Animorphs Cast

[JFalcon]

The problem is can they act? A lot of child stars today can't act, heck a lot of stars today can't act.

Also the problem with child actors vs animation is you have no idea what they'll look like when they get older, i.e. the cast of the Harry Potter movies, some of whom were fine at first and are now growing out of the proper visual look of their roles.

But yes, indeed, unknowns as we've been saying, and lock the little buggers up so they have no outside contact with the media, if Furgie gets near any of them all is lost, they'll be contaminated and we'll have to liquidate them and requisition six new ones!

[agentAK]

Glory, I do seem to be getting some folks all riled up!

Maybe I should repost my HSM/Animorphs manip.

Do you really have one? 'Cause now I want to see it... uploaduploadupload!

Rachel would probably be the easiest, actually.  Just find a tall stereotypical model-looking girl with blond hair who isn't a total ditz.  They do exist.

No, she'd be the hardest. It isn't just about not being a ditz, she has to be really fierce.

[ChimichangaChupacabra]

The problem is can they act? A lot of child stars today can't act, heck a lot of stars today can't act.

That's exactly why you don't get child stars.

As for the Rachel thing, she'd be easier in the sense that she's not about subtlety.  You don't really have to balance a lot with Rachel, I mean fierce and confident isn't that hard to convey.  Even if it wasn't in the actor's default personality to have those traits.  It's more difficult with Marco, even Jake to an extent, because they're a lot less up-front and in-your-face, it's a little more of a balancing act.

[Liz]

The only hard part about Rachel, maybe, would be getting that progression as the story goes on, how she starts to need the fighting and all that.

Glory, I do seem to be getting some folks all riled up!

Maybe I should repost my HSM/Animorphs manip.

Do you really have one? 'Cause now I want to see it... uploaduploadupload!

[agentAK]

The only hard part about Rachel, maybe, would be getting that progression as the story goes on, how she starts to need the fighting and all that.

Glory, I do seem to be getting some folks all riled up!

Maybe I should repost my HSM/Animorphs manip.

Do you really have one? 'Cause now I want to see it... uploaduploadupload!

....*whimpers*

I'd switch Afro and The Sparkly Lord Dansypants, King of the Daffodils (<--- What my sister and I call Sharpay's brother) as Marco and Tobias.

AND SPEAKING of disturbing images, I was reading an Animorph book the other day and my ipod was on shuffle. During a fight at the Yeerk Pool, the Hairspray soundtrack came on. The the mental image of Jake and the other Animorphs singing "You Can't Stop the Beat" to a very confused Visser Three entered my head and wouldn't leave...

[ChimichangaChupacabra]

You're both dead to me. 

*spirit breaks entirely*

But a big "Lulz, tee hee hee" at the Sparkly Lord Dansypants part.  Oh, God.

[jsjosh]

It's difficult to think of child actors today that would be good fits. When I thought about this kind of thing all the time back in the day, it was my opinion that they can't just look the part - they have to be good actors as well, especially during the final story arc when everything gets much darker. Here are a few just off the top of my head.

• Kirsten Stewart for Rachel (I've never seen Twilight, but judging from Adventureland it seems like she could play the world-weariness and possibly even rage that the role requires)
• Dev Patel as Marco (probably not the best for comic relief, but he's a Good Actor that could effectively portray the emotions over his Controller mom)

...and for Ax you could go the Dr. Manhattan route and have any guy (even an adult) play the role with performance-capture. This is a name I'm just throwing out there, but Sterling Beaumon could be good for his human morph, once he gets his growth spurt or whatever (it would be difficult to get away with Sterling being a DNA composite of significantly taller Stewart and Patel). As Young Benjamin Linus in LOST he was pretty great. He's going to be getting a 4- or 5-episode story arc very soon on LOST so I guess his acting ability will be on display for people on this forum to judge.

[ChimichangaChupacabra]

Yeah, see, both of those are about 6-7 years too old, Kristen Stewart comes off more like a sarcastic preppy bish (bish?) than brave and intense, and Dev Patel's an English guy of Indian background.  Playing a mixed white guy/spanish (or hispanic, we don't know) guy who's joke repertoire is mostly made up of Americana culture.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure there's someone better out there on God's green earth.  Just a hunch.

