Perfect Casting, part 2

[ShadowX81]

Not my first choices in most cases, but all good pics.  The only thing I have to say against it is that Jon Huertas is way too old for Carlos. Carlos is roughly Molly's age, a teenager at the latest in SK and in his early 20's later on.

Yea, il admit that I took a liberty with that casting, but here was my reasoning. Even though Carlos is a young man (I think he is mentioned as being 23 in Dead Beat), he has never been seen as anything but an equal to Harry. He is easily able to hold his own with the rest of the White Council in combat and is mature enough to be a trusted warden. Becuase of this his age has never seemed that relevant to Harry or anyone else. They treat him like a peer.

I felt that casting a signifigantly younger actor than Harry would at best result in a mentor/mentee relationship that didn't fit the character, and at worst could leave you with a Wesely Crusher. Therefore I chose to prioritize that peer dynamic over the described age of the character, and aged him by a few years.

[Quantus]

Yea, il admit that I took a liberty with that casting, but here was my reasoning. Even though Carlos is a young man (I think he is mentioned as being 23 in Dead Beat), he has never been seen as anything but an equal to Harry. He is easily able to hold his own with the rest of the White Council in combat and is mature enough to be a trusted warden. Becuase of this his age has never seemed that relevant to Harry or anyone else. They treat him like a peer.

I felt that casting a signifigantly younger actor than Harry would at best result in a mentor/mentee relationship that didn't fit the character, and at worst could leave you with a Wesely Crusher. Therefore I chose to prioritize that peer dynamic over the described age of the character, and aged him by a few years.

I dont think so.  I mean, there was always mutual respect there, but the age difference was also a big part of their relationship, especially during WN.  From the Old Man being grumpy in the morning because he couldnt keep up with the young whippersnappers in late night drinking to the whole Virgin thing
Harry is going to be noticeably older than all the New Guard wardens
and keeping a good, visible gap between the Old and New Guard is a line I wouldnt want to blur too much if it can be avoided

[ShadowX81]

I dont think so.  I mean, there was always mutual respect there, but the age difference was also a big part of their relationship, especially during WN.  From the Old Man being grumpy in the morning because he couldnt keep up with the young whippersnappers in late night drinking to the whole Virgin thing
Harry is going to be noticeably older than all the New Guard wardens
and keeping a good, visible gap between the Old and New Guard is a line I wouldnt want to blur too much if it can be avoided

The age difference meat nothing except for the occasional insult/joke to one another or something else superficial. In terms of their relationship and overall interaction with one another, they were equals.

[Quantus]

The age difference meat nothing except for the occasional insult/joke to one another or something else superficial. In terms of their relationship and overall interaction with one another, they were equals.

I agree completely, but I dont just think that "equals" as Wardens has to also mean Equal ages.  Especially with the Virgin Joke.  Him being an early 20s virgin is cute and endearing; but a 40 year old virgin has a whole different connotation. 

Besides, at that point Harry will also be dealing with and/or dating an early 20-something Luccio, and having Carlos already on screen and established as a young compatriot that is never-the-less treated as an equal will do a lot to smooth over some of the age difference involved in that.

[ShadowX81]

I agree completely, but I dont just think that "equals" as Wardens has to also mean Equal ages.  Especially with the Virgin Joke.  Him being an early 20s virgin is cute and endearing; but a 40 year old virgin has a whole different connotation. 

Besides, at that point Harry will also be dealing with and/or dating an early 20-something Luccio, and having Carlos already on screen and established as a young compatriot that is never-the-less treated as an equal will do a lot to smooth over some of the age difference involved in that.

I do agree that the Virgin thing wouldn't quite work if he is made to be Harry's age. But you said it yourself that in the books Carlos is roughly Molly's age (about 5-6 years older). But if you compare the two there is a world of difference in thier personality and maturity levels that I just don't think would come across if they were made to be around the same age.

I don't think Harry being involved with Luccio would be as huge of a problem, as actresses in thier early 20s playing roles that involve them hooking up with men in thier 30s isn't too uncommon on tv (Supernatural is a good example). In fact im fairly certain that women above the age of 30 are only allowed on tv in rare instances. If you get an actress with the right amount of maturity it shouldn't be an issue.

[fantazero]

[Quantus]

I do agree that the Virgin thing wouldn't quite work if he is made to be Harry's age. But you said it yourself that in the books Carlos is roughly Molly's age (about 5-6 years older). But if you compare the two there is a world of difference in thier personality and maturity levels that I just don't think would come across if they were made to be around the same age.

I don't think Harry being involved with Luccio would be as huge of a problem, as actresses in thier early 20s playing roles that involve them hooking up with men in thier 30s isn't too uncommon on tv (Supernatural is a good example). In fact im fairly certain that women above the age of 30 are only allowed on tv in rare instances. If you get an actress with the right amount of maturity it shouldn't be an issue.

Carlos isnt exactly a picture of maturity and ages wisdom here.  I mean, he knows when to get serious and put his game face on, but the rest of the time he is a cocky loudmouth, and that only goes over well if he is a young, cocky loudmouth.  Otherwise he comes accross as just an arrogant ass.  No question that he is more mature than Molly, but molly is less mature than her years in many ways.  By contrast Carlos is the youngest warden to ever be named Regional Commander.  They are on opposite ends of the maturity spectrum to be sure, but are supposed to be part of the same general Generation.  If you age him up to Harry's age, you distance them too much, and loose the mechanism for a lot of the Warden interplay.

