Casting The Stand: Prestige TV Edition

[Ellie]

If The Stand got a fancy HBO/Netflix remake, who would you want to see in it?

(I demand Kareem Abdul-Jabbar reprise his role.)

[thoreau]

I can't even imagine the Twitter freakouts over the casting of Tom Cullen and Nick Andros.

[D.A. Ridgely]

FYI, a remake is in the works. Meh.

[Hugh Akston]

I think James Marsden works fine as Stu Redman. Since he's the Stephen King stand-in, Frannie will have to be played by someone no less than 20 years younger.

[Ellie]

I can't even imagine the Twitter freakouts over the casting of Tom Cullen and Nick Andros.

There really isn't any good reason not to cast a Deaf actor to play a Deaf character. "But he can talk in his dreams!" is a stupid reason. It's 2020; I'm sure we can figure out how to dub him in those scenes.

Prestige!Stand can get noted hottie Nyle DiMarco for the role.

[D.A. Ridgely]

I can't even imagine the Twitter freakouts over the casting of Tom Cullen and Nick Andros.

There really isn't any good reason not to cast a Deaf actor to play a Deaf character. "But he can talk in his dreams!" is a stupid reason. It's 2020; I'm sure we can figure out how to dub him in those scenes.

Prestige!Stand can get noted hottie Nyle DiMarco for the role.

And while we're complaining, how the hell does Marilyn Manson get cast as Trashcan Man when Oscar the Grouch was available!

[thoreau]

Marilyn Manson would be amazing as Trashcan Man.

But the writers had damn well better re-imagine Old Lady Semple as a disable non-binary person of color. Otherwise I'm boycotting personcotting.

[thoreau]

And I can't imagine how Twitter will handle the things that happened to Dayna Jurgens. Sanitize it and it will be problematic. Leave it in and it will be problematic.

And then there's the casting decision...

[Jennifer]

I don't have any particular opinions regarding casting for the new Stand (which I do intend to watch eventually); however, I have a certain opinion about the 1990s Stand casting which, it seems, puts me at odds with the majority of people: despite what most critics say, I think Jamie Sheridan was great as Randall Flagg. (Granted, it's possible I'd have felt differently were I already familiar with Sheridan before seeing the Stand -- but that was the first time I'd seen him in anything.)

I recently (within the past year) re-watched the Stand after rediscovering a burned copy in my DVD collection, and though it did come across FAR cheesier than I'd remembered from before, I still think Sheridan made a great Flagg, especially for something taking place in the very early 1990s, when some of the worst 1980s sartorial disasters still lingered in parts of America. The book described him (paraphrase) as being good-looking in a denim-jacket, working-class-American kind of way... except when he smiled, in a way that was gleeful and jolly but also creepy and completely off-putting. So then I watched the Stand and saw Sheridan's Flagg for the first time, and yeah -- handsome in a jean-jacket kind of way, even able to pull off the mullet haircut they made him wear ... but became far less handsome and downright creepy every time he smiled. Except once -- I only recall this because of my semi-recent re-watch -- when the Trashcan Man meets Flagg for the first time, and Flagg gave him that magic necklace reserved only for the members of his "inner circle" (e.g. Lloyd), Trashy was completely in awe of Flagg, and hesitant to take the necklace, and Flagg/Sheridan gave him a reassuring, genuinely sweet smile -- his only non-creepy smile from the whole series.

I hope the new Stand series does a better job of portraying Nadine and Harold, than the 1990s version did.

[Warren]

Marilyn Manson would be amazing as Trashcan Man.

But the writers had damn well better re-imagine Old Lady Semple as a disable non-binary person of color. Otherwise I'm boycotting personcotting youngpersoncotting.

[JasonL]

So, did you guys thing the Stand had almost the worst ending of any King thing and it took a thousand pages to get there? I like King but he does way better at the intimate scale than at the epic.

[Hugh Akston]

Was there something at the end beyond God nuking Vegas?

[thoreau]

So, did you guys thing the Stand had almost the worst ending of any King thing and it took a thousand pages to get there? I like King but he does way better at the intimate scale than at the epic.

When you speak of the "ending", what are you referring to? The literal divine intervention? The 100+ pages after that? Or the final scene with Flagg on the island?

[Number 6]

The Stand is a damn good novel, but the deus ex trashcan ending was damn near inexcusable. I liked the 100 pages after that, and the island scene is a solid end, especially in light of RF's other appearances in the King universe.

[Shem]

Since he's the Stephen King stand-in, Frannie will have to be played by someone no less than 20 years younger.

And Harold would need to be played by someone in his late 30s so that a tragic lack of social skills would instead read as creepy and disgusting.

Ever since I saw the version of "Of Mice and Men" with John Malkovich as Lennie, that's exactly how I imagine Tom Cullen.

