‘Wheel of Time’ Series at Amazon Rounds Out Main Cast

I must admit I am exited about this.

The book series is good if somewhat bloated in later books. The show sounds like it will turn out closer to Game of Thrones (early seasons) than the awful The Shannara Chronicles.

It's a high fantasy world, so I'm not too fussed about the race of the actors - I'm fine going color blind casting in such situations. However, the casting choices that ignore the book-described races/appearances of these characters (in the books all five of these should be white people from a region "historically" white vs. other characters and regions that are different races) reflects a growing concern within the fandom that it's just going to be another agenda-driven story, rather than a closer adaptation to the books and characters people love.

The books already have a slight orientation toward powerful women (Aes Sedai) who think men are either dangerous or idiots. The basic notion of the Wheel (of the titular Wheel of Time) is the tension between opposing forces that should be equal and opposite. Also, Robert Jordan differentiated cultures and races - in some ways he was rather lazy about stereotyping culture and using character appearance/race as a stand in - you knew what a character was like if she were a Domani vs. Andoran. Race became characterization in some cases.

The only one that really doesn't make sense is the Marcus Rutherford as Perrin (center in the picture) - he's supposed to be a burly blacksmith's apprentice. People are loving the actor on the right for Matt Cauthon. And surprisingly, few people are up in arms about the two women.

They cast Lan:

Daniel Henney. I wonder if this means the borderlands will be mostly Asian of if they're not going to bother.

r3 I wanted to post this the other day but wondered how many DLers know who he is. He's a dreamboat! 😍

I’ll be watching.

r5 Looks a bit like young Hayden Christensen...

R5 damn. Any more pics of that hottie?

The Shannara Chronicles were godawful. I did enjoy the lead guy getting buff in the second season though.

r7 His Insta doesn't have many posts, but there are some shirtless pic there.

Stunning! 😍

I pray they don't give Josha a bad red dye job like they did for KJ Apa for Archie since the Aiel are supposed to all be blonds and redheads.

Stradowski looked really familiar to me, so I checked his IMDB - but hadn't seen anything that was listed there.

"However, the casting choices that ignore the book-described races/appearances of these characters (in the books all five of these should be white people from a region "historically" white vs. other characters and regions that are different races) reflects a growing concern within the fandom that it's just going to be another agenda-driven story, rather than a closer adaptation to the books and characters people love. "

How, exactly, does changing the look of the characters affect the story?

Because certain characters are supposed to stand out, look like a different race or ethnicity than others. Why the hell shouldn't the casting people be able to work with differences in skin color or facial features, rather than just presenting the audience with a redhead surrounded by brunettes.

[quote]How, exactly, does changing the look of the characters affect the story?

By selectively quoting responses to try to score points - "It's a high fantasy world, so I'm not too fussed about the race of the actors - I'm fine going color blind casting in such situations."

But, to answer your question, the concern is that the adaptation will sacrifice story in order to achieve other non-story or character goals. No one wants to see a diverse cast, they want to see Nynaeve brought to life by a terrific actress. Frankly, there was grumbling because Rosamund Pike is too tall for Moiraine - whose height is an integral part of her character and characterization.

But, the vast majority of fans of the books are willing to take a wait and see attitude with the hope that these folks who look nothing like the characters described in the books really are the best actors (based on acting) to bring the characters to life, rather than diversity stunt casting choices.

Why is something that should be the norm called "stunt casting"? Frankly, I find all-white casts stunt casting in this day and age (ahem, Succession).

[quote]No one wants to see a diverse cast

Speak for yourself. I'll [italic]only[/italic] watch if there's a diverse cast. Otherwise, forget it. So sick of white people moaning and bitching about this sort of crap all the damn time.

It's like you people are selectively reading and purposely trying to be OUTRAGED.

[quote]Why is something that should be the norm called "stunt casting"?

The point was that fans of the books are going to watch because they are fans of the story, not because of stunt casting to get attention for being woke. People who are not fans of the story are not going to know or care whether these actors fit the book descriptions, so it isn't stunt casting and would also fail to get attention.

[quote]Speak for yourself. I'll only watch if there's a diverse cast. Otherwise, forget it.

Well, most people are a bit more discerning than that and don't watch shows just because it's a diverse cast. Most people tend to watch shows because they are interested in the story.

That and, of course, you only quoted part of the sentence.

[quote]No one wants to see a diverse cast, they want to see Nynaeve brought to life by a terrific actress.

No one is bitching about the casting. If you actually could read, you might spend much less time OUTRAGED.

"But, to answer your question, the concern is that the adaptation will sacrifice story in order to achieve other non-story or character goals. No one wants to see a diverse cast, they want to see Nynaeve brought to life by a terrific actress. "

To assess your non-sequitors individually:

1) The only people who are concerned that diverse casting equals unwelcome story changes are the kind of whiny man-babies who got the IMDB boards shut down. There are ALWAYS story changes! It's a necessary part of adapting a book to film.

