Imagine you are directing a production of The Elephant Man. In about 200 words, take two of the three following characters and explain some physical and mental traits you might seek for a performer playing the role:
John Merrick
Frederick Treves
Mrs. Kendal
When casting John Merrick I would want to begin with a very attractive man of about 32 years of age. He should have dark brown hair, be clean shaven, and between 5’11’’ and 6’2’’. The man should also have very defined bone structure particularly in his jaw and forehead, as it will make it easier to apply the prosthetics. I also want him to have well defined and muscular arms. I want the actor playing Merrick to give the impression that, had this man not had this disorder he would have been a very attractive and beautiful specimen.
ReplyDeleteI would like Treves to be slender and long of limb. I want his face to be round and genial. He should appear to be an intellectual. I want his hands in particular to be long and lean. He is a surgeon and I feel that this will add to the aesthetic. He should look clean cut and will wear mostly tweed and tailored suits. He should have light brown hair and be clean shaven. I want him in particular to have very warm almond shaped eyes and to wear glasses. I would like him to be calm in demeanor and to exude confidence. The actor should be around age 28.
Mrs. Kendal should be a woman of about 25 and be unusually bright for her age. She should have hazel eyes that are smiling most of the time. I would like her to have long blonde wavy hair that she keeps pinned up in a beautiful up do. I would like her to be lithe and tall, but not as tall as Merrick. She should have openness to her person that makes her amiable to every person regardless of class.
I really like the descriptions "long of limb" and "up do." Great specifics!
DeleteI want John Merrick to be the most average man you've ever seen. Nothing should pop out. He's neither ugly nor handsome. He's not too short or too tall. He is clean shaven and has no piercings. He doesn't stand up straight, but he doesn't slouch either. There is nothing about him that should astound you.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to cast the rest of the cast as little people. So, Treves is a little man. He is also clean shaven, and without piercings. Treves slouches both when he sits and when he stands. His voice should have a quality to it that makes everything he says sound eloquent; this isn't necessarily an accent, it just deals with the pitch and tone of his voice. Treves always seems a little distant; if Treves was talking to you, it might feel like he's talking through you.
Mrs. Kendal is also cast as a little person. She is blonde. She stands very straight. Her voice is raspy. She should be very gentle, very kind.
I am anxious to see where you are going with this concept! I suggest Peter Dinklage from Game of Thrones for Treves.
DeleteI think nobody could pull off Merrick like Bennybatch. Benedict Cumberbatch is an incredible actor, extremely good at physical acting (I refer you to the film Hawking), and is highly attractive. His voice is dreamy-deep...that doesn't hurt. However I would do complete make-up. I know that's unconventional for this particular play but I would make that choice. To me, no make-up falls into the “applied choice” category if the theme is “everyone else is the monster, not Merrick.” I think this play would work better as a biography than what it is in the text. Thus I would design full make-up. In further research of Joseph Merrick, I learned that one half of him was deformed by elephantiasis but the other half was “smooth as a prince’s skin.” Yet another reason I would do full right-side make-up but leave the left half bare.
ReplyDeleteFor Treves I would cast Martin Freeman, since he and Bennybatch have such strong chemistry from having acted together in various productions including their most famous Sherlock (BBC). He invests in his characters as does Bennybatch, yet can choose to remain just stand-offish enough to create that tension between doctor and case study. He is also attractive, setting up a sort of difficult choice between Merrick and Treves as far as sympathy.
She’s attractive, she’s a fantastic actress, and her name is Sarah Parrish. Mrs. Kendal. Plus Bennybatch. The end.
Bennybatch is too busy. He's doing Star Wars and Star Trek. I agree with Morgan Freeman, though. If he's not narrating about penguins I think he should be free.
DeleteFor the Elephant Man, appearances are essential, and I think that rings true for the casting of the roles in the show. In my production, I would have an attractive actor that America loves play the elephant man, someone who the country views as likable and good-looking so there is already a well-established like-ability for the character from the get-go. I want the Elephant Man to be a real transformation for the actor, much like Charlize Theron in monster, so that you often times forget who is under there.
ReplyDeleteThen for Treves, I'd want somebody intellectual. Someone who is good looking and intelligent, much like a Hugh Laurie type of that nature. He must be well-liked but be able to be believably flawed.
For Mrs. Kendal you get a beautiful woman who is a confident actress but can play vulnerable as well. She can't be perfect or the role isn't interesting. Her beauty should be universal and mainstream, there should be no debate whether she's beautiful or not.
Tom Cruise as the Elephant Man. Seth Rogan as Treves. Angelina as Mrs. Kendal. DONE!
DeleteJohn Merrick should be relatively tall, and handsome. He doesn't have to be 'jacked', but should be noticeably athletic. Merrick should be in his late 20's, early 30's. Those would be my must haves for the actor playing Merrick. Before casting Merrick, i would narrow it down to two males and have an interview with each of them. The interview would be important, because i would want to get to know my lead on a personal level. Because as an actor, you have to put yourself into the role, i would want my actor to be sensitive and kind as a person, which is how I picture the character of John Merrick.
ReplyDeleteI see Treves as an average looking man. I picture the character of Treves as a stubborn but thoughtful man who has the potential to be pretentious. Treves also has to be intelligent and have powerful demeanor to him. Treves would have to be shorter than John Merrick.
I appreciate your use of the word JACKED...might I also suggest the word SWOLE. It's a good modern vocab term.
DeleteThe character that I would be the most anal and persnickety about in terms of casting would be John Merrick, my protagonist. My vision of Merrick initially was this grotesque looking guy, with whom not many can relate - but I soon realized these attributes didn't really mesh well with live theatre. Merrick has to be a lanky man, with mildly attractive features. He won't be a Prince Charming type, as the concept of casting a "beauty" as the deformed Elephant Man has been run into the seafloor spreading. That would be a very conscious decision, to avoid that.
