The Witcher on Netflix.

[l2 0 5 5]

I can’t for the life of me see Costner playing Geralt. As for Mads, I got burned out on him by season 3 of Hannibal. Perhaps that was more the character and how perfect he was at everything opposed to the actor, but I’m hoping he won’t be cast as Geralt. 

[The Anti-Targ]

Oddly, for me, Mads is an actor I can objectively recognise as talented, but I just don't gel with him for some reason. So I'd pretty much always prefer him not to be the lead character or hero in any TV series or movie. And If I do see something where he is the lead my interest in whatever it is reduces a little bit. As a supporting actor or main villain, no problem there.

Miles Teller is another one for me.

Am I unusual in having actors I know are good at their craft be turns offs for no logical reason?

There are some actors who I don't like because of what they do or say in their private lives, but at least for them there is a rationale. With Mads and Miles (and a few others) it's not a rational thing.

[lacuna]

10 hours ago, The Anti-Targ said:

I'm not sure I put much stock in Sapowski's fancasting, since Mads is his 2nd number 1 choice and Kevin Costner was his 1st. Costner is a very good actor, but he's not Geralt. I don't know how he is in the books, and I've only played TW3, but it seems Geralt has a good sense of humour albeit as dry as a desert. I've not seen Mads try to deliver humour, and I don't get a sense that he has that as part of his range.

I think it's also wrong to think that because Witchers are emotionless and one note in their tone of voice that any actor with the right look can pull it off. If anything, as a character that is supposed to carry a series on his back, making Geralt a compelling and interesting character for multiple seasons (hopefully) is a big challenge, and you need an actor that can put a great deal of nuance and subtlety into their performance.

The Green Butchers, Danish dark comedy. He's hilarious in it. 

[red snow]

3 hours ago, locura said:

The Green Butchers, Danish dark comedy. He's hilarious in it. 

Also funny in Hannibal albeit darkly so.

[red snow]

12 hours ago, Mwm said:

I have 100% no faith in the writers they have assembled(which have been pulled from a pool of Netflix writers)i hope to hell to be proven wrong, the genre need more growth...

Depends which Netflix shows tbh. Marvel related it'd be bad news but narcos and stranger things would be fine. I'm not sure I know the difference between Netflix writers and writers for shows Netflix fund. I wasn't aware of an in house stable.

Pacing likely to be shit if it's a Netflix veteran though.

[Mwm]

14 minutes ago, red snow said:

Depends which Netflix shows tbh. Marvel related it'd be bad news but narcos and stranger things would be fine. I'm not sure I know the difference between Netflix writers and writers for shows Netflix fund. I wasn't aware of an in house stable.

Pacing likely to be shit if it's a Netflix veteran though.

Uh, I think all the writers they chose were formerly from the marvel shows...

[red snow]

1 hour ago, Mwm said:

Uh, I think all the writers they chose were formerly from the marvel shows...

Oh dear. On the bright side it may mean they aren't writing for the marvel shows anymore.

[Theda Baratheon]

13 hours ago, The Anti-Targ said:

Oddly, for me, Mads is an actor I can objectively recognise as talented, but I just don't gel with him for some reason. So I'd pretty much always prefer him not to be the lead character or hero in any TV series or movie. And If I do see something where he is the lead my interest in whatever it is reduces a little bit. As a supporting actor or main villain, no problem there.

Miles Teller is another one for me.

Am I unusual in having actors I know are good at their craft be turns offs for no logical reason?

There are some actors who I don't like because of what they do or say in their private lives, but at least for them there is a rationale. With Mads and Miles (and a few others) it's not a rational thing.

There’s loads of actors like that for me. I can’t STAND Christian Bale and I guess he probably is a good avtor?? I just can’t stand the man 

[Red Tiger]

58 minutes ago, Theda Baratheon said:

There’s loads of actors like that for me. I can’t STAND Christian Bale and I guess he probably is a good avtor?? I just can’t stand the man 

Is it the blandness? cause if so, I agree.

[The Drunkard]

Of the suggestions I've seen I think I'd take Karl Urban for Geralt. He can do gruff, cynical hardasses with a good heart and is convincing as a warrior. 