2) The studio is betting that you're wrong about nobody wanting to see a diverse cast, they're thinking that maybe people other than white nerds might be willing to watch this. Because white nerds aren't that big an audience, not big enough to merit special attention in casting preferences.

3) And anyone who complains about something as trivial as an actor's height doesn't know enough about the casting process to be listened to.

[quote]However, the casting choices that ignore the book-described races/appearances of these characters (in the books all five of these should be white people from a region "historically" white vs. other characters and regions that are different races) reflects a growing concern within the fandom that it's just going to be another agenda-driven story, rather than a closer adaptation to the books and characters people love.

I was wondering that too. Yes, you absolutely can have a diverse cast and a good show; however, if producers think that driving an agenda is more important than creating a great production, you can end up with a lousy show. So far, the casting choices seem really odd, so that doesn't bode well.

No one is arguing that the story needs to be streamlined, as I noted in r2: "The book series is good if somewhat bloated in later books."

[quote]2) The studio is betting that you're wrong about nobody wanting to see a diverse cast, they're thinking that maybe people other than white nerds might be willing to watch this. Because white nerds aren't that big an audience, not big enough to merit special attention in casting preferences.

Funny. I was actually arguing that these actors probably were the best at bringing the characters to life. How nice for you to argue that they were only cast because of their races.

[quote]And anyone who complains about something as trivial as an actor's height doesn't know enough about the casting process to be listened to.

I think Peter Dinklage and the people who cast Tyrion Lannister would beg to differ.

[quote]I was wondering that too. Yes, you absolutely can have a diverse cast and a good show; however, if producers think that driving an agenda is more important than creating a great production, you can end up with a lousy show. So far, the casting choices seem really odd, so that doesn't bode well.

I wouldn't say odd, simply inconsistent with the way Jordan wrote them. However, if you check them out, they all seem to be good actors - definitely good enough that they should be given the benefit of the doubt until we see them in action on the screen.

But, as you (and I previously) noted, it did make people pause and wonder how faithful they intended the adaptation to be - would we see another Lord of the Rings or would it be a mess like The Hobbit? A good adaptation like Game of Thrones or mess like Golden Compass and Earthsea.

It will be garbage.

"But, as you (and I previously) noted, it did make people pause and wonder how faithful they intended the adaptation to be - would we see another Lord of the Rings or would it be a mess like The Hobbit? A good adaptation like Game of Thrones or mess like Golden Compass and Earthsea. "

Well of course everyone wonders that about every film production ever made, but it's not something you can judge in advance from the diversity of the casting.

Honestly, all you can tell from the casting is whether the actors they're hiring are good or not. Since I've never heard of any of them except for Pike, all I can say at this point is that Pike is always good and is a great choice for the role. So what if she's average height, instead of short, as the character was written in the book.

[quote]Well of course everyone wonders that about every film production ever made, but it's not something you can judge in advance from the diversity of the casting.

Casting characters (not diversity casting, per se) who did not match their written descriptions, coupled with what appeared to be diversity casting was what got some fans concerned about the showrunner's priorities and what sort of adaptation it might be.

My only point about her height was that it shapes how Moiraine interacts with many of the characters throughout the novels. I think that Rosamund Pike was an extraordinary get for the role - I never imagined they'd get someone like that. Whatever changes that arise to her character because she's no longer diminutive in height take a backseat for me to seeing someone that good in the part.

Frankly, if they're abandoning the book descriptions, I think it opens some very interesting possibilities for some of the other characters like Aviendha, Min, Thom Merrilin. My new campaign: Idris Elba or Chiwetel Ejiofor for Rhuarc - though I wonder whether the it might be viewed as unacceptable given the Aiel as the "noble savage." Apparently, there was a huge whitewashing hubbub over casting Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One, but there was also hubbub over casting an old Asian man because it was so cliche, even if he was one in the comics.

"Casting characters (not diversity casting, per se) who did not match their written descriptions..."

Filmed characters almost never match their written descriptions, not closely. Even in productions where serious attempts are made to live up to the book-fans' visual expectations, such as "Lord of the Rings", you get a bunch of blonde or blue-eyed leading hobbit characters when the books clearly state that 99.9% of hobbits have brown hair and brown eyes. Really, trying to get to close to the visual description in the books limits the casting directors too much, and in this case, only pleases a small number of people.

So there have been times when I've raised an eyebrow and diversity casting, but not in this case. Rand is supposed to look glaringly different from everyone else in the village where he grew up, so different that IMHO putting a redhead in a village full of brunettes won't make him look different enough. But using actors of a different race would absolutely, positively, get the point across that one of the village kids is very different than the others.

I'm fine with this cast until I see them in character interacting with each other. I want to see real chemistry between them.

I am having a bit of trouble picturing Daniel Henney and Zoë Robins together, but too early to tell for certain.

I can't wait until they start announcing some of the Foresaken casting. That seems like an opportunity for some really wild choices. As far as it goes, I hope they just ignore the agelessness with the Aes Sedai and just go with women of various ages consistent with the characters' personalities.