Sunday 29 May 2011

Young Ian?

I think that the problem most of us fans have with envsioning Young Ian is that when we met him in Voyager he was a very gawky stork like 14 year old with a fairly unremarkable face and  beautiful big eyes. What happened to that innocent little boy? In Echo he suddenly turned into some kind of Jamie junior sex god before our eyes and it is hard to remember what he looked like at 14!

Has he really changed in appearance so much? I doubt it but we've long since stopped seeing him as a child and started seeing him as a man!  It's like when you remember your friends little brother as an annoying little brat but you see him again after a few years and suddenly he's a six foot hunk with muscles in all the right places. It comes as a bit of a shock when you suddenly have to crane your neck to look him in the eyes.

Anyway, back on topic! I think one of the worse things the casting people can do is to choose an actor who is classically handsome when finding a young Ian. In my mind at least he still has some of that lanky uncomfortable teenager in him!

 Merlin actor Colin Morgan is Irish but his English accent is excellent. In fact it wasn't until seeing him in an interview that I realised that he was Irish so I'm sure he could master a Scottish accent without too much trouble.

As far as his looks go I would be lying if I said he was the kind to usually make heads turn but he has the kind of face which gives him a young vunerable appearance without him looking wimpy yet at the same time he would be able to show a ruthlessness needed for the less pleasant things that Ian has to endure.  Bodily he is tall and lanky and (at least when playing Merlin) has a slight awkwardness about him. Colin is 25 years old so I'm not sure if he would pass as a 14 year old but you would have similar issues with any actor trying to portray someone from a young age up until his mid twenties.

Monday 23 May 2011

Malva ... I mean Morven Christie as Jenny Murray

I have to admit that I'm not a huge fan of Jenny Murray as a character anymore. I liked her just fine when reading the first few books but I just get the impression that she resents not being in charge of Jamie's life and would much prefer him to be at her beck and call. I can't blame her for getting angry when Jamie "stole" Ian off the the America's but she had already fell out of favour by that time as far as I was concerned. It does seem a tad disloyal admitting that I don't like Jamie's sister but I have to be honest about it.  I'm sure we are going to see a lot more of her in book 8 and hopefully she can begin to gain my trust again.  

Not only is actress Morven Christie only 5'4" (a rare occurrance compared to most actresses) but she is ..... wait for it ... SCOTTISH! If I'm honest her accent isn't perfect as she is from Glasgow but it's near enough. The very fact that her name is almost the same as Malva Christie isn't lost on me either! She is no stranger to period drama after playing Jane Bennett in the TV drama "Lost in Austin" (well worth watching!)  and personally I think she has a certain "quality" about her which will make her sticking her hand up her brother's kilt and grabbing hold perfectly acceptable! What do you think?


Wednesday 18 May 2011

Outlander Fan Art by Captivated2


I've seen plenty of Outlander fan art over the years, some of it is really good and some is downright strange but I've never been blown away quite as much as when I saw this artist over on Deviant art today! You have to admit it's fairly impressive work!




For more of Captivated2's work click here! You'll find not only Outlander fan art but for there is something for Twilight fans as well!

Thursday 12 May 2011

Chris Hemsworth As Jamie Fraser

I've heard the name Chris Hemsworth mentioned in relation to Jamie Fraser a lot recently and up until seeing the trailer for the Thor movie I had dismissed him as just another pretty face, a big hunky pretty face but a pretty face non the less.  As Thor his personality and cheekiness shone through in his acting so I was cautiously optomistic last night when I walked into the cinema.

Firstly, what a great movie! I just loved it and even though I'm a big superhero fan anyway the special effects and the way the whole thing was put together was as good as any Star Wars or Lord of the Rings movie.  The story was really great and had quite a few unexpected twists as well as a great cameo apperance of Hawkeye and references to Ironman!  I was fairly impressed regarding how the beautiful Mr Hemsworth looked with long hair and changing him to a ginger wouldn't be that hard because he has a gingery looking beard. There is no denying that he is one beautiful looking individual.

Do I see Chris Hemsworth as Jamie Fraser?  Er ... Not as much as I'd hoped! I went in there thinking I'd be completely blown away with the likeness and that my little heart would be going pitter patter but after the first few minutes I stopped thinking about it so much and concentrated on the movie.


Now don't get me wrong, I'm not completely against him in the role as Jamie Fraser, he could certainly do a decent job because afterall he is a great actor with so much sex appeal that it almost hurts to look at him directly. He is certainly tall enough and impressive enough to stand out in a crowd and get them ladies swooning over him (I know I would anyway!). He also has an amazingly sexy smile that let's you know that he has a secret and he's not sharing. The very fact that his character is a hardened warrior with issues is a plus point and he has the entire lovable warrior thing down to pat and can fight like a ... well God really. 

So what is the problem I hear you ask!

