I’d say the Dresden Chronicles, by Jim Butcher, but the problem in casting Harry Dresden is that he’s supposed to be 6’9" tall, and that’s kind of … a stretch. The closest current actor I can find would be Brad Garrett (the older brother in Everybody Loves Raymond), and I can’t see him in the part, and Kevin Durand, who I’ve only seen in Stargate: SG-1 and the Wolverine movies, and I dunno.
Otherwise, if I’d seen this in 2010, I’d have said Emergence, by David R. Palmer, with Chloe Grace Moretz. Main character’s supposed to be an 11-year-old girl, and she would have nailed it. Now, I’m not sure who the pre-teen actors are any more… Katie Douglas is 18 and could probably play the part, as she’s super-tiny (4’11").
Yeah, after I wrote that, I couldn’t think of why I thought that. Pretty much every description of her in Stiletto and The Rook can be summarized as “petite with dark hair” with no ethnic heritage specified. I mean yeah, she’s from Wales but so is Catherine Zeta-Jones.
I dunno if Byrne could pull off both versions. The star of Orphan Black would be my choice, as I can see her as mousey Myfanwy and assertive Thomas.
Anansi Boys. With Anthony Anderson* as Fat Charlie/Spider and Stephen Fry as Grahame Coates. Before the show, I would not have thought of this actor in this role, but based on his work as Pops on blackish, Lawrence Fishburne as Mr. Nancy. Pops and Dre have a similar relationship as Mr. Nancy and Fat Charlie, so it wouldn’t be a stretch for either actor.
I’m not familiar enough with black British actresses to cast Daisy and Rosie, so I’ll mention the only two I know - Freema Agyeman and Pearl Mackie.
Viola Davis for Callyanne Higgler, ** and Helen Mirren for Maeve Livingstone.
*Assuming he can do a decent Estuary accent, that is. Still, Fat Charlie was born in Florida and spent part of his childhood there, so an American accent is not stretching credulity for the character.
**On the other hand, I’m just going to assume an actress of her chops can manage a passable Caribbean accent.
Zachary Levi, of Chuck, who I think would be perfect for the role, is 6’3" - which isn’t quite there, but is still pretty tall for Hollywood. Just surround him with shorter actors.
I don’t really see Harry as having a wrestler’s build. He may be tall, but he’s not physically imposing. Remember, this is a guy who’s a badass for maybe 10% of the time; the remaining 90%, he’s either running away from monsters or getting the crap kicked out of him.
I’ve read all the Dresden books and never realized that Harry was supposed to be NBA-power-forward tall, as opposed to just ordinarily tall. I don’t think it’s essential to the character - just cast an actor who’s nicely over 6’0, and it shouldn’t be a problem.
That’s the thing - Butcher says he’s tall, but doesn’t write him tall. Murphy occasionally mentions it, and that’s about it.There are numerous instances where his height should have an impact on a scene in the books, or at least be noted. He spent years driving a VW Bug around Chicago. Living there I drove a Smart ForTwo, Mini Cooper, and Fiat 500 and always got comments and I’m just over 6’. (People on the street actually gasped once when I and a 6’5" friend got out of the Smart once).
As Dresden’s written, pretty much anyone could play him. It’s nothing like Jack Reacher, where his size is a notable part of the character (and they still used Tom Cruise).
It’s probably not too well known but there is a book called Nop’s Trials by Donald McCaig about a lost working border collie and his owner’s quest to find him. It is an adult dog story- it’s quite dark in spots and Robert Duvall was born to play Lewis, the dog’s owner.
…but he carries a big-ass gun and can wield a broadsword. And can carry off a leather duster. In my mind’s eye, he’s no Sheldon Cooper. At least by the time he’s the Winter Knight, he should be at “peak human” strength, IMO.
