i would think they would have the fellow from cos who played tom, play him again in hbp. why would you change?
in the scene where tommy asked headmaster dumbledore for a teaching job, his face had started to change toward the final version so makeup and special effects can be used on the actor.
I believe Zoë Wanamaker, who played Madam Hooch the broomstick instructor in the first movie, is American. She hasn’t been seen since, though.
She’s legally American, born in New York and still, apparently, holding US citizenship. She’s culturally (for lack of a better word) British, however, as she was raised there as a child and still lives there. According to her IMDB listing, anyway, which may be full of errors:
Only by accident of birth. Effectively, she’s English and always been seen in UK Productions.
Why shouldn’t the cast be all Brits or at least Brit linked (i.e. Irish)?
The stories are British, written by a British author,set in Britain and involve references to British legends and folktales. Fleur could have been truly French, but that is a small matter. Do Americans insist that they get actors from different continents to do horror films or the latest smash 'em up? It’s a British product-let it be British (I wish there weren’t American editions of the books).
I am glad there are no Americans (big stars anyway) in the picture–I’d rather watch Harry et al than Tom Cruise or Fred Savage or similar and wonder about their accents (like I did with Renee Zellwegger) etc. I realize that many of these stars are huge: Maggie Smith, for one–but their work is not so well known over here and that adds to the magic. YMMV.
As wish-list, I like Ian McNeice for Slughorn, Kevin Zegers for young Riddle (or anything else he wants to appear in), Geoffrey Hughes or Bill Nighy for Marvolo Gaunt, Townsend as Morfin Gaunt, and Orlando Bloom as Riddle, Sr…
Ah, and Geoffrey Rush as Fenrir.
I thiink they’re talking about Tom Riddle, Senior.
Are we given any clues as to her age? Helen Mirren can easily pass for 50.
These would be equivalent if the American and UK film industries were equivalent. As it is, when a part calls for a blonde-haired, all-American apple-cheeked boy, no one says, “Daniel Radcliffe!”
Hmmm…according to the wikipedia article on Cissy, she was born circa 1955, but there’s no cite for it. And Helen Mirren’s birthdate listed on the IMDB is 1945, so perhaps it’s not too far fetched.
But I was of the impression that Cissy was around Harry’s parents in age, and they died at 21ish 16 years before the final book, which would put that generation in their late thirties, early forties. Perhaps Cissy’s actual birthdate is listed in one of the countless Potter 'cyclopedias and verified by Rowling, but frankly I don’t care enough to find it.
I agree that Mirren would be fantastic in any role, ever. She’s just not the look I pictured while reading. I’d saw Narcissa as anorexically thin and and Botoxed and plasticed, not a naturally gorgeous 60something woman with curves.
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Hmmm…according to the wikipedia article on Cissy, she was born circa 1955, but there’s no cite for it. And Helen Mirren’s birthdate listed on the IMDB is 1945, so perhaps it’s not too far fetched.
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It says in DH that Lucius Malfoy was a prefect in fifth year when James, Lily, Sirius, Remus and Severus were sorted. I think they just made the assumption Narcissa was the same age.
It’s clear from the description of Hogwarts in the books that it’s a wizard school for all of the British Isles, so there are both British and Irish students there. I presume that what Rowling specified was that the actors had to be either British or Irish.
What Narcissa really needs to be is Keira Knightley, but aged 40.
What about Kate Ashfield as Narcissa? She’s not exactly tall and statuesque, but she’s got the glamorous blonde looks.
Or how about Gina McKee, but with a blonde wig (all the other Malfoys are played by non-natural-blondes).
The contract about using a British cast has nothing to do with Rowling having a hatred against Hollywood (although I used to think it was what it was, which made me not even want to continue reading her books until I learned the truth). The reason for that contract is that Hollywood was going crazy with ideas for the Harry Potter movies that were, simply put, crazy. Steven Spielberg wanted to direct this movie and use his A.I. star Haley Joel Osmond as Harry Potter. I kid you not. When he found out that the author was going to restrict his casting, he no longer wanted anything to do with the films. Once I learned this, I completely agree with that contract. The idea is that the Harry Potter series is supposed to take place in the UK, and most of the lead characters are British, and Rowling didn’t want her series ruined by Americans who couldn’t fake a british accent hijacking her characters.
I read that Stuart Townsend was to play the part of Bill Weasley. I tried to find the story that said that, but instead I found this.
If thats to be believed then none of this is true.
Ah well, damn. I knew it was too good to be true. Still, they’d better start releasing some casting info soon. The movie starts filming in a little over a month.
And, I love Helen Mirren as much as the next person, but unfortunately she’s too old now to be natural as Helena Bonham Carter’s sister. Cissy and Bella’s mom, or Sirius’s mother, maybe. That’d be cool.
Equipoise writes:
> And, I love Helen Mirren as much as the next person, but unfortunately she’s
> too old now to be natural as Helena Bonham Carter’s sister.
She’s only 21 years older, which isn’t that rare as a difference between sisters. And, anyway, “too old now”? She’s always been 21 years older than Helena Bonham Carter, so it’s no more unnatural now than before. But, at 61, Helen Mirren is 46 years older than her supposed child, so that would make her a little too old to be likely that she would be cast as Malfoy’s mother.
Ok, sorry about the OP being so wrong. I wasn’t sure if I should start a new thread or not, and decided no. I wish I could edit it though.
Helen McCrory is Narcissa Malfoy. There’s no good picture on the IMDB page, but here’s one.
I know her mainly as Cherie Blair in The Queen. According to the story linked above, she was originally cast as Bellatrix, but had to drop out when she got pregnant, paving the way for Helena Bonham Carter. Now she gets to be Bellatrix’s sister.
That article also says that we should soon know who’ll be playing Lavender Brown and the young Tom Riddle.
I’m really looking forward to seeing Fenrir on the big screen. If done right, he could be terrifiying.
It’s just pure fantasy casting, but would Benicio del Toro be too old? I heard he was to be in a remake of the Wolfman and I thought that was inspired casting so why not Fenrir, too?
I can see Naomi as a Malfoy if only for her fitting well visually with the actors who play her family. I don’t actually remember much about her role in the story except for near the end of the Deathly Hallows, for which she does seem like a good fit to me.
