FanCasting: The Lunar Chronicles

This is a reposted post.

Behold! The Lunar Chronicles by Marrisa Meyer.

I’ve wanted this to be made into something live action for a while now. I honestly would even be okay if they did a really good animated show, similar in style to The Last Airbender. Just make sure the voice cast is diverse.

I recently started reading them again. Well technically, listening. I’ve had a hard time reading books lately so I’ve been doing audiobooks, which has been great. I’ve only given up on two choices (Artemis Fowl & City of Bones lol) so far but everything else has been great. But because of me going through them again, my interest in a live action show has been reawakened. I think a show would be the best option, like a grand scale show. Netflix, Amazon or even HBO could pick it up. Honestly, if Disney was smart, they could adapt these and put them on Disney+, it can be a little dark, but I think Disney shouldn’t shy away from darker, more mature content. They could even separate the “mature” content so that they’re not censoring stuff because that’s lame. Anyway lol.

I love the fact that this series takes the fairy tail stories we know and love and put them into a science fiction and fantasy (still) setting. I love how she incorporates Cinderella and her losing her shoe in Cinder. Or how Scarlet has a red hoodie she always wears and the whole wolf thing is really cool. It sucks later on though. How instead of being locked in a tower Cress “Rapunzel” is stuck on a satellite orbiting earth because she’s a hacker. Or with Winter how her childhood friend becomes her “huntsman”. Plus how they all connect. I love it. It’s such a great series. The cover designs are so beautiful and the cover for Cinder is what drew me to them. She does have two more short stories in this series: Fairest (best to read before Winter) and Stars Above (best to read after Winter).

But I have posted this before, but I wanted to do an update with updated choices since a lot of my original choices are probably to old to play these teenagers and young adults.

So, I will share my original choice (on the left) and put the new choice beside them (on the right). Their names will be in the caption on their photo.

Cast and Characters

Linh Cinder/Princess Selene

Age: 15 but technically 16

Species: Cyborg

Ethnicity/Race: Lunar

Appearance: Tanned skin, brown eyes, 5’8, straight, fine brown hair just below shoulder length. Note: While Cinder is technically Lunar, which we can tell is a very diverse people, she should also look Asian enough because she lives in New Beijing and it’s never mentioned that she doesn’t physically fit in outside of being Cyborg.

Kelsey is under 30 but if this becomes a television show, I would want actors who not only look young but can continue to look young as the seasons go on. Nothing sucks like when an actor (who is older and playing a teenager) turns 30 and then BAM! looks 30. Not saying that Kelsey will, I’m just saying. But I found Tiffany from some googling and I liked her just from looking at her. I think in terms of physicality she’d be great.

New Honorable Mention: Peyton Elizabeth Lee, Anna Cathcart (she’s the right age but she looks a lot younger)

Original Honorable Mentions: Chloe Bennett, Seychelle Gabriel (second choice)

Prince/Emperor Kaito “Kai”

Age: 18

Species: Human

Ethnicity: Chinese

Appearance: Fair Skinned, copper brown eyes, 5’11, black straight and shaggy hair that grows past his ears.

Jasper Liu is honestly perfect for Kai but he’s 30+ lol. It took a long time to find Song Wei Long but when I came across him, I was like hmm, then I watched an interview with him and I was sold. He’s the same age as Tiffany.

New Honorable Mention: Wang Yibo, Jackson Yee, Vin Zhang

Original Honorable Mentions: Ryan Potter, Sung Joon, Mario Maurer

Scarlet Benoit

Age: 18

Species: Human

Ethnicity: French

Appearance: Freckled skinned, green eyes, curly and unruly red back length hair. 5’6.

Obviously, it would be nice to find someone who is maybe French, or who is European who can do a French accent. I’m good, but not that good… yet. Jane Levy physically is a great choice and the acting I’ve seen, she’d be great but I think Madalaine Petsch would also be great in this role. Her character on Riverdale, reminds me of Scarlett, outside of the weird moments Cheryl has. I like it. Plus it would be nice to see her in a role that’s dramatic and athletic.

New Honorable Mention: It’d be nice to find a French actress but ya know lol, Katherine McNamara, Sophie Turner

Original Honorable Mentions: Holland Roden, Rachel Hurd- Wood

Ze’ev Kesley “Wolf”

Age: 23

Species: Human

Ethnicity: Lunar

Appearance: Olive skin, bright green eyes, messy brown hair that sticks up in places. 6’4.

