The Casting Couch: Mr. Rochester

In an attempt to revive the blog: new feature! I don’t like posting all the inane casting news here, but sometimes it does spark my imagination. So in this feature, I’ll try to cast roles that haven’t been announced yet. These aren’t people I think will get the role, but people who I think would be an interesting choice. And I’ll try not to pick too similar options.

To start with, it was announced last week that Ellen Page is going to play Jane Eyre in the nth film version of that great example of gothic literature. A Mr. Rochester, however, hasn’t been found that. While I don’t really see the need for yet another version (I think the Joan Fontaine/Orson Welles one is pretty good, to no-one’s surprise, and I rather liked the miniseries the BBC made two years ago), Mr. Rochester is a great character, and as Ellen Page will probably give a more modern interpretation of mousy Jane, who will be the dark broody master she falls for.

Mt top suggestion is without a question Richard Armitage. He plays Guy of Gisborne, henchmen to the Sheriff of Nottingham in the new BBC Robin Hood series, and he’s great: glowering, broody, conflicted, hopelessly in love with Maid Marian and making every female viewer eager to redeem him, despite his evil deeds. If that weren’t enough, I recently saw the miniseries North and South, where he plays a Darcy-esque character to the hilt: he’s haughty, superior, but it doesn’t take that much to breach his armor and making him wholly dependent on the woman who managed to do it.

But I also have some less predictable choices…see for yourself, after the jump.

What, you say? Jeff Bridges? The dude himself? To which I reply, yes, the dude himself. The drawback is that here, the age difference would definitely be icky (if he were ten, fifteen years younger it would be perfect), but neglecting that part, I have two arguments. One is that he was definitely sexy ten, fifteen years ago (see The Fabulous Baker Boys for evidence). But my main argument is simple: Obadiah Stone. It showed once more just how well he can immerse himself into a character, and that he doesn’t always need to look shabby. Give him a dark haircut, some good clothes, tell him not to do the lip smacking thing, and you just might have yourself the perfect Rochester. But if you thought this choice was unusual…wait for the next one.

Vince Vaughn. Yes, that Vince Vaughn. The jokester, the lunk, that guy. Because

whenever I watch him, I suspect he has demons. Something that always gives his comedy a slightly desperate touch. Something hidden in the attic, metaphorically speaking. He’s played a dark character before (Norman Bates), but what if he played a dark character with a soft spot? I have to admit this pick is a little dodgy, but admit it: you’d love to see if it works. And it might prevent Fred Claus II

As for the aforementioned secret hidden in the attic, considering she’s supposed to be (in some reading, at least) the manifestation of Jane’s repressed desires, a kind of dark version of her, may I suggest Lindsay Lohan? She’s too young, but hasn’t looked it recently. Or maybe Halle Berry: I always feel like giving her something to do that isn’t Catwoman or Gothica. But I have to admit this part is much harder to cast, as few actresses come to mind who could be fierce enough.

As for Helen, I have but one request: please. Please. Not Dakota Fanning.

Have some thoughts about who could fill these roles? Let me know! And let’s see who the casting directors will go for. Who knows, they might go for Robert Downey Jr. now that he’s been certified bankable, and I wouldn’t protest that. But I have a dark suspicion they will go much more mainstream.