Mads would be a good Emhyr. 

[Theda Baratheon]

1 hour ago, Red Tiger said:

Is it the blandness? cause if so, I agree.

I don’t find him bland I find him insufferable

[The Anti-Targ]

8 hours ago, The Drunkard said:

Of the suggestions I've seen I think I'd take Karl Urban for Geralt. He can do gruff, cynical hardasses with a good heart and is convincing as a warrior. 

Mads would be a good Emhyr. 

You've obviously seen Judge Dredd.

And I am on board with Mads as Emhyr. Maybe I should check out Hannibal. It's also the concept of the show that doesn't grab me. But if I am auditioning Mads, in my own mind, for Geralt it's my duty to look at a larger range of his work.

[The Anti-Targ]

10 hours ago, red snow said:

Depends which Netflix shows tbh. Marvel related it'd be bad news but narcos and stranger things would be fine. I'm not sure I know the difference between Netflix writers and writers for shows Netflix fund. I wasn't aware of an in house stable.

Pacing likely to be shit if it's a Netflix veteran though.

IMO the Marvel Netflix shows get too much hate. Sure some have been not so good. But I think the only one that has been bad is Ironfist, and I still thought it had its moments. Daredevil 1 was great, DD2 was good, I loved both JJs, Luke Cage was pretty good, Punisher was very good. Defenders was OK.

Key for me is that the writers are actual fans of the material, books for the most part, but also the games. I feel like to get good appeal to global audiences in decent numbers, the TV series needs to look and feel like the games, but tell the stories from the books. Some characters from the games that don't exist in the books should make it into the show. You can only do that in a satisfying and coherent way if you know and love both the books and the games, as well as being a good writer.

[red snow]

I enjoyed the punisher (which has been the exception post s1 of Jessica Jones) but found the pacing of S2 of Jessica Jones to be a return to the problems I've had with the shows in general.

The cast are great in pretty much all the marvel Netflix shows though. 

Regarding the Witcher you probably don't need a writer who loves both the games and the books but a mixture of writers who love either and let them hammer a TV show out between them. But the producer needs to have a firm idea of what exactly they want and I agree that capturing the feel of the games may be wise in the sense that's where the largest built in audience lie.

[Theda Baratheon]

Oooh Mads as Emhyr would be good! 

I don’t know what about him it is that makes fans want to cast him in everything lol. I remember discussing who should play Euron and I thought he’d be good. What a shame the bloke they got is awful...anyway - I don’t see him as Geralt at all really; but Emhyr DEFINITELY. 

I still stand by my Zach McGowan choice the more I think about it the more I think it’d work - but I like Karl Urban. Was great in Dredd

[The Anti-Targ]

In terms of most of the English-speaking audience, I think the games will attract people to the TV series, and the TV series will bring people to the books. Clearly there will be book only fans in the English market, and also people who've never hear of either but will be curious, and pick it up being fans of GoT, or Vikings, or The Last Kingdom or other shows of those kinds.

The marketing will be interesting, because it needs to appeal to gamers, but at the same time not focus too much on the fact that there is an association with video games. Too many people have seen too many bad video game adaptations, or heard of them, that until there is some history of a few successes in video game adaptation, even a peripheral association, as is the case here, with video games will give some of the potential audience pause.

4 minutes ago, Theda Baratheon said:

Oooh Mads as Emhyr would be good! 

I don’t know what about him it is that makes fans want to cast him in everything lol. I remember discussing who should play Euron and I thought he’d be good. What a shame the bloke they got is awful...anyway - I don’t see him as Geralt at all really; but Emhyr DEFINITELY. 

I still stand by my Zach McGowan choice the more I think about it the more I think it’d work - but I like Karl Urban. Was great in Dredd

Is Zach really a good enough actor? Playing an emotionally flat character is not the same as giving a flat or wooden performance. If you are in favour of Zach despite him only being of modest ability then I think you should have another think about your support. But if you think he has the necessary level of talent, then you should stick to your guns.

