Cast this -- Codename: Winterborn

So, I've done multiple posts on how I would cast my novel, A Pius Man: A Holy Thriller if it were made into a film. If you want to take a look, there's a 2011, 2012 and 2013 edition.



However, there's been an oversight, and I have never looked at casting the novel Codename: Winterborn, which I co-wrote with Allan Yoskowitz.

Remember this one?

Yes, I know I don't talk about this one much, but, blast it, I've been busy.



From a casting perspective, this is actually going to be easier than the Pius universe. Why? Because I've got about nine major characters in the entire story -- both heroes and villains -- that would make it to the big screen and a few minor ones: let's face it, if you've read the book, you can see how some Hollywood people would cut out the first few chapters, so we'd lose .... some of the more colorful characters in the opening.



What would the casting look like? Well, let's look at it below the break.





Kevin Anderson.



If you don't know the story (and seriously, you really should read it), Kevin is the spy that has a little problem .... namely, his entire team has been wiped out, his wife has been murdered, and politicians in his own government would like to see him deader than Jacob Marley on ice. After his initial run in with the Islamic Republic of France (long, long story), Kevin is ... a little broken.  How broken is he? Let's say that he came close to mass murder in this book.  Think I'm exaggerating? Is ten million people enough "mass" in "mass murder"?



You also need someone who is considered "handsome"-ish, and can do a lot of hand-to-hand combat, has a dry, offbeat sense of humor, and can occasionally look at his own insane moments, and acknowledge that, yes, he really has lost his marbles, along with his friends, his family and almost anyone he ever knew.



Which leads to the flavor of the month ... no, I don't mean Benedict Cumberbach, though he does seem to be everywhere for the past year.  Cumberbach is a great actor, don't get me wrong, and he is able to kick ass and take names (just see Star Trek: Intro Darkness if you don't believe me), but I have no idea if he can drop the British accent from his "I'm a dark and sinister figure, even when I'm playing Sherlock Holmes" style of acting.

I actually mean Stephen Amell, the star of Arrow.  Think about it, he already has mentally disturbed down, and if you don't believe me, look at the first episode of Arrow once more, and get back to me.  The first ten to twenty minutes have several good moments of Amell acting. You can skip several episodes to see Amell in dry banter with fellow characters, but it's there.



As for the hand-to-hand combat ... just go and YouTube Arrow fight scenes. Go ahead, I'll wait, they're going to be quite awesome.  Heck, his dance (sorry, "combat") and exercise routines were half the commercials for the show.



Oh, and Kevin also has a entire thing with bows and arrows.  Yes, it's "a thing."  It's a very long story.



Yes, there are a lots of long stories involved in this novel.  Please, read the novel, so I can stop saying "it's a long story." :)



Speaking of long stories, times for our next character.

My friend Carleigh

The model for Mandy in the

Antagonize me "interview."

Mandy.



Okay, Mandy is my favorite character, she really is. She is cute, kinda sexy, she enjoys her job, and, damn it, she's just fun to write. She's a mercenary, and her job in this novel is to hunt down and kill everyone's favorite nutbar, Kevin Anderson. She's morally ambiguous, with a sense of morality that crops up at some strange times. Well, strange for her.



Mandy doesn't need a lot of choreography, since most of her fights are gun battles, but we at least need someone who's lithe, athletic, something like that.



Also, a slightly more important part of her character involved her size, she's not particularly tall: 5'6" would be good. She's a blue-eyed brunette who's half smart-ass, half kick-ass, and really would like to be amoral when she grows up. She puts her best effort into it, honest.



It's a ... everyone with me now ... a long story.

The only pic I could find of her that wasn't in either

1) In full dress or 2) In her underwear

Originally, when I designed Mandy, I loosely based her off of a 24 villain of the same name, played by Mia Kirshner.



However, Kirshner is getting a little old for this sort of thing -- she's already 39, I'd like Mandy to look more like she's in her 20s, and, well, I don't actually like Kirshner personally (every interview I see her in, she comes off as ignorant, but very, very certain of everything. And stiff. And shallow, and .... gah).



Most importantly, I don't think she's capable of acting her way out of a paper bag.  Seriously, in 24, she came off as a sociopath, and she doesn't exactly have much of a sense of humor or emotional range every other time I've seen her.



