Hi there– I’m Lissa from Take Me With You, the story of an Aussie expat living in the UK after a three year long distance relationship. Gina has graciously agreed to let me guest blog about one of the Young Adult books series I feel most passionate about: Richelle Mead’s Vampire Academy
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It’s not your typical Twilight fare. Our young heroine, seventeen year old Rose Hathaway, is a dhampir, a vampire half-breed , training to be a Guardian at St Vladamir’s Academy. Her best friend Vasilisa “Lissa” (same name as me, I know, how totally cool!) Dragomir is a Moroi (good elemental-magic wielding vampires) Princess, and always needs to be protected from the Strigoi, the red-eyed evil vampires who hunt them down. Rose is a total kick-ass heroine who falls into temptation with her god-like Siberian tutor, Dimitri Belikov. Throughout the series, we watch Rose struggle with her forbidden romance and the torturous notion of having to choose between her BFF and the man she loves.
. It’s not your typical Twilight fare. Our young heroine, seventeen year old Rose Hathaway, is a dhampir, a vampire half-breed , training to be a Guardian at St Vladamir’s Academy. Her best friend Vasilisa “Lissa” (same name as me, I know, how totally cool!) Dragomir is a Moroi (good elemental-magic wielding vampires) Princess, and always needs to be protected from the Strigoi, the red-eyed evil vampires who hunt them down. Rose is a total kick-ass heroine who falls into temptation with her god-like Siberian tutor, Dimitri Belikov. Throughout the series, we watch Rose struggle with her forbidden romance and the torturous notion of having to choose between her BFF and the man she loves.
Now, when it comes to casting, these roles are pretty tricky, as there is already a VA movie in pre-pre-production. The majority of the characters are teenagers. I’ve chosen actors that I think look the role, regardless of age. Sometimes we’ll just have to pretend they’re the right age. Also, I think it should be mentioned that there is a big physical difference between the Moroi and their dhampir Guardians: Moroi are always tall and thin and delicate-looking, and could pull off being supermodels – the dhampirs are stockier/curvier, stronger, trained to be bodyguards, and look more like normal people.
It was always going to be hard to choose an actress to portray Rose, as the general consensus from the VA community is that we want someone brunette who is beautiful yet normal-looking, who can pull of the action, and also deliver the friendship with Lissa and the smouldering sensuality with Dimitri. Megan Fox is thrown around a bit, but once I saw Odette Yustman, I knew that no one else could ever be my Rose. Although I haven’t seen her act in anything, she looks exactly as I pictured Rose in my head. She is currently 25 years old: Rose is 17.
Rose’s BFF Lissa is another very careful casting choice. Throughout the series we are told that Lissa is tall and beautiful with blonde hair and jade-green eyes: and she is so delicate-looking that you feel compelled to protect her. I saw Kirsten Prout in Kyle XY, and while reading the series, she was always my Lissa. She gives off the perfectly innocent girl-next-door vibe. She is currently 20 years old. Lissa is 17.
The biggest debate in the VA community is who may be cast as Dimitri in the upcoming film. The debate mostly rages between Ben Barnes and Taylor Kitsch. But Dimitri is a dhampir, and a senior Guardian, and is supposed to be about 6’6” or thereabouts. So casting needs to consider someone who has the body and the chiselled facial features we all know and love. My choice is Daniel Cudmore. I first saw him as Colossus in X-Men II, and then as Felix in the Twilight Saga. He’s an enormous, gorgeous hunk of a man, and with his long hair, he’s my Dimitri through and through. He is currently 29: Dimitri is 24.
The next most important character is Lissa’s Moroi boyfriend, Christian Ozera. Christian is stylised as a bit of an emo rebel, because his parents willingly turned Strigoi. He’s an outcast, but his connection to Lissa is undeniable. With black hair and blue eyes, as soon as I saw a picture of Adam Gregory, I knew that he was my Christian.
Next is bad boy Adrian Ivashkov, the drinking, smoking, and loyal Moroi ally to the girls throughout the series. He’s a hard one to cast, because I wanted someone heartbreakingly good-looking, but still with that rough kind of appearance: a bit of a James Dean rebel to offset Christian’s emo. With the Dimitri debate now settled by my casting of Daniel Cudmore, that leaves Ben Barnes free to play Adrian.
Mason Ashford, Rose’s good dhampir friend and kind of love interest early on in the series, is next. I can’t remember if anyone ever described him as a ginger, but I saw someone else hypothesise Rupert Grint, and I think it’s an adorable choice. He’s tall and gangly and would just be totally awesome. He has a sort of innocence to his appearance, but I bet he can kick butt as well. And you need a token ginger, don’t you?
Mia Rinaldi, Moroi, is a complex character. I don’t want to give away spoilers for the rest of the series, but in the early books she’s a total bitch. She declares war on Rose and Lissa for personal reasons, and ends up on the receiving end of one of Rose’s punches – which is one of my favourite scenes. Described as baby faced and tiny, looking like a porcelain doll complete with blonde ringlets, the actress with the perfect face for the role, to me, is Amanda Seyfried. She’s way too old to be playing a 16 year old, but in my fantasy cast she’s the right age.
After a three-year long-distance relationship, my fiancée and I are finally living on the same continent, in the same house. Take Me With You is an honest blog about an Aussie in England and all the things I'm learning on my journey, uprooted to the other side of the world and far out of my comfort zone to be with the love of my life.
