Breaking Dawn

If you are not among the vampiricaly obsessed, you might want to skip this post, as it is all about Breaking Dawn casting announcements. This is a celebratory post of sorts here on fantasy casting, because Breaking Dawn was actually the first fantasy cast I ever put together. I recently dusted it off and re-posted it, and now I will be comparing my choices to the choices made by the actual casting directors.

Here we go!

For Irina, I chose Ashley Jensen:

Maggie Grace was actually cast:

 Busty blond gal from an ABC television series? Check and check. (Maggie Grace is from LOST, and Ashely Jensen is from Ugly Betty)

For Eleazar, I chose Luke Wilson:

Christian Camargo was actually cast:

Tall, brunette guys. AND- they are exactly the same age. HA! No, I'm not kidding, they're about two months apart. So much for my picks being too old *snicker*

Renesmee is being played by Mackenzie Foy. I made NO guesses about this for a lot of reasons. 1) this child is supposed to be between 0-3 months old during the film. 2) She is supposed to look like she is 1-5 years old. 3) She is supposed to have all sorts of freaky features: full set of teeth at birth, ability to walk at the age of one week, stuff like that. I will reserve judgment, but a part of me is very skeptical at the casting of a 10 year old in this part. Unless they go Gollum style and just do motion capture for everything.

For Tanya, I chose Rachel McAdams:

MyAnna Buring has actually been cast:

OK. So, young, blond, pretty. Kind of generic, but not really that close.

For Carmen, I picked Sofia Vergara:

They actually cast Mia Maestro:

Both are South American born actresses in their 30s. Eh, close-ish.

And for Kate, I picked Kristen Bell:

They picked Casey LaBow:

OK, so call me crazy, but I think there is something in Casey LaBow that looks a bunch like Kristen Bell. Now, remember, Kristen Bell has been in the Hollywood limelight for about 6 years. That's 6 years of stylists, photographers, makeovers and photoshopping. Casey LaBow? About 4 days. She's a little... underwhelming here, and this is about the only shot of her circulating the web right now. Give her a few more months and the high-price Twilight publicity team will have her looking like a Kristen Bell ringer in no time. Mark my words.

So, not bad, right? Given all the people in all the world to choose from, I think I didn't do half bad. What do you all think?

Please post your ideas in the comments- whether you agree with me or not!

Breaking Dawn

 Breaking Dawn is upon us! In honor of the announcement that the movie will be released in two installments, I thought I would dust off my old fantasy cast for the film and update it a bit. I mean, if there are going to be two films, then I am quite sure that a LOT of our vampire friends will make the cut.

OK, In the order that we meet people vampires: 



The Denalis 
The Denali Sisters are our first glimpse at other "good" vampires, and we see them for the first time at the big shindig. They aren't as young as our Cullens are supposed to be, their ages are left pretty vague, so we can just look to some of the most beautiful people possible: 


Kate- Kristen Bell Maybe this is influenced (in part) by her character in Heroes, but I think she culd zap the crap out of some people!
 

Tanya- Rachel McAdams
 

Irina- Ashley Jensen
 

Eleazar- Luke Wilson I don't know, something about this character seems soft-spoken (for a vampire) and a touch intellectual. Maybe Luke Wilson hasn't done this in the past, but I sort of think he could for some reason...
 

Carmen- Salma Hayek  or, if you think such a big name wouldn't stoop to doing a "Twilight" movie, perhaps you think Sofia Vergara would be a better choice?

The Romanians
Also known as Dracula 1 and Dracula 2, or "creeptacular", to quote one of the greatest lines in the book. 
Stefan- Malcolm McDowell
 

Vladimir- Frank Langella
 

The Amazons. 
The only one we really get to know very well, is Zafrina- Zoe Saldana There is no one better. Period.

And, for my favorite new character, Garrett- The American Revolution-era nomad. Young, hot, timeless, charismatic, adventurous. I call for: Ben Barnes
 

Alistair- James Frain Paranoid and oh, so, British!

 

Benjamin- Senddhil Ramamurthy OK, so I know this list seems a little "Heroes"-heavy, but that is just because 1) that show has nearly 200 people listed on IMDb. That's a lot of names to choose from. 2) the shows creators focused a lot on "pretty" people. 3) everyone on that show is super-powered already, so they seem a natural fit as these awesome vampires. 


And besides, this guy is really, really hot. Honestly- a better Egyptian vampire? 

I don't think so. 

And, before you get all bent out of shape at the fact he isn't Egyptian, keep in mind that The Mummy, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The English Patient, and Lawrence of Arabia all cast people of British, Spanish, Indian, Puerto Rican and Mexican descent to play Egyptians. But, I did spend a ridiculous amount of time to find a true Egyptian actor handsome and shady-looking enough to play  Benjamin's creator, the power-hungry but frustrated Amun- Amir Aboulela.

To all you authenticity-addicted people out there, you are welcome. 

Pictures: Google Images