The Avery Bishop Chronicles: How I view the characters on the page.
These sketches and actor images are just versions of how I percieve the characters as I'm writing. They aren't exactly perfect and intentionally shouldn't be. They change as I move between chapters and as I am writing future installments of the series. I think if the series is made into movies or a streaming show however, these are the looks I'd want to see. Actor representations are purely for fun here and I'm sure the readers have their own ideas of who they'd like to see play these characters on screen. I'd love to hear your picks.
Avery Bishop
When the story begins Avery is roughly somewhere in his mid to late teenage years. I put him somewhere around 17-19, but it's not really clear exactly. There's a strong possibility that he could be younger and probably should be aged a bit younger if this hits the screen, just so the actor doesn't age out by book 5. Avery's always been in the back of my mind. Since I started coming up with the idea of the character and his journey across the universe I had this kid in mind who was stuck in the middle of things. He's truly split between a lot of worlds, his own identity, and upcoming choices socially and politically in future books for the series. I describe his race as a mix between north african and whatever his father is. Abraham Bishop is in my mind a mixed race individual as well, but never really landed on it. It leaves Avery not really knowing his identity when he searches for it and without knowing a lot about his mother we don't have all the details of his look locked in. For now the sketches and concepts aren't really a good match, but that's why there's a cover with no art of the characters and one that feels a bit more specific. I'm not sure I like the specific caucasion looking Avery, because it really isn't his true identity. If this series becomes a film or television show I hope they choose someone with dark features and a mixed heritgate background. The point is that Avery should feel not fully locked into any one identity and always feel like he's trying to prove himself, even to his own racial background. I like that for him, it makes him feel a bit more of an outcast in his own skin and that works well for the nature of the story and his journey.
Casting Avery is a harder thing and I don't think this actor is really known yet. I would love to see a no named actor with range be able to take on this role, provided they had the right director and acting coaches around them on set. Based on my other picks for talent, I think a new actor here would be perfect, letting the other actors chew up the scene as Avery was just trying to figure it all out. It fits the character.
E - (Redacted Name)
E is a bit of a specific look that I wanted and always knew going into the story. She's tough, but soft and somewhere in her early 20's probably around 22. She's of an ancestry background on Earth with pale skin with bright blue eyes. This is important as such prominant features would be very rare in the future and highlight how she just seems like a true outsider. Her personality is always the opposite of that, as if she knows exactly where she's going even when she's somewhere new. I don't want to spoil the character too much so I won't say much more than talk about her looks.
From a casting standpoint there are a lot of options here and again I'd want to see someone that isn't really cast a lot or didn't come from some already huge IP. There's a lot of nepotism in hollywood and I'd want a no name female actor here that could just absolutely become this character and take it over without any preconceved ideas of what she's bringing to the table. The character is so complex and subtle that a real trained english actress might be the right fit.
Crow
Johnny Crow has one of my favorite looks in the book. I see him as this greasy haired pilot with a broken nose somewhere between Adrian Brody, Owen Wilson, and especially Jeremy Davies if he was about 60 lbs heavier. All these actors are too old now to play the character, but someone in their mid to late 30's now with that level of grit and moxy is who this guy is in my mind. The character has a few different quirks throughout the book and though comes off as the comic sidekick at times, he's ultimately the adult and responsible one of the group, if you can consider Crow responsible. He's the big brother and a bit of fun Avery never had from his time on Earth from an older male rolemodel. A stark contrast to the militant and rigid Vayne. There's something about the way Crow talks, moves, and interacts with others that just gives him a larger than he is context. I think these three actors at various points in their career embody aspects of Crow, at least for me. Late entry here is Eddie Redmayne. He's done some fantasy characters over the years and I think being an oscar winner couldn't hurt his performance to bring something light and yet quirky with Crow. As much as Eddie's imdb says he's under 6' tall (5'11) to be exact, the actor is actually somewhere around 6'1", but I think his agent lies so he gets more parts. I know this for a fact as I body doubled and stood in for him on a film and well, he's one of the nicest actors I've ever worked with and there's something that he could bring to Crow that I think could completely change the character on the screen.
Darly
Once again I'm throwing Juno into this casting, simply because I think she's the right actress for this project if it were cast. I see the full range of Samara Weaving, Margot Robbie, Helena Bonham Carter, and even Tilda Swinton. There's no age limitation for this character, but what is required is extreme range. Those that have read the first book in the series know what I'm talking about. I think the key element of Darly is the bright red lips and though i've chosen actresses with blonde hair, the character actually has dark hair, that being helena bonham carter normally has dark hair. The cropped bangs, pulled back ponytail, or just extreme and quirky cut could make this character work for just about any performative heavy actress with a dark side. I think avoiding actresses like Jenna Ortega who are too young for the requirements of this role would be the important part. It's hard to write these and avoid talking about spoiler details of characters.
Vayne
Robert Pattinson, Jacob Elordi, Austin Butler, and Sebastian Stan all hit for this character, albeit Sebastian is a bit short for the tall and looming Vayne as written I think the actor could do something with the role. There's also the possibility that Eddie Redmayne could fit for this part as well, a very different character than Crow, but something he'd be the right look and fit fore. Though the character of Vayne has strikingly white hair, this is something that just about any of these pale faced tall actors could portray. The complexity of this character is in the range from the scenes he's in. He's a soldier, but still somewhere in there is a scared boy just trying to make it work. He's the responsible person from Avery's past that set a precident and one of the few adults in both parts of Avery's life. I can also see another crossover casting here to someone like Tilda Swinton, but she's a bit aged out for this character and though she could live rent free in my casting mind, that's probably not the right fit.
Hask
Hafthor Julius Bjornsson comes to mind when I think of Hask, but someone like Chris Sullivan or Kristofer Hivju would be awesome in the part. I think visually my brain goes to Kristofer Hivju as Hask. There's just something about the rythm of his voice that matches the way I write Hask. I think there's another actor out there like Dave Bautista or Ma Dong Seok that is getting a bit older, but still can pull off the aging brute with a heart of gold. That's the real key to this gruff and grungy character, that he cares a lot about doing the right thing, even if sometimes he has to stoop to doing the wrong thing. In the end he's tough, but you want to hug him after you are finished fighting.
Ash
JuJu Chan Szeto, Jessica Matten, Rebecca Ferguson and Donai Gurira come to mind when I think of Ash. This tough, but soft character commands the scene and steals it from whoever she's with, even if those are large Order soldiers or gritty thugs. She's someone I intend to keep around in the rest of the series and could open up to a much larger role in future books...hint hint...but all in all I think there are a lot of great female action actresses that could do this character justice, especially the fact that Ash isn't what she seems. I won't spoil that, but if you know you know.
Khurata
In my heart there are two guys out there that can really play this character well. He's one of the best characters in the entire series and spoilers he's going to be around for a lot more. The character is imposing and brutish, but there's something sophisticated and intelligent in the way he speaks. I think Momoa hasn't had too many roles where he gets to play the brilliant tactician and wise leader who also smashes and can goes berzerk, this might be that type of role in an ensemble cast where he leads from the back. I don't see Kristofer Hivju having any issue with this role either as he's already shown he can pull it off as Krampus in Red One. I do think there is probably a better fit out there that I just am missing.
Doctor Ross
I've always envisioned Ross as this European older figure with a thick and almost un-placeable accent and dialect. There are a lot of actors that could pull this character off, but these are my top four above. I think each would bring their own version of the character and each make it their own.
Mael
Mael is a character I don't want to go into a lot of detail to keep from spoiling anything, but he's possibly my favorite character out of any other in the entire planned series, at least while i'm still deep writing book 2 and starting the outlines for 3. I wrote him intentionally to feel big and intimidating when we are introduced to him in the story and felt like there are only a few guys out there that could really play this character well. It's a very important and range required role that I flip flop while I'm writing in my mind between Jimmy Jean-Louis, Idris Elba, Coman Domingo, and Djimon Hounsou. I think ultimately it doesn't matter who you envision, provided you pay attention to this characters journey and arc, some of which is on the page and some is not. Any of these actors and a slew of others could absolutely bring Mael to life on the screen and win an oscar for supporting actor doing it.
Zed
Zed's one of the more soft speaking, yet deeply reflective characters in the series and if I were casting them I'd want to see an actor that had massive range and subtly. I think there's a light hearted humor to Zed that a comedic actor would really need to bring it to sell the full range. The easy win here is a Peter Dinklage or Warwick Davis. They have done characters like this and work in prostetics and bring intensly high levels of depth to their roles, but there is a gigglyness and sweet nature that both those actors tend to shy away from in castings. I could see a cross over casting to a female playing Zed. Zed is one of the last Laerish and though he's described to have a beard, there's no reason Juno Temple couldn't make them work. In the end Zed isn't an easy 1:1 cast in my mind and though Patton Oswalt or Nick Offerman also have the comedic and serious chops to pull off Zed, there's something somewehere amongst them all that Zed shines through. I'd love to know fan thoughts on a casting for Zed. For alien characters like this, it's more about the timing, vocal inflections, eyes, and smile that really do it for me. I think somewhere between Patton and Juno there's a Zed.
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