, City of Ashes
and City of Glass
, collectively The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare, works better if the characters are a little older. I don't think movie audiences will buy 15, 16 and 17 year olds doing all that these kids supposedly do. Instead, I think they should be college aged. I also think that the detail of red-headedness is entirely unnecessary. The most important factor of the casting of Clary and Jocelyn is that they need to look similar. People who don't know Clary but know Jocelyn need to see Jocelyn in Clary.
Clary- Mary Elizabeth Winstead
Mary Elizabeth has done the horror thing, so she has proven her chops against the likes of demons, vampires and werewolves. She need to appear capable of saving the world, given the right tools, but she also needs to look like a younger, softer, more sheltered version of her mother:
Jocelyn- Demi Moore
Simon-Lovable, but not our hero. Totally competent when it comes right down to it, but makes more jokes than anything along the way. Your heart aches for him, and you just want to give him a hug. Until he is ready to kill you. Cue Shia LaBeouf
Jace-Tall. Handsome. Strong. Messy hair. Jared Padalecki
Isabelle- A little trashy. A total bad-ass. Beautiful, and she knows it, and she uses it to her advantage. Nobody can do this quite like Ms. Megan Fox
And seriously, how much would the American male population pay to see her wearing black leather and brandishing a whip at any given opportunity?
Alec, a capable warrior, but self conscious. Softer, somehow- Ben Foster
Magnus. Magnus, Magnus, Magnus. Our tall, uber-gay, 300 year old part Asian warlock- Leonardo Nam
For the character nearest and dearest to my heart, Luke. Ah, Luke. Dependable yet deadly. Fiercely paternal but still a total beast. An outcast from his own society and totally devoted to his "family." I propose Kevin Spacey
Valentine- Ralph Fiennes Nobody is evil like Ralph Fiennes, am I right? He's a Nazi, he's a serial murderer, he's the most terrifying dark wizard of all time. He can certainly be convincing as a narcissistic, genocidal maniac.
And who for his little stooge, Hodge? Jim Rash of course. Simpering, sniveling, self-serving little Hodge.
And our dark horse from City of Glass, the kid we really only see in Alicante, Sebastian- Emile Hirsch
Any ideas for some of our ancillary characters? The Fairy Queen, Meliorn, Raphael, Maia?
I'll do a follow up post as soon as I think of some great people for these characters, you can be sure!
