8 TV Dream Castings That Actually Came True
Somebody give Nick Offerman an award!
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00:00 Every time a piece of media announces a live-action adaptation, be it a book, video game or comic,
00:05 the first thing we do is wonder who will play its most iconic characters.
00:09 It doesn't matter how unanimously agreed upon the idea is across the web,
00:12 sometimes it just doesn't match up due to schedules or simply interest.
00:16 However, this list highlights the most exciting and exhilarating fan castings that eventually became a reality.
00:21 I'm Si for WhatCulture.com and these are 8 Dream TV Castings That Came True.
00:26 8. Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister - Game of Thrones
00:30 For almost a decade, Game of Thrones was the biggest show on television.
00:33 It was spectacular dark fantasy with a host of interesting duplicitous characters.
00:38 Amongst these was the man who drank and knew things, Tyrion Lannister,
00:41 an outsider from his family in part due to being born a dwarf.
00:44 The books had been around for quite some time when the show was greenlit and had amassed their own cult following.
00:49 Most fans were in agreement that there was no better man for Tyrion than Peter Dinklage,
00:53 an assessment that the showrunners also held.
00:56 However, they were hesitant to approach him.
00:57 Dinklage had just finished work on the fantasy film Prince Caspian
01:01 and the actor had a distaste for the genre's tropes.
01:03 As he put it, "In fantasy, everybody speaks in broad strokes.
01:06 There's no intimacy, there's dragons and big speeches and there's nothing to hold on to.
01:10 And for somebody my size, it's death, the opposite of the activism I was involved with."
01:15 However, Dinklage was friends with the wife of co-writer David Benioff
01:18 and decided to read the script for the pilot despite his initial negative reaction.
01:22 And the rest, as they say, is history.
01:25 Number 7 - Rosario Dawson as Ahsoka Tano, The Mandalorian
01:29 With a universe worth of lore, Star Wars has a long line of interesting characters
01:32 outside of the main players in the live-action films.
01:35 Ahsoka Tano is a Jedi warrior who first appeared in the animated Clone Wars movie
01:40 and immediately connected with fans due to her awesome design and general badassery.
01:45 This popularity was reflected in her repeat appearances.
01:48 She was a major character in the Clone Wars TV show
01:50 and Ashley Eckstein, the character's original voice actor,
01:53 even got to cameo in The Rise of Skywalker.
01:56 When it came to live-action, however, there was only one name that fans were interested in
01:59 and that was Rosario Dawson.
02:01 Adored by consumers of nerdy media, Dawson broke out in slacker comedy Clerks 2
02:06 and has gone on to appear in Netflix's Marvel shows
02:08 and graphic novel adaptation Sin City, just to name a few.
02:12 Responding to a fan casting on Twitter with the hashtag #AhsokaLives
02:15 caught the attention of someone at Disney's Star Wars division.
02:18 Sure enough, in Chapter 13 of The Mandalorian, Dawson made her debut as the Chakruta Hero.
02:23 This would snowball into appearing in the Book of Boba Fett two years later
02:26 and with the momentum totally behind her, she'll soon be starring in her very own Ahsoka show.
02:32 Number 6 - Henry Cavill as Geralt, the Witcher
02:35 Both a book series and now a video game franchise,
02:37 it was only a matter of time before The Witcher came to live-action.
02:40 A medieval fantasy with a supernatural twist,
02:43 the show's world was ripe for exploring in a serialised television format.
02:47 But of course the big question was who would play the leading man,
02:49 the monster-slaying Geralt of Rivia.
02:52 No one was a bigger supporter of Henry Cavill in the role than the man himself.
02:55 In many ways, as a player of The Witcher games, this was his own fan casting.
02:59 Cavill has admitted that he would not relent when it came to securing the part.
03:03 Not only did he constantly badger his own agent about it,
03:06 he would reach out to the studio repeatedly to put himself forward.
