What about the recasting of the other Indy franchise characters?

indytim

Member
If Disney do relaunch the Indy franchise with a younger cast there's obviously a lot of discussion on this forum about who should play the title role. But what about the other notable franchise characters such as Marion, Marcus and Sallah? Should these characters be left alone? But then how would their absence be explained without rewriting the canon?

I'll start by saying Martin Freeman gets the 'thumbs up' from me to play a younger version of Marcus Brody (y)

413371_1.jpg
 
Yeah before he got dementia in last crusade, I always thought in raiders Brody in his prime was probably a very determined badass....Go Getter.
 

IAdventurer01

Well-known member
Good casting, and I also agree about the young Marcus. If in a new film we are going back in time, it might be fun having Marcus - perhaps just off of his prime - more along for the ride (or part of it).
 

DDW1

New member
I went through a fairly extensive casting list on my website which you can check out in the link below. I had Colin Firth playing Brody, but Martin Freeman would be an excellent choice as well. I would like to see Indiana Jones take Brody on an adventure as his sidekick, the screen time could really shed some light on an otherwise mysterious character, maybe we could get a little back story to his times in school with Indy's father. The character should be more than just a bumbling idiot. I think he could play a very important role in the new films.

http://www.abnersjournal.com/#!episode3-the-silhouette-stays-the-same/ca21
 

FordFan

Well-known member
My only objection to casting Martin Freeman as Marcus Brody is, like Pratt, he's in everything. Sherlock, The Hobbit, Fargo, and the soon-to-be-released Captain America: Civil War. His agent is good.
 

Attila the Professor

Moderator
Staff member
FordFan said:
My only objection to casting Martin Freeman as Marcus Brody is, like Pratt, he's in everything. Sherlock, The Hobbit, Fargo, and the soon-to-be-released Captain America: Civil War. His agent is good.

He's also a touch young, considering Marcus presented in Last Crusade as a near contemporary of Henry, Sr., but I do think Freeman's a good fit for the character regardless. For the sake of discussion, Chris Pratt's currently 36, but Freeman is only 43; Denholm Elliott was a full 20 years older than Harrison Ford (and 7 older than Connery, though I do think that Marcus's apparent age in Raiders is a more accurate one than that in Crusade).

Anyone know much about contemporary Egyptian actors? Be a damned shame to find a new Sallah in Wales again.
 

Finn

Moderator
Staff member
Attila the Professor said:
Anyone know much about contemporary Egyptian actors? Be a damned shame to find a new Sallah in Wales again.
On the other hand, the practice could be seen as another nod to the film series' origins in the serials of old. Back in the day, it was more of a rule than an exception that any Middle Eastern character appearing on screen was nothing but a Westerner with dark enough features.

Indy's not even the only one paying its respects to this habit. The Mummy series is also teeming with these fake Arabs.

While it's admittedly a different thing to just put on an accent and fake your nationality rather than your entire ethnicity, let's keep in mind that our beloved series also has American and British actors playing Germans, Russians and Frenchmen.

Of course, for all the examples we have of playing the trope straight, we then have ToD that goes to pretty great lengths to avert it. Most of the Indian characters are not only ethnic Indians, but prominent Bollywood actors to boot. Though I suppose it's one demographic where it's simply easier to go to the source instead of looking for convincing Western (or even westernized) replacements. Curiously, the Chinese gangsters in the opening are also all familiar faces from the Eastern cinema, even if people with Asian features are somewhat more easily found in the Western hemisphere as well.
 
Last edited:

Attila the Professor

Moderator
Staff member
Well, I typed all this...may as well post it.

Finn said:
On the other hand, the practice could be seen as another nod to the film series' origins in the serials of old. Back in the day, it was more of a rule than an exception that any Middle Eastern character appearing on screen was nothing but a Westerner with dark enough features.

Indeed, Finn. I imagine Anthony Quinn would have been at the top of the list for casting options if Raiders had been made in the '50s or '60s. Maybe Topol, though not after the Six-Day War. Heck, he even played a Sallah once - though apparently double Ls is the Israeli spelling!

Rhys-Davies was a fortuitous choice, too, at least when compared to their first choice of Danny DeVito, who's a fine actor but one who seems pretty far from the Egyptian type. Or rather - and this is what matters most in Hollywood - he'd play too much as American to be able to play as anything else. Brits often get more leeway. See Alec Guinness, for example, or Olivier.

A more contemporary model - or analog - for their casting practices is possibly the Bond films, which sometimes was dedicated enough to casting for ethnicity that the actors had to be overdubbed, sometimes went fully Japanese when casting Japanese principals, sometimes cast a Mexican as a Turk, and, just a year before Temple of Doom, cast a Frenchman as an Afghani. Of course, the next time they needed an Afghan character, 3 years after Temple, and 2 years before Crusade, they went with a Pakistani, considerably closer. And then in '89, when they needed someone from that part of the world somewhere east of the Adriatic (do we have any real idea where Kazim is from?), they went with an Armenian - who maybe could have played the Egyptian digger in the first place, had he made it to his audition. Which is to say, it's not necessarily a narrative of change in casting practices but of happenstance and multiple factors weighing on decisions.

Maybe the most instructive thing about the Bond example? Playing to the international market was frequently a factor when they *did* cast to ethnicity.