I’ve never seen Luke Pasqualino in anything, he just fit the role physically. Now, finding someone current for Wolf is super hard but Avan Jogia kept coming to mind and wouldn’t leave me alone. He kind of has an “other” looks to him and I think he would look nice next to Madalaine. Not to mention, he’s rugged looking enough to be a wolf and I think he could pull off the extreme mutation that gets forced on Wolf in Winter. I haven’t found someone I like more yet so it’ll be Avan.

New Honorable Mention: Tyler Hoechlin, Trevante Rhodes

Original Honorable Mentions: I didn’t have any, except this one guy I found but I have no idea what his name is lol.

Crescent “Cress” Moon Darnell

Age: 16

Species: Human

Ethnicity: Lunar

Appearance: Shell. Pale, freckled skin, floor length honey blonde wavy hair (gets cut into a bob later), sky blue eyes. 5’0.

AnnaSophia Robb was my automatic choice for Cress when I first read this series, she’s the perfect height (since they mention Cress being short so much) and everything but I looked at some current pictures and she doesn’t look as young anymore. Which isn’t a problem, it’s not like 25+ has to always play teenagers. But that’s why I chose Olivia Holt. She’s a little taller than Cress in the books, but I think she’d be fine. She’s likable, she can do soft but she can also do brave. Not to mention, she still looks youthful. I really don’t mean to bag on people getting older, just for the sake of the story.

New Honorable Mention: Sabrina Carpenter, Kiernan Shipka, Dove Cameron, Chloe Grace Moretz

Original Honorable Mentions: Elle Fanning, Emily Browning, Joey King, Dove Cameron

Captain Carswell Thorne

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Age: 20

Species: Human

Ethnicity: American

Appearance: Light skin, bright blue eyes, dirty blond hair. 6’0.

Brant Daugherty is too old now. I really like Austin Butler and I would honestly cast him in anything but I think he’s still technically too old for 20-year-old Thorne. I would rather have someone a little younger to go with Olivia Holt as Cress, but I guess it’d be fine. Austin and AnnaSophia have worked together before and have great chemistry and she could be fine still but I’m not sure if I think she still passes as 15-17 anymore. I would honestly cast Austin and Jordan Fisher in anything and while Jordan isn’t the exact look of Thorne, I think he’d be great in this role. Plus, I think Jordan Fisher would look great next to Olivia Holt. His character on She-Ra and the Princesses of Power has similar attributes to Thorne. So if it was animated, he could voice Thorne.

New Honorable Mention: Ross Lynch

Original Honorable Mentions: Chord Overstreet, Chace Crawford, Max Lloyd-Jones, Taron Egerton, Brandon Flynn, Elliot Knight (who would be perfect even now!)

Princess Winter Hayle

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Age: 17

Species: Human

Ethnicity: Lunar

Appearance: Dark brown skin, tight corkscrew curls, just below shoulder-length, very thick. Golden brown eyes with flecks of gray around the pupils. 5’9. Three long scars on right cheek.

The problem with Yara, is that while I think she’s likable, but I’m not sure she can do the whimsical thing that’s Winter’s character. I wasn’t that impressed with her acting in The Sun is Also a Star so I knew I had to update this anyway. I’m not to too familiar with Skai, but as I listen to the audiobook, she came to mind. She’s a little shorter than they say Winter is but I think it could be fine. If only she could switch height with Olivia Holt lol

New Honorable Mention: I don’t have any right now. I think it’s important that Winter be played by a darker skinned actress as it’s very rare. Especially in a role like this. Sooo maybe I’ll add some here later.

Original Honorable Mentions: Zendaya Coleman, Amandla Stenberg, Alexandra Metz, Tiffany Boone, Kylie Bunbury (top second choice), Jaylen Barron

Jacin Clay

Age: 19

Species: Human

Ethnicity: Lunar

Appearance: Pale skinned, long white-blond hair, wears in a low ponytail, sharp features, ice blue-green eyes. 6’2.

So, this was really hard because my choice for Winter (Skai Jackson) is 18 and I didn’t want to cast someone soo much older than her. Jacin is only 2 years older than Winter and I don’t like super large age gaps when casting younger actors. In fiction it still might squick me out but I can get over it sometimes, but when it comes to real life people, I don’t like actors under 21 to be in a romantic relationship with actors much older. You can say age is nothing but a number but… that doesn’t mean I have to like it. Anyways, Lucas Till was a great choice alongside Yara, physically and he looks so severe. So trying to find someone to top him was frustrating. I came across Ty Simpkins, who could also be good. He would need to dye his hair. Then I thought of Dakota Goyo (Thor, Real Steel) and wondered what he looked like these days and look at him lol. He has interesting look and he’s been blond as a child so he can go back blond. Plus, he’s two years older than Skai, so that made me feel okay.