Why would I base a character off of someone like that? I wanted an unrelenting, unrepentant antagonist who would stop at almost nothing to hunt Kevin Anderson down like a dog, including gunning him down in a playground filled with children...



Obviously, when I started writing Mandy in the novel, she turned into something else on me.  So, who would we be getting?

How about Mila Kunis?  While I'm not 100% certain about this, we know she can do comedy, that's most of her freaking CV.  I don't need a lot of dramatic tension, I need someone who can deliver on a dry sense of humor, enough sarcasm to put a hole through somebody, and someone who at the very least appears to have gone through a daily exercise regiment.



With Kunis, we've got a pale-skinned brunette (though not as blinding white as Kirshner), who's 5'4" and can deliver some of the more comedic dialogue, like the following from the sequel, Codename Unsub:



Bad guy: “What do you want?”

“I'd say world peace, but that would be a lie. I'd be out of a job otherwise.” She gave him a little smile that creeped him out a bit. “How about the names of everyone you work with, now and forever? How about everyone up and down the supply chain? And a pony?”



Also, it would be nice if she could whole a gun without looking like a complete moron, like Mia Kirshner (seriously Ms. Kirshner? Why are you holding a gun with your arms locked out in front of you like you're at a firing range? Did no one talk to you about the Weaver stance in the half-dozen episodes you were on 24? Even Sean Astin looked mildly competent, and he was a Hobbit, fer God's sake) .



Anyway, on a physical level, I think she can pull off Mandy.  Can she on an acting level? No idea. But I'm hopeful.



Kyle Elsen



Since I'm tired of long stories, I'm just going to say that Kyle is an assassin.  He's a bit of a nerd.  He's a nerd who kills people.  You know, the sort of flake who can get lost in his own head while thinking about some new methodology to apply to his job ... only it involves murder?



Kyle doesn't have too much of a personality at first, but then again, when you have some of the strangeness that is Kevin Anderson, everyone seems a little bit like they're in shades of gray. And no, not fifty, damnit.  However, there is a back story to Kyle that shows he's a little broken.  As though I actually needed to tell you that. He's a flake who kills people. As a character, Kyle doesn't have issues so much as he has the leather bound collected volumes. There's a character arc that plays out, and gives Kyle depth beyond knowing a hundred ways to kill someone with a spoon.

Hmm....



How about Colin Donnell?



For those of you who don't watch Arrow, Donnell played "the best friend" of the main character.  Funny enough, that was also an entire character arc of going from a seemingly two-dimensional character to someone with depth and heart.  All he would have to do in this case is a start from a darker point A and a deeper point B.



Yes, Allan and I have a plan. Honest.



And, let's take a look at that face for a moment. Don't tell me he doesn't look like a serial killer in the making.



Major Antonio Rohaz



This is Mandy's boss, the CEO of the Mercenary's Guild. He's described as having a dancer's posture, stiff and militaristic, with a sharp nose, and green eyes.  No, he doesn't look specifically Hispanic, but I grew up with a friend named Martinez (which she pronounced Martin-ez, not Mar-teen-ez) and who is whiter than I am, with green eyes, and light brown hair.

Rathbone is the one in the middle.

This is the best picture I could find

of him in uniform from this film.

Stupid internet.

Believe it or not, I based the character design, very loosely, on Basil Rathbone in the original The Mark of Zorro. This included the clipped delivery of the words, the baring, and everything short of him actually pulling out a sword in the middle of the book.  You could say that he's a minor character, but he's going to make an appearance throughout the series, and leave major impacts along the way ... some of them in people's heads, but that's neither here nor there.



Yes, I know. After that sort of buildup, who could you possibly get who could top this.  It's Basil Rathbone. He's Sherlock Holmes. He's an Olympic-level fencing master.  He was the archetypal villain in anything involving a sword for nearly forty years of Hollywood history.  How do you top that?

You get a god.



Yes, I went there.



Look at the original character description, and tell me it doesn't sound familiar: pale skin, green eyes, sharp nose, black hair.  You know this person, don't you?