ReplyDeleteAnother character about which I have reservations would be the thrilling and inviting Treves. In my mind, the role would be given to an actor whose features almost perfectly resemble the man playing Merrick. I want those characters to be placed on the same level playing field, so as to further raise the question of who's the real monster.
I am very intrigued by the idea of them looking alike. That could be really cool!
DeleteI would like to do something that I think would be a little unconventional and cast Treves and Merrick as identical twins. As discussed, either one of these two could be the main character and I think their is a duality to their stories that could play well with this choice. I want them both to be tall, around 6'0" with dark hair and strong bodies. Both should have a full firm speaking voice, but should also have a friendliness about them and not seem unapproachable. There will be no prosthetics used but Merrick will contort his body to make it distinguishable from his twin's. All of the differences between the two will be made through movement and costume. I want Merrick to see himself in Treves and Treves to see himself in Merrick.
ReplyDeleteBrandon said something similar, and I am really warming up to this twinsies idea.
DeleteJust as the general consensus would appear to be, I, too, would choose to cast John Merrick as a handsome man. I would cast a man that has a look of universal beauty. He would not be extremely muscular or bulky. He would have healthy muscle, and appear statuesque.
ReplyDeleteMrs. Kendal, on the other hand, would be a woman who is a stellar actress, and possesses very warm qualities, but is pudgy and homely. I think this would be an interesting statement because she is so incredibly beautiful in the eyes of the handsome Merrick, who is actually the hideous one. She would not be UGLY, mind you, just very plain in appearance.
Treves has to have a grounded stature. I do not see a very muscular man in this role either, in fact, I see him as being leaner than Merrick. He must appear confident and intelligent. I want dark hair and glasses. I also want him to have a mustache. The man needs a thin mustache.
Interesting idea with Mrs. Kendal! I have always seen her as very attractive in productions, but this could have a unique outcome.
DeleteI think the casting of Merrick is important to what type of show you are going to have. If you cast a man whose features don't typically align with "beauty" then you are producing a show directly related to the text. If you choose to cast a handsome man then you are trying to send a statement to the audience. With a show like The Elephant Man I would want to make the audience think about who is the real freak or monster... Merrick or the onlookers. I would then cast Merrick as a man with considerable stature, mid 20s-30s, and a handsome face.
ReplyDeleteI picture Treves as scholarly looking and not quite as big as Merrick. I want him to have an outwardly appearance of beauty but there must be an underlying tone of conflict and flaw. I picture someone close to the appearance of Robert Downey Jr. playing this role.
I think RDJ could be a killer Treves. That self doubt and neurosis would really help with this role!
DeleteI picture John Merrick as being completely average. Average height (5’6” to 5’9”), brown hair, not too completely sexylicious that it takes away from the fact that he is supposed to be a deformity. When I think about the person that John Merrick is supposed to represent, I think that there shouldn’t be anything too overly flashy about his physicality. This person should also not be able to play the victim, because I don’t see Merrick as a victim. Merrick fights for his own rights and is therefore a pioneer for equality, not a victim. There are no victims in this play. (Heath Ledger would be my dream cast for this role.)
ReplyDeleteWhenever I picture Treves in my head, I immediately think of Bill Nye the Science Guy. Tall, skinny, older but in a sophisticated manner, chiseled chin, always wearing a lab coat, etc. In fact, knowing that Bill Nye can act (sort of) I would love to cast him as Treves. If he weren’t available (the more likely circumstance), I would want someone that could pass off as an intellectual while still keeping a social construct. (I would honestly love to see Alan Cummings play Treves.)
Mrs. Kendal would be highly attractive. However, I know that the definition of an attractive woman from the time of the Elephant Man and current culture have both changed drastically, and I would want to lean toward giving Mrs. Kendal the earlier beauty, with a little bit of meat to the bone. Healthy, not anorexic. Also, I believe that Mrs. Kendal needs to be the strongest person in the play, and therefore needs to amplify that strength through her performance. (Jennifer Lawrence is my dream cast for this role.)
Whaaaaat. Jennifer Lawrence would actually be a really good Mrs. Kendal. At first I was, like, nah. Then, I thought about it and really warmed up to the idea. She could sell that scene.
DeleteI think Merrick should be really tall and muscular and his face be average so that no defining characteristic stands out. I want the audience's attention focused more on Merrick's movements than his true disfigurements to highlight his struggle of performing everyday tasks.
ReplyDeleteI imagine Treves as a short stout man whit a strong British accent and in very professional attire. I can only see Richard Griffiths preforming this role very well.I could have seen him playing Treves very professionally. Treves is the only character who has a specific appearance in my mind.
Mrs. Kendal should be a woman who is a little older than what most imagine. In history she was around 40 years old when she visited Merrick.It also highlight the fact that when she disrobes, she may not be the most pretty woman in the world, but for Merrick she is the most beautiful because she is the only one he has ever seen.
For Marrick i would want a kinda slim guy that is good looking but not super good looking. As for Treves i would want a sexy man to play him because i want it to show the audience that he learns that you don't have to be super sexy to get people to notice you and try to get you to change. He will also learn that it is about the heart not the looks. I want Ms. Kendel to be an attractive girl but to kinda have that girl next door look, so it shows that she is a caring kind of person and she is about the heart. As for Ross i would want him to be kinda dark looking but yet wholesome too. so you kinda like him but then you don't.I want everyone to be in their 30s except i want ross to be like 45 or older and Ms Kendel to be like 28.
ReplyDelete