New Honorable Mention: Ty Simpkins

Old Honorable Mention: Billy Magnussen, Drew Van Acker, Jamie Campbell Bower, Alexander Ludwig, Douglass Booth, Jake Abel

Iko

Age: Unknown

Species: Android

Ethnicity: African

I originally chose Coco Jones because she just has joy on her face. Even when she’s not smiling brightly, she has a welcoming look. I think Iko is very much that. She can provide the voice for Iko when she’s a little android, for when she becomes the ship and then physically be the body when she gets the humanoid look. I don’t have an updated casting because Coco Jones is still pretty young and it’d be nice to see her come back in a role like this. Not to mention, when the body that Iko takes over, is an “escort droid”, she could also handle the sensuality needed for Darla until Iko takes over. She would just need to put on a voice for Iko or put on a different voice for Darla and then she would need to provide the minimal times Darla speaks as the ship.

Appearance: Dark brown skin, blue colored braids and “changeable with emotion” eyes.

New Honorable Mention: China Anne McClaine, Keke Palmer, Halle Bailey, Chloe Bailey, Skai Jackson (if she wasn’t Winter)

Old Honorable Mention: China Anne McClaine

Queen Levana Blackburn

Age: 34

Species: Human

Ethnicity: Lunar

Kate Beckinsale was the original choice and honestly she could probably still pull it off. Finding someone who looks like they could be related to Tiffany Espensen was the hardest part but let’s be honest, not all family members (especially aunts and nieces) look exactly the same. SOOO with that said, for now, the choice I decided on for Levana is a bit younger than I intended to find but she comes off older. I was actually surprised to find that Chloe Bridges was 28 lol. I’ll probably find someone else later, but for now, I actually like Chloe. She has a very “other” look and not to mention, Levana glamours herself to look like Winter’s dead mother since she basically stole her husband. I mean it’s a whole thing, however no one really knows what she truly looks like unless they knew her before she was horribly burned. SO that works. I also wanted someone who was racially ambiguous.

Appearance: Glamoured- Based her look on Solstice Hayle (Winter’s mother) same face structure and hair texture. Long, curly auburn hair, onyx eyes, extreme “vivid” red lips, ivory skin. Her waist would be a little trimmer with a fuller bust. No Glamour– Horrifically disfigured from her burns. Left eye is permanently sealed shut, scarred tissue looks like ridges and grooves. Half of her face was paralyzed, chucks of hair will never grow back. Scars down her neck and shoulder, half of her chest and upper ribs, all the way down to her hand.

New Honorable Mention: Jessica Alba (particularly if she was a better actress), Megan Fox

Old Honorable Mention: Rachel Weisz

Linh Adri

Age: 45+

Species: Human

Ethnicity/Race: Earthen/Chinese

Originally I chose Michelle Yeoh for Linh Adri and she would still be perfect for the role but she might be an obvious choice. So I chose Zhang Ziyi because she has this disarming look to her but looks like she could turn around and be super mean. Plus, she’s a bit closer in age to the character.

Appearance: Dark hair turning gray. Dark brown eyes.

Linh Pearl

Age: 17

Species: Human

Ethnicity/Race: Earthen/Chinese

I had no idea who Arden Cho was when I first cast her as Pearl, but I thought she looked perfect and looked like Michelle Yeoh. I now have watched Teen Wolf and she’s very likable but she’s too old for Pearl now. So, I’m casting Chelsea Zhang who seems to have been in small roles in things I have seen, but not enough for me to really know her. But I think she looks like Zhang Ziyi soooo boom.

Appearance: Light tanned skin, brown eyes, chestnut curls, 5’2.

Linh Peony

Age: 14

Species: Human

Ethnicity/Race: Earthen/Chinese

Appearance: Pale white skin with chestnut curls.

I originally chose Lana Condor and she would still be great for Peony but mainly for my original choices for Pearl and Adri. I guess she could still work with my newer choices but do you think can pass for 14 since Peony dies so young? I considered Peyton Elizabeth Lee briefly for Cinder but she’s so cute that she reminds me of Peony. I haven’t seen her act but she looks like she could be related to my choices for Pearl and Adri.

Konn Torin

Age: 40+

Species: Human

Ethnicity/Race: Earthen/Chinese

I really like this actor for Torin just on looks alone. I’m sure there are other actors who could be great but I picture this guy when I think of Torin.

