So it's no secret that I love the fairy tale known to be "as old as time".
Beauty and the Beast has continued to capture my imagination regardless of it's versions in media all around, and probably is one of the main reasons I wear lolita in the first place. Maybe it's my secret fantasies of living out my fairy tale dreams in real life, and one of those is stumbling upon an abandoned dark castle that is home to a lonely tortured soul who enchants me with magic and we discover incredible mysteries inside the castle and about each other as people. I know many people either love or hate this particular fairy tale, but I can never get enough of it.
So with the recent announcement of (my favorite director) Guillermo Del Toro's version and the premiere of the latest episode of Once Upon A Time, a felt the need to make a delicious fan girly post of who I would like to be cast in Del Toro's and going into deep details as to who and why thus should be cast. Again though, this is just my opinion, and nothing is set in stone from my understanding (other then Belle's casting) So let's have fun with an idea of it!
First let's discuss my favorite of our two leads, The Beast. Let me just put this out there, this is a hard decision. This is my all time favorite character in history of characters. I loved specific Beasts more than others (Disney's, Vincent from 80's TV Series and Natvor from the Czech version) and to me the Beast can only be done right with following a few key things that the gentlemen I chose could follow perfectly. If you see from the collage above, the casting of our hero can only one of two ways. Either Del Toro will go with a more striking and frightening actor with piercing eyes, or they'll go with a more handsome actor that can do both the rough physicality of a typical "Beast" archetype and be the typical handsome prince at the end. Personally, I hope they go for a mixture of both.
If they go with the first path mentioned, I'd hope they'd go for Doug Jones. Yes, everyone and their momma knows he'll be in the movie in some way. He's Del Toro's muse and has taken on many beastly roles in his films in the past, including my favorite Fauno from Pan's Labyrinth. Jones would bring a fantastic creepy performance that also can be heart warming and beautiful. Another person that could give a similar but a bit more vocal performance could be Gary Oldman (check out his take on Dracula for starts) or Paul Bettany, who I think is always cast in the worst movies but is incredibly talented. Cillian Murphy could also do this, but have a great physical and vocal mixture of tortured and those eyes.
If they went on the second idea mentioned, I think Charlie Hunnam would be perfect. Charlie is a younger actor, who has incredibly good looks but is known to play real mean and angry characters such as Jax from Sons of Anarchy. He also could be incredibly powerful if they were to include scenes of The Beast doing physical actions. This also is very true for Tom Hardy, who if you've seen Bronson, is one of the most gifted young actors out there that is incredibly scary but has very kind eyes. I could see him really diving deep into the role.
But who would be my number #1 choice? Michael Fassbender. I will always support Fassbender in any movie he's in regardless of the role, but this truly would be the most perfect role for him. First off, it's pretty obvious, Fassbender is delicious. But at the same time, Fassbender is an incredibly frightening person at times. He also is not shy to extreme make up,
especially in Blood Creek, where he plays a Natzi zombie. Fassbender also can do romance beautifully,
just look at him in Jane Eyre. So yes, Fassbender is my number one choice.
Now let's discuss other casting choices for other characters. For me personally, I'm hoping this version that Del Toro is going for is the original story mixed with a good backstory to The Beast, rather then the whole general never explained nonsense that happens at the end of most based on text versions.
So, let's go with that basis. First off, who should play the other leading man, Gaston? Though not always included in every version, I think it'd be great to have him in Del Toro's. Personally, I'd like a really slimy yet attractive kind of actor. Someone that could work really well would be Timothy Olyphant or Karl Urban. Both typical handsome, but can play evil really well and can turn from the hometown hero to villain in a second. If they wanted someone younger that would look good next to Emma Watson (who I'll get to that in a second...), William Moseley might be really great as well. He's been known for playing the good kid, but I think there's a lot more fight in him, which also goes for a fellow co-star of his, Ben Barnes.
In other roles, I'd love to see Daniel Day Lewis or Jeremy Irons as Belle's Father. Usually a rounder shorter actor plays the role, but I'd love for a different change in that casting and either of the two would be wonderful. If they were going to go with a more older gentlemen, I'd love James Cromwell to take on the role. For Belle's sisters, I'd love Chloe Sevigny and Mena Suvari to play them. In my head, I'd also love for Doug Jones to play a gender-less magical being that is the person that puts The Beast under his curse. Basically, if Doug Jones did every single role in the movie, I'd still be excited.
So what do you think would make the perfect cast for Del Toro's version? I'll be honest, Emma Watson would never be my first choice for Belle. Though she is beautiful, she isn't the best actress nor do I think she'd make a great Beauty. I'd personally love them to pick Chloe Moretz or Haliee Steinfeld. They are both young, pretty but not exactly the prettiest. They can both do the gothic tale justice with their acting and their visual appeal. Watson has too much model appeal and too much of an already devoted fan base of a specific character to break into this role. It's obvious she is being considered because of money interest, but I hope another is chosen instead.
Overall though, I have hopes for this version being a future favorite. Del Toro has never let me down when it's his own solid project. He has an incredible understanding of horror and fantasy, and knows how they work together very well. This could mean that this version would be a classic among Jean Cocteau's and Disney's. Personally, I'm hoping Del Toro's is as good as the Czech verison, Panna et Netvor.
Check out the whole movie here (it's the picture thats above), it's stunning to say the least.
So comment below who you'd like to see in the movie and your thoughts on it overall! I'm interested to hear your take on the tale as old as time!
