Actors who 100% embodied character from book

[NEtoN10]

I was just thinking today about book to film adaptations and actors who I thought 100% embodied the character as I imagined them.

For me Helena BC as Bellatrix Lestrange, Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort, the whole cast of Matilda!

Who does it for you? Interested to hear !

Carey Mulligan was the most perfect Daisy Buchanan. I was less thrilled about Tobey Maguire’s portrayal of Nick Carraway.

Guy Henry would be a great Vetinari. Excellent call.
Sheen and Tennant (and Josie Lawrence) were perfect in Good Omens (JL is the only actor repeated from the Radio 4 adaptation).

I agree that Harriet Walter was great as Harriet Vane, but it would be nice to see new adaptation. Edward Petherbridge is great in many ways, but doesn’t really have what it take to inspire the desperate crush that Sayers clearly had on Wimsey. There must be room for an adaptation which would inspire mass swooning on MN. Julian Rhind-Tutt anyone?

Agree meth, but who would play him today? Or Harriet? What about Phoebe double barrel? Physically maybe, and strong rather than beautiful looking.

But that's a whole other thread!

Good call sistermary!

"Graphista similar thing happened to John Spencer who played Leo in West Wing. His character has a massive heart attack and then so did he"

Wow! The power of the mind is incredible - and scary!

Disfordarkchocolate - we'll have to agree to disagree. I've read loads of the marble books multiple times and I really do feel Geraldine hits the mark.

"I agree with Geraldine McEwan. In the books miss marple has a hint of nosy smug streak missing from Joan Hickson." Yep! A mischievous bent. She's also described as having sharp, twinkly, sparkling eyes which Geraldine portrays better.

"Kevin Whately as Lewis" erm...have you read the novels? Lewis in the novels is older, more jaded as a character and iirc was originally Welsh? Now much as I love Kevin whateley as Lewis, as I believe did Colin Dexter, he is nothing like the character in the books

Gah autocorrect PRINT WHAT I WROTE

MARPLE books not marble!

Phoebe WB would be pretty good actually, though she’s a busy woman with more important things to be getting on with. She’s 33 which is reasonable casting for a woman who’s going to spend a few years refusing Wimsey before having five children - you wouldn’t want to go much older than that.

When I read Discworld books I always pictured Jeremy Irons as Vetinari. He was perfect.

Indeed sistermary you'd need an actress with childbearing hips ;-)

mysterian oh yes! For some reason l have Kate Hudson as Angua!

I've read them all to @Graphista and still, this Geraldine overacts. We can't all like the same things though

I do agree about Robbie Lewis, in the books he was much more worn out and his wife was Welsh and a very good maker of egg and chips.

Having Googled, JRT is strictly too old for Wimsey - he’s fifty to Wimsey’s fortyish.

Btw have not read the "sequels" but sometimes tempted. Are they as bad as people say? Every so often I have a massive reread of DLS.

( Named my firstborn Harriet!)

I agree with Renee Zellweger as Bridget Jones. On paper you would think no way! Is there a better British accent done by an American?

Charles Dance as Tywin Lannister.

Caitriona Balfe as Claire in Outlander.

Slocombe, the sequels are awful. Let's face it, Busman's Honeymoon is fairly grim still read it often though and can't help feeling Harriet would be met by a mass wall of LTB if she posted here. Absolutely loved [not] DLS's obsession with married couples never talking about anything, anything at all. Explains a lot about how British marriages lasted forever in the olden days I suppose. I can only say that it has spelled disaster to me, and I genuinely do blame my exclusive pre-1950s literary diet for about the first 15 years of my life for that.

Jack Nicholson as Randle McMurphy in One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest

At times his eyes darken and he is frightening without doing anything aggressive

I thought Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander in Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was pretty good. That was a hard character to embody.

Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch.

Jennifer Jason Leigh as Tralala in Last Exit to Brooklyn. Brutal book, brutal, brilliant film and JJL was unbelievably good in that role.

Jeremy Brett as Holmes. He gave 100% to the role and suffered mental health problems as a result.
Joan Hickson was perfection as Marple. All the others have been too young. Agatha Christie apparently saw her in a play years before and said she’d be the perfect Marple.

Olympia Dukakis as Anna Madrigal in Tales of the City.

(and agree that Brian May & Roger Taylor - also John Deacon - were very well cast in Bohemian Rhapsody)

I thought Renee Zelweger was all wrong. She was nowhere near smart or feisty enough. I’d love to have seen Kate Winslett in the role. She’s as dippy but has a lot more sass. The Bridget in the book was quite sassy but I thought Zelweger was a bit drippy. The Colin Firth and Hugh Grant characters would never have been interested in someone like that, in spite of her impeccable accent.

All of the cast of Room With a View. It was perfect.

Harry Bosch is exactly how I thought he would be.

Bosch is on Amazon prime, brilliant detective series.
Based on Michael Connelly books.