Casting for The Silmarillion

Cafe Society
1

Previous thread on such a movie, movies or miniseries: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=567348&highlight=silmarillion

It’s almost certainly too big, sprawling/disconnected and thematically diverse to ever all be filmed. But if it were, or if your favorite part of it were filmed, who do you envision in the various roles?

Just off the top of my head:

Morgoth: Ian McShane, Deadwood
Sauron: Jude Law, Sherlock Holmes
Luthien: Keira Knightley, Pride & Prejudice
Beren: Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker
Turgon: Daniel Craig, Casino Royale
Feanor: Ciaran Hinds, Munich

2

Since I read the Silmarillion in the 70’s right after it was released, My imagination populated it with 60’s cartoon characters.

Tuor: Dudley Doright

Idril: Nell Fenwick

Turgon must of course be Inspector Fenwick then.

Glorfindel: Race Bannon

Luthien: Jessica Rabbit

Beren: Crusader Rabbit

3

OK… and in 2012…?

4

Jessica Rabbit is a 60s cartoon character?

5

Surely she’d make a better Turin Turambar?

6

A bunch of people who haven’t been born yet.

I believe the work goes public domain 70 years after the death of the author-since Christopher Tolkien is still around, said film could be made no earlier than 2082.

7

Well, 1981. I retrofitted her in.

8

My only interaction with modern culture outside of the Jackson movies is “Deadliest Catch” and “Mythbusters”. So I can’t name too many current actors.

Sig Hansen would make a fine Caranthir, and Jamie Hyneman fits the bill for Brandir the Lame.

:slight_smile:

9

Sauron should be somebody super handsome who can play a bad guy. Matt Damon.
Morgoth should be the voice of James Earl Jones.

10

Feanor will be tough to cast. He’s one scary dude, but not in an evil way. We have plenty of actors who do scary evil, few who can do scary good.

11

Surely they could buy the rights. Otherwise how did the Harry Potter series get filmed?

12

If filmed in Brooklyn:

Manwe: Danny Aielo
Aule: Al Pacino
Mandos: James Gandolfini
Melkor: Robert De Niro
Sauron: Joe Pesci

If in Southern California:

Manwe: Andy Garcia
Aule: Bruce Willis
Mandos: Samuel Jackson
Melkor: Danny Trejo
Sauron: Cheech Marin

13

Christopher Walken?

14

I don’t think that the creation saga would be done justice by actors. You could make an abstract anime about it, though.

Same thing goes for the War of Wrath (except less abstract.) Great animation opportunities there, and done in an anime style it would be great to see elves’ eyes literally glowing with the light of the West.

15

After the dustup with Jackson and LoTR, and now The Hobbit as a trilogy?

Over Christopher’s dead body, which gets us right back where we started from.

16

Well, it could still be quicker if whoever inherits the rights from Christopher is more amenable to selling.

17

Too old. Feanor is an Elf, who presumably is forever physically at peak maturity, say, 21 years old. Who can do good scary at that age?

18

How about Jeremy Clarkson… “These Silmarils are the most wondrous gems… in the world.”

19

How would you cast Johnny Depp? I’d give him either Finrod Felagund or Earendil. But with his Sweeney Todd makeup, he’ll make a good orc officer.

20

Tom Bombadil! (Making up for the exclusion from LotR.)