Yup, it's Tom "Loki" Hiddleston, one of the other flavors of the week for the past two years.  Seriously, if we modify that photo (taken at ComicCon, San Diego,) and make it a military uniform, he doesn't even need to break character all that much.  If he could play Loki, only not crazy, he could pull off an Antonio Rohaz.



And come on, Hiddleston is a Shakespearean actor who wore his Loki costume, in public, and kept a straight face. He can do whatever he likes.



Allan and his wife prefer Lou Diamond Philips, but they're not the ones writing this blog.  No, this is not a subtle hint that they should start their own -- I'm trying to bludgeon them with that hint.



MUAHAHAHAAH



Sorry. It's been a long day.



The next four characters are sort of interlinked.  They're all in the town of San Francisco, they're all computer nerds, though all very different people.  We've got the shy, the sarcastic, the joker, and the damn near sociopathic.



Lotus



This is an Allan character design.  Lotus is one of a set of hacker Triplets.  For Lotus, he wanted someone short, blonde, and utterly, breathtakingly beautiful as a computer genius, probably the best computer hacker and programmer in the entire city, and maybe the planet Earth.



Believe it or not, I go someone already picked out. It was easy.



Look to the right. This is Emily Bett Rickards. She's not bad looking, huh?



But, nah, she can't do computer jargon, right?  It's Hollywierd, the hot babes can't possibly also do smart at the same time. Maybe some ass-kicking, but brains? Don't kid me.

Oh, wait.



That's right, Madam Rickards is the brains behind the operation of Arrow, playing a computer programmer.



Funny enough, when I suggested Rickards to Allan, before I wrote this blog, I did start with the first photo, and I had an interesting reaction.  Said reaction being "Oh my God!"



And that was before I suggested Loki as Rohaz.



Mickie.



Mickie, Lotus' sister, could technically be played also by Emily Rickards, they are triplets after all. Yes, there is a fraternal twin involved here, but having identical twins and a fraternal are not impossible.



For the record, Mickie is sociable, sarcastic, and has no problem constantly smacking her brother (to be discussed below), who really deserves it (no, seriously, he deserves it). Her special features include drugging people for information, dealing with unruly costumers in their bar, and has utterly insane hair -- usually bright red hair.  She's also a computer hacker, though not as much of a genius as Lotus.



So, smart, probably good looking (to be related to Lotus, you'd sort of expect her to be), sarcastic, and looks good with red hair.



I guess we can have Rickards play both parts. Lord knows she does sarcastic well enough on Arrow, but if we want someone different, I'm seeing Emma Stone.  Yes, Emma Stone. Let's face it, she already is a redhead, she can handle smart in both Amazing Spider-Man and Easy A (didn't like the film, but liked her), and with facial expressions like that (look right) she can pull this off without a problem.



Mac



Yes, you might have caught a theme in these triplets, we have three hackers running a bar, a mixologist named Mickie, a hacker named Lotus and a primary bartender named Mac... Okay, there are some moments of this particular world that are about as subtle as a heart attack.



Then again, we're still more subtle than every other dystopia written for the last ten --  twenty -- thirty...



Okay, I can't really think of a dystopia that's subtle, but I'm sure one will come to me five minutes after I've posted this article.



Anyway, Mac, the last of our information brokers, who is average, blonde, and kind of annoying. "Oh, look at how many bad puns I can tell and pretend they're funny."  I may have been writing this blog post for too long already, but God, this character can get annoying. I'm glad he's not on screen that often.  I think I'm going to invest some character development for him in the next book. Either that, or invest some bullets into blowing his brains out. Either way, I'm good.



So Allan and I considered Josh Hutcherson, since he's already playing blonde on some sort of major film franchise at the moment Games of Starvation? Hungry Games? Hungry Hungry Hippos? Something like that. Though I'd take Iain De Caestecker from Agents of SHIELD, because I already know he can do annoying (is it too obvious that I really hate that show by now?)



Kaye Wellering



Kaye is an interesting character, mostly because of the things the reader doesn't know about her.  She heads the "Hacker's Union," which is based on Alcatraz, with a forward office in Chinatown. The Hackers run all the major utilities in the city, and can turn them on or off at will. Kaye herself even states that, even though the Hackers are centuries ahead of even the "real world," she still has ultimate power in the city that time forgot, and has no problem playing with the lives of day-to-day people as though everyone in the city were her own personal toys.  There's a reason that Kevin refers to her as the bitch-queen of San Francisco.



