Yippee-ka-yay, motherfucker.
Christian Bale!
Daniel Day Lewis
Javier Bardem.
For some strange reason that only makes sense to me I’ve always envisioned Roland as Jonah Hex. And since Hex was recently played by Josh Brolin that’s the only person I can see playing Roland.
It makes perfect sense!
I could actually kinda go with this.
I can’t imagine Daniel Day Lewis would be willing to sign up for such a huge project, but he’d work great IMHO. He, Viggo and Jason Statham are at the top of my list (well, two of them are any way).
So who plays the Man in Black?
Stephen King, I’m sure.
What the fuck?
This is kind of a problem for me. I’m torn between different iterations of him throughout the series, and other very closely related books (such as The Stand).
What I see as Maerlin/Marten is much different than when I picture Flagg/The Walking Dude. The different iterations also seem to have distinct personalities, though all of them seem to be blessed with that wicked sense of humor.
One problem is making sure that the actor isn’t just brutal, or scary, or intimidating, but that he’s a funny mother fucker, that revels in the discomfort of others. He’s got a dry sense of humor, and it’s pretty damn funny to everybody but the victim, until the fact that he’s completely out of his mind, and a bit of a lose cannon, starts to manifest in the mind of his various associates and minions.
He has to have the charisma (and discipline) of a cult leader, and a strong sense of gallows humor.
Because of my shifting conceptualization of what The Man in Black is to me, my idea of the perfect candidate may not… jive with the picture other folks have in their heads – nor with the childhood back story King provided in book seven of the DT series.
My ideal candidate would be Benicio Del Toro. He can be a charismatic, brutally intimidating wild man, and gleefully insane to boot. I think I’ve seen Javier Bardem’s name tossed around here before too, but he isn’t wild enough – he just seems to lack that frazzled bit of borderline insanity the Man in Black wears on his sleeve.
Oh yea, my only real hang-up on Benicio are all the extended info-dumps, like during the Tarot Card reading at the end of Gunslinger. I’m trying to imagine Benicio explaining the multiverse theory and shit, I guess it would work if it were played out like a psychedelic drug trip. The biggest thing that fell flat for me in The Mist, was when the soldier dude tried explaining dimensional doors. Some people just can’t sell that shit.
I alluded that only two of the three I mentioned were on my list, Jason doesn’t really make the cut.
I agree with this. Daniel Day-Lewis would be a great Roland.
Also - Joshua Jackson as Eddie and Keith Carradine as Callahan.
I always sort of assumed that he had the ability to change his look, so you would maybe even use different actors.
Also… Jason Statham? I pray you are never the guy picking a cast for any movie.
He’d be fantastic, of course, but this:
I also love Viggo Mortensen, but again, the time this project will demand from its lead actors is likely going to prevent any well known actor from accepting the role.
Dude, the Statham thing was a lie! I even said so. I’d be as likely to want Statham for the Gunslinger as I’d be to want Carrot Top for Eddie.
And yea, the one thing the man in black has going for him is that he could easily be portrayed by different actors without going against the story.
NO PASSES
Jason Statham should be in every movie.
So am I the only one who thinks Mickey Rourke could be a brilliant move?
We’re talking about casting an aloof character who could be hundreds, maybe thousands of years old, comes from another universe, and you think Mickey Rourke is too out there?
If ever there was a man in desperate need of a loving son in his life, it’s Rourke. Which is, of course, what the whole damn things about.
See, the series only works because of sheer narrative muscle – not ideas, not invented myths, and certainly not logic. It holds together by the brute force of the storytelling, and the constant sense that the story is being dictated to, and not by, Stephen King (which obviously becomes a major plot point eventually). If the movies succeed at all, its because they’ll have the balls to let the story dictate the movie, much like King did with his novels.
Go big or go home, in other words.
Viggo Mortenson is expected.
Anyone resembling a young Eastwood is expected.
Forget that.
Next you’ll want Airbud as Oy.
Mickey Rourke is Mickey Rourke. He will never be Roland. At best he’ll be “Mickey Rourke as Roland.” Roland is old and hardened, not weird-looking.