Fantasy Casting: Alien
Ridley Scott’s Alien is a science fiction classic and its cast is virtually untouchable for a number of reasons. It features beloved character actors such as Ian Holm, Harry Dean Stanton, and John Hurt in roles that, for many, are their most memorable. There is the fact that the cast did not consist of well-known stars, but is instead made up of dependable performers able to create a naturalistic dynamic that really sells that these are just people doing their jobs. And, of course, there’s Ripley, one of the most iconic film characters of all time. The idea that a woman would emerge as the hero of the series was relatively unthinkable for the time, but Sigourney Weaver in the part made the character tough, yet vulnerable. She would go on to be nominated for an Academy Award for the role in James Cameron’s Aliens, thus bonding the character to Weaver forever.It is for these reasons that Alien seems like a particularly difficult remake to cast, but I’ll give it a try.Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
Writer: David S. Goyer
Starring:
Ripley- Zoe Saldana
Dallas- Matt Damon
Ash-Cillian Murphy
Parker- Mickey Rourke
Lambert- Carey Mulligan
Brett- Delroy Lindo
Kane- Timothy Olyphant
These just get better all the time.
Damn. That’s good. Like a lot of great casting, it’s obvious once you see it, but I would have never thought of it myself.
Wow great choices! I especially love Cillian Murphy as Ash.
I love these choices. My sister and I are big fans of Alien, and we’ve actually talked about who we’d cast in a remake. Two actresses she’s put out there that I’m curious to see what anyone else thinks: Miranda Otto and Michelle Dockery?
Mary Elizabeth Winstead – Ripley
Tony Leung – Dallas
Alison Pill – Lambert
Benedict Cumberbatch – Ash
Peter Mullan – Kane
Joel Edgerton – Parker
Andre Royo – Brett
Shane – I could easily see Miranda Otto or Michelle Dockery playing Lambert but not so much Ripley. Dockery might could pull it off, though. It’s just hard to picture. I like both of those more than Carey Mulligan, though.
When I noticed the director, upon looking a second time, my mind went from “Yeah, this is a great cast, but a remake of Alien? Dear god no” to “Holy shit I’d love to see this now.”