So the casting could be wide open. Still, I don't see any reason for ethnicity or nationality to not receive a fair amount of weight; after all, no one other than Americans gets much play in fan-casting the lead.

Anyway, if they were ever to get around to casting Henry, Sr., and wanted to continue the little joke, and keep him as a British national, well, Timothy Dalton could be an interesting choice.

545229.jpg


And Jared Harris would be a solid choice for either Brody or Henry, Sr., for that matter, maintaining the usual Indy-Brody age gap and being young enough to do some action as Henry. (Connery is just 12 years older than Ford, after all.)

6759748.jpg

He can even fight!

And finally, apparently Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt are making a film together. Might be chemistry to watch for.
 
Last edited:

AnythingGoes

New member
I was just reminded of this little item recently, but what about Tania Raymonde as a young Marion? She's on The Last Ship now, but I admit I'm more acquainted with her work on LOST.

She's got just the right amount of spunk mixed with vulnerability that really made Karen Allen's portrayal work. Of course the biggest issue is that she's 27, when Marion was 17 (or is it 15?) At the time of her first love affair with Indy.

Still, might be worth considering.
 
I've always wanted to see the adventures of Shortround.

But the best choice would be a film about Indys dad your correct. But did seem pretty mellow in crusade, but it could follow his absolute obsession with the holy grail...no?
 

AnythingGoes

New member
Túrin Turambar said:
I've always wanted to see the adventures of Shortround.

But the best choice would be a film about Indys dad your correct. But did seem pretty mellow in crusade, but it could follow his absolute obsession with the holy grail...no?

I always had the impression that Henry Sr. was more of this bookish, researcher classic sort of character. So while he would get "giddy as a schoolboy" when coming across Grail clues, he wasn't the sort to dive into adventure and danger unless he absolutely had to.

Still it would be intriguing to have a recast Henry, depending on when the movie features in Indy's life. Since father and son were estranged for so long, it might be more Canon compliant to have Indy going globetrotting with Abner Ravenwood, as a few other fan circles have suggested.
 

AnythingGoes

New member
Túrin Turambar said:
The Young adventures of Abner Ravenwood, would be box office gold.

An interesting thing to consider might be portraying Abner as the rough and tumble, Bogart-inspired character they originally intended "Indiana Smith" to be, the one we could affectionately call "Selleck Indy".

Putting him in an adventure alongside his impulsive, cocky young protege would be pretty nifty, from a meta level if nothing else.
 

Attila the Professor

Moderator
Staff member
AnythingGoes said:
An interesting thing to consider might be portraying Abner as the rough and tumble, Bogart-inspired character they originally intended "Indiana Smith" to be, the one we could affectionately call "Selleck Indy".

Putting him in an adventure alongside his impulsive, cocky young protege would be pretty nifty, from a meta level if nothing else.

I guess Emperor's Tomb did float the Selleck concept at some point, didn't it?

latest


I prefer the aborted Wilford Brimley concept, which showed up in the art for the not-written Indiana Jones and the Lost Horizon series. Diversifies the approach a bit. I've never personally pictured Abner as particularly rugged, myself, just determined and unconcerned with the elements, and thus liable to get himself caught in an avalanche. Especially with Last Crusade's prologue existing, and introducing the Fedora character, I think it's incumbent on Abner to be a lot more bookish than Selleck would seem, despite also having none of Henry, Sr.'s fussiness.

latest


Naturally, if Pratt ends up getting the part, and they wanted to cast that role with someone he was already comfortable with, Nick Offerman's right there for the taking.

Screen-shot-2014-12-04-at-8.17.08-PM.png


(Still, a Selleck-type figure has potential. Might be a very nice approach for an old friend and professional rival who goes all Mr. Kurtz off in the jungle or desert somewhere.)
 

Lance Quazar

Well-known member
Sallah and Marion should be studiously avoided.

Indy's universe needs to feel bigger, not smaller. He's a globe-trotter and a man of the world, he should hang out with more than the same 3 people over and over again.

Ditto Henry Sr, who was supposed to be estranged from Junior for decades. His adventure in "Last Crusade" alongside his son was supposed to be a special and unique undertaking, let's not ruin that.

Marcus would be okay, as they seem to have a long history together and a whiff of continuity would be nice.

But, really, I'd rather see a whole new gang, as fun and fan-servicey as it might be to revisit a classic character at a younger age.
 

Attila the Professor

Moderator
Staff member
Lance Quazar said:
Sallah and Marion should be studiously avoided.

Indy's universe needs to feel bigger, not smaller. He's a globe-trotter and a man of the world, he should hang out with more than the same 3 people over and over again.

Ditto Henry Sr, who was supposed to be estranged from Junior for decades. His adventure in "Last Crusade" alongside his son was supposed to be a special and unique undertaking, let's not ruin that.

Marcus would be okay, as they seem to have a long history together and a whiff of continuity would be nice.

But, really, I'd rather see a whole new gang, as fun and fan-servicey as it might be to revisit a classic character at a younger age.

Parlor games aside, I agree wholeheartedly.

Though I also like parlor games. If there's anyone I'd be interested in an appearance from, other than Marcus, it's Belloq.
 
Top