Who Could Play Vimes in a Movie?

Discussion in 'THE WATCH BOOKS' started by ArthurDent, Aug 20, 2005.

  1. roisindubh211 New Member

    watch the series "House"- Hugh Laurie being cynical and smarter than everyone else. With a convincing US accent, which is just odd.

    Apparently the director hired him because he was looking for a real, solid, American actor. Wonder how long people waited to say something to him...
  2. Katcal I Aten't French !

    Yeah, I guess that does actually look like Hugh, doesn't it... more than the guy I had in mind (probably from the kirby book covers, I guess...). Pity I miss out on that series, sounds good, and I do like Hugh as an actor, I must say, although I agree, him speaking american must be odd...
  3. roisindubh211 New Member

    The funniest thing is the interview with the director, because he was apparently going on about it when he saw the casting tape- about how he'd be perfect, just what we need, an American...

    Great quote from the show though: "It's been over an hour since we've poked the patient with something sharp, so give him a lombard puncture."

    seriously awesome stuff.
  4. Sir_Vaims New Member

    Oldman for me! he made a nice performance in Batman begins and Harry Potter
  5. I love Rhys Ifans and have met him a few times (hes a fellow Welshman)

    He is not the right person for Vimes at all, however he was in a play a few years back and I remember thinking how perfect he would be for Greebo (as a man).
    He has that cat-like spitefulness!
  6. roisindubh211 New Member

    Just been re-reading Guards, Guards! and i can't help but picture it with Hugh Laurie as Vimes...trying to mentally cast Carrot and Nobby is a bit tough, though...
  7. Angua_rox New Member

    Well he could play him in that one where the witches go to Genua. . . Witches Abroad I think it is.
    P.S. Sorry to digress so much from the Vimes poll!!
  8. Katcal I Aten't French !

    Dear Gods, I am in a pretty predicament here... The first episode of House is on cable tonite, and so are the last 2 episodes of Star Trek Enterprise, and I can't record while watching another cable channnel... What AM I going to do ? :shock:
  9. Jessie New Member

    I'm a huge House fan, I've seen almost every episode. Vimes is my favorite Discworld character. What a great combination.
  10. Katcal I Aten't French !

    I must admit, even dubbed into French, House is awesome... I am converted to the Hugh for Vimes cult !
  11. lord_vimes001 New Member

    In Where's my cow Vimes resembles no one so much as a middle-aged