03:09 Lauren Schmidt-Hissrich, writer and producer on the show, recalled that
03:12 "He was really annoying. I finally said, 'I'll meet you. The show is not greenlit. There is nothing.
03:16 Thank you. Now I have to go write the show.'"
03:19 Despite apparently seeing 206 other actors for the part,
03:22 it became obvious that Cavill was the man for the job.
03:25 This, however, makes his 2022 announcement that he's stepping away from the role all the more heartbreaking.
03:30 Two new seasons of the show have been greenlit,
03:32 with Liam Hemsworth taking up the sword in Cavill's stead.
03:35 Number 5 - Idina Menzel as Shelby Cocoran
03:38 Glee. From 2009 onwards, Glee took over television as one of the biggest shows around.
03:43 Its school setting, bright musical numbers and strong casting
03:46 caught the eyes of many, especially around awards season.
03:49 Fans immediately agreed that Lee Michelle, who played hopeful Broadway star Rachel Berry,
03:53 had the air of Idina Menzel about her.
03:56 Menzel is, appropriately, regarded as the Queen of Broadway.
03:59 Viewers took to the internet to discuss,
04:01 requesting that the showrunners take notice and do what they could to bring Menzel in.
04:05 As Rachel was the daughter of two gay men,
04:07 there was a space for Menzel to enter the show as the character's biological mother.
04:11 Glee then took a mid-season break,
04:13 and during this time, the creators admitted they had met with the Queen of Broadway.
04:17 Appearing in episode 14 of the show as Shelby Cocoran,
04:20 the vocal coach of the school's rival group Adrenaline,
04:22 fans were disappointed at first.
04:24 However, a few weeks later, it's revealed that Cocoran was indeed Rachel's mother.
04:28 The character's storylines throughout the show are often a point of contention with fans,
04:32 but for the most part, long-time Gleeks will remember the excitement
04:35 of seeing their idea come to life on screen.
04:38 Number 4 - Alexander Sidig as Ra's al Ghul
04:41 Gotham.
04:42 Batman is, without a doubt, the comic book character with the most recognisable villains.
04:46 Joker, Penguin, Poison Ivy, Mr Freeze, the list goes on.
04:50 Ra's al Ghul, despite being a cornerstone of the Batman comics,
04:53 has never had too many live-action appearances.
04:56 Notably, Liam Neeson portrayed him in Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins,
04:59 which was fine, if a little odd.
05:01 The name Ra's al Ghul is Arabic in origin,
05:03 literally translating to "the head of the ghoul",
05:05 so fans began to consider actors more appropriate for the casting.
05:09 The most popular of these was Alexander Sidig,
05:11 best known for his time portraying the softly-spoken Dr Bashir
05:14 in Star Trek Deep Space Nine.
05:16 Just after fellow DC show Arrow introduced its own interpretation,
05:19 played by Matthew Nabel,
05:21 Sidig was announced to be coming to Fox's Gotham,
05:23 a show that takes a look into the younger years of Bruce Wayne.
05:26 In the show, Ra's al Ghul is an ambiguous character
05:29 who is instrumental in shaping the destiny of the future Batman.
05:32 Sidig's performance as the character was so good
05:34 that DC fans moved from fan-casting his appearance to fan-casting his return,
05:39 hopeful that he may cross over into the Arrowverse
05:41 or even into the feature films somewhere down the line.
05:44 Number 3 - Nick Offerman as Bill, The Last of Us
05:48 HBO's belief in adapting video game mega-hit The Last of Us for TV
05:51 speaks volumes in its monumental budget,
05:53 spent on impressive sets and brilliant casting.
05:56 Nick Offerman wasn't necessarily on everybody's lists
05:59 when the show was first confirmed,
06:00 but as soon as the announcement came,
06:02 there was a collective rumble of excitement.
06:04 Offerman became a beloved figure working on Parks and Recreation
06:07 as the very gif-able Ron Swanson,
06:09 a gruff man with deadpan delivery,
06:12 suspicions of the government and secretly a heart of gold.
