It will still be some months before I’ll be ready to write my next Bell Mountain novel, but I want to start psyching myself for it now.
And so I imagine an epic series of movies, no holds barred, and entertain myself by finding actors to play the host of characters involved. A lot of the major characters are children, though, and the right child actors for these parts have yet to be discovered. So I just cast for the adult roles.
Here are a few of my executive decisions so far.
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Villains (I’ve got the bad guys all lined up–don’t ask me why)
Lord Reesh: Claude Raines
Judge Tombo: Victor Buono
Goryk Gillow: Vincent Price
Lord Chutt: John Nettles (Midsomer Murders)
Ysbott the Snake: Wes Studi (Magua in The Last of the Mohicans)
Good Guys
Roshay Bault: Robert Shaw
Obst the Hermit: Max von Sydow
Szugetai the Horse Lord: Toshiro Mifune
Prester Jod: Martin Shaw
Chagadai the Ghol: Eli Wallach
Chief Xhama: Ken Gampu
Well, that’s as far as I’ve got. Looks like my readers will have to help me out! Which you can’t do, I guess, unless you’ve read the books. Some of them, at least. Be especially on the lookout for an actress in her late teens to play Queen Gurun, a most important and challenging role.