Casting Aesir and other Norse gods

[mrissa]

Last week a friend wrote to ask me what should be a very simple question: who would I cast as Thor in a movie or TV series?

Short answer is, apparently, I wouldn't; or else I'd have to hold really good open casting calls, because I could not think of a single actor I considered right to play Thor.

But I did have some ideas for some other Norse gods: I want Tina Majorino (Mac from Veronica Mars) to play Hel, because I think she would rock that role like an unspecified rocking thing. I want T. J. Thyne (Hodgins from Bones) to play Loki, because he has the exactly right manic chaotic spark, and also it would fit and be just right that he would be fairly small compared to the rest of the gods. And my moment of brilliance in this, in my own completely unbiased opinion, was that Tahmoh Penikett (Helo from Battlestar Galactica) and Jim True-Frost (Prez from The Wire) should play brothers in lo these many things, and in this case Tahmoh Penikett should be Tyr and Jim True-Frost should be Hod. I'm also thinking of Allison Janney (C.J. Cregg from The West Wing) as Frigg.

Anybody else full of theories? I know, I know: startling lack of Jane Lynch. timprov thought she should be Hel instead, but I just can't give up Tina Majorino in that.

Comments

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

Hmmmm. I don't know who should play Thor, either. It needs to be somebody who wouldn't look ridiculous in a long mustache and beard -- even if that isn't how he appears at the moment, I would need to be able to look at the guy and not giggle at the thought.

It amuses me that we all think Loki should be small compared to the rest of the gods, given his giantish nature.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Well, but lots of the gods are half-giant.

For me the difficulty wasn't the long mustache and beard. It's that most of the white guys who have really large physical presence in TV and movies don't have the "I have taken it for granted that I will always be huge and strong" kind of physical presence, they have the "I am a bodybuilder and therefore link this directly to effort" kind.

So the upshot of this is that I would probably cast a Maori, Samoan, or African-American guy as Thor. Which I would be fine with if not for the beard/mustache requirement, which is Not Unimportant.

[cadithial.livejournal.com]

Are you doing both Aesir and Vanir?

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Yes.

[bork.livejournal.com]

I could see Viggo Mortensen as Thor, especially with longish hair.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Well, except that he's not even six feet tall. Do I believe in Viggo Mortensen being willing and able to run one through with a sword, when he is playing a role? Indubitably. But being able to hurl a gigantic hammer and make thunder happen? Not so much with that. He might make quite a good Frey, though.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I kinda like Denys Leary for Loki, myself. Of course, it would mean putting him in a trench or casting only freakishly tall actors for the rest of the Aesir, though.

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau should definitely get something.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Yesyes. I could even buy Coster-Waldau as Baldr.

[cloudscudding.livejournal.com]

I'd cast against type for Thor and go with older, small, grim, and wiry. Kind of a condensed nugget of "this is what a god shrinks down to". I'm even thinking of an actor but I can't remember his name.

[cloudscudding.livejournal.com]

Terence Stamp, as he acted in The Limey! Ha! Remembered!

[eposia.livejournal.com]

My friend suggested Karl Urban for Thor.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

I am having great difficulty seeing why, but perhaps when I've seen the new Star Trek I will understand.

[volund.livejournal.com]

I think you can dispense with height concerns. You'll get around that with camera tricks, CGI, etc. This is going to be an epic, right? Like LotR, film(s) where humans, elves, dwarves and hobbits were all played, for the most part, by average sized humans?

[volund.livejournal.com]

"for the most part" of course refers to the average sized aspect. Unless somebody's been hiding something, the actors themselves are all human ...

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

But you can't do it all with camera tricks; you can't do any of it with camera tricks. All you can do is make people taller or shorter with camera tricks; it doesn't affect their physical presence, the awareness of their physical self they project. I'm sure there are some actors who are careful enough observers of other humans that they could successfully mimic someone much bigger or much smaller than themselves, but for this sort of thing it strikes me as mighty rare. It is hard to spot the real differences in being a different sized adult than you actually are. For a guy who is 6'2" in a culture where 6'2" guys are common, no problem--you can have a guy who is 5'10" do that pretty successfully, because 5'10" is pretty common. But for Thor? You need someone whose awareness of his own size is in his breath and his pores.

[reveritas.livejournal.com]

Thor: Robbie Coltrane? Too easy? Too jolly. I'm going to go with the Viggo selection above.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Yah, that sort of physical presence, but without the jolly.

Actually I'd kind of like to see Robbie Coltrane do something completely free of jolly once, if he can, if it's not thoroughly ingrained into the "I am not a monster so do not treat me like one" body language men of that size learn.

[intrepida.livejournal.com]

And now I wish I knew Norse mythology better. I'd have better suggestions for Greco-Roman gods -- surprise, surprise.

[rushthatspeaks.livejournal.com]

My nomination for Loki would be Tilda Swinton.

It's not my aesthetic for Thor, but I think the epitome of what you're looking for would be Ron Perlman.

[zalena.livejournal.com]

Awesome suggestion.

[mkille.livejournal.com]

ooooh like.

Sadly,

[dlandon.livejournal.com]

This is the guy who was cast as Thor in the upcoming movie;

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1165110/

I do think it's based on a comic book, but...this is not Thor to me. Too pretty, and not enough presence.

- D

Re: Sadly,

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Yeah, no. Not so much.

[zalena.livejournal.com]

Thor has to have a beard and not even a whiff of spandex.

Signed, disappointed comix fan.

[writingortyping.livejournal.com]

Alexander Skarsgard has to factor in here somewhere. He might be a bit too lean/young for Thor, but he's certainly got physical presence... hmm... might do.

[rmnilsson.livejournal.com]

There are some pro wrestlers out there who might meet your criteria. Paul Michael Levesque (aka Triple H) looks appropriate for the part, is 6'4 and impressively muscular. He also has at least some acting ability and a great deal of presence.

Another suggestion from Ben is Ray Stevenson, who played Titus Pullo from HBO's Rome.

[juliansinger.livejournal.com]

Given M'ris's parameters, HHH does Not Work, as he is constantly aware of his body and his muscle mass and he consciously throws his weight around.

(I think he might work if he were born in a different era, but alas.)

[mkille.livejournal.com]

Isn't there a law that Cate Blanchett would have to be in this kind of production?

I keep coming back to John Corbett for Thor. I don't think I can defend it though.

[mkille.livejournal.com]

And I can imagine Ben Browder doing the hammer thing, but I don't know his height.

Which has led me to think of Woody Harrelson circa White Men Can't Jump and Natural Born Killers.