06:15 He was the perfect choice to play Bill,
06:17 the sardonic pessimist survivalist.
06:19 What makes this such a remarkable case is that it almost didn't happen.
06:23 In July 2021, HBO announced some of the supporting roles for the show,
06:27 including Chernobyl's Con O'Neill as Bill.
06:29 This was walked back before the end of the year
06:32 due to scheduling conflicts and Offerman stepped up.
06:35 And it's fair to say he knocked it right out of the park.
06:38 While some fans saw the Bill-centric episode of the show
06:40 as a sudden diversion,
06:41 no one can truly deny Offerman's dramatic chops.
06:44 He demonstrated the character we knew from the game with way more depth
06:47 as he explored a beautiful and tragic love story
06:50 in a post-apocalyptic world.
06:52 Offerman trended on Twitter for days after the episode aired,
06:55 with many calling for him to get his flowers
06:57 once awards season rolls around.
06:59 Number two, Hailee Steinfeld as Kate Bishop, Hawkeye.
07:02 The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been a game changer in many ways,
07:06 but related to this topic,
07:07 it has changed and revitalized careers forever.
07:10 Decoupling the men and women who have played the most prominent roles
07:13 in the franchise from their characters is very hard.
07:16 The best of them have left a huge mark on Marvel going forward.
07:19 In the comics, Kate Bishop is the apprentice of Clint Barton, aka Hawkeye.
07:23 When it was announced that Barton was getting his own Disney+ spin-off,
07:26 fans immediately began to talk about who could take on the mantle of Bishop,
07:29 with Hailee Steinfeld being a prominent pick.
07:32 MCU fans get some interesting insights behind the scenes
07:35 with the docu-series Assembled
07:36 and the Hawkeye episode highlighted Hailee's ascension to the role.
07:40 Executive producer Trinh Tran mentioned that they chose to meet with her
07:43 for a conversation, but that it was clear she was the perfect casting,
07:46 and so they offered Steinfeld the part after just one meeting.
07:49 She also admitted that she figured MCU godfather Kevin Feige
07:52 had always wanted Steinfeld for the role.
07:55 And thankfully, it paid off, as Kate Bishop's debut was a highlight of the show,
07:59 which makes it not at all surprising that the star has signed on
08:01 for multiple upcoming MCU productions.
08:04 Number 1 - Ben Barnes as the Darkling - Shadow and Bone
08:08 Shadow and Bone is a dark fantasy series that its fans had a very specific dark fantasy about,
08:13 that is, the casting of Darkling.
08:15 Focusing on a Russian orphan who discovers she has supernatural abilities,
08:19 Alina finds herself up against the shadow summoner General Alexander Kirigan.
08:23 Based on a novel of the same name and its ensuing sequels,
08:26 Netflix picked up the property for streaming in 2019.
08:29 When looking to cast the enigmatic Kirigan,
08:31 Ben Barnes knew he was right for the role.
08:33 At the end of his conversation with the casting director,
08:36 he showed them a Tumblr post from literally years before the show had been picked up
08:39 that showed fan edits of him as the Darkling.
08:42 Barnes had shown his range with appearances in Westworld and The Punisher,
08:46 but his breakout performances were on the big screen
08:48 in Prince Caspian and the 2009 adaptation of Dorian Gray.
08:52 He certainly caught the eye of many,
08:53 and Tumblr fans of Shadow and Bone were adamant about Barnes as the Darkling,
08:57 should it ever get picked up for television.
08:59 In fact, unknown to Barnes, the casting director had seen that same fan edit previously,
09:04 and before long, everything came together in a way
09:06 that caused a great many Tumblr users' dreams to become a reality.
09:10 And that's the list.
09:11 Let us know what you thought of this video down in the comments below.
09:14 Which of these dream castings made you the happiest?
09:16 And of course, let us know of any other upcoming TV shows that you have casting ideas about.
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09:28 I've been Sy for What Culture and have a good week!