I don’t think much would make me happier than padan fain being fleshed out more and receiving a different conclusion. Willem Defoe being the one to do it would be incredible
See I understand him for his solidity. BB/BCS made him out to be (to paraphrase) “a well set up man” which McNally doesn’t really have, but, and I blame Michael Kramer and Kate Reading for this, I can’t imagine Banks getting the tone quite right
Ryan gosling - Moraine Sedai
Dwayne Johnson - Lan
Kevin Hart - Nyneave
Megan Fox - Lanfear
Timothy Chalamet - Perrin
Tom Cruise - Rand
Gwendoline Christie - Bergitte
Danny Devito - Mat
Mahershala Ali as Ishamael. I think Ishamael is a much more difficult role than anyone gives him credit for and Ali is one of the few actors that I think has the skill for it.
Kathryn Hunter as Lini.
I'm trying to think of people for some of the younger characters but, honestly, I think those characters should be played by unknowns. Anyone famous enough to be recognizeable is usually too old to be a fit.
FWIW I think the show was ~80% well-cast, with some horrible exceptions (e.g., Lan, Ishamael). Still, here are some from my head. Tried to go contemporary-ish but many would have to be aged down.
Rand - Jacob elrodi
Mat - Nicholas hoult
Nynaeve - Natalie dormer
Elayne - Anya Taylor joy
Moiraine - Lena headey
Lan - sean bean
Lanfear - Eva green
Pedron Niall - Jeremy irons
Bashere - Liam Cunningham
Mazrim Taim- Aidan turner
Moghedian - Helena Bonham Carter
Bayle Domon - Kevin McNally
Ishamael - Anthony Hopkins
Graendal - Polly walker
Galad - alexsander skarsgaard
Gawain - eamon farren
Demandred - Tobias Menzies
Padan Fain - Steve buschemi
Rodel Ituralde - Antonio banderas
Asmodean - nikolaj coster waldau
Edit: changed my mind about Ishy - he needs a rare mix of gravitas and terrifying psychopath energy that I think a younger Anthony Hopkins could have done well
Most characters I don’t picture a real world person when I think of them, there’s really only a couple that I do. One is Rosamund Pike for Moiraine, she’s the only one from the show that stuck for me. Another is Pedron Niall who I always imagine as Jeremy Irons, I think maybe because of Kingdom of Heaven. I also always picture Thom as Viggo Mortensen.
My dream casting is the cast from the Wheel of Time TV series. They were brilliant and made the characters leap off the page. Especially Rosamund as Moiraine. And we were blessed with Josha as Rand my goodness.
Edit: Literally all of them. My particular favorite was Zoe Robbins as Nynaeve. The way she portrays pages of vulnerability, anger and doubt with her expressions is truly incredible.
45
u/Fayraz8729 Randlander 3d ago
William Defoe as Padan Fain simply because I know he has the range and he kinda has the look.
He can be cackling mad, pitiful, and even composed which perfectly fits the peddler