She also looks young. That's not because I'm on some sort of CW kick, where everyone has to be young and pretty, but because there's a backstory. Notice, I didn't say she is young, just looks it. It's an important part of who she is.  So, we need someone who at least appears younger than she is (say, early 20s) and play older. If she were male, I would say "Get David Tennant, since he can do 900 year old time lord," but we'll have to settle for someone else. And, while Sarah Michelle Gellar is looking pretty darn good a decade after Buffy went off the air, that may not hold up.



Another detail makes me think of an actress, actually. Kaye is a 5'2" redhead. While the height is incidental (Kaye has been described as wearing 4" heels), and redheads come in a bottle, about about Molly C. Quinn?  She's been playing 14 going on 400 on Castle since the show began five years ago..  There's no reason not to think that she can't do something similar in a Codename: Winterborn film.



Although it's going to be creepy with a "sexy" Molly Quinn. I now understand friends of mine who are disturbed by a sexy Michelle Trachtenberg, having first seen her as Harriet the Spy.



Angie Vaughn



This is another antagonist, one that's worse than anyone I could create. She is another mercenary, part of the same guild as Mandy and Rohaz, but another part of the organization. Like any other good business, they have some competing members of the firm.  In this case, this hostile takeover is really hostile.



Vaughn is a little more than just a power-mad creature who wants a promotion and a pay raise. She's a natural born predator. Let's just say that her previous dating history has led people to call her "the Mantis." And no, I was not brave enough to inquire exactly what she might have bit off of whom, nor was I interested in contemplating.



Vaughn is another redhead -- yes, it's a thing. I grew up with a crush on the lead female from Riverdance. Don't judge me -- which helped with the casting choice. I wanted someone taller than Mandy, one of those women who could be seductive without having to work at it, but also a leader of warriors into battle. She has to have presence, with an additional hint of malice.



I'm thinking Laura Prepon.  She's a solid actress, with an interesting CV behind her, and a good general acting range. I've seen her do serious, seductive, a little (low-key) crazy, and I'm certain that I could see her eating someone alive.  Hopefully, not literally.



Anyway, I think that's more than enough for right now. there are one or two more characters I'd want to focus on after that, but right now, I'm cross-eyed, lucky if I can spell my own name, and I'm hoping I didn't write this blog in a language more closely resembling Norwegian than English.

Jack Reacher, Lee Child, and Why I hate Hollywood.

A while ago, I mentioned how I thought that Hollywood was improving in the adaptations of novels to films.



I'm certain I've mentioned author Lee Child a few times on the blog.  His main hero is Jack Reacher, a former Military Policeman who specialized in arresting special forces operators who committed crimes, also a homicide detective.  And, considering that this is the army, Jack Reacher is built like  amiddle-weight wrestler ... if a middle weight could be 6'5" and 280.



Now retired from the army, after a live of rules, regulations, and fitting into a rigorous bureaucracy, Reacher has become a drifter. He lives off of his army pension and his savings, hitching rides, taking buses, wandering through middle America, with the occasional trip to New York. He's done the math, and figures that buying cheap and disposable clothes and living on the road is cheaper than living in a house with a washing machine, et al.



And Reacher thinks.  Good God, does he think. A fight scene that takes about ten seconds requires two pages to describe, because he thinks out every, last, move. His deductive abilities rely on heavy analysis, and quiet, thoughtful diligence.  If he were less conspicuous, he would be the quiet man in the corner who solves the crime by quietly moving around in the background, just listening.



Now, Hollywood is considering looking at making a Jack Reacher novel, One Shot, into a movie. Even though it's book number nine in the series. Probably because they have a Gulf War sniper veteran accused of being a killer.  Right now, I'll be happy if they keep the ending to the book, as opposed to going for the Hollywood's popular "crazy veteran" plot device.



So, who would you cast for the massive, silent, thinking man's detective?



