JEWEL
First off, I did NOT picture him with a beard. Not at all! I actually pictured him to be more of a James Franco looking guy. If Darl and Jewel's actors had switched, that might have felt a little more right. But, if I got to choose who played Jewel, I would pick Tom Hiddleston.
Obviously a bit of a more rugged edged version of him, but still. The full faced beard on Jewel felt very off. A little facial hair, like pictured here, feels a little more similar to how I imagined him while reading the book.
DARL
James Franco is a great actor. He is awesome in certain roles (including the director's chair!) but as Darl, I wasn't a fan. I pictured Darl as more of a Mark Ruffalo.
So, James Franco and Mark Ruffalo look pretty similar. But I just feel like there's this little glint in Mark Ruffalo's eye that would have really brought out Darl's "crazy" side. I can just picture Mark Ruffalo urging Dewey Dell to leave her cakes behind, or nagging Jewel about who his father is.
DEWEY DELL
I thought that the casting for Dewey Dell was okay, except for I thought Ahna O'Reilly seemed a bit too old. Plus, I just kind of pictured Dewey Dell as Louisa Wendorff the entire time.
Granted, Louisa Wendorff is not an actress. She's a YouTube based singer (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYkYHhlXH9U). Oddly enough, throughout the novel I just pictured Dewey Dell to look like Louisa. I thought Ahna O'Reilly (and the entire cast) did an excellent job, she just wasn't quite how I imagined it.
ADDIE
I pictured Addie as this beautiful woman, far out of Anse's league. Not that Beth Grant isn't lovely, but I just somehow pictured Addie to look like J.K. Rowling.
Don't ask me why. I have no legitimization for this one.
Overall, I thought the casting of As I Lay Dying was really well done. Of course, reading the novel first, I developed early judgements on how I pictured certain characters, so I just thought it would be fun to express those! Did you guys picture certain people/actors portraying any of the Bundrens?
I'm conflicted over the casting because all of the actors were completely different than what I expected. We don't get much physical description of the characters, except maybe for Anse, so I feel like I shouldn't be surprised by it, but I don't know, it made the film seem a little off for me. I think the main thing was all of the children looked so much older than I expected. Dewey Dell is supposed to be around 16 or 17 and in the film she looked 25 (though I do think the actress did a good job), and Jewel, who is the youngest son, looked the oldest to me. Those are just my thoughts, but I think the film itself was interesting.
ReplyDeleteI didn't really like all the cinematics but maybe I'm judging too early because we only watched a few minutes of the film. The casting was good tho they really did portray what I imagined the characters to look like. Anse really did look like his features were made out of wood. Still hate the smile tho...
ReplyDeleteYou don't mention him here, but I'd have a hard time finding a better Anse than Tim Blake Nelson (which also solidifies our transition from _O Brother_ to _AILD,_ as Delmar becomes Anse). I have no quarrel with Jewel's beard (I don't remember if it's mentioned either way in the book)--the main feature we have to go on for Jewel is "woodenness." And constant flashes of impatient anger. I like the way this actor depicted his impatience and exasperation in the attempt to cross the river. It's all in the eyes.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about not really liking James Franco as Darl. I think he would have made a better Jewel possibly, but he didn't seem like a Darl. James Franco also didn't look like the other siblings (he had darker hair, more defined features, etc.), so I think he would have made a better Jewel, because he had a different dad. I also expected Dewey Dell to be much younger looking (closer to our age), but I didn't really mind her casting.
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