Tuesday, April 1, 2014

A Tale Of Two Cities (2015) [or just my dream cast post]


Note: This was my April Fool's joke for 2014. Sorry for any confusion or false hopes this post may have caused! It was fun writing about my dream cast though! :)

In 2012 I had the joy of reading Charles Dicken's A Tale Of Two Cities for the first time and really loved it! (Read my thoughts in this guest post.) My dear friend Melody was reading the book at the same time and we had such fun not only discussing the book but also dreaming about what a great TV miniseries it would make and who we would cast in the main roles. Now to my surprise and extreme delight I heard a rumor that there is indeed a new adaptation in the works! They are filming now in France and England!

And to top that they have announced some of the cast!!! 

Kimberley Nixon as Lucie Manette
She made such a sweet Sophy Hutton in Cranford and I'm convinced she is the perfect choice for the angelic Lucie!

Tom Hiddleston as Sydney Carton
He's proved he can play villains and heroes with the same amount of incredible skill and I am so excited at the prospect of him playing the amazing man that is Sydney Carton! He'll also do Carton's comedic side justice. Hope they make his hair dark for this role. And as much I love him I am kinda disappointed that they didn't choose Benedict Cumberbatch

J.J. Feild as Charles Darnay
Well, he does resemble Tom Hiddleston quite a bit and has a charming easy manner. I think he could be quite believable as the kind and honorable tudor who is in love with sweet Lucie.

Jonathan Pryce as Dr. Manette
Not sure he is quite frail enough but he will probably make a good father for Lucie.

Imelda Staunton as Miss Pross
As has been said before, no period drama is quite complete without an Imelda Staunton! Not sure she is quite old enough but she could definitely be a fierce protector for her "Ladybird", Lucie Manette

Alun Armstrong as Jerry Cruncher
No Charles Dickens adaptation is quite the same without Mr. Armstrong! This is delightful casting because I saw him in my mind while reading the book! He will be an amazing "master of the house"!

Andy Serkis as John Barsad
He was the perfect evil French villain in Little Dorrit and now ironically he is changing sides and taking on the role of the British scoundrel Barsad! I'm super excited by this casting!

David Suchet as Jarvis Lorry
He actually played John Barsad in A Tale Of Two Cities (1980) but I think he will be wonderful as the kind lawyer friend of Dr. Manette. I do wish he was playing one of the French characters though because his accents are a dream!

Brendan Coyle as Ernest Defarge
Wow! Bet you never expected he'd be cast in this role, especially as a Frenchman! Not sure he will be quite right but I always enjoy his roles.

Alex Kingston as Madame Defarge
Wow, she will be so fierce as Madame Defarge! And just imagine all those curls under a red cap! I wonder if she knows how to knit?

Charles Dance as Marquis St. Evermond
No Dickens film is quite the same without him either, he is so good in the villain roles! Perfectly aristocratic and evil!

And rumor is that Andrew Davies who did such an excellent job with Little Dorrit and Bleak House wrote the screenplay for this new miniseries. I approve but am a bit worried about some of the flashback scenes with the Marquis and Madame Defarge's family. 

Overall I'm just very excited about this upcoming miniseries!!!


Have you read A Tale Of Two Cities?
Do you approve of these cast choices?
What actors would be in your dream cast?

And by the way, Happy April Fools Day! ;)



25 comments:

Reyna Nicole said...

Ooh my goodness Tom Hiddleston Kimberly Nixon Jonathan Pryce Imelda Staunton Andy Serkis Alun Armstrong Brendan Coyle!!! I'm dying!

Natalie said...

Hahahaha!
I saw the title of this post and thought "Oh my goodness, a Tale of Two Cities adaption!!!" As soon as I thought that I realized what day it was. ;) I was expecting some sort of post like this...

Unknown said...

Miss Dashwood, if this is an April fools joke I shall be a tad upset, because I was very excited. But it probably is... :(

Unknown said...

My apologies I meant MISS LAURIE. NOT Miss Dashwood

Miss Laurie of Old-Fashioned Charm said...

Yep, sorry Maddie Rose, this is definitely an April Fool's joke! But I thought it was a clever way to post about my dream cast. Wouldn't it be wonderful if it came true!

Mrs. B said...

Everyone is this household is quite thrilled with the cast. Some would have preferred Benny, but the rest are satisfied that Tom H. is cast as he will not overshadow the character with his own personality. Certain ones are also thrilled that "Gollum" will make an appearance as well. (Ditto for River Song.)

