Fantasy Casting A Darker Shade of Magic

These days, fantasy readers are spoiled for great adaptations. First, Game of Thrones happened, and happened big. Then we got Jonathan Strange, and The Magicians. American Gods will walk the land once again soon (though April isn’t soon enough if you ask me; insert undignified “squee!” here). And this weekend, we got word of yet another one: V.E. Schwab’s A Darker Shade of Magic is getting its own screen adaptation, courtesy of Gerard Butler. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think I’d slipped into Red London, where magic truly exists.
Obviously, like all great fangirls, I turn my attention from cheering that a project is happening to sharpening my knives in a threatening manner, just to they realize they’d better do it right. And it all starts with the cast, which is why I’m happy to offer my own personal shortlist to populate this world-hopping tale of a wizard in a magical coat and the young thief girl who gives no…well, you know. Here’s our dream cast, as well as a few second choices, should the big guns prove unavailable.

Kell
Kell has always felt to me like someone has taken the mischievous, sarcastic, brooding sidekick and made him the hero. Someone who carries wounds and a certain importance in the lives of those around him, but has spent his life standing just stage-right and out of sight unless needed, and he knows it. (You don’t spend your life indulging your taste for petty thievery if you’re center stage,after all.) So what about the actor who’s spent several seasons playing a slightly-off-kilter sidekick on Teen Wolf, Dylan O’Brien? Age-appropriate, and we’ve seen that character play smart and sarcastic, and with good comedic timing. He’s just started to branch out into different kinds of films, from Deepwater Horizon to The Maze Runner, so he’s shown some range as well. His fellow Teen Wolf alum Tyler Hoechlin might work too, but his physicality wouldn’t convey the same vibe when slipping into taverns and alleys.
Possible alternates:
KJ Apa
Currently portraying another auburn haired protagonist on Riverdale, he’s just the right age, and has proven that he can hold down a series that’s generating a lot of interest. He’d definitely get the intense and tortured part of Kell down, for sure.
Rami Malek
He’s got the right sense of doom-and-gloom intensity from his time on Mr. Robot, and he’d give the right sense of surreality and otherworldly-ness that comes along with being an Antari.

Lila
Deliah Bard—pirate, thief, streetfighter and all around kick-butt adventurer, and fabulous role for any actress. I want to give this one to Ruby Rose. Lila’s described as tough, androgynously gender-bending in her dress and appearance, and apt to hide knives on her person wherever physically possible (one of her core personal beliefs is that there’s “no such thing as too many knives”). Ruby Rose can do all of these things, and I would totally buy her going toe-to-toe with Kell or pulling a knife on various mischief-makers in back alleys. Plus, you need that mischievous glint that says she’s always down for a new adventure. Ruby’s got it all.
Possible alternates:
Rosabell Laurentii Sellers
You might have seen her as one of the Sand Snakes on Game of Thrones, Tyene, but don’t hold those underwritten characters against her. She’s shown she’s got the toughness and fierceness necessary, and the physicality definitely works. She’s also perfectly age-appropriate for the role.
Vella Lovell
You’ve seen her on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Yeah, she’s rocking a really chill vibe on that show, but she’s got wonderful delivery and a dry sense of humor, and I think both would work incredibly well on Lila.

Rhy
Daniel Kaluuya would be a suitably fabulous Rhy. The character may spend his time playing the devil-may-care playboy prince, but his true heart can be found in his loving relationship with Kell, his cleverness, and the tragedies that unfortunately befall him. Kaluyya gave a touching and biting turn in the Black Mirror episode “Fifteen Million Merits,” a dark satire on social media culture that’s burned into my mind. His expressions range from round-eyed and vulnerable, to hard and determined, to electric rage. (His range has more recently been showcased in his role in the horror hit Get Out.) He’d ably play Rhy in all his various stages of growth, and give him an emotional heft to keep us on his side in some of his less sympathetic moments.
Possible Alternatives:
Hale Applebaum
I had my issues with the early episodes of The Magicians, but I’ve become a convert during the fabulous second season. But even before we got there, I kept hanging on thanks to Hale Appleman’s performance as the fabulously named Eliot Waugh. It definitely wouldn’t be a huge stretch for him to transfer his skills over to playing flippant, insouciant, partying playboy Rhy—not even the secret hints of steel and honor underneath, the secret yearning for something beyond mere debauchery, and the true friendship with his foster-brother Kell.
Ed Westwick
If only we could time travel back to his Gossip Girl years, anyway. He would have been so perfect. You know it’s true. xoxo

Holland
I’m going Javier Bardem. And I’ll tell you why—he can really do all kinds of unnerving with his villain roles (witness: No Country for Old Men, Skyfall),  and even his morally grey ones. He can do stillness, he can do over-the-top insane, and he can do tortured-by-his-past. Holland’s life as the White London Antari in bondage to the Danes is truly a horror show, especially for anyone with a smidgen of humanity left. He’d also be great in that scene where Kell does that horrifying thing to him. You know what I’m talking about. [Significant look]
Possible alternates:
Tom Hiddleston
That shoulder-chip he gave Loki in the Marvel flicks was pretty impressive, and right on for Holland—even if I don’t love his physicality for the role.
Gerard Butler
You know what, if Butler wanted to step into the on-camera side of things, this would be the spot for him. His sheer presence would make the Kell/Holland face-off scenes crackle.

Astrid/Athos
This is an easier call than it should be, but I’ll go with Tilda Swinton and Marc Warren (who played the Gentleman from Faerie in Jonathan Strange) to play the rulers of White London, the Dane Twins. He did an excellent creep-you-out-slightly-off vibe, which is what you want out of White London, and we know Tilda Swinton can deliver that in so many different ways. White London should send chills up your spine. It should whisper to you around corners and invite you into places that you absolutely should never go, and make you want to step forward anyway. That’s easy pickings for these two actors.
Possible alternates:
Emilia Clarke & Ben Wishaw
For a slightly younger look, why not the Mother of Dragons (with her wig on) and Bond’s Q with a dye job (but otherwise pretty much as he is)? Both of them would work just as well, and might even be scarier for the slight unexpectedness of their brand of crazy when they deal with Holland. It would have to be more mental and less physical with this pairing, but that might make them all the more interesting.

Alucard Emery
Those of you who haven’t read the second book, beware light spoilers: there’s a guy named Emery in A Gathering of Shadows, and he is wonderful. He is a sea captain, a scholar, a something-always-going-on-with-him kind of guy. He’s got issues with Kell, and some wonderful stuff to do with Lila, and he was a fantastic addition to the sequel. This sounds like a job for a pirate. Honestly, I super want to give the role to Toby Stephens, because I have seen him wink and charm his way through so many roles, but I get that he’s too old for it. So why not throw it Luke Arnold’s way? He plays Long John Silver on Black Sails, and has been pretty on-point so far. He’s got the look for sure, and he’d bring the heat to at least one storyline—you readers know the one I’m talking about.
Possible alternates:
Gael Garcia Bernal
Perhaps slightly too old, but his energy is fantastic. I would totally buy him driving Kell up a wall just for the fun of doing it, and also being able to outsmart Lila when necessary. Isn’t he just the perfect black sheep?
Arjun Gupta
Also of Magicians fame. He would need to soften his intensity a bit, but he can definitely do ne’er-do-well, er, well, and I would absolutely buy him when the hard edge came out

Editor’s note: A previous version of this post named Hale Applebaum our top pick for Rhy. We decided to make the switch to our first alternate, Daniel Kaluuya, after several fans pointed out that we’d neglected to respect the race of the character as written. 
Who would you cast to play Kell, Rhy, Lila and the rest of the alt-London denizens?