[JasonL]

The trash can deus ex was the primary complaint. I didn’t like the island either.

[JasonL]

On further review I think I’m out on pretty much all Flagg stuff.

[Ellie]

Stephen King does NOT know how to end a book. I remember being so disgusted at the end of Needful Things because it was legit "something something ... uh ... THEN THE FLOWERS TURN INTO A MAGIC WAND! BAD GUY DEFEATED!" I don't even remember the ending of The Stand but I assume it's similar quality, only you have to read six million more pages to get there, so it's even more frustrating.

[Mo]

Let me just say that Diego Maradona would have enjoyed the ending.

[D.A. Ridgely]

Stephen King does NOT know how to end a book.

Agreed, which is why I've never much cared for him. He's one of those authors who just starts writing and sees where it takes him, which is fine if it takes him to a payoff, but more often than not it just takes him to a long enough work of narrative prose to snip off somehow and publish. I've never outgrown the phase where, first, I need to enjoy the first fifty pages or so of the book to keep reading and, second, I need a satisfying payoff at the end. People who like horror or heavily atmospheric fiction get plenty of the former with King but not nearly enough of the latter.

[Number 6]

Stephen King does NOT know how to end a book.

Agreed, which is why I've never much cared for him. He's one of those authors who just starts writing and sees where it takes him, which is fine if it takes him to a payoff, but more often than not it just takes him to a long enough work of narrative prose to snip off somehow and publish. I've never outgrown the phase where, first, I need to enjoy the first fifty pages or so of the book to keep reading and, second, I need a satisfying payoff at the end. People who like horror or heavily atmospheric fiction get plenty of the former with King but not nearly enough of the latter.

I forgive him his endings, because the rest is usually so well done.

[D.A. Ridgely]

Stephen King does NOT know how to end a book.

Agreed, which is why I've never much cared for him. He's one of those authors who just starts writing and sees where it takes him, which is fine if it takes him to a payoff, but more often than not it just takes him to a long enough work of narrative prose to snip off somehow and publish. I've never outgrown the phase where, first, I need to enjoy the first fifty pages or so of the book to keep reading and, second, I need a satisfying payoff at the end. People who like horror or heavily atmospheric fiction get plenty of the former with King but not nearly enough of the latter.

I forgive him his endings, because the rest is usually so well done.

I get that; it just doesn't suffice for me.

[Jennifer]

Stephen King does NOT know how to end a book.

Agreed, which is why I've never much cared for him. He's one of those authors who just starts writing and sees where it takes him, which is fine if it takes him to a payoff, but more often than not it just takes him to a long enough work of narrative prose to snip off somehow and publish. I've never outgrown the phase where, first, I need to enjoy the first fifty pages or so of the book to keep reading and, second, I need a satisfying payoff at the end. People who like horror or heavily atmospheric fiction get plenty of the former with King but not nearly enough of the latter.

I forgive him his endings, because the rest is usually so well done.

He's gotten a lot worse lately, IMO. I agree with Ellie and DAR about his inability to invent a decent ending, but regarding his earlier stuff, I agreed with you that the rest of the story makes up for it. His later stuff can't even say that much. The last book of his I read was 11/27-63 -- the time traveler goes back to prevent JFK's assassination -- complete waste of time. The ending was only slightly better than "Then I woke up and realized everything was a dream."

[Number 6]

Stephen King does NOT know how to end a book.

Agreed, which is why I've never much cared for him. He's one of those authors who just starts writing and sees where it takes him, which is fine if it takes him to a payoff, but more often than not it just takes him to a long enough work of narrative prose to snip off somehow and publish. I've never outgrown the phase where, first, I need to enjoy the first fifty pages or so of the book to keep reading and, second, I need a satisfying payoff at the end. People who like horror or heavily atmospheric fiction get plenty of the former with King but not nearly enough of the latter.

I forgive him his endings, because the rest is usually so well done.

He's gotten a lot worse lately, IMO. I agree with Ellie and DAR about his inability to invent a decent ending, but regarding his earlier stuff, I agreed with you that the rest of the story makes up for it. His later stuff can't even say that much. The last book of his I read was 11/27-63 -- the time traveler goes back to prevent JFK's assassination -- complete waste of time. The ending was only slightly better than "Then I woke up and realized everything was a dream."

No point in arguing matters of taste, but I thought 11/22/63 was one of the best things he's ever done. I will, however, say that I was unimpressed with Sleeping Beauties and The Institute.

[Warren]

I don't know about his endings because I won't read his books, in spite of the fact I think he writes about the best dialog of any author ever.
I don't understand horror as a genre of fiction. Why do people want to feel anxious/disgusted? I will never get that. Watching/reading horror is always so unpleasant to me.