Ella said...

This is so exciting!!!
I think the acting in this movie will be great!!!

Thank you for posting about this, Miss Laurie.

Marian said...

AAAAH you really got me there for a minute ... and now I'm sad it's not real!!

Lydia said...

YOU GOT MY HOPES UP WITH THIS PERFECT CAST!!!!!!!!!!!! I was LITERALLY squealing!!! You have broken my heart!

Meee said...

I literally just began reading Bleak House and really like the story. It took me a bit to get "into" it, but now I am enjoying it immensely. Naturally I had not heard anything about a miniseries prior to this post, so now I am very very excited because it is going to have nearly EVERY one of my favorite actors in it!!! You have put me on the edge of my seat!

A.G. Dahl said...

Oh. My. Gosh.

I had no idea about this and now I'm sky-high!!! T Hiddles as Carton?? JJ Field as Darney?? Alex Kingston as Madame Defarge?? Jonathan Pryce as Dr. Manette???? I'm *beyond* sky-high. I'm like, on the freakin' moon.

I think I may faint. I just -- I can't. Halp! I'm having a fangirl attack and I can't get up! @.@

*swoons*
~Anna

aweebitobsessive.blogspot.com

A.G. Dahl said...

Also....I'm annoyed cause yeah. April fools. -_- *glares* Not cool. lol!

~Anna

Vicki said...

I ... I actually am about to cry. I thought this was real and shrieked and brought my whole family down to tell them. Ooooh, I have to go sit by myself for a while now ... wow ...

Kathryn said...

YOU ARE EVIL!!!!!!!!!!!!

How can you do this to poor, unsuspecting Dickens fans?

Kathryn said...

YOU ARE EVIL!!!!!!!!!!!!

How can you do this to poor, unsuspecting Dickens fans?

Unknown said...

Ok, I am so mad right now! Haha, I thought it was true! I'm laying in my bed with my kindle, and I gasped, freaked my sister out because of it, and started excitedly reading off the names of the "cast". :D

This was great... although I'm disappointed its not true. I love the book and can't believe there hasn't been a more recent adaptation of it.

Seriously, the cast you put together is amazing... for every one, I was telling my sister, "Perfect! Perfect..." :D you should send that in to some director/writer... maybe Andrew Davies? ;)

Anyways, it was great! :D
Amy

Unknown said...

I totally believed this! I screamed and got all excited and told my mom! And then I realized...The cast is wayyy too perfect to be real! And now I'm crying! But I have to admit, Best April Fool's Prank Ever! And now you should write to BBC and make it happen!

Hayden said...

ahhhhh! YOU'RE AWFUL. I believed this for half a second until it got to Tom Hiddleston and JJ Field and was like...no. This is too good to be true. And then I saw the rest of the cast...I WANT ALEX KINGSTON TO BE MADAME DEFARGE *wails*

Very, very cruel, madame. Because this entire cast is perfection.

Lydia said...

I do have to say that this is the best April Fools joke ever! Please send this cast list to Andrew Davies or BBC!

Melody said...

Fortunately I read this today so I was not fooled. Although perhaps I wouldn't have been anyways... now I will never know! ;)

BUT I LOVE SO MUCH OF THE CASTING! And Tom Hiddleston and JJ Feild! YES! When I saw JJ Feild in Nicholas Nickleby I was confused about who it was at first! Amy was talking about the same casting before. ;)

And Mr. Tulkinghorn. Yessss. And of course Alun Armstrong. OF COURSE. And you know how I feel about Kimberley Nixon! :D

Melissa Wiebe said...

Love the cast! Yes, I have read A Tale of Two Cities and honestly I can see Brendan Coyle M. Defarge; he's got that grit that almost essential for the role.

Elisa said...

Late comer here...
I read the novel years ago and have only seen the 1935 movie adaptation. It's in black & white. Of course, events in the novel were changed or dropped for the movie, but it was still good.

Ella said...

Ha Ha!!! You got me really good.
The cast was so perfect I should have known it was too good to be true:)

Hannah Long said...

Quite a good list - very similar to my own dreamcast. It is more evil, of course, because there really has been talk of a miniseries as of August 2014, so I thought this may be legit! :)

Yup, it's me. said...

Nice list! I agree with most of them, but instead Amy Gumenick as Lucie, and Michael Caine as Mr.Lorry. The rest, however, I completely agree with.

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