'Queen & Country' dream casting

Photo courtesy off www.film-book.com

Hello you, the name is Luca but you can call me Luca. Since I posted a few days ago about my proposal for Greg Rucka's spy series 'Queen & Country' filling the gap in the market for a female-led spy movie franchise, I have been dreaming up who I'd have as the characters in a movie adaptation.

 

I have been giving it some thought, and been looking all over for character descriptions so I could think of who could possibly play the characters. Since not many of you may know, I will be offering character descriptions and then list either a few or one person that I feel could play them.

 

Do bare in mind also, some of these characters that I am finding my information from, may lack some bits of info, such as visual description, age or characteristics etc. but I've filled in some of those gaps with what I believe to fit the character and the context.

 

1. Tara Felicity Chace (Minder Two) - Blonde femme-fatale, beautiful, seductive, foul-mouthed, has an attitude, no bullshit kind of person, alcohol and tobacco dependent, workaholic and very good at what she does. Always outperforming her fellow agents. I believe she had an early life of privilege before being shipped off to private school after her parents divorced.

 

(I honestly feel guilty not knowing all of these things, feel free to submit factual corrections)

 

A headstrong but flawed and vulnerable character, a perfect female lead for a spy genre movie.

 

So some of the choices I have for Chace for both in the early part of the film where she has been sent off to boarding school and when she has grown up and joined the SIS.

 

With the apparent Ellen Page casting or discussions, again I like her as an actress but she does not scream any of those traits. A proposed actress who I do think would be a wonderful pick is Emily Blunt, I feel she has many of those traits nailed however she is not my primary pick, I am picking Natalie Dormer.





Image courtesy of www.wikipedia.org





The first time I came across Natalie Dormer was her relatively small role as Nurse Gemma in Rush after she bedded Chris Hemsworth's James Hunt. It sucked that her role was so minor, but no matter, her portfolio also includes plenty of TV work, such as Game Of Thrones, The Tudors and Elementary.

 

Dormer also played a major role in the final two Hunger Games movies, the two part Mockingjay films, and she was my favourite for the longest time for the role of Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel in the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, both her own standalone film and the two part Avengers Infinity War films. That being put to rest both because Brie Larson looks set to take that role and also Dormer had a small and to be honest, wasted part as a flirty private in Captain America: The First Avenger.

 

No matter, because this has popped up now and I think this will be a perfect role for her. I feel Dormer can ride that line between grace, normality, intensity, and has an impeccable charisma. One thing that may not work in Dormer's favour, she is not a huge box office draw despite the fact she is

Margaery Tyrell in Game Of Thrones, and no big budget action film would be given the greenlight unless you have actors in the film that can bring in a big audience.

 

An example of this is Kingsman, which had Colin Firth, Samuel L Jackson and Michael Caine in to bring in the paying crowd, but Taron Egerton was the lead. (Can any of you tell how obsessed I am with Kingsman yet? Lol)

 

Now for Tara Chace in her younger days. If they choose to go this route, I'd like to see an earlier part of the movie after Tara is sent off to boarding school and develops her thick skin and could go from being a shy and timid girl to one with attitude and a no f***'s given look on life. This I am certain on, Olivia Cooke.

Image courtesy of www.pintrest.com

I am very high on Cooke as an actress, she is magnetic. From what I saw of Me, Earl and the Dying Girl, she was effortless in that, and believe me I would have seen it myself if not for the subject matter. Most of her other work mainly includes low-budget crappy horror films so I would not have known about her had it not have been for Me, Earl and the Dying Girl.

Cooke tends to fly under the radar, she was among a few actresses up for consideration for the Lara Croft Tomb Raider reboot along with Star Wars actresses Felicity Jones and Daisy Ridley, before the role was won by Oscar-winner Alicia Vikander. Cooke is definitely the least known out of the four, and a role in a franchise film like this could catapult her to the fame she is certainly worthy of.

Her role as a young Tara Chace would consist of her being among a group of over-confident upper class girls and with Tara being very young and impressionable, and in a state after her parents divorced and ditched her at this school, she would be an easy target for these older girls.

Then over time, having developed her thick skin, begins defending those about to fall into the same situation as her (Being taken advantage of by the older girls). She could begin taking a hit from those more privileged than her again and being unfairly treated, realising she has to look out for the little people, building her anger and her desire to turn that into positive energy, taking a toll on herself.

It would offer a chance to see how Tara slowly began both simultaneously breaking and building herself as a young woman, and developing both a lack of trust and a build in confidence in herself as she is thrown into the deep end of life.

Cooke embodies an innocence and a good willed nature, and a vulnerability that is unmatched which would be perfect for someone who grows up to be the SIS and wants to serve their country. Also becoming someone who learns to fend for herself and becomes someone who can fend for others.

So Olivia Cooke grows up to be Natalie Dormer, does not seem too far off from reality does it not? These actresses are both wonderful and I would love it if they were to be cast as Tara Chace.

2. Tom Wallace (Minder One) - Experienced field agent, tall, late 40's with brown hair (Most likely dyed, perhaps becoming grey) and stubble, I imagine himself being relatively smooth and hard working but overall, perhaps a tad too cocky. We know that Chace does do better as an agent than he does, so my guess is that he's very confident but not too unlikeable.

This sort of role would normally go to someone like George Clooney, my pick however for the character of Tom Wallace is Luke Evans.

Image courtesy of www.imdb.com

My first film of Evans' was the sixth instalment in the Fast and Furious movies, which I personally did not enjoy, infact I walked out of half way through but no matter. I was trying to think of someone who fit the character description and was a box office draw that would not mind taking a supporting role.

