Tag: dream cast

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Bringing my Characters to Life, Part 4.

The Dream Cast: Who would I want to see be cast in the roles of this fourth and final list from my Longevity series?

by John Irvin

Today marks the 280th blog post on my website. Wow, that’s a lot of writing. It’s also the final part in this Dream Cast series as you can read above. This little sub-series has been so much fun. Today, we’ll actually have a couple more than the usual number of characters.

Longevity, Book 3: Wandering was quite a piece of work. I enjoyed every second of my main character’s journey through his life and the vast array of historical and fictional characters he met along the way.

But, again, a forewarning: if you see any printed copies (hardcover or paperback) on sale for this book, do not order. It is ONLY supposed to be out in ebook for now thanks to the formatting issue in the printing process.

Back to the tale and my dream cast. In this book, Sir Ihon Iraes (pronounced Ian Eraze) returns home after a long time in the Haven with Zandra the Immortal. He finds a new structure built into the place where his old house used to be. Castle Iraes is managed by Lady Celia Stuart.

She is the daughter of Desi Wallace, Sir William Wallace’s daughter and Ihon’s ward. While Ihon had gone away, Desi had married an upstanding Scotsman and they’d had the funds to build the Castle Iraes and leave it in charge of their daughter who now runs it with her own daughter Lady Molly Stuart.

These two women play a decent-sized role in the beginning of the book. I’m combing lists of actresses I think worthy of their parts and have decided Helena Bonham Carter would give Lady Celia the proper air I envision her having as ward of Castle Iraes and its valley tenants. From her roles as Bellatrix from the Harry Potter saga to Queen Elizabeth in The King’s Speech, I tell you what, she would be a superb fit.

Lady Molly is young and slightly naïve, but extremely curious about this strange Laird of the Iraes estates. She wants to know the mystery behind his long life and journey. I believe Haley Pullos could play an excellent Molly Stuart. She’s from General Hospital. I’ve never heard her make a Scottish accent, but you never know!

This next one is one of the few men who play a major role in Ihon’s journey through this third installation. John Knox, the Scottish Reformer, is one of the few humans to actually stumble upon Sanguiatro, the Capital of the Wolf-Born Race. Tucked away into the Highlands, it’s supposed to be well-hidden from human or Spawn eyes. I wonder how James McAvoy would feel about playing this eccentric role. Something to ponder, Mr. McAvoy? I mean, you are a Scotsman.

On his wanderings, Ihon finds a solitary life in the forests of medieval France. There he meets a young girl by the name of Joan d’ Arc and sort of becomes a mentor. She, believing him to be a spiritual apparition of one of the saints, claims he is one of three. I’d like to see Mia Talerico being cast in the role of Joan.

She’s the baby star from Good Luck, Charlie. Such a cutie!

The other two supposed “saints” to give Joan her tutelage in the ways of religion and warfare are two sisters Ihon actually meets. The three of them have a short tryst together you might say. I’m not going to spoil any more. But their names are Guinevere and Margot—they are French Wolf-Born who actually choose him as the alpha of their little pack.

I’d love to see Alexandra Daddario as Margot and Scarlett Johansson as her older sister Guinevere. Perfect match. I fell in love with Alexandra as Annabeth Chase from Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Scarlett was why I fell in love with Black Widow from her very first scene in Iron Man 2.

But good things come to an end and Ihon must move on after a dilemma that has to do with the Supreme Council and other officers of the Creed Army.

And now, the final character I want to dream cast an actor for—or rather an actress—is the Princess of the Chitimacha tribe. Ihon actually makes his way to the New World and ends up continuing his wanderings into the vast wilderness there. He stumbles across a native tribe that sees him as a fulfillment of a prophecy. The chief’s daughter, Fawn, is supposed to wed a white stranger, according to this prophecy, and they would bring great prosperity to the tribe.

Fawn, is played by Emma Watson. Made famous by her role as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter saga, and every nineties baby’s crush, I’d love to have her cast in this romantic role.

Well, there you have it, my dream cast for the first three books in my Longevity series. I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did.

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I’ve now been hosting a YouTube channel called John Irvin, Author Journey Series. Check it out at YOUTUBE.COM/AUTHORJOURNEY

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Bringing my Characters to Life

The Dream Cast: Who would I love to see cast in the character roles for my Longevity series?

by John Irvin

I don’t plan to make a YouTube vlog for this article today. Nope, just going to relax and write a fun little fantasy-filled blog as I enjoy this crisp autumn weather—actually abnormal for this early in the season here in Florida.

Anyways, a dream cast. Yes, I usually dream up a cast for each one of my books, but with my Longevity series, there are so many characters, I could possibly turn this into a two-part series. I think I can shrink it down though.

This is going to be fun.