[ShadowX81]

Carlos isnt exactly a picture of maturity and ages wisdom here.  I mean, he knows when to get serious and put his game face on, but the rest of the time he is a cocky loudmouth, and that only goes over well if he is a young, cocky loudmouth.  Otherwise he comes accross as just an arrogant ass.

Couldn't much the same be said of Harry; if you replace "cocky" with "sarcastic"?

[Quantus]

Couldn't much the same be said of Harry; if you replace "cocky" with "sarcastic"?

Probably depends on the person, but I find that no matter how sarcastic a person is, that is very rarely as obnoxious as a person who is constantly going on and on and on about how great they are at every little thing.  Like Carlos does.

[Rasins]

What would you guys think of Michael Weatherly as Harry?

He's filled out a bit in the last few years, but he's snarky with that edge of seriousness to him.

[Quantus]

What would you guys think of Michael Weatherly as Harry?

He's filled out a bit in the last few years, but he's snarky with that edge of seriousness to him.

If he could get back to the lank guy he was I could see it.  He can certainly do the snark well enough.

[Mr. Ghostbuster]

Hey everyone! First time poster, long time reader. I just created an account because this ia subject which ive been thinking about alot for the past few days and wanted to share my thoughts on a couple key characters.

Harry Dresden
This is a tough one. I don't think any of the choices have quite nailed it yet. Harry Dresden is a powerful wizard and one durable guy, but "cool" and "badass" are words that you can't really use to describe him; or at the very least words that he would never use to describe himself. In terms of his personality, he's a self-described geek who makes sarcastic jokes to himself, has bad luck with woman, and is often down on his luck. While he has mentioned that people have described him as attractive, he doesn't really seem to believe it himself, and lacks the confidence to really buy into that fact or the fact that he actually is a pretty cool guy. Overall he is a guy that never really seemed to grow out of his "awkward teenager" phase.
For this reason I think he should be played by someone with boyish and lean good looks, giving him a somewhat innocent feel while still being attractive and the appropriate age. People like Jared Padalecki and Sam Worthington just seem wrong to me as they project too much confidence.

My choice: Lucas Bryant (Haven)


Karrin Murphy
This one came to me pretty quickly. Karrin is an attractive; tough-as-nails cop whose outer maturity and badassery covers up the fact that she is actually dealt with alot of crap in her life. She definatly needs to be more grown up than Harry personality wise, as it makes it easier to see how she could mistrust him early in their relationship. I get the feeling that the reason Harry never seemed to even consider a relationship with her early in the series was because he saw her as too grown up for him. He initially knew her only as a cop, in time a woman/friend, and finally a peer. To keep this authority figure dynamic it is important that they cast someone of the appropriate age (early 30s). Actually I thought Valerie Cruz did a great job and was very close to the book character, but for the sake of keeping her looks more in line with the book series and the obvious nerd cred, I picked someone different.

My Choice: Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy The Vampire Slayer)

My Full Cast List:
http://www.imdb.com/list/B0TTWKLfl48/?publish=save

Nailed it. I've been looking for a good Harry for years. You, sir, have nailed it. At least as far as looks go (I haven't seen Lucas Bryant act). And he is even tall (6'2")

[Griffyn612]

Nailed it. I've been looking for a good Harry for years. You, sir, have nailed it. At least as far as looks go (I haven't seen Lucas Bryant act). And he is even tall (6'2")

I've mentioned Bryant several times because of his looks.  He has that mid-western look, with the tight jaw, lean build, and requisite height for Harry.

But I feel like, and this is nit-picking, his eyes are too watery.  I know, it sounds lame, but on Haven, I always feel like he's soft around the eyes.  He doesn't have a hard, stern look.  He's also very soft-spoken and quiet, which isn't how I see Harry.  I haven't seen him in anything else, so I don't know how much of it is him or acting.

[Quantus]

I've mentioned Bryant several times because of his looks.  He has that mid-western look, with the tight jaw, lean build, and requisite height for Harry.

But I feel like, and this is nit-picking, his eyes are too watery.  I know, it sounds lame, but on Haven, I always feel like he's soft around the eyes.  He doesn't have a hard, stern look.  He's also very soft-spoken and quiet, which isn't how I see Harry.  I haven't seen him in anything else, so I don't know how much of it is him or acting.

To be fair, that can be a product of the lighting choices as much or more than the actor himself.  Have you seen him in anything else?  Does he give the same impression?

[Rasins]

Regarding Lucas Bryant - I could see it, but he seems to broody to me.  In the early books Harry wasn't nearly as broody as he is now.  Granted that has a lot to do with what's happened in his life, but to start off with a broody guy might turn folks off.

Hey, how about Dean Norris as Eb.  Just need to age him a bit, but make-up can do that easily enough.  If not Dean, I'd love to see Bruce Willis as Eb.  That would be a hoot.

I've been listening to the books recently and based on James Marsters rendition of Molly I thik Emily Kinney as Molly would be convincing.

Anthonly Head as Langtry would be a good fit.

And what about Joe Flanigan (Stargate: Atlantis) as Harry?  A bit snarky, pulls off serious well, has the looks.  He's 6 foot 2 inches, but that can be fixed.