chops to play Geilen very well, not to mention she’s the perfect stature. (Read: short.) She could probably gain a little weight for the role, since Geilen’s not an especially slender woman.
I found this picture of Jenna in a bustier, and with some slight Photoshopping to test the proper hair and eye colors, I’d say she’s pretty much perfect:
Throw out some ideas for other actors in the comments! I’m interested to see what you come up with. ^_^
11/10/09 Edit: It occurred to me that back in 2006 when I was putting fresh coats of paint on character designs to start this comic, I referenced Sarah Chalke for some of Maryoku’s features. Sealing the deal on Sarah, here she is with Maryoku’s coloring:
Now, she’s mostly a comedy actor, but if she ever feels like taking on a dramatic role, I’ll be waiting! ^_~
11/12/09 Edit: I now present Greek actress Xristina Mantisi for the role of Garanos. :D
Keep ‘em coming! ^_^







November 9th, 2009 at 5:14 AM
My first thought for Garanos was Melina Kanakaredes from CSI: NY but she’s too tall.
November 9th, 2009 at 5:25 AM
How about Cynthia Addai-Robinson for Garanos?
November 9th, 2009 at 9:22 AM
How about Mia Sara for Maryoku? She was picture perfect in Legend from 1985.
James Duval for Styx. If you haven’t seen the Doe Boy, how can you really be living in North America? I sometimes wonder about non-native North Americans and their inability to know the first thing about indigenous peoples. Anyway, he’s dark enough, exotic enough, lovely but not overly so, and an actor with amazing emotional range.
November 9th, 2009 at 10:55 AM
Oh for the love of God, I have enough of a crush on Geilen as it is, and now you’re gonna have me thinking about Jenna Fischer every time I see her?? You’re EVIL.
November 10th, 2009 at 2:20 AM
Oh, I suddenly remembered that I referenced Sarah Chalke a bit for Maryoku’s features back in 2006 when I was refreshing character designs to start this comic. Looking at pictures now, she’d still be a good Maryoku.
November 10th, 2009 at 3:05 AM
Parminder Nagra as Garanos?
http://www.topnews.in/files/Parminder-Nagra25.jpg
November 10th, 2009 at 3:21 AM
And Monica Bellucci as Gharsena.
http://www.shockya.com/news/wp-content/uploads/monica_bellucci_red_carpet.jpg
http://www.examiner.com/x-5590-Acting-Examiner~y2009m9d8-Model-to-Matrix–Monica-Bellucci
And Tilda Swinton as anyone. ’cause she’s awesome.
November 10th, 2009 at 3:44 AM
I think Zoe Ventoura would be a great Garanos. Or Melanie Vallejo. (Australian actresses).
November 10th, 2009 at 4:01 AM
Ooh, I like both your suggestions a lot, Aquila. I could easily see either of them don the Harbinger tattoo and rock the role.
November 10th, 2009 at 5:09 AM
I immediately thought of this girl for the role of Garanos. She’s a Greek actress, young, a fresh face, beautiful but not overly so…
http://www.greenroom.gr/?link=actordetail.php&agtact_auto_serial=29
and how about Gael Garcia Bernal as Styx? (they’d make a really nice pair IMHO)
http://www.the-planets.com/star-biography/Gael-Garcia-Bernal-Biography.htm
oh… and I also second Monica Belucci as Gharsena :)
November 11th, 2009 at 4:42 AM
oh i love monica bellucci – she didn’t suit alex’s description of gharsena, but i’d love her for anything.
parminder and melanie both look good for garanos. zoe, not so much.
November 12th, 2009 at 6:34 AM
ok, i switch my vote for styx to naveen andrews – http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004710/
and toss up james duval for ethreden or senbe… http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001166/
November 12th, 2009 at 4:22 PM
I REALLY like Xristina Mantisi. She’s got a great face for Garanos! I think I’m going to go ahead and cast her. XD
I think Gael Garcia Bernal would be more suited for Ethreden. He’s got the right bone structure for him.
Naveen Andrews – very interesting! He might be a little older than the role calls for, though.