Discussion: ‘The Night Circus’ casting ideas?

By madhavpatel (@madhav516) at 9:00 pm, April 18, 2012

The Night Circus is an enchanting tale of two young enchanters, pitted against each other in an exhibition of magical skill and endurance in The Circus of Dreams. It is a very good read, and I personally recommend it to anyone who enjoyed Harry Potter, Twilight, etc.

A few months ago we learned that the book would be adapted into a movie by Summit/Lionsgate, who just recently gave us The Hunger Games.

Casting is open, but they have not cast anyone as of yet.

Who would you like to play the main characters, as well as the supporting roles?

I personally think Jaqueline Emerson, who played Foxface in The Hunger Games, would make a fantastic older version of Poppet.

Who do you think should play Celia, Marco, Chandresh, Tante Padva, the Burgess sisters, and Prospero?

(Pictured above: The Night Circus‘ UK cover)

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Jason

All the actors in my mind are too old now. Like in my head Lucy Liu five years ago would be the perfect Celia and Cillian Murphy would be Marco.
- Cgwagner
  
  Huh? Celia wasn’t described as Asian… A younger Lucy Liu would make a PERFECT Tsukiko, though. In fact, that’s who I was picturing in my head the whole book. And I agree that a younger Cillian Murphy would work well as Marco.
Madhav516

Thank you for publishing me on your website :D
Katie

omg I was thinking about this today! Are they really making a movie?
- esmed9900
  
  well they bought the rights! Lets hope so
Alicia

I really like the idea of Ben Barnes as Marco and Emma Watson as Celia. It’s is going to make a beautiful film, I’m so excited!
- Anya
  
  When I first heard about the possibility of a movie I immediately thought of Emma Watson as Celia too. And Andrew Garfield as Marco, his character in Never Let Me Go reminds me kind of Marco for some reason. Haven’t read this since it came out so kind of forgetting the other characters, this could definitely be a fantastic movie if done right and I would love to see it generate more interest in the book. I enjoyed it so much when I read it.
  - http://forgiveyourmind.tumblr.com/ Tariq
    
    Yes! Andrew Garfield as Marco and Emma Watson as Celia. Absolutely.
- AccioDawn
  
  YESSS Ben Barnes as Marco would be perfect.
hpatdh33

That UK cover is way better than the American.
- Victoria
  
  Oh I loved the American cover :). But I do agree that the UK one looks spectacular as well!
BookReader

It’s amazing that this joke of a book is getting a movie…
- Jane 9999
  
  I can’t believe you’re saying that about this book after “Fifty Shades of Grey” got optioned for a movie.
  - BookReader
    
    I didn’t know it, but if “Fifty Shades of Grey” is getting a movie, that is also an injustice. It’ll probably be more porn than movie.
Laudys

No matter what BookReader says, this kind of book demands a movie! Think of their kind of magic coming to life, the black and white with a dash of red circus, the midnight dinners, Celia’s chameleon dress. The movie may not be the kind of hit that The Hunger Games has become, but everything in this book is so vibrantly visual and it’s such a heart wrenching story that not giving it a movie would be a waste of opportunity. I have spoken.
Mdrich12

I love this book! I kind of don’t want a movie, because I don’t want it to ruin the book.
- Victoria
  
  MY THOUGHTS EXACTLY. I feel like this could be an absolutely amazing film if done right, but I’m soooooo scared they will mess it up!!!!!! I’ll be incredibly upset if they screw up.
http://twitter.com/Britany06 Britany Brown

I’m sorry, but this book didn’t do it for me. There was no emotional connection with the characters whatsoever. Don’t really care much for a movie.
- Guest
  
  I completely agree.
- Steph:)
  
  Agreed! Plus there wasn’t even a plot! But I admit, as much as this book sucked, it would make a very pretty movie.
Ashley

I dislike the generalization “Harry Potter, Twilight, etc.” because all three of these books/series are completely different.
Janet Krupin

Me. I, Janet Krupin, should play Celia.
No, really.
:)
Spydrwebb83

Jennifer Lawrence and Liam Hemsworth for Celia and Marco. Kinda obvious but I think they’d be great choices
- la la
  
  what no! Thats already done.
IAmGhost120

Honestly, I would love to see a diverse cast. And I know a lot of people are going to go into convulsions at my next suggestion, but how about casting someone Asian American as Celia? I mean, if we could move beyond racial/ethnic barriers, it would be fantastic. I’m sure there are a lot of beautiful and talented Asian American women out there waiting for their chance. And I feel like the right person would really flesh out the role. As for me, I would give anything just to be able to design costumes for this movie/arrange the set.
Arishia

I don’t know, but I keep thinking about lily cole as celia and ezra miller as marco
Racheljohnson2318

natalie portman or kristen stewert as Celia perhaps…
- esmed9900
  
  pleeez no!!!! kristen stewart would suck as celia. She already ruined twilight
MickeyMulder

Ben Barnes as Marco and Felicity Jones as Celia
Alessia S

I don’t think Ben Barnes should be Marco, I think he should be Prospero
niamh

Prospero—Geoffrey
Rush

Alexander—Jeremy
Irons

Celia— Saiorse
Ronan (younger 20s) or Rooney
Mara (older 20s)

Marco— Aaron Johnson
(younger 20s) or Emile Hirsch
(older 20s)

