Dream Cast | Ella Enchanted {by Gail Carson Levine}

Hey, hi, hey!  While rereading this book for the first time in ages this past month, I thought again about how cool an updated cast could be for a new film adaptation.  

Dream casting a book always feels a little artificial to me since I tend to see characters in my head only as vague outlines; my mental images of them definitely aren't clear or detailed.  (Not usually, at any rate.)  Still, artificiality notwithstanding, creating dream casts is a process I quite enjoy, when I have enough ideas for them, and I wanted to make one for this long-time favorite.  

Several secondary characters are missing from this cast — for example, for the life of me, I can't decide on a good candidate for Slannen — but I think I've got the major players covered as well as a couple of random "cameo"-type characters.  I've also included snippets from the book that contribute to my ideas of each character's physical appearance.  

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Ella

Jenna Ortega

"You were small for your age even then, and you looked like a china doll, with a white ribbon in your black hair and your cheeks red from excitement."

—

There are obviously many actresses who could rock this role, but Ortega has a boldness, a spunk about her that I think evokes Ella almost flawlessly.  With that and her brunette, pixie-like features, she's a prime candidate for the main character.  (Granted, she doesn't have green eyes, but who cares?)

Char

Jordan Fisher

He looked like his father too, although the sharp angles of King Jerrold's face were softened in his son.  They each had tawny curls and swarthy skin.  I had never been near enough to the king to know whether he also had a sprinkling of freckles across his nose, surprising on such a dark face.

—

Like with Ella, I could see several actors working for this role (my closest runner-up at the moment is Gavin Casalegno).  However, Fisher's warmth and sweetness seem perfect for Char.

Areida

Charithra Chandran

Her dark hair was plaited into many braids that were gathered and woven into a knot high on her head. Her skin was the color of cinnamon with a tint of raspberry in her cheeks . . . Her lips curved up naturally, giving her a pleased and contented air.

—

From the Bridgerton clips I've seen, it appears that Chandran can definitely pull off the archetype of "sweet ingenue with a bit of kick to her," and I feel like that's a vibe that works very well for Areida.

Mandy

Olivia Colman

Mandy was as tall as a fairy was supposed to be, but who ever heard of a fairy with frizzy gray hair and two chins?

—

While I don't appreciate Levine's repeated implications that "frizzy" hair and "double chins" render Mandy ugly, and while I certainly don't see Colman that way, I do think that she could fit the overall image of the character as described in the book.  Most of all, though, I think that she would recreate Mandy's sassy and nurturing nature perfectly.

Lady Eleanor

Melissa Fumero

. . . Mother still and intense, her brown curls damp from labor, the laughter gone from her eyes.

—

Fumero's beauty and warmth evoke a very maternal essence, and I think she could be believable as one of Ortega's parents.

Sir Peter

Dean Cain

Angry, Father reminded me of a carnival toy, a leather fist attached to a coiled spring used in puppet shows.  When the spring was released, the fist shot out at a hapless puppet. With Father, it wasn't the fist that frightened me; it was the spring, because the spring determined the force of the blow.  The anger in his eyes was so tightly coiled that I didn't know what would happen if his spring were tripped.

—

As with so many roles in this cast, I'm sure there are a plethora of actors who could satisfactorily portray Ella's father.  But, in the interests of thoroughness, Dean Cain fits the bill in my mind.  Though Levine never really describes his physical appearance, I've always pictured Peter with fairly broad features and a slightly stocky build.

Dame Olga

Hannah Waddingham

The voice was syrupy. . . . The speaker was a tall, plump lady with long and wavy honey-colored tresses.

—

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, there are so many actresses who could successfully portray Dame Olga that it seems a bit pointless to specify a single one, but here we are.  I'd like to see Waddingham try her hand at a comedic villain role.

Hattie

Saoirse-Monica Jackson

Hattie was older than I, by about two years.  "Delighted to make your acquaintance," she said, smiling and showing large front teeth.  She held her hand out to me as though she expected me to kiss it or bow over it.

—

Hattie is described as wearing a wig with the same "long and wavy honey-colored tresses" as Olga, and while Jackson doesn't quite fit my mental image of Hattie, she's close enough.  Plus, after seeing clips of Derry Girls, I'm confident that she'd ace the comedic aspect of the role.

Olive

Sydney Sweeney

Olive was the one I'd bumped.  "I'm glad to meet you," she said, her voice too loud.  She was about my age.  The furrows of a frown were permanently etched between her eyes.

—

I know Sweeney might make more sense for Hattie, but I just think she would be a scream as Olive.  I feel like she could be amazing in a goofy role, and for some reason I really want to see her pull off Olive's blank, wide-eyed stare.  (Elsewhere, Levine describes Olive's face as being "as blank as a peeled potato," and I know Sweeney could pull off that expression if she tried, and I think it would be hilarious.)

Lucinda

Mallory Jansen

[Lucinda] satisfied every cherished idea of a fairy:  tall and graceful, with huge eyes, skin as unblemished as satin, lips as red as pomegranate seeds, and cheeks the color of early sunset.

—

After seeing Jansen's turn as Madalena in the love of my life Galavant, I know she would pull off Lucinda's emotional volatility, vanity, and misguided sweetness hilariously.

Sir Stephan

Andrew Scott

"I'm a toiling knight. . . . Not so noble I can't curry my own horse, nor so greedy I have no time to serve my king."

—

Really, I just want Scott to be in the film, and since Levine gives us exactly zero details about Stephan's appearance, I have total creative license to fill the role on the basis of Vibes™. 😜  And I think Scott could portray Stephan's steady good nature while also adding some humor to the minor role.

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Miriam Margoyles

Hardly taller than I, she was much wider — not stout, but wide, which is the direction gnomes grow after they reach adulthood.  She was the most dignified personage I had ever seen, and the oldest (except for Mandy probably).  Her wrinkles had wrinkles, small folds in deeper folds of leathery skin.  Her eyes were deep set and their copper color was clouded.

—

A random side character for whom to have an actor idea, and an inconsequential one in the scope of the narrative, but since Levine blessed us with such an evocative description, I suppose she's one of the easier ones to cast.

Uaaxee

Liv Tyler

She was three times as tall as a grown human, but no wider.  Everything about her was long and narrow:  head, torso, arms, legs.  However, when she saw us, the long oval of her face changed.  She smiled so broadly that her cheeks became peach round, and her eyes behind her spectacles became slits of delight.

—

Again, a very minor character, and a bit of an unorthodox idea for Tyler, but for some reason, I kind of like the idea of seeing her in a role that's not very ethereal or romanticized.

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There you have it!

Do you like Ella Enchanted, too?

Whom would you cast in these roles?