Dream Casting: Return of the Native

It recently came to my attention that there is only one movie version ever of Thomas Hardy's novel Return of the Native. Why in the world is that? I had to read it for the first time this semester as part of an English literature class, and while I approached it with some trepidation due to its reputation as an immoral book, I came to thoroughly enjoy it and love the characters.

Probably the most important theme that I took away from the book was how fragile the marriage relationship can be, and how many people it can affect when a marriage breaks down. Both of the young couples in the book married against the advice of their parents and peers, and the eventual breakdowns of their relationships not only destroyed their own lives, but harmed and even killed other members of their families and communities. The key, though, was not that the characters were horrible people who were wantonly looking for affairs outside of their marriages (with the exception of the wicked Wildeve). Most of them were victims of emotional decisions, not being careful whom they spent time with, and seeking satisfaction from their spouses that they could not provide. This book was a great example of how good people can make poor choices that lead them to situations they never thought they would be in.

And soooo, because this was such a good book, I was very disappointed to discover that its only movie adaptation was made back in the 90's and is generally agreed to be pretty lousy.  :-P  So a couple of weeks ago, while I was bored in another class, I put together my own casting for a new version. If you're familiar with the book, let me know what you think!

***

Clementine "Clym" Yeobright

Tom Hiddleston

idealistic, thoughtful, altruistic, self-sacrificing, attached to his mother

Eustacia Vye Yeobright

Keira Knightley

beautiful, mysterious, fiery, depressive, frustrated

Damon Wildeve

Richard Armitage

handsome, indolent, selfish, passionate, amoral 

Thomasin Yeobright Wildeve

Carey Mulligan

innocent, optimistic, loyal, gentle, domestic

Diggory Venn

Jeremy Renner

mysterious, intelligent, loyal, manly, courageous

Mrs. Yeobright

Emma Thompson

genteel, educated, philosophical, stubborn, dramatic

*** 

Now, casting Jeremy Renner as Diggory Venn would be a bit of a risk, because casting him in a period drama would be severely against type; but I picked him for two reasons - firstly, because he looks fairly close to the way I envision Diggory in the book, and secondly, because Diggory's character has some similarities to Hawkeye in Avengers. Diggory is a loner who lives at the edges of society, watching the other characters and quietly interfering in their lives to guide them toward doing the right thing (or, at least, the best choice at the time). He has a sort of magical quality about him, and he is definitely a strong, silent type like Hawkeye. So I think this choice might work.

Also, Carey Mulligan doesn't typically play "good girl" roles, but with her babyface and high voice, I think she could portray Thomasin if she put her mind to it.  :-)  And can you imagine the universe imploding when Emma Thompson and Tom Hiddleston played mother and son??

Have you read the book? What did you think of it? What do you think of my casting?

~ Vicki