I like Adam Baldwin .... he's tall, built like a brick wall, and has played military men for practically his entire career.  I can see Adam Baldwin playing a man who has put in his twenty years, and who just wants to be left alone.  I've seen him do more with a glare than some people who speak only in rants. He's not 6'5", but he'll do.



And Adam Baldwin is a thinker. At least in real life. He maintains his own political blog, and every argument is well reasoned, and thoroughly thought out.



So, he'll do.



And, Hollywood being Hollywood, they took Jack Reacher, and they cast ....



Wait for it ....






Tom Cruise.



Yup, a thoughtful, insightful, 6'5" wall of a man, and they cast a 5'6" guy whose major real life moment was him going insane on the Oprah Winfrey show.



Just what the hell are these people thinking?



Obviously, that presumes that they are thinking.



What does the author have to say about this travesty?



To quote from Lee Child: "Reacher's size in the books is a metaphor for an unstoppable force, which Cruise portrays in his own way."



I'm sure that if I were being given God knows how much money to make one of my novels into a book, and I absolutely had to comment, I'm sure I'd say that too.



If you ever wondered why I spent so much time on casting blogs for my novel, now you know. It's so that, should something like this ever happen to me, I'll be on record already.  And I wouldn't comment on any movie project .... I would take the money and go into hiding.



With any luck, Tom Cruise will fall down a manhole before filming.

Casting Call: A Pius Man, the Movie, 2011 Edition

After I started making a video for Scott Murphy (see below), where I used myself as a model, I was asked about starring in any particular film based off of the novel ....

To start with, that would be a great big no.

No. No.  And Hell No.

Which, of course, leads to the question: who would one get for the film, should it ever make it past the book production stage?

I tried to answer this question last year.  Since then, other people have come to my attention that might be better suited for some of these parts....

Assuming, of course, I don't make it into a video game.

However, as I said last time .... I guess the first question would be who could be cut from the film first.
A Pius Man is a novel that is over 400 pages long. There are nine characters of varying importance, and while that composes an interesting Fellowship of the Ring, I doubt any film will accommodate all of them.

So, any film would also have less character, as well as fewer characters, not to mention no ambiguity. Figuring out who's the lead may work in a leisurely novel, but movies have to move.

Maureen McGrail— An Irish InterPol agent who's in Rome to follow up on a murdered priest, she is a seriously deadly opponent, with advanced training  in silat, capoeira, and Krav maga. She is, in essence, the fighter from Hell. She's fair-skinned, black-haired, with green eyes. She's, obviously, athletic.

Pretty. But can they act?

Originally, when I wrote this article, I wrote that: physically, if you popped green contact lenses into the eyes of Jennifer Connelly, and gave her acting lessons and martial arts training, she would be good to go for the role.

However, since I have yet to see her act, someone else would probably be needed; someone with a similar coloring. Preferably, someone who can fake an Irish brogue and kick some ass. Similar coloring would imply Megan Fox... but I have yet to see her act, either.

Yes, she can fight,

but can she speak with a brogue?

Now, I would consider Summer Glau. Formerly of Firefly and Serenity, as well as the unfortunate series known as The Cape, Summer Glau is ...

Well, look at her photo. She's pretty, fair skinned, dark-eyes, athletic build (I'm not going to tell a former ballerina that she has no muscle tone, are you?).  Pop in some green contact lenses, you are good to go.  She's done a variety of accents from Russian to Cockney to smartass, so I can't imagine that an Irish accent would be too far beyond her abilities.

Not to mention that someone needs to give her a good role. Unless Joss Whedon wants to hire her for something else, it may be a while for her.

As for fighting ... This is her behind the scenes

Compiled together, it looks like this on screen.




The next person in the cast list, and more problematic, is Wilhelmina Goldberg: a short, Jewish Secret Service technical geek, who's initially in Rome to provide a security audit ..... However, there aren't many 5' actresses, and many of those who are don't seem to be geared to play computer nerd. Short and dark, with blonde highlights ... unfortunately, no one leaps immediately to mind.

Please, God no.

Originally, I had suggested that, given angles of the face, and the fact that her natural hair color seems to be anything but blonde, Sarah Michelle Gellar may work, if she can speak geek with a straight face. Given the way Hollywood casts people, I would be afraid that they'd cast one of the witches of Charmed—who are also short and dark (Rose McGowan is the tallest at 5'4”).

