Dream Cast Thursday! Cleopatra

For this week's Dream Cast Thursday, I will be recasting historical figures. These figures have appeared in many adaptations (including Caesar and Cleopatra 1945, Cleopatra 1963, Cleopatra 1999, and Rome 2005). I tried really hard to pick the right people for the roles. It was really difficult (especially since I love some of the past casting choices - especially in Rome), but here are my choices.

Cleopatra has been played by Vivien Leigh (Caesar and Cleopatra), Elizabeth Taylor (Cleopatra), Leonor Varela (Cleopatra), and Lyndsey Marshal (Rome). I feel as though Cleopatra is an extremely important character. I actually ended up choosing an Italian-born actress. I thought that this would be a good idea, since she was a descendant of Ptolemy (Macedonian General to Alexander the Great) and by many accounts looked Roman. I ended up choosing Giovanna Mezzogiorno.

The next character that I cast was Julius Caesar. He has been played by Claude Rains (Caesar and Cleopatra), Rex Harrison (Cleopatra), Timothy Dalton (Cleopatra), and Ciaran Hinds (Rome). This was another character that was really hard to cast. I wanted to get the age relationships right between characters. I ended up choosing Liam Neeson.

Next, I cast Mark Anthony. He has previously been played by Richard Burton (Cleopatra), Billy Zane (Cleopatra), and James Purefoy (Rome). I went back and forth between several actors for this role, but ended up choosing Eric Bana.

The second to last character that I recast was Brutus. He has been played by Kenneth Haigh (Cleopatra), Sean Pertwee (Cleopatra), and Tobias Menzies (Rome). I ended up casting Dougray Scott.

The last character that I cast was Octavian. He has been played by Roddy McDowall (Cleopatra), Rupert Graves (Cleopatra), and Simon Woods (Rome). I ended up casting Laurence Fox.

So what do you all think? Who would you cast?