Godcasting and the Long, Long Walk

[featherynscale]

Last night, triadruid were taking our evening constitutional and debating the question I raised yesterday afternoon, namely 'Who would you cast to play your gods?'. We're walking types, so we were able to go through a bunch of the Irish set, some of the Norse, and a handful of Greeks. Big fun, yo.

Apparently, though, Someone was listening to the conversation and either was annoyed or amused and wanted us to continue. We got lost on the walk and were stuck in a weird street loop for a while. So the mile walk turned into more like two miles, but hey. The weather was nice.


Irish:
The Dagda - John Rhys-Davies
Diancecht - Christopher Walken
Miach - Cillian Murphy
Airmid - Neve Campbell
Nuada Silverhand - Harrison Ford, possibly
Bres - David Bowie (tell me that would not rock)
Maeve - Faye Dunaway
Goibnu - Bruce Willis
Mannanan mac Lir - Eric Stoltz (He was actually the first one we came up with, but the idea of Eric Stoltz playing Mannanan was so compelling that we kept returning to it, and it was derailing the conversation, so he's at the end of the list.)

Norse:
Sif - Kate Winslet
Loki - Seth Green (there's a man with a face full of trouble)
Heimdall - Antonio Banderas (as long as he never has to talk)

Greek:
Apollo - Heath Ledger
Hades - Alan Rickman
Hestia - Helen Hunt
Hermes - Alan Cumming (see above re: face full of trouble, except also, you know, friendly)
Athena - Jennifer Connelly
Artemis - Grace Jones (back in the Bond girl days -- I have no idea what she's doing now)
Prometheus - Seal

Regrettably, I can't remember any of the rest any more... Also, we discovered that there are apparently no actresses currently working who have the proper figure to be Norse or Irish goddesses. Also also, somebody needs a religion in which the psychopomp deity could be played by Harvey Keitel. He's obviously a psychopomp, but we couldn't find a good mythic system to put him in. Suggestions gladly accepted.

Comments

[rougewench.livejournal.com]

Grace Jones is pretty much still busy being Grace Jones.


D.

your mileage may vary

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

Helen Mirren needs to be somewhere -- maybe Freya? And Stockard Channing could do pull off, perhaps. And whoever suggested Nick Nolte as Odin was effing brilliant.

Marton Czokas definitely needs billing. And Rufus Sewell. Don't know where I'd put them, except someplace where I could worship them.

I cannot picture Eric Stoltz as Manannan mac Lir, but he's a likeable enough performer that he might pass as Baldur. Mannanan needs to be a bit older and uncle-ier, in my mind. Some mileage should appear on his face.

Dougray Scott might be a good Aengus. Brendan Frazer as Lugh? Linda Hunt for Andraste.

Ewan MacGregor might work as...um, it's pronounced baw-luh, Irish god of sweet-talking. :)

Sigourney Weaver has the shoulders to pull off something Nordic. Connie Nielsen and Famke Janssen -- but Famke needs to get some meat back on her bones, man. (I'm not spelling any of these names right.)

Bernard Hill (from LOTR, King Theoden) as Heimdall, except more like he looked in the movie and less like he looks in his IMDB photo.

Just my two cents. Really fun in my imagination. :)

Re: your mileage may vary

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

Curse my...er, accursed coding! Darn italics.

[featherynscale.livejournal.com]

Excellent! Not, I suppose, that she could be anyone else...

Re: your mileage may vary

[lilia-blackbear.livejournal.com]

Ewan MacGregor might work as...um, it's pronounced baw-luh, Irish god of sweet-talking. :)

Oh, good one, yes.

And Helen Mirren... not Freya, but Frigga I could see.

Re: your mileage may vary

[featherynscale.livejournal.com]

Brendan Frazer as Lugh?
That's pretty brilliant, actually. The best I could come up with for Lugh was Nathan Fillion.

And Aengus? We had no celebrity for him -- we picked a local boy, incidentally the fellow who'll be the model for our Oak King. *grin*

Famke Janssen might be good for Brigid, if, as you say, she could add some sturdiness to the frame.

Re: your mileage may vary

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

There we go. Yes. :)

Re: your mileage may vary

[featherynscale.livejournal.com]

On further reflection, Brendan Frazer, although having an excellent face for Lugh, is too big, I think. Ewan McGregor might fit, if he could refrain from looking *quite* so crazy.

Re: your mileage may vary

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

I could almost see somebody like Ving Rhames for Manannan. (Black Irish, yo)

He's just so unflappable and most of his characterizations tend to be steady dudes, holding open the gates, willing to rescue babies and then being a little embarrassed about it...sense of humor, etc. It's still tickling my brain.

Re: your mileage may vary

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

they GODS. they're *supposed* to be big.

If Ewan moves along to Lugh, then that leaves Bawleh (sp) open -- and I bet Nathan Fillion would do well there.

[lilia-blackbear.livejournal.com]

This sounds like an entirely fun thing to think about, however, my lack of thinking of anyone the other night, then blurting out at EIR the first actress (whom I really don't care for) I could think of because I was thinking of big breasts, I refrain from this, even though I may have some ideas. My Gods completely don't appreciate when I am silly about them... silly about myself, great, fantastic. But Them... unless They deserve it, of course.

Also, and, Kate Winslet... I'm not so sure. Gotta have the blonde hair on Sif and be beautiful, and while I think Kate is beautiful with red, pink, and even blue hair, I don't like blonde on her. And I think she's probably the closest thing to an actress working right now with the right body-type.

And I second the Neil Gaiman bid for writing this thing. For the director's seat, I'd put Terry Gilliam.

Re: your mileage may vary

[featherynscale.livejournal.com]

Ving Rhames is awesome in any role. However, the idea of Ving Rhames as a master of poesy pretty fair cracks my shit up.

[featherynscale.livejournal.com]

No intention of getting you in trouble with your folks. (Nor was there at EIR -- breathofgold was just trying to get you to pin down what kind of a character She was and go from there.)

And hey, Terry Gilliam. That would make it a very different sort of a movie than the one I was envisioning, but it's a fascinating thought.

Re: your mileage may vary

[featherynscale.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but compared to some of the other gods, Lugh's kind of a little guy. It's more about scale than actual size, I suppose. Frazer is never gonna be the littlest guy in the room. (It's still a Very Compelling concept though. I adore Brendan Frazer.)

Also, speaking of gods, we should get together on WH Beltane soonish.

[fionnabhar.livejournal.com]

And I've already put in my two cents worth on the Celts. :-)

[lilia-blackbear.livejournal.com]

Oh, I know, no blame casting here! My own fault for not thinking quick on my feet! Nah, and it's not like I got big time trouble, and all... I probably make more of it than They intend! It's a trend in my life, you see...

Yeah, I love that about Gilliam, because his movies -- you never know what you're going to get except that it will certainly be a movie of not exactly what you did expect which is nothing at all because you didn't know what you would get... but what I like most about his movies is that you just sit back and watch because you have no clue what will happen next. Even though I knew a thing or two or more about Hunter S. Thompson's life, Fear and Loathing... still forced me to just sit back and watch, not try to figure out what would happen next.

[infintysquared.livejournal.com]

Oooh. Yes. I change my vote to a Gilliam movie, especially with Gaiman writing.

I would DIE to see a collaboration between those two. Talk about someone with a fantastical vision, and someone with the interpretive skills to do that vision justice on the screen.

[infintysquared.livejournal.com]

Also, this icon makes me want to add another to the list.

I want to see Jeff Bridges a la "The Dude" from The Big Lebowski as Jesus, especially if we get Robert Loggia a la Mr. Eddy/Dick Laurent from Lost Highway as Jehovah.

I want to see the interplay between father and son between THOSE two.

"GET OFF YER ASS AND GET A HAIRCUT, YOU DAMN HIPPIE!"

"Chill out, dad. Let's go bowling or something."

[featherynscale.livejournal.com]

Heh. Brilliant. Way wrong, but brilliant. :)

[catvincent.livejournal.com]

"Also, we discovered that there are apparently no actresses currently working who have the proper figure to be Norse or Irish goddesses."

How about Kirsten Vangsness, Garcia from Criminal Minds?

As for Harvey... maybe he could be an older JR 'Bob' Dodds?

Re: your mileage may vary

[(Anonymous)]

Aengus certainly defies casting. When Ewan MacGregor is the closest you can get and he's just quite the thing, you know it's tough.

Believe me, we've tried.

Re: your mileage may vary

[fionnabhar.livejournal.com]

Damn. I thought I was logged in.

Re: your mileage may vary

[fionnabhar.livejournal.com]

Also, and. Ewan is NOT quite the thing. I fail at posting this afternoon.

[fionnabhar.livejournal.com]

Here, our patrons differ, then. Himself's only stipulation is that it be very clever. Given clever, he's okay with about anything, even if it's at his own expense.

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

Katee Sackhoff for Artemis?

Re: your mileage may vary

[celticwhistlin.livejournal.com]

we picked a local boy, incidentally the fellow who'll be the model for our Oak King. *grin*

Who will be nakked for The Full Monty opening tonight at the Barn! *damn surgery*

Four words.

[druidevo.livejournal.com]

Forrest Whittaker as Anansi

[druidevo.livejournal.com]

Maggie Smith as Minerva
Sting (ala Dune) as Loki
Emma Thompson as Baba Yaga
Gong Li as Quan Yin
Antonio Banderas as Quetzalcoatl
Leonor Varela as Hathor
Christina Ricci as Persephone
...
and the Dixie Chicks as the Fates

Re: your mileage may vary

[rio-luna.livejournal.com]

Ving Rhames in mine, sorry he must be an Orisa. yeah, i'm playing the race card. Call me Johnny fucking Cochran

Orisas:
Elegua: Chris Rock
Ogun: 50 Cent
Chango: Ving Rhames
Oya: Regina King Or grace Jones. Howveer I think Grace J is now really her own orisa.
Yemaya: S. Epatha Merkerson
Ochun: RuPaul or Halle Berry
Obatala: Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis togetehr, James earl Jones, Estehr Rolle

[rio-luna.livejournal.com]

As for Harvey... maybe he could be an older JR 'Bob' Dodds?

my gawd, that's so brilliant...

Re: your mileage may vary

[fionnabhar.livejournal.com]

Baile Binnbérlach, I think is who you mean. It means Baile of the Clear Speech, which to the Irish is the blarney thing, more or less. He's an heir to the throne of Ulster, and he appears briefly in a Romeo and Juliet-type story with his intended, Ailinn. He's not exactly deity, but is part of an 11th Century story in the Historical Cycle.

Been tracking this one down for a long time now. She shoots, she scores!

I think, anyway.

Re: your mileage may vary

[wildnsquirrelly.livejournal.com]

I think I'd prefer Sam Elliott as Odin, myself. He always scores well in the 'Knowlegable Badass' category IMHO.

Re: Four words.

[wildnsquirrelly.livejournal.com]

I think I'd have to go with Will Smith there, actually. I think his ego is just right for the role. Also, I've finally decided that he might actually be able to act given how well "The Pursuit of Happiness" turned out.