Dreamcasting 'A Tale of Two Cities'

[litlover12]

I promised to do this some time ago, for msantimacassar's meme, but it's taken me quite a while to come up with actors for all the major roles. Jerry Cruncher and Dr. Manette were especially difficult for some reason. But I think I'm finally satisfied. (Left out some of the smaller roles, like Ernest Defarge, Stryver, the Marquis, and The Vengeance. I had to stop somewhere or I'd never get finished. Feel free to offer suggestions for them, though -- or to offer alternate suggestions for anyone I've cast!)

Barsad: Mark Strong. He seems to have a knack for playing the slippery villain. And somehow I think he has the right look for it.

Jerry Cruncher: Ray Winstone. I haven't seen him in much -- only the BBC/PBS Great Expectations, I believe  -- but Magwitch was a good role for showing off both his rough and his softer sides, and I think he would fit.

Mr. Lorry: Denis Lawson. I loved him as John Jarndyce in Bleak House, and I think he would bring a warmth to this role that it needs. Mr. Lorry can't just be a fussbudget, he has to have something more to him.


Miss Pross: Maggie Smith. Gotta get my favorite living actress in there somehow, and crotchety Miss Pross is just right! My only qualm was that she might come across as a little too frail-looking for her first scene, where she has to whale on Mr. Lorry, but then I recalled Quartet, where she so convincingly beat Pauline Collins with a bouquet, and felt reassured.

Dr. Manette: John Hurt. As I said, this was a tough one. But when I was chatting with rachkmc about it, and we both separately came up with John Hurt, I knew we had a winner.

Little Lucie: Isabelle Allen. She was young Cosette in the Les Mis movie. She's not far from the right age, and she looks good blonde -- two important points. Plus she's a talented little actress, who can be sweet and feisty all at once.


Madame Defarge: Rachel Shelley. Milah on Once Upon a Time. I think she has the look and the attitude.

And now for the big three. I have a feeling some of you are going to groan at my Sydney Carton, but just bear with me. All will be explained . . .

Sydney Carton: Jim Caviezel. Seriously, now, hear me out. When someone first suggested the idea to me at Dickensblog, some time ago, I didn't think much of it at first. But it's been growing on me ever since. He can do accents and period costumes. He can be good with kids. He can snark with the best of them, then turn around and be sincere and sweet. He can do cynical and world-weary, and he can do lovelorn and heroic. He can, in short, do everything Carton has to do -- AND he can look smoking hot while he's doing it. (Carton IS supposed to be handsome, after all. It's right there in the book.) Don't know about you, but I'm sold!

Lucie Manette: Alicia Vikander. She was Kitty in Anna Karenina (and she also starred in A Royal Affair, though I haven't seen that one). She has a good blend of gentleness and quiet strength, and I find her strikingly pretty. And her age (24) is about at the midpoint of Lucie's age range in the book, so that should be fine. I did notice that my Carton has blue eyes and my Lucie has brown eyes, when I usually prefer it the other way around. But I'm not going to get hung up on minor details.

Charles Darnay: Anson Mount. If you think I Googled "Jim Caviezel lookalike," you're correct. Let's just hope he can do a French accent. (Of course Christian Bale looks even more like Jim Caviezel, but I really don't see Christian Bale accepting a lower billing, do you? Besides, we could end up with everyone preferring Darnay to Carton, and while it would be an interesting novelty, I'd rather not go in that direction!)

So there you have my ATOTC dreamcast. Thanks, msantimacassar, for the suggestion -- it's been a lot of fun putting this together. And now let the cheers and jeers begin!