Appearance: Light tanned skin, black/gray hair. Brown eyes.

New Honorable Mention: Daniel Dae Kim (he’s so handsome *swoons*)

Head Thaumaturge Sybil Mira

Age: Idk maybe 30-40’s

Species: Human

Ethnicity: Lunar

Priyanka Chopra was my original choice for Sybil and I think she’s perfect for the role. I think she would be great at the intense and kind of crazy personality Sybil has. Man, she’d be wonderful.

Appearance: Sybil was exceptionally beautiful, with waist-length “glossy raven’s-wing hair falling down her back” and warm, honeyed skin. She also had cold, gray eyes. Sybil was assumed to be statuesque and tall.

Aimery Park

Age: 40+

Species: Human

Ethnicity: Lunar

I originally chose Sinqua Walls (he’s a little young but still) because he would be great! But I also think now that I’m listening to the story, Chiwetel Ejiofor (kind of an obvious choice) would be great too. He’s closer to the age of Aimery but I think Sinqua would still be great. Honestly, either one would be awesome.

Appearance: Dark skin and piercing eyes. Smug looking.

New Honorable Mention: Aldis Hodge

Queen Channary Blackburn

Age: 25 (when she died)

Species: Human

Ethnicity: Lunar

Sooo, I was thinking really hard on this one because of my new choice for Cinder looking a bit more Asian than my original choice BUT I think Jessica Parker Kennedy is so perfect for this role. We don’t see a ton of her anyway. I would think we’d see her mostly in flashbacks and if we had a few Levana centric episodes. But I think she could still be Tiffany’s mother, they have some similar attributes BUT they never said Cinder looks exactly like Channary except when she did a glamour. I might find someone else for a newer Channary for now, I’m stuck on Jessica Parker Kennedy. If you go to The Lunar Chronicles wiki page for her, Jessica looks like the featured image. Just saying. Also, she’d be great at being sadistic and tormenting to Levana.

Appearance: Remarkably beautiful, tanned skin, dark chestnut-brown hair that is possibly not a glamour as Cinder inherited these traits. Her eyes tilt up at the corners like she was always smiling, which could be a glamour.

Dr. Dimitri Erland/Sage Darnell

Age: 50+

Species: Human

Ethnicity: Lunar

I didn’t include him in my original fancasting but since he’s pretty important, it feels right to include him. I think this character could be played by many people but Martin Freeman would be a good choice. I haven’t seen everything he’s in but he’s very likable and he doesn’t come off super serious to me, so I think this would be a role that requires him to be a little more serious but he still gets his sassy moments.

Appearance: An old man, often wears a cotton newsboy cap with a herringbone pattern. A short man. Eyes bluer than the sky, crow’s-feet when he smiles. Wears tiny silver glasses.

Honorable Mentions: Toby Jones

Guard Jerrico Solis

Age: Idk 30+

Species: Human

Ethnicity: Lunar

I didn’t include Jerrico before but I wanted to include him this time because listening to the series, he’s around a lot more than I remember so he should be included. But Caleb Landry Jones is honestly perfect for this role. I like him, he’s really good at that unsettling person and Jerrico isn’t a major character but he’s around and I think CLJ really has a presence that even when he’s not in the forefront your eyes will find him. He’s a little younger than the character probably is, I mean who really knows, but he’s perfect.

Appearance: Fair complexion, orange-red hair.

The photo below is just an image I’ve seen a lot for the characters. I’m not sure on the artist, but I believe Marissa Meyer has shared this before in the past. Like an “official” look. I think I like everyone’s art except for Kai, I don’t know why but it’s always the one I’m like meh on.

So! This is my casting for The Lunar Chronicles television series! I think this is a pretty solid and diverse cast which fits the characters. I have been waiting for this for along time and I’m feeling a little inspired so I wanted to redo this fancasting from at least five years ago. I’m even considering writing a pilot and sending it out somewhere. I’m not a screenwriter but I feel like I have a lot of ideas for television shows and how to adapt young adult materials.

Please like and respond with your thoughts in the comments below! I would love to hear feedback from others who have read this series and who enjoys doing fancasting. I feel like I’m really good at it lol so I do it a lot. I do get my friends Karina and Ni to help me sometimes when I’m stuck lol so shout out to them. Ni helped with the original cast and Karina always confirms my casting for Austin Butler and Jordan Fisher because PUT THEM IN EVERYTHING lol.

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