Isobel—Tamzin
Merchant

Bailey—Thomas
Brodie-Sangster

Poppet—Chloe
Morentz

Widget—Liam
Akin

Chandresh—Ben
Kingsley

Lainie and Tara—Sienna
Guillory and Meredith Monroe

Tante—Marian
Seldes
Remembertoday

Honestly I would hate to see any of the cast from ‘Twlight’ in this movie. I loved the books but it was like as soon as the movies began the whole image of it was killed and talked about over and over. The casting to me , was very poor. I love Night Circus too much to see the same thing happen to it. It’s so magical and different I would prefer a lot of planning of the cast and crew.
http://twitter.com/abc123la nina

Celia…….maybe Emma Watson
Marco…… Andrew Garfield
Chandresh…….Gary Oldman
Tante Padva……Cate Blanchette
Isobel………Elizabeth Olsen
Poppet……..Elle Fanning
I hope Guillermo Del Torro directs it!
http://twitter.com/abc123la nina

Celia…….maybe Emma Watson
Marco…… Andrew Garfield
Chandresh…….Gary Oldman
Tante Padva……Cate Blanchette
Isobel………Elizabeth Olsen
Poppet……..Elle Fanning
I hope Guillermo Del Torro directs it!
- Mcoudrainmisc
  
  I really like the idea of Guillermo Del Torro directing it
jane

Jesse Williams would be the perfect Marco. He has the attitude the character requires. And his glance is so hypnotizing.
Kikki

Celia…..Serinda Swan (Zatanna, Smallville)
Marco…..Patrick J. Adams (Mike, Suits)
Poppet….Kay Panabaker (Read It And Weep)
Isobel…..Candice Accola (Caroline, Vampire Diaries)
Mcoudrainmisc

Marco – Cillian Murphy
Celia – Camilla Belle
Bailey – Sterling Knight
Isobel – Carey Mulligan
Poppet – Saoirse Ronan
Hector Bowen – Ben Kingsley
Alexander – Christopher Plummer
Katie Roddam

Quick question. I’m weird when reading books, I like characters to have accents so when you guys read the book did you picture Celia to have an American accent and Marco an English? Or just presumed them both to have usual Victorian English accents?
KatieLou

Quick question. I’m weird when reading, I like my characters to have accents. So when you guys read the book did you picture Celia to have an American accent and Marco an English? Or did you just presume they both had Victorian English accents? :)
Beven98

I really like the idea of having Carrey Mulligan as Celia!
Ngtcircus

The cast as I’ve envisioned it while reading The Night Circus:

Marco – Ian Somerhalder or Josh Dallas, Tom Hardy would be excellent. I do picture Marco with a British accent.

Celia – Rachel McAdams, Amy Adams, Charlize Theron, or Emily Browning and I do picture Celia with an American accent.

Poppet – Elle Fanning

Hector Bowen – Taking this idea from another fan, but yes, Robert Downey Jr. would be fantastic

I really enjoy Mcoudrainmisc’s cast below too!
Ngtcircus

Bailey – Logan Lerman would be great!
Caleb

Celia- Emma Watson
Marco- Eddie Redmayne
Chandresh- Ben Kingsley
Alexander- Gabriel Macht
Ruth

i think that celia and marco would look a bit like this…marco with longish hair http://zephyrhant.deviantart.com/art/Lost-Souls-263902557
maybe less of the vampire look though…
unfortunately, no one comes to mind.
B

Aaron Johnson as Marco.
Kaya Scodelario as Celia.
Seh

Kristen Stewart as Celia Robert pattinson as Marco
- en
  
  please, go and die
  i hate that people like you always try to ruin this kind of awesome stuff
  so please go and stay with your twilight books
Ava15

Andrew Garfield as Marco and Emma Watson as Celia! <3
mtsc

I like the idea of Richard Gere as Hector and maybe Robert Downey Jr. as Chandresh? Either James Franco or Johnny Depp would be good “man in gray”. I think that Elle Fanning/Dakota Fanning could be Celia although I like Emma Watson or Chloe Moritz as well. Emile Hirsh would be the dark/mysterious, sexy Marco. I also saw Tante as either Emma Thompson, Helen Mirren or Cher? For Poppet – Saoirse Ronan would be perfect! Would the Olsen twins be possibilities for the Burgess Twins?
Beth

I would like something like this: Celia- Lily Collins Marco- Nicholas Hoult Chadresh- Johnny Depp Bailey- Asa Butterfield o Skandar Keynes
Edwin

Celia – Emma Watson
Marco – Geoff Breton
Hector – Colin Firth
Alexander – Sean Bean
Herr Thiessen – Iain Glen
Chandresh – Irrfan Khan
Mme Padva – Helen Mirren
Tsukiko – Karen Hauer
Tara – Keira Knightley
Lainie – Rachel Weisz
Isobel – Rosamund Pike
Bailey – Freddie Highmore
Poppet – Jacqueline Emerson
Widget – Calum Worthy
Please consider these options!!!
Jemima

I think Bitsie Tulloch could made a good Isobel.
Also I see Eliza Bennett as Poppet.
Rosiedoll

I always had Rob James-Collier in mind for Marco when reading the book for the first time. But I also think (after reading it a second time) that Ben Whishaw would be perfect as well.

The only other characters that I had actors in mind are Prospero/Hector Bowen — Geoffrey Rush….as the author has said, or Stellan Skarsgard. And Mme. Padva — Helen Mirren. Alexander — Robert Carlyle

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Discussion: ‘The Night Circus’ casting ideas?

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