[Theda Baratheon]

4 minutes ago, The Anti-Targ said:

In terms of most of the English-speaking audience, I think the games will attract people to the TV series, and the TV series will bring people to the books. Clearly there will be book only fans in the English market, and also people who've never hear of either but will be curious, and pick it up being fans of GoT, or Vikings, or The Last Kingdom or other shows of those kinds.

The marketing will be interesting, because it needs to appeal to gamers, but at the same time not focus too much on the fact that there is an association with video games. Too many people have seen too many bad video game adaptations, or heard of them, that until there is some history of a few successes in video game adaptation, even a peripheral association, as is the case here, with video games will give some of the potential audience pause.

Is Zach really a good enough actor? Playing an emotionally flat character is not the same as giving a flat or wooden performance. If you are in favour of Zach despite him only being of modest ability then I think you should have another think about your support. But if you think he has the necessary level of talent, then you should stick to your guns.

I honestly don’t think he’s that bad at all! He had a couple of stellar moments in Black Sails and I like him well enough in 100 despite a relatively boring character - but I think that’s a fault of the writers and not him as an actor because I LOVED Charles Vane. Super badass. I think he could pull it off - and he’s got the voice and the physical ability for Geralt. I’d like to see someone who isn’t a movie star but I’m not too precious on it - I’m sure I’ll like whoever they pick  I’m mostly just excited to see it. I definitely need to read the books - I’m one of those video game fans  

[The Anti-Targ]

2 minutes ago, Theda Baratheon said:

I honestly don’t think he’s that bad at all! He had a couple of stellar moments in Black Sails and I like him well enough in 100 despite a relatively boring character - but I think that’s a fault of the writers and not him as an actor because I LOVED Charles Vane. Super badass. I think he could pull it off - and he’s got the voice and the physical ability for Geralt. I’d like to see someone who isn’t a movie star but I’m not too precious on it - I’m sure I’ll like whoever they pick  I’m mostly just excited to see it. I definitely need to read the books - I’m one of those video game fans  

Fair enough.

I don't really remember his character in The 100 all that well, and I stopped watching it part way through season 3. Only watched 2 1/2 episodes of Black Sails, I remember him being in it, but again he made no particular impression.

The thing with casting Geralt is that if you are going to get one A/A-/B+ list actor for the show, then it kinda needs to be Geralt. Zach is B/B-. In theory an A/A- actor could play a supporting role that is in the show almost as much as Geralt. But what actor at that level in their career is going to sign up to be 2nd banana, unless this is their retirement gig? Eva Green, who's probably B+ these days, suggested for Yennefer by some here and she's a decent choice, could be the lead female role, but they will have to give her a lot more screen time than, apparently, the books give her for her to be an audience draw.

TV shows don't need actors with name recognition. They can be springboards for actors' careers. But it can help with marketing and with initially getting eyeballs on screen. There is a cost/benefit to it though. If you can get away with not hiring a big name for a lead role then that's usually a good thing. GoT made out really well with Sean Bean, since he was the main character but only lived for one season. He did the job he needed to do, and then the show was able to save $$ by literally and figuratively giving him the chop. Can't do that with Geralt.

[karaddin]

10 minutes ago, The Anti-Targ said:

Fair enough.

I don't really remember his character in The 100 all that well, and I stopped watching it part way through season 3. Only watched 2 1/2 episodes of Black Sails, I remember him being in it, but again he made no particular impression.

He was only in a few episodes early in the season - he's the exiled prince that Lexa duelled before killing his mother in the stand and making him king. I thought he did well enough with the role from what I vaguely remember before the show utterly pissed me off with Lexa and I too stopped watching.

Karl Urban would be one way to have me signed on for the full duration regardless of how good it is. I just love him.

[Leofric]

58 minutes ago, karaddin said:

He was only in a few episodes early in the season - he's the exiled prince that Lexa duelled before killing his mother in the stand and making him king. I thought he did well enough with the role from what I vaguely remember before the show utterly pissed me off with Lexa and I too stopped watching.

Karl Urban would be one way to have me signed on for the full duration regardless of how good it is. I just love him.

Karl Urban would be great to see, plus still pissed they cancelled his show Almost Human.  (Also still pissed about Limitless, but has nothing to do with this conversation.)