Short enough.

But can she speak geek?

However, I don't believe any of them can really pull it off. Gellar, maybe.

Though, in retrospect, there is always Robin Tunney.  Lord knows she's small enough.  While her most impressive role to date has been as a cop on The Mentalist, and she can sound competent and intelligent in that role, I have no idea how well sounding intelligent as a cop can translate into sounding smart in Geek-speak. And, The Mentalist at least proves that she looks good in dark suits, and she can carry a gun -- although Goldberg's major requirement is that she can handle a gun without shooting herself in the foot.

In that respect, it is not impossible that we have a contender ... though how Tunney feels about highlights and contact lenses ... or about being Jewish. I have no idea if she can deliver a proper New York "Oy."

There is also Mary Lynn Rajskub, who is best known for playing a computer nerd on the tv series 24. However, there is a risk of cross-contamination. The same actress playing the same position with the same type of skills?  That has sunk casting decisions before -- and if Rajskub played Goldberg as she played her character in 24, it could be viewed as anti-Semitic.

Next on the cast list is Giovanni Figlia— Italian by heritage and a soccer player by build, I have some issues imagining someone who's 1) in good health, 2) possibly the father of two children, and 3) can pull off a passable Italian accent.

Originally, I had wondered: I wonder, does Billy Zane have a career anymore after Titanic? I liked him in The Phantom -- and let's face it, if an actor can go through a role in purple tights and maintain a straight face, very little is beyond his grasp.

However, in retrospect, maybe Adam Baldwin wouldn't be too out of line. Like all Italians, Figlia has military service. Unlike most Italians, he's a former member of their equivalent of SWAT.

Adam Baldwin, who, for the record, has no relation to the Baldwin clan of actors, can play military -- that's been most of his career (Independence Day, Chuck, Firefly). And, if he doesn't like contact lenses, well, I can settle for a blue-eyed Italian.

The only question becomes: can he fake the accent?

Spend enough time on
24?

My third, and possibly best candidate, is an actor named Carlos Bernard. His height is closer to that of the written Giovanni Figlia. Best known for his role in the TV show 24, as well as a brief appearance on the TV show Burn Notice, Bernard seems to have a handle on playing characters who are comfortable about being in violent situations, without enjoying it too much.

The coloring is right, the build is right, and so is some of the training -- he was on 24, so he knows from guns and action sequences. His ethnic background is Spanish and Polish, so the coloring comes out Mediterranean

Now, can he do an Italian accent?


Hashim Abasi— Hashim is an Egyptian policeman who is also part of a think tank, with degrees in international politics.

Physically, I always imagined him as Ben Kingsley after a weightlifting regiment.

With reading glasses.

However, in the immortal words of Danny Glover, he might be getting too old for this sort of thing.

Back to Egypt?

However, on the other end of the spectrum, there is Arnold Vosloo.

Vosloo, who is not Middle Eastern, but South African, is probably best known for being the title character in both The Mummy and The Mummy Returns.

So, while not Egyptian, he has at least been to that neck of the woods before.

Also, like Hashim Abasi, Vosloo's not small. In fact, he's fairly well built. He's taller than 5'10" -- IMDB.com insists that he's 6'2". He's well-spoken in most of his parts, and if he can wrap his mouth around ancient Egyptian, well, I think he can go through some of my dialogue without breaking a sweat -- I'm not writing rocket science (that's my sci-fi stuff).

It's a thought.

As noted: My brain hurts just imagining this.

I'd sooner have Orlando Bloom and Willem Dafoe

Next is Sean AP Ryan—This is a hard role to fill. Take someone with “black Irish” coloring (black hair, pale skin, bright blue eyes), make him 5'6”, and at least looks like he can do his own stunts. He is mad, bad, and dangerous to know. He is a pleasant, friendly fellow, until you piss him off and he cripples you for life.....

My problem here is, based purely on that physical description, I feel like someone would try to cast Tobey McGuire or Elijah Wood in the role—both are images that seriously make me want to acid- wash my brain.

As I said last year: Can I have a stunt man who can act? Please?