[JFalcon]

I say unknowns for the Animorphs because they need to be good, no drama, and resemble their characters, but a known voice actor for Visser Three and some of the other minor roles like Chapman, that way people don't roll their eyes at the movie, see people have this idiotic tendancy to ignore any movie that hasn't got known actors, or hasn't got enough known actors . . . Visser Three needs to be someone who can pull in the crowds, Chapman needs to be familiar without making people upset he's second banana.

[ChimichangaChupacabra]

No self-respecting big-name actor's going to take the role of Visser Three if he's written the same way he is in the books.  "I'll get you next time, Baaattmaaan, if it's the last thing I doooo!"  *twirls moustache, pets evil kitten*

[jsjosh]

I think that Visser Three's whole character though is sort of this power-hungry egomaniac to contrast with Visser One's more subtle approach. It's not like the story doesn't have enough depth to acknowledge that Visser Three is the apex of Animorphs villainy... you know? It's a little more nunanced than a cartoon villain, or to give a specific example, better than how Jim Carrey played Count Olaf in the Lemony Snicket movie. V3 is recognized as having relatively shallow intelligence amongst the Yeerks, he just retains his power because he's incredibly violent and ambitious. Or at least, um, that's how I remember it.

And I don't think they're too old, really. They're 3-4 years too old, not 6-7. And just IMO, there's no way a studio is going to greenlight a blockbuster movie with 13-year-old kids going through the incredibly violent types of atrocities described even early on in the books (severed limbs, etc.) I would think in the movies they would have to be a bit older: say, the war taking place as they age from 16-19 years old (as opposed to 13-16).

[ChimichangaChupacabra]

Oh, I'm not saying that's not the way a studio would make the movie.  They would. 

But it really takes a lot away from the series, I think.  I mean, what's more horrifying than a middle-school kid being forced to kill someone?  18-19, to me that's pretty much an adult anyway.  Jake being a highschool senior isn't really the "boy general" anymore, that's pretty much armed forces recruitment age.

[Nonchalant_Fool]

The rest of the cast requires more thinking for me, but I would love it if Michelle Rodriguez played Visser One. The perfect amount of kick-your-butt attitude.

And I like agentAK's choices for Jake and Rachel, in terms of looks. I haven't seen Radio Free Roscoe to judge on their acting though.

I'm totally against Disney actors (Zac Efron? Really?) and that stupid Kristen Stewart- no offense to those who suggested them, I just don't like those actors.

Also, if anyone else watches Supernatural, what do you think about Katie Cassidy playing Rachel?

[ChimichangaChupacabra]

She's frickin' 23 years old.  No.

Michelle Rodriguez, as awesome as she is as Ana Lucia...eh.  Probably too young.  She doesn't really seem "foreign" enough, either, although I guess it's never specifically stated whether or not Eva has an accent.  Meh.  I dunno.

I still say Ron Glass for either the Visser (voice) or Elfangor (voice).  He'd probably be too old to convincingly portray Elfangor if they ever got to a TAC, though.  I think his voice would suit the Visser awesomely.  Not sure if he's ever played a villain though.

As for totally minor inconsequential characters of no significance whatsoever, I'm getting a "Bill Paxton-type" vibe from the cop in #1, out at the farm.  Totally random idea, there.

Oh.  Michael Biehn for future Jake, in that crappy future book.     Bwahaha.  Guy's a badass.  Not entirely serious here, the dude's like 50 now.

[Starsword]

Rachel: Kate Todd ---Happy Mall rat Rachel: http://www.imdb.com/media/rm2202570752/nm1433900,
'I'm gonna kick your *ss' Rachel: http://www.imdb.com/media/rm2219347968/nm1433900

Holy Crapola! I saw those and never fell more in love with someone fitting a role. The "Happy mall rat" one is good, but seriously that second one makes me think of The Return cover, but with attitude.

For Jake: Jeremy Jason McCole

P.S. I just researched Kate Todd, because I never heard of her and had no idea how old she was. 21 is pretty old. But right qualities.