Okay, first off, Longevity is an eight-volume series, but only the first two books, Revelation and Independence, have been published in hardcover, paperback, and ebook. The third book, Wandering, is published in ebook only. The print versions were messed up in format, so please don’t order any “hardcover” or “paperback” versions you might see on the web.

So, we’ll start with Sir Ihon Iraes (pronounced Ian Eraze). He’s the main character and, yes, he’s actually based on me. But, I’d be fine with picking a far superior actor to play the role. Born in Scotland, Ihon is a knight and already a veteran of the Second Crusade by the time the story begins. So, he’s in his fifties, if I remember correctly. But, he’s aged well, being a Wolf-Born—though unbeknownst to him or his wife in the beginning.

I’m torn between two different fabulous Scottish actors. I fell into great admiration of Iain Glen’s role as Ser Jorah Mormont in the HBO series Game of Thrones. To see him dressed in a kilt and wielding the Iraes family claymore blade would be a sight to see. He wouldn’t make half a bad Wolf-Born either. And the tragic backstory fits perfectly with the Mormont-type character Sir Ihon Iraes relates to.

But, I’m going to have to admit, Mr. Glen turned sixty this past June 2021. So, he’s a few years older than Sir Ihon’s character at this time. Then again, with cameras and the magic of cinema these days, it could still work.

There is the second choice: Ewan McGregor. He turned fifty in March 2021. So, his age is perfect for the role. I could definitely see him dressed as a Crusader knight, waving around that Scottish claymore, and riding the black war steed Cassieus.

Now, for the first wife of my main character. You ask, how many wives does Sir Ihon have and why does he have more than one?

Well, remember I said “tragic backstory”? Yeah. Read the books.

Also, Wolf-Born live an average lifespan of 1,100 years. The reason this series is titled Longevity is it covers Sir Ihon Iraes’s life from when he’s fifty in the early twelfth century and runs through time with each book up to the present in Book 5 (still in the works) and beyond in the final three.

Now, here is a dilemma. Do I want to share any more about how many wives Ihon ends up having, if they’re human or not, and who would be cast in their roles?

I tell you what, I’m going to leave this blog open for comments as well as ask this question when I share the links on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Would you like to know the number of wives my character marries? Would you like to know if they’re human and where they’re from and who would be the dream actresses to star in their roles?

But, you already know he has “a first wife”, so I can at least give you that one.

Joanna Wallace Iraes, Lady of Iraes House. When I first imagined Joanna many years ago in the conception of this series, I pictured Keira Knightley as the star actress for this role. With her high-class charms, the woman is a lady in and of herself and I think Joanna couldn’t be more honoured to have such an actress cast in her role.

Even though Keira is English, I’m sure she would do a remarkable job as the Scottish wife of our Crusade veteran.

But, the scary thought, I do hope Knightley wouldn’t take offense at what happens to her character so early on in the story. *nervous chuckle*

I’ll end this blog today with one more character. This character plays a sort of brief mentor for Sir Ihon when he first comes aware of his “other side”.

Ranvir Caiton, his father fought alongside Ihon’s father in the Second Great War between the Wolf-Born and the Spawn—you’ll learn more about these later on, or if you buy the books. At the beginning of the series, Ranvir is a Lesser Officer of the Creed Army. You’ll learn more about them also if you buy the books.

Being Wolf-Born raised, Ranvir has known about his “other form” since he could read a sentence. He’s shocked someone could actually live fifty years without discovering their true origins. But, he takes Ihon under his wing and invites him to Sanguiatro, the capital of the Wolf-Born Race, hidden deep in the Highlands of Scotland somewhere.

I think Justin Theroux could be a good Ranvir Caiton. He has that dark look about him and could possibly be a bit prejudiced against the human race, even though he’s sworn to protect them from the Spawn.

So, this will turn into a two-part, maybe even three-part, blog series! Awesome. I’m excited.

We haven’t even covered half the characters who have roles in even the first two books! I might mention a couple from book three, even though I shy away from promoting that book because of the whole formatting issue that is still yet to be resolved.

But, here’s a list of character names I’ll be talking about in the next blog!

Zandra the Immortal

Noran Mars – Chief Councilman of the Supreme Council of the Wolf-Born Race

Merryn McKlean – Councilwoman of the Supreme Council

Angus McKlean – Brother of Merryn, Councilman of the Supreme Council

And maybe a few surprise characters, depending on your answers.

If you enjoyed this post, you should sign up for my newsletter! I don’t spam and you can unsuscribe at any time. I only send out emails on Fridays. Sign up here: SIGN UP!

I’m also a Patreon artist—the cool thing about Patreon is it allows people to support artists by monthly pledges which allow the artists to have more time to work on their own passions. Here is my account: PATREON.COM. If you’d like to support me, I would be eternally grateful!

I’ve now been hosting a YouTube channel called John Irvin, Author Journey Series. Check it out at YOUTUBE.COM/AUTHORJOURNEY

Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Or email me at john@johnirvinauthor.com