Unfortunately, I'm no better at casting this role now than I was then.

The next one up is Father Frank Williams—I can't imagine an actor who's in his thirties with silver hair and violet eyes, but makeup can do wonders.

This requires an actor with a range that allows him to be soft spoken and quiet, and can probably beat someone to death with his bare hands.... I wonder if Ewan MacGregor enjoys playing shady priests...

However, that was my thought last year. And, really, while MacGregor would be a great priest, if only because he turned out to be another evil priest in another franchise, I'm not 100% convinced that he can spend most of the movie playing soft-spoken.  The last time he tried that, he was impersonating Alec Guinness.

On the other hand, there is Kiefer Sutherland. On 24, he was adept at going through the choreography for fight sequences, and he has a full range of voices, going from gentle and soft to full roar.

However, after eight years of 24, he might be getting tired of action sequences.

Although, come to think of it, Father Williams only has two fight scenes in the novel. Hmm ....

Joshua Kutjok—the Pope. Tall, African, a very physical Pope.

I would go for Michael Clarke Duncan, but I don't know how many different voices he has in his repertoire. Forest Whitaker is also a big fellow (6'2”), and seems to have gone through a workout regiment recently, and he played Idi Amin at one point,so he's done the accent.... there are possibilities here....

However, that was last year.

This year, while not as big, actor Hakeem Kae-Kazim is probably a better fit. For starters, he was actually born in Nigeria. He doesn't have to fake an accent. And, while I am not as familiar with his acting career as the others, he had a nice range of qualities on his appearance of 24, going from terrorist to loving boyfriend, and both at the same time.

However, according to his resume, he's been in Shakespeare plays ... I think he can handle whatever anyone throws at him.

Scott "Mossad" Murphy— The spy from Mossad....

This role needs a chameleon -- he can go unnoticed in a complete crowd. Once upon a time, this would have been played by Alec Guiness, who could practically play any role he wanted, with only a smidge of makeup and new clothes, and sometimes not even that.

Currently the only one I've seen who has managed the same trick has been David Suchet—he's played terrorists, policemen, biblical characters, Terry Pratchett characters, and Belgian Detectives. However, he left his twenties far behind him... also his thirties. Good acting can only go so far in making someone look younger. The same goes for the equally impressive Gary Oldman (Immortal Beloved, Bram Stoker's Dracula, The Dark Knight, Batman Begins), or Geoffrey Rush (Quills, Shine, Les Miserables, Pirates of the Caribbean on Stranger Tides). They are, unfortunately, getting too old to pass for someone in their twenties. Or thirties.

However, for a slightly younger actor.... Given the various acting jobs I've seen him do, I think Alan Tudyk should probably be on call for that one: I've seen him play nerds, neurotics, normal guys, absolute sociopaths, and Joss Whedon characters. He's a solid six feet tall, but I've only seen him look big maybe once—and with Lord of the Rings, we've certain seen the games that camera perspectives can play (no, Elijah Wood really isn't a midget.... really).

Unfortunately, like with Sean Ryan, I'm no better this year at coming up with a different name for this part.

Manana Shushurin—even though I had based this character on a real person (on the near left), I don't think I could coax her into playing the part, since she has a life.

Based on physical build and coloring, some have suggested Olivia Munn—both the build and coloring match, and even the facial structure works, at the right angles, but I have no idea if she could act her way out of a paper bag.

However, since last year, reflecting on this a little bit more, there is always Eliza Dushku.

Yes, Eliza Dushku has played in a lot of Joss Whedon productions, but have you seen her acting range?  One look at the various and sundry parts she played on the short-lived Dollhouse displayed an impressive array of acting qualities.

And, like Manana Shushurin, Dushku has a good record of going through combat sequences. It's been a staple of hers for at least two Joss Whedon shows.

And Shushurin is supposed to be able to speak in any accent she wants, so a Russian speaker isn't necessary for the role.

Also for Manana Shushurin, my friend Jason has suggested Anne Hathaway.  An idea that might not suck at all.  She's not unattractive, she's apparently able to do her own stunts ....

I'll be interested to see if she's able to handle her role as Catwoman in the upcoming The Dark Knight Rises.

Any thoughts on any or all of these, please comment below.