Characters in tv/movie adaptations of books looking totally different

[HelloCheekyCat]

I have watched the first episode of Scarpetta having read pretty much all.of the Scarpetta books and the characters look totally different to the descriptions in the books. I know logically it doesn't matter but I don't like it 😆
See also Will Trent, the tv character is literally opposite looks wise to the book..
I love Harry potter because they look exactly as described in the books.
Does it bother anyone else?

Emma Thompson is far too old to play Elinor Dashwood, and consequently Gemma Jones was far too old for the role of Mrs.Dashwood. She looked more like the youngest girl’s granny. I find it very distracting, and I find myself losing patience with all Elinor’s emotional wibbling. I keep thinking, ‘You’re about 35, fgs, pull yourself together.’

Emma Thompson is far too old to play Elinor Dashwood

I read that she agreed she was too old, but she took the role because without her the money to make the film might not have been forthcoming.

I found her and Hugh Grant an unconvincing couple. Edward Ferrars is a drip compared to Darcy or Wentworth. She and Colonel Brandon seemed far more suited.

I enjoyed it overall, though.

Oh absolutely - I couldn't watch more than the first episode. They also messed up the order and filmed a book for the second one which needed the weight of the books before to really show its brilliance. I can't imagine it has the same impact without the build up.

Sharpe. I know it's going back a few years but I do remember thinking that Sean bean didn't fit the description from the books. Didn't mind too much because he was hot.

'Scarlett O'Hara was not beautiful' - the opening words of Gone With The Wind.
So they cast Vivien Leigh.

(But I think the consensus is that she was the right choice.)

Not a looks thing, but Emma is left handed and that showed in scenes when she was writing, and being left-handed was not tolerated in those days and indeed until recent history (I have a relative in his 80s who is naturally left handed but had the impulse to write that way literally beaten out of him).
(Edited to add: this rankled as Emma T was keen on accurate period details).

I love Harry potter because they look exactly as described in the books except Harry who was rangy mad-haired and green-eyed!
Never understood why they didn't use contact lenses for that, unless it's too hard to correct from brown to a lighter colour.
Agree all the other characters were pretty spot-on.

They couldn't use contacts as Daniel Radcliff was allergic to them.

Interesting though that @HelloCheekyCat thinks the HP characters look right. I think most of them are totally wrong. Mostly fantastic actors. But they don't look right.

I think I read somewhere that they tried it but Daniel Radcliffe had difficulty with the contact lenses so they had to abandon the idea.

Thanks for that!
Hopefully the new adaptation will have a more suitable actor, Dan was also far too short!

Agree with pp that Jimmy Perez was spanish in appearance and Douglas Henshall was very far from that. But loved Shetland anyway. Vera Stanhope was described as being quite ugly, hairy toes in sandals etc. But I think Brenda Blethyn still did a marvellous job. I love all of Anne Cleeves' books.

Black Macbeth. No explanation needed. It just doesn’t work.

In my head, Christian Grey was taller and blonde

Speaking of Wentworth, and shifting gears to the other side of the coin to some of the best casting, Ciaran Hinds is the definitive Captain Wentworth, in my opinion. I rewatch that version of Persuasion at least once a year.

I agree that Emma Thompson and Hugh Grant were not great choices for Sense and Sensibility. They didn't seem to have great chemistry either, which is odd because I think they are friends in real life.

I was miffed when I saw him- definitely not blonde Rupert ‘handsomest man in England’. But he really had his louche essence and ended up being marvellous.

Exactly….although to be fair I do think that Zoe Wanamaker did capture that abstracted brilliance that Ariadne Oliver possessed even if she didn’t physically resemble the character as described. Agatha Christie always denied that Mrs Oliver was based on her but the lady doth protest too much I think. There are so many parallels between them.

What I do find distracting, now that we can watch anything at any time, is when the most recent adaptation of A Murder Is Announced is shown (where ZW is Letitia Blacklock) and Cards on the Table is shown around the same time. Very discombobulating.