Greetings and salutations. It is I, Graham.

Today we are doing a bit more of a vanity blog. Something of an opportunity to do some “what if” fantasizing. Not that we haven’t already been doing that in some of our more recent blogs, so maybe this is just another in out latest line. This time we are discussing, if Manticore’s Shadow was optioned for a big budget Hollywood movie, who would be our dream casting?

Now for this, I had to give myself a few restrictions. First, I had to find actors who would be available now, at the age and performance level currently available. Several of the characters were designed with certain actors or individuals from years or even decades prior, but I wanted to go with what could be filmed today. Second, this is assuming live action. If we were discussing animated, I would be looking at professional voice actors, not just the voices of recognizable celebrities. Finally, this list is based on the assumption that we would have access to special effects houses like Industrial Light and Magic and Weta Workshop. I say this because we have several characters that are unrealistic heights to expect actors to portray. We have several characters in excess of seven feet tall, one that is barely three feet, and another that is twelve feet long and built like a literal bear.

I’m going to start here from the more secondary characters and move up to the mains. So first up lets start with the bad guys. So let’s start with the biggest baddie, Grendel. He is the primary villain of the first book. He is Human, but with some giant blood somewhere back in his genetics. He was originally modeled after Shan Yu from the 1998 animated Mulan. So about seven and a half feet tall, barrel chested, and strong enough to crush a man’s skull bare handed. And casually cruel enough to do it. Haha. So who to fill such a magnificently monstrous role? After watching the new 2022 Dune and seeing “The Beast” Rabban, I would love to see what Dave Bautista could do with the role. I get the feeling he would have a blast chewing up the theatricality of the character’s dialogue.

From here, let’s move to his reluctant second in command, Argyle. This is a seven foot tall, twelve foot tall wingless bear-like Gargoyle. Picture Bronx from the animated Gargyles TV show, but the size of a polar bear. He would have to be a CGI character, although it would be incredible if Weta could create a practical animatronic suited character. Either way, he would be incredible being voiced by Travis Willingham. He is a very professional voice actor known to many anime fans, a host of DC animated projects, and of course, Critical Role. I think he would have fun with a character like this.

Next we come to the Investurant assassin, Rhon. This would need to be someone who knows how to move, has an absolutely deep, smooth voice, and loves to play up being a cold baddass. After seeing the three Riddick movies, this role could only go to Vin Diesel. He would make for an ultimate scary foe.

Now we come to the more personal problematic individuals. First is the Alva (High Elf) Olivar, Symon’s haughty and atagonistic friend. This is going to be a hot take, but I would love to see what Jaden Smith could do with this role. He has been given some problematic roles, but I think he could do something good if given the opportunity. I would love to see him sneer his way through this character’s scenes.

Finally in the antagonist sections, we come to Jesse’s “protector”, his Ruffian Paramour, as Mistress Daysleeper calls him. This of course, is Xerian. Here is another physically problematic character. Like Grendel, Xerian also stands more than seven feet tall. He also has the difficult to portray charcteristics of having a Draconic heritage and four muscular arms. Special effects would need to be used to make up for his 5’8 height, but I think John Boyega would be amazing to see in this role. He has an energy and intensity that I think would be perfect for this role, whether practical or CGI.

Now we get to the mains and their more trusted allies. First up, let’s start on Symon’s side. His paramour is another Alva (High Elf), and I had to search around for both the look, presence, and onscreen attitude. I went in an interesting direction with this one, and from the Netflix show Daybreak, I chose Chelsea Zhang to play Lara. I just found her captivating.

Now Symon’s father, Kyrn, is a blacksmith, so he needs to have a very physical presence. However, he is someone who is always in control of his emotions, and is intelligently calculating in his speech. So who could play someone who seems like a gentle giant that acts like he could obliterate you in chess? I had to go with Khal Drogo himself on this one, Jason Momoa. No way around it.

Bridging the gap between the two main characters is their shared mentor, Zenesul. Now this was another preexisting character, being Clevenger’s favored insert. He was always described and fairly slender, dark skinned, and on the older side. There were a few I looked at, but between the physical aspects, and the need to cross back and forth between being authoritative, and playfully enigmatic, in the end I chose Orlando Jones. I think he could bring an interesting flavor to the character.

So now we move to Jesse’s parental figure, the ever-proper Mistress Daysleeper. This is a woman who carries herself properly no matter the circumstances, who takes great pride in her appearance, and her companions. Since she is transgender, I absolutely wanted a trans woman to play the part. For this role, I chose the lovely Laverne Cox, from Orange is the New Black and other projects.

Don’t worry, we are nearing the end. Before we get to the two main characters, we have to discuss the character who became the heart of the story, and in many ways the reader stand-in, the Hissi Goblin, Thorn. She is a character that would be very difficult to cast on just physical looks. Thorn is, after all, barely three feet tall and ridiculously skinny. She’s just not built like a human. Therefore I had to go with voice and attitude. Thorn never holds back on her opinion, never glosses over her language, has a biting wit sharper than her teeth, yet is surprisingly introspective. I needed someone who could bring this kind of energy and yet could bring a feminine quality to such a brash personality. If you have seen Netflix’s (again?!?) Sex Education, you will remember Otis’ business partner and “thorn” in his side, Maeve Wiley. She was perfect in that role, and that attitude would be great for Thorn. Therefore I had to go with Emma Mackey.

Finally we come to the first of our main characters, the blacksmith’s son, Symon. Decent height, good, broad shoulders, literally a lion’s mane of hair. But regardless of what life throws at him, there is an innocence and optimism surrounding Symon. I thought hard about who could play him. Then I remembered the movie American Satan and its TV show sequel, Paradise City, and the personality that Booboo Stewart brought to his character. He could be up in your face and serious, but there was always this undercurrent to him that made you insist he was always a nice, caring, reliable guy. And for me, that encapsulates Symon.

Last we have to address Jesse. Oh, this was a nightmare, and in all honestly, he would probably require a casting call. Take me back ten or even twenty years ago and I could give you some serious contenders. Asa Butterfield in The Space Between Us, Haley Joel Osment a little after Secondhand Lions, or Vincent Kartheiser in Masterminds. The problem is trying to find someone who can play a 5’5 16 year old whos is slender enough to be airborn with wings. In the end I found a potential actor in Max Charles, from The Straina and young Peter Parker from Amazing Spiderman 1 & 2.

And there you have it. Of course, there are at least two dozen amazing actors I would love to see in the movie adaptation of a book I wrote, but I had to go with people I felt embodied the specific characters. From here I have two takeaways from what is now the longest blog post I have so far written. First, I hope these descriptions might help readers envision the characters when they read the book. And second, I think it is going to be fascinating to see the differences in how Clevenger envisions these same characters, as well as which characters he chooses to list actors for, since we didn’t share a list of who we were going to choose to cast. So until next time…

Don’t forget to love one another.

Graham