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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Bringing my Characters to Life, Part 3.

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

by John Irvin

It’s already that time again. Yes, the time I post part three in a Dream-cast blog series for my world of Longevity, if it were ever made into movies. Because, why not? I’m sure all writers dream of the perfect cast for their books.

Now, in parts one and two, I covered the main characters and a few others from Book 1: Revelation. Today’s blog will cover a few characters from Book 2: Independence.

A quick back story again, Sir Ihon Iraes (pronounced Ian Eraze) has returned from his first haunt in the Haven where he met the Immortal, Zandra. Now he returns to find his human homeland in the middle of a war for independence.

His best friend is the renowned Guardian of Scotland, Sir William Wallace. Naturally, being of Scottish descent, I had to bring this hero into the story. And also, because I’m a fan of Braveheart, no one should be surprised that when I imagined this character, I saw Mel Gibson.

Hence the blue eyes.

But, Mel Gibson has grown a bit older thanks to time. I’m so torn with this cast role to be honest. William Wallace will always look like Mel Gibson to me in my mind. I just don’t know who could play the part. I don’t care if his accent was off, he still did a darn-good job.

I wonder how his son, Louie Gibson, would do in the role.

Next character is another historical player known as King Robert the Bruce. According to history—and Braveheart—he took up the mantel to lead Scotland to victory and finally win what they had never had before: a country of their own.

Angus Macfadyen played this role in Braveheart and its sequel, which I have yet to see sadly, and he did the perfect job. He’s also actually Scottish. But, again, he’s up there in age like Mel. Although, the Bruce was about forty when he fought the Battle of Bannockburn, which was the decisive battle that led to Scotland’s independence.

Angus is fifty-eight now, so he could play the part. But, I mean, he’s already played Bruce twice now. Would it really be fair for Mel Gibson?

How does Henry Cavill or Jamie Dornan sound? Cavill starred as Superman in the Man of Steel and I find he did a good job. Jamie Dornan was the sheriff in Once Upon A Time—at least, that’s where I know him from. That is a favourite of mine. I wonder how their Scottish accents are. Dornan is Irish and Cavill is British.

Then there is King Philip of France, who, in this series, is actually not human. He’s a Wolf-Born Higher Officer of the Ancient Creed. He tasks Ihon with a mission to Constantinople. I’ll also give a hint, he may or may not play a role later on in the series.

I think the best actor to play this mysterious character would be Raphaёl Personnaz from Anna Karenina. He’s French and he did a superb job.

And the final role we’ll talk about today is that of Sir William Wallace’s daughter, Lady Desi Wallace. Yes, the real hero actually had a daughter—this is not shown in the Gibson film. And in the Longevity series, she becomes my main character’s ward for a short time. Her lineage actually plays a role throughout the series.

I won’t go into it any further. You’ll simply have to read the books. Although, I’m going to pause again right here to remind you, Book 3: Wandering is ONLY in ebook form for now. If you see any print copies for sale, those are errors. There was a format problem that I haven’t been able to get around to fixing yet.

With Amazon’s new “hardcover” option, that may be just around the corner though, so hang on.

Back to Desi, what an interesting lass this character was. I immediately fell in love with her when writing her in and wish I could have had more time with her. But that’s how it goes sometimes. Who knows, maybe I’ll write a short story for her about her time at House Iraes, I don’t know.

The best actress I could see fitting in this role would be Maya Hawke from the recent Little Women. We’ll have to call her up and ask for her example of a Scottish lass. Perhaps. 😉

Next up will be Book 3: Wandering and its cast of characters. I won’t give any names out this time around. Make sure to stop by next Saturday for Part 4!

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 FacebookTwitter, or Instagram. Or email me at john@johnirvinauthor.com