Firstly Jamie Fraser is not a God! (Oh I actually said that out loud! I'm sorry!) and whilst he is large and well muscled he hasn't been pumping iron for months to get into that kind of shape. Chris Hemsworth has the statue of a body builder and his muscles have muscles but where in the books does it say that Jamie is built like that? Jamie is big and muscular but it is a look built from hard work not from pumping iron.  I imagine that Chris Hemsworth could easily loose some of that bulk (it would be a shame though) but at the moment he looks less Jamie and more the incrediable Hulk.

Secondly, I'm sorry but Jamie Fraser is and never has been Australian! Whilst it wasn't always apparent in the movie Chris Hemsworth appeared to be trying to suppress his Australian accent but every so often he forgot and an Australian twang crept in. Now if he can't manage to do a basic American accent is there much chance of him mastering a Scottish accent? I think not!  

Thirdly, facially he looks nothing like Jamie Fraser. I'm sorry but no matter how pretty he is he doesn't have a long nose and his eyes, whilst catlike, are too close together. His face is also too round in shape rather than long and viking like.

Diana herself has described Chris Hemsworth as "Pug Faced" and whilst I don't completely agree with her he is certainly a long way from her version of Jamie. She has previously said that she see's him looking very similar to model Gabrial Aubrey and I'm sure you'll agree that there aren't really many similarites between the two.

However, we only have to look at some of the suggestions for the casting of Jamie to understand how so many of us see him differently so I wouldn't exactly be upset if Chris Hemsworth was the lucky actor chosen. In fact I'd be reasonably happy when you compare him to some of the other suggested actors out there. I just think that somewhere in the ether is a perfect Jamie Fraser and we just have to keep looking.



For anyone who hasn't seen the beautiful Chris Hemsworth in action ...


Tuesday 10 May 2011

Fergus In The Flesh!

It seems that whenever I'm on the lookout for possible casting ideas I keep returning to actor in the BBC's Merlin or Robin Hood programs. I have no idea why that is but there you go! It's possibly that I don't actually watch all that much TV if I'm being honest but certain programs stick out in my mind.

Today's top casting pick is the delectable Santiago Cabrera who played Lancelot and was completely swoon worthy to boot. He's 33 and orginally from Venezula but seems to have been very multicultural if you take into consideration all the other countries he has lived in. We know that Fergus is a good looking Frenchman with a distinctive French "look" about him and I could see Santiago doing a great job of playing him. He has a look about him that practically screams "I was raised in a brothal and know how to please a woman" (in a French/Scottish accent of course).

Yes yes yes ... I know he's too tall at 5'11" but let's be honest here. There aren't a lot of short male actors, especially ones who look French!

Here are a few more photo's ...

"Come to bed and let's make more babies, Marsali"

"Long labour? No problem!"
"I'm already the son of a great man"

Friday 6 May 2011

Keely Hawes As Claire Fraser?

One of the good things about being English is that I possibly have an advantage over a lot of Outlander fans as I get to see more "real" English actresses. It isn't that I have a problem with an American playing Claire as such because many Amerian actresses are pretty good at doing a decent English accent but more that a lot of Amerian actresses look too American. I'm not really sure what that means myself if I'm honest but there is a difference that I can't quite put my finger on.


Many of you probably haven't heard of Keeley Hawes but she is a 35 year old actress and the wife of fellow actor Matthew Macfadyen. She is probably best known for her role as time travelling (Yup she's used to it already) Alex Drake in the excellent show Ashes to Ashes where she plays a confident and modern woman in a world where women are still supposed to be tied to the kitchen sink.

The thing I like about Keeley Hawes is that she has a typically "English Rose" look about her but her personality and quirkiness shines through.

It wasn't until quite recently that I realised that she had also been in a few period dramas and whilst I haven't actually seen any of them I can see from the clips that she would be great at expressing Claire's sense of humour. The other thing that goes in her favour is that at 35 she is young enough to play the 28 year old Claire but old enough to be convincing as an older woman for the later books.  She isn't a typical "stick insect" and has curves in all the right places if you know what I mean.

Here she is in action:






 

Tuesday 3 May 2011

It's A Kilt ... Honest!

I saw this t-shirt on Zazzle a while ago and it really made me chuckle. Who is going to volunteer to be the official representitive to make an executive decision as to whether it's a kilt or a skirt? It's a dirrrrty job but someone has to do it!


Sunday 1 May 2011

Happy Birthday You Big Hunk Of Scottish Loveliness!

I've always been attracted to older men and that does carry through into my literary crushes as well. Who wants these young whipper snappers when you can have a real man ... with experience?  However my trusty calculator (maths isn't me strongest subject) tells me that today would have been Jamie Fraser's 290th birthday! That is slightly older than most of my crushes but I don't care! 

To celebrate this special occassion (afterall not many people have a 290th birthday unless they are a vampire) I would like to express my love and appreciation with a little Scottish Happy Birthday ...




The ladies over at My Outlander Purgatory  suggest adding #HappyBdayJAMIE to all our tweets for the special day. Let's see if we can get it trending!