#6: Characters: Creating a Cast List

This is a technique I learned about writing Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic. I noticed other writers had created cast lists of who would portray their OCs if the fanfic was filmed and decided to try it out. My guess as to why I never had before is so much of what I have written is cartoon-based. Casting those are handled completely differently.

You do need to start with a general idea of the character, enough details to make a search possible. I didn’t start a cast list until after I had written out the first version of the Master Story Summary, so I knew who my main characters would be and the plot I would put them through. The first ones I listed on the cast list were the canon characters the story would use and found pictures of them.

I had two reasons: 1) they are characters and I was following the character list, 2) the cast list was going up on my writing life blog Discipline Under Fire and I didn’t want to exclude anyone who was scratching their heads going “What is Tin Man?”

Wyatt Cain, former Tin Man (portrayed by Neal McDonough)

DG, Princess Dorothy Gale of the O.Z. (portrayed by Zooey Deschanel)

Princess Azkadellia of the O.Z. (portrayed by Kathleen Robertson)

Glitch or Ambrose, Advisor to the Queen (portrayed by Alan Cumming)

Raw, a Viewer (portrayed by Raoul Trujillo)

Jeb Cain, Wyatt Cain's son (portrayed by Andrew Francis)

The Queen and Ahamo, DG's and Azkadellia's parents (portrayed by Anna Galvin and Ted Whittall)

With the canon characters out of the way, I could focus on who I wanted to see for the other characters. Here was the list I started with along with the details I already knew about the characters.

Betsy Bobbins

female between DG and Az in age, brunette.

Hank Jenkins

man in his 60s.

Inge Spencer

African-American teenager.

Malachite Granite

same age as Betsy, blond man.

Treasure Granite

redhead three-year-old girl.

Nick Pyrite

weaselly man, about twenty years older than Malachite.

Nome King

Same as Return to Oz.

Thomas Slate

same age as Betsy and Malachite.

Hodges

man.

Prince Aedan

same age range as DG and Az, good-looking.

The Nome King was the easiest since the visuals I had in mind were the ones developed by the special effect crew for the Return to Oz movie. The second easiest was Eliza Dushku as Betsy, since her name came up in a who-else-could-have-played-DG conversation.

The hardest searches were for actors in their twenties and thirties, and actors in their sixties. I have no idea who the current heartthrobs are, and most people don’t make websites group actors by their ages. I eventually got enough choices and picked the ones who suited the characters.

Nick Pyrite gave me a fit until I went back to his character traits. “He’s a weasel who cozies up to power so it doesn’t bite him in the ass, kind of like Pettigrew from Harry Potter. Hey, what about his actor?” F. Murray Abraham guest-starred on an episode of CSI I happened to watch and I remembered what a great bad guy he can be.
So here’s the group of original characters I posted to Discipline Under Fire when I started typing what I had handwritten of the first draft.

Captain Betsy "Blood-rage" Bobbins (portrayed by Eliza Dushku)

Quartermaster Hank Jenkins (portrayed by Peter Michael Goetz)

Carpenter Inge Spencer (portrayed by Julito McCullum)

Malachite Granite (portrayed by Jake Gyllenhall)

Treasure Granite (portrayed by unknown kid, but isn't she adorable!)

Nick Pyrite (portrayed by Timothy Spall)

Nome King (portrayed by the guys who put him together for Return to Oz)

Thomas Slate (portrayed by John Hensley)

Crewman Hodges (portrayed by F. Murray Abraham)

Prince Aedan of Aurissau (portrayed by Edward Finlay)

The cast list is not a static document. I don’t think any document holding background notes should ever be considered unchangeable. As I typed and wrote, characters popped up accusing me of forgetting their faces. Sprite and the Shaman were the first two.

Sprite ended up being easy. I had adored Rachel Covey in Enchanted. What I had issues with was trying to Viewer-ize her photo. This is where I finally stopped after trying out multiple techniques.




The biggest issue with manipulating images to better fit the character ideal is reaching the point of feeling it’d be easier to hire a make-up artists and arrange a photo shoot. I lucked up with the Shaman. I didn’t want to insert Tia Dalma from Pirates of the Carribean into my novel and Chiller had a marathon of the the Stand, so Ruby Dee got the part.

Quincy was another one I hadn’t planned on. Originally, he was just a colorful background character to show some of Betsy’s backstory and get the items for the next phase of the quest. Then he grabbed hold of Cain and would not let go. After that happened, he got himself a whole new scene, so I had to find him an actor. Once you read it, you’ll understand why Meshach Taylor was the perfect choice.

Dani was one I skipped over deliberately. She’s a chicken, how much imagery is needed? When I had to look up scarlet macaws to describe one accurately, I realized I was being very human-centric and added her to the cast list. And I found her preferred method of travel which made for a funny couple of moments.

Lord Langwidere is another example of how outlining/meticulous note taking stifles nothing in story creation. Even the idea of him is nowhere in my first Master Story Summary. he developed because I needed to give Jeb a reason to stay put until Cain and DG caught up with him, and an ambassador from a neighboring kingdom fir the bill. “Who played the Soviet Union ambassador in the Hunt for red October?” It was a match.

Miriam and Corporal Carroll cast themselves rather easily. Miriam is an unnamed and uncredited extra from the miniseries who I gave a name and background to. I wish she was credited so I could track down a better image. Carroll was another surprise need for the narration, but once I knew this eager, hero-worshiping, young soldier tried to make Cain’s life miserable on accident before the story opens, Christopher Gorham was the only one who could play him. He and Neal McDonough had both starred in Medical Investigations with a similar dynamic.

Kaliko was last and only got an image because I needed one for his profile for the Tavern. Googling “monarchs” eventually got me to a picture of a beardless King Arthur played by Clive Owen. I manipulated the image until I gave him stone skin and hair.

Tips for Putting Together a Cast List

1. Look at other things the actors you know have starred in. One of the costars from another project may be who you are looking for.
2. Find a similar role/job in another movie or TV show and use that actor. Yes, in real life this is called “typecasting,” but just because your engineer looks like James Doohan, doesn’t make him a Scot in your story.
3. Use your favorite actors in something no one could pay them to do.
4. Find someone who knows the current heartthrobs of television and film and ask for help with names.
5. Google the attributes you need to fill, and be prepared to do some weeding of the results.
6. Don’t be afraid to manipulate the images to better illustrate the character. It’s basically sending an actor to make-up.

If you have any tips to add, leave a comment!