I like Evans for this role because he can be very smooth but he also has an edge to him that can make you feel uneasy about whatever character he plays. He can pull of arrogance without becoming unlikeable very well, which is why I imagine he was cast as Gaston in the live-action Beauty and the Beast movie that is being released next March.

Give him a short and slicked back haircut, get him clean shaven and I reckon he could nail the character of Tom Wallace. He may not be a guaranteed box office draw but even with a part in Peter Jackson's middle-earth Hobbit movies, but he is certainly on the right track to becoming a box office draw.

3) Ed Kittering (Minder Three) - The youngest and most inexperienced member, bright hair, baby face, hesitant, always a tad unsure of himself, good willed and keen to impress, he also has a crush on Tara and is taken under Tom's wing.

I had been thinking about who could play Ed for a while now. Many of my friends will probably read that and knowing me, will think I am about to say Taron Egerton, and my response to that would be "Yes you do know me well but I am not having Taron Egerton as Ed". Believe me, I was looking all over for actors around early to mid 20's but I found the perfect guy, Ben Hardy.

Image courtesy of www.deadline.com

Hardy portrayed Warren Worthington III/Archangel in the new X-Men: Apocalypse, and he really impressed me with what little he was allowed to do. He was effortless with how he played Angel, infact my only issue with the character was that he was included in the film at all, but that's something for another time.

 

Ben Hardy is also a rare case of a soap opera actor transitioning into the movie industry, as he played the character of Peter Beale on Eastenders between 2013 and 2015, which I don't watch personally, I was always a Coronation Street fan when I was into watching it.

 

In Apocalypse, Angel had an attitude and was very reckless in the early part of the film, which was the only time he really was allowed to shine. It doesn't seem like he will be reprising his role for future X-Men movies, so I'd like to see Fox keep him in their circle by putting him in this franchise too, since Q&C is apparently owned by Fox.

He has the charm, the charisma and the youth, and the acting abilities to make him a great choice to play a young, naïve and good willed character.

4) Paul Crocker - The Director of Operations, relatively ruthless to all his agents and is willing to send them on dangerous missions, having been in some military fields and seen his friends get killed, would make him a very detached individual. I have not got an age range for this character but I imagine mid 40's would be Crocker's age.

 

So after some thought, maybe we should have someone who could be perfectly capable to be both a leader to those beneath him and also ruthless enough to seem emotionally subdued and therefore, make him a compelling character. That's why I am picking Hugh Laurie.

Image courtesy of www.zimbio.com



Laurie is a very seasoned actor, and has proven his worth as perhaps one of the best actors to come out of the UK in both the comedy and drama field. He's very characterful and charismatic but doesn't seem larger than life, and can be very intense yet understated, which is why I believe he would be the perfect Paul Crocker.

When putting together this list, I had so many actors in mind for this however none felt 100% right. However when I thought of Laurie, I could not comprehend how perfect he is for Crocker. He's very good at playing reserved, ruthless and emotionally deprived individuals but then also at the same time, can play a fairly average Joe.

 

Now for the final character, at least for a character that is played by one person. There is another character referred to as 'C' who is the superior to the next character I am going to speak about, but in the entire Q&C series of stories, that role is occupied by three different people. Anyway the final character.

 

5) Donald Weldon - An older gentleman, Crocker's boss who may not always agree with him but is always willing to back him up. I imagine he would be rather happy-go-lucky and be a wise head, willing to give people advice should they wish it. Maybe even recite a wise quote like Colin Firth's Kingsman character.

 

I did not need to think long about who would fit this role, for Donald Weldon I have picked, Mark Rylance.

Image courtesy of www.independent.co.uk

Ever since Rylance turned heads in his Oscar-winning role as a Russian spy in Steven Spielberg's Bridge Of Spies, he has been on an absolute roll. He's also continuing his partnership with Spielberg as the titular character in The BFG, a major part in Spielberg's adaptation of the cult classic novel Ready Player One and is as of now, shooting the Christopher Nolan war epic Dunkirk alongside Tom Hardy, Kenneth Branagh, Cillian Murphy and Harry Styles. (Yes! One Direction singer Harry Styles)

 

Going from primarily a theatre actor to having now so many big films with also an Oscar already, would only be a good thing in terms of how beneficial his inclusion would be as far as box office draw goes. Plus he's a real chameleon, from what little I have seen of him, he can perfectly place himself into whatever character he is playing.

 

So there you have it, all the characters that I am aware of. Again I reiterate, I have not read the comics and these traits for the characters, whilst some are factual, most are just what I believe to be fitting of the characters within the context of this story.

I would like to see some more women characters in the film though, maybe an original character if there is not any in the book. Maybe a bubbly friend who could be the polar opposite of what Tara's is, almost like a Karen Page to Tara being like Jessica Jones. We could also make this character the person who fills Tara's ear with all the relevant information whilst on a field mission. This is just an idea of course.

Anyway, hope you all enjoyed my casting ideas, would love to hear your thoughts and if Greg Rucka (Queen & Country original author) is reading this, I hope I captured the essence of who these characters are from pure guesses. I'd love to read these apparently amazing stories and see what could be adapted from all your selected stories into a feature film.

As for the rest of you, I appreciate you reading up on my casting ideas. I do get that these actors aren't all immediately going to bring in huge crowds, it won't be Kingsman levels but they are who I believe to be the ones best suited to the roles and I've cast them knowing some of them may become huge box office draws in a few years.

Which is why I am hoping you lot come up with your own cast and you can do that by commenting below along with why you reckon they are best suited to the role. Or you can tweet to me @TheLucaFormat.

Hope to see you all soon on my next post, so until we meet again.
Luca.