Dream Cast Thursday! Anna Karenina

This week's Dream Cast Thursday is Anna Karenina. It was originally a book by Leo Tolstoy that was first published between 1873 and 1877. I have never read the original novel, but for my remake, I looked at the four film adaptations that were released in 1935, 1948, 1997 and 2000.

The first character that I recast was Anna Karenina. She has been played by Greta Garbo, Vivien Leigh, Sophie Marceau, and Helen McCrory. For my adaptation, I cast Hayley Atwell.

The second character that I recast was Count Vronsky. He has been played by Fredric March, Kieron Moore, Sean Bean, and Kevin McKidd. For my adaptation, I cast Ewan McGregor.

The third character that I recast was Alexei Karenin. He has been played by Basil Rathbone, Ralph Richardson, James Fox, and Stephen Dillane. For my adaptation, I cast Rufus Sewell.

The fourth character that I recast was played by Alfred Molina and Douglas Henshall. For my adaptation, I recast Paul Bettany.

The last character that I recast was Kitty Scherbatsky. She has been played by Maureen O'Sullivan, Sally Ann Howes, Mia Kirshner, and Paloma Baeza. For my adaptation, I cast Natalie Portman.

So what do you all think? What adaptations have you seen? Have you read the original novel? Who would be in your recast?

Dream Cast Thursday! A Streetcar Named Desire

Sorry for the late posting. This week has been pretty hectic. This week's Dream Cast Thursday is A Streetcar Named Desire. The original play by Tennessee Williams was written in 1947. There have been many film adaptations (1951, 1984, 1995).

The original 1951 film kept the original Broadway cast (except for Jessica Tandy who was replaces by Vivien Leigh). I tried to look at all of them when making my choices.

The first character that I recast was Blanche DuBois. This was hard for me. In my mind, I have such a clear picture of who she is. She has been played by Vivien Leigh, Ann-Margret, and Jessica Lange. For my adaptation, I chose Julia Roberts.

The second character that I recast was Stanley Kowalski. He has been played by Marlon Brando, Treat Williams, and Alec Baldwin. For my adaptation, I cast Desmond Harrington.

The last character that I recast was Stella Kowalski. This was probably the easiest character of the three to cast. Once the other ones were chosen, she just seemed right. She has been played by Kim Hunter, Beverly D'Angelo, and Diane Lane. For my adaptation, I cast Rachel McAdams.

So what do you all think? Have you read or seen the play? What adaptations are your favorites? Who would be in yours?

Dream Cast Thursday! Gone With the Wind

For this week's Dream Cast Thursday, I will be recasting Gone With the Wind (1939). It was really hard (because I love the original so much!). The hardest part was trying to get the ages about right. See, when I think of Rhett, I think of a man in his late forties to early fifties. He actually should be mid-thirties. I feel like this happens a lot with older films. I always want to cast someone fairly older than the original actor that played him or her. I see nothing wrong with the original cast. I just thought that it might be fun to recast it.

Scarlett was probably the second hardest to cast. She was originally played by Vivien Leigh. After giving it a lot of thought, I ended up casting Emily Blunt.

Rhett was definitely the hardest to cast. He was originally played by Clark Gable. I kept going back and forth between several guys. I ended up choosing Gabriel Macht (mostly because he was about the right age, and because I kept getting this Southern, bad boy feel from him).

Ashley was originally played by Leslie Howard. I ended up casting Patrick Wilson.

Melanie was originally played by Olivia de Havilland. I ended up casting Amy Adams.

Belle was another hard character to cast. She was originally played by Ona Munson. I kept switching back and forth between several older actresses. I ended up casting Charlize Theron.

So what do you all think? Who would you cast in your remake?

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?