strange and random happenstance: Forever

If you haven't noticed by now I have a tendency to always cast the books I'm reading with actors from film and television. It's just a weird quirk of mine that I've always had, like the first time I read Harry Potter and saw Richard E. Grant as Lupin, an impression that stuck so thoroughly that whenever I watch the movies I can't help thinking how wrong they got it with David Thewlis. Not that I have anything wrong with him, well maybe he could be held accountable for The Island of Dr. Moreau, he's just not who I pictured. Ever since I started this blog I've started to share my odd little casting ideas, and I figured, well, why stop now when I have to tell you who I think should star in George Mann's books if (fingers crossed) they were ever to become a series.

Name: Ioan Gruffudd

"Dream" Character Casting for the George Mann Newbury and Hobbes Miniseries: Sir Maurice Newbury

First Impression: My love of Ioan is actually one of my very first big celebrity crushes. Because I have spent so much time hopelessly in love with his acting I actually don't remember the first time I sat up and took notice. I devoured everything he's ever been in from the oddly Welsh Very Annie Mary, to that horrid drug movie Shooters. But there's a part of me that's pretty sure, deep down, that it was his role as the doomed Philip Bosinney in The Forsyte Saga that captured my heart. Even if he did have some follicular issues...

Why they'd be the perfect actor for the Newbury and Hobbes Miniseries: Not only does Ioan have that upper class bearing, but there's a jovialness to him that makes me think the camaraderie with Veronica and the strolling off to fight crime arm in arm wouldn't come off as false being said by him. Yet there's a darkness that he is able to portray that makes it not seem impossible that he might dabble in the occult or various dangerous substances.

Lasting Impression: Horatio Hornblower. I mean how could this NOT be my lasting impression of him. I devoured this series from beginning to end in a very rapid fashion. I even became so obsessed with the time period of the show I watched all the DVD extras about ships and sailing, hence I know all about powder monkeys!

What else you've seen them in: Ioan is probably best known for his forays into blockbusters, starring in the Fantastic Four movies as Reed Richards, Mister Fantastic, and yes, I did sadly see this in the theaters, but it wasn't nearly as embarrassing as paying to see that horrid King Arthur adaptation. And I just saw that he was on a few episodes of Glee... ok, that's weird. Also he did a guest stint on Castle which made me realize why I'd fallen for him all those years earlier. Though the average person will probably know him for his string of failed or failing television shows, Century City, Ringer, and Forever. Though if I were you I'd totally check out Forever because it's campy fun with a Sherlock Holmes vibe, and it's his first show that I really hope won't be cancelled.

Can't believe it's them: He was in a Westlife video? OMG! This video for their cover of "Uptown Girl" is totally awesome and has Charles Bingley and Tim McInnerny from Blackadder in it! And the guy who left Edith at the altar in Downton Abbey! Though of course the version of "Uptown Girl" from Ashes to Ashes will win every time in a contest. You have to watch the Ioan version though!

Wish they hadn't: Of all the shows I've seen him in I'd say Ringer with Sarah Michelle Geller was the absolute worst. So let's remove that from his CV if you please! Though Shooters was pretty bad as well... and why did he do that Madonna movie? I mean, I know it's his job and he needs to make money, but there's some bad movies here for such an amazing actor.

Bio: Despite many people thinking he's English, he's actually Welsh, which you can occasionally detect from the lovely lilting tone in his voice. His name, despite spelling (ah, those crazy Welsh), is pronounced Yo-wahn Griffith. As a teenager he got a start on a Welsh soap opera and then he attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts from 1992-1995. A year after graduating he was cast in the new version of Poldark, which was sadly not picked up despite how good it was. Small roles in big budget movies started to come in as well as leads in television shows. Perhaps the most famous movie he was in is Titanic! He met his wife on the set of 102 Dalmatians and they have two daughters and live in LA. Hopefully his new starring lead show Forever will make him a bigger household name, a name he totally deserves... at least hopefully it will lead to people learning how to pronounce his name!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments

Labels: Blackadder, Downton Abbey, Dream Casting, Forever, George Mann, Horatio Hornblower, King Arthur, Newbury, Newbury and Hobbes, Poldark, The Forsyte Saga, Titanic, Welsh

A Dance with Dragons by George R. R. Martin
Published by: Bantam
Publication Date: July 12th, 2011
Format: Hardcover, 1040 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Dubbed “the American Tolkien” by Time magazine, George R. R. Martin has earned international acclaim for his monumental cycle of epic fantasy. Now the #1 New York Times bestselling author delivers the fifth book in his spellbinding landmark series--as both familiar faces and surprising new forces vie for a foothold in a fragmented empire.

In the aftermath of a colossal battle, the future of the Seven Kingdoms hangs in the balance once again--beset by newly emerging threats from every direction. In the east, Daenerys Targaryen, the last scion of House Targaryen, rules with her three dragons as queen of a city built on dust and death. But Daenerys has three times three thousand enemies, and many have set out to find her. Yet, as they gather, one young man embarks upon his own quest for the queen, with an entirely different goal in mind.

To the north lies the mammoth Wall of ice and stone--a structure only as strong as those guarding it. There, Jon Snow, 998th Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch, will face his greatest challenge yet. For he has powerful foes not only within the Watch but also beyond, in the land of the creatures of ice.

And from all corners, bitter conflicts soon reignite, intimate betrayals are perpetrated, and a grand cast of outlaws and priests, soldiers and skinchangers, nobles and slaves, will face seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Some will fail, others will grow in the strength of darkness. But in a time of rising restlessness, the tides of destiny and politics will lead inevitably to the greatest dance of all. . . ."

FINALLY! I remember sitting in out local Borders (now closed) in November of 2005 and George R. R. Martin saying, oh, it will only be 6 months till the second half of the new book will be done... flash forward 6 long hard years. I'm hoping it can live up to the hype, I'm hoping he can live to finish this series, but mainly I'm hoping I never have to wait 6 years again.

Forever by Maggie Stiefvater
Published by: Scholastic
Publication Date: July 12th, 2011
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"The thrilling conclusion to #1 bestselling Shiver trilogy from Maggie Stievater. In Maggie Stiefvater's SHIVER, Grace and Sam found each other. In LINGER, they fought to be together. Now, in FOREVER, the stakes are even higher than before. Wolves are being hunted. Lives are being threatened. And love is harder and harder to hold on to as death comes closing in."

Hey, another series everyone raves about which I waited long enough to start so that I'll already have the final book waiting for me.

Blood Work by Kim Harrison
Published by: Del Ray
Publication Date: July 12th, 2011
Format: Hardcover, 176 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"When Ivy met Rachel, the result wasn’t exactly love at first sight. Sparks flew as the living vampire and the stubborn witch learned what it meant to be partners. Now Kim Harrison, the acclaimed author of Pale Demon and Black Magic Sanction, turns back the clock to tell the tale—in an original full-color graphic novel.

Hot-as-hell, tough-as-nails detective Ivy Tamwood has been demoted from homicide down to lowly street-crime detail. As if rousting trolls and policing pixies instead of catching killers wasn’t bad enough, she’s also been saddled with a newbie partner who’s an earth witch. It’s enough to make any living vampire bare her fangs. But when a coven of murderous witches begins preying on werewolves, Rachel Morgan quickly proves she’s a good witch who knows how to be a badass.

Together, Ivy and Rachel hit the mean streets to deal swift justice to the evil element among Cincinnati’s supernatural set. But there’s more to their partnership than they realize—and more blood and black magic in their future than they bargained for."

I'm kind of really digging this Graphic Novels that are original stories set in some of my favorite Urban Fantasy series. Here we have one set in Kim Harrison's world of The Hollows.