Casting call on Diana's Facebook page

Many of you will have noticed that Diana Gabaldon's Facebook page has been absolutely DROWNING in "Who-would-you-cast-in-an-OUTLANDER-movie?" pictures and comments since Monday morning, when the administrator of her page posted this announcement:
[admin] Who would be in YOUR dream movie cast for the Outlander series? Starting today (and purely for entertainment purposes!), we’ll open nominations for one character at a time—post a picture of your favorite candidate, and we’ll round up the top 10 contenders with the most "Likes" and comments for your final vote. Let’s start with the biggie: who would you cast as CLAIRE?
Naturally, this has unleashed a flood of comments and photos of people's favorite choices for all the roles, not just Claire. There were more than 2600 comments on that message alone, when I checked just now, and that doesn't include the hundreds and hundreds of photos people have posted since the announcement yesterday.

I can't be the only one who's not really interested in the Endless Movie-Casting Debate, can I? I feel sorry for anyone who had a non-movie-casting-related question or comment today, because there's no chance that Diana will wade through all those hundreds of pictures and movie-casting comments to see it. She just doesn't have time.

Here's Diana's comment on the "casting call", from Compuserve last night:
[We] did it on purpose--knowing full well what would happen. Entertains the fans, revs up the traffic (hence the overall visibility), and requires absolutely no attention from me. (The Random House admin person started the contest and will be responsible for counting up votes--unless she gets overwhelmed and gives up, which is not beyond the reach of imagination.)
If you would rather not see all the movie-casting comments and photos on Diana's Facebook page, just go to the top of her page, directly under the five small photos, and click on "Diana Gabaldon". (Or click here.) That will show you only posts created by Diana or the administrator of her page.

Please note that all these suggestions are just for fun. Even Diana says she has no say on who they will cast in an eventual OUTLANDER movie or miniseries.  (That's what casting directors are for.)

10 comments

Vickie said...

Thank goodness there are casting directors!!!! Most of the suggestions are just AWFUL. Sorry, but we got a good laugh here at my house reading through them.

Like Diana said, entertainment. :)

Love the blog. Keep up the good work!
Vickie (belethien, mostly lurker on compuserve)

Faith said...

It was entertaining for a little bit--then it was just over the top.

Debbie said...

I hesitate to be excited about a possible screen version because the movies never live up to what the readers envision, and obviously, Outlander readers are very devoted to the story. That being said, fans obviously don't pay attention to Diana's request (sorry if I'm being snarky) because she asked for suggestions for CLAIRE - I'm guessing to keep some order. What she got was a suggestion for EVERYONE. I took a look to see who was being suggested, but it was too chaotic. Just my two cents worth (maybe that was four cents worth!).

Jo said...

I left another Diana dedicated FB group because the movie stuff was boring, endless and, for the majority of the time, people repeating themselves. I have no interest in ruining my images of the characters by watching them on-screen. A few of my favourite books have been destroyed by hollywood - I hope these don't go the same way, as its hard then to ever get your own image back. Mind, I could just not watch them.....

Lara said...

I have ZERO interest in a movie or who would play who because Claire, Jamie, Lord John, Bree, Roger, etc... they're in my head and unless someone creates some sort of cloning device that can be linked to the images in my brain, I'm not going to be happy with the end product. For me, the whole point of a book is that it's your world, it's your private interpretation of what the author has presented to you, it's personal. A movie or miniseries would be an intrusion to me. Sounds ridiculous, I know, but that's how I feel. I've never understood the book to movie thing because it's never a process that can do justice to what the author has written. There, I said it too. :)

aliaslaceygreen said...

Well, since I DID say it on facebook barely a week ago that I was one that totally doesn't want a movie...lol

I found the scary part was the lack of imagination on the part of the participants as a whole. Saying the hair style/color was wrong? Um --dye?

Saying someone was too old/young? It was to me a fantasy cast...there are any number of people at DIFFERENT times that maybe could work...

And then there were more than a couple of people who thought Claire was AMERICAN!!!!

However, it did cause me to start my own pinterest board of 'my' cast...lol...

Emily B. said...

As another loyal fan of DG's series, I heartily agree with all of these comments. As a professional actress with a sure and certain skill set, I can't resist the idea of playing someone as layered, as intelligent, as both kick-ass AND feminine, as funny, as saucy, as JUICY as Claire!

Erin said...

Thank you for posting this, because I am not the least bit interested in who would play whom!!

Deniz Bevan said...

I've always had a fantasy of spending a few days as a casting person, seated in a comfy chair, with pen and paper, and endless coffee (that's the best part of the daydream), and just talking with the other casting folk about all the poor people auditioning up on the stage...
As long as Ioan Gruffudd gets a good role, I'll be happy :-)

abcnest said...

Someone mentioned that "a movie never does a book justice" and I agree, but I love to see the movies after having read the books. We always have the choice not to go! I am also, besides Jamie and Claire, a big Harry Potter fan and I devoured the series and the movies were great but not as good as the books, the same with the Hunger Games. We always have choices. I think this is wonderful for Diana, the author. It keeps the books alive and well and reaches those who may not have the time to read. I personally will re-read as many of the series as I can before the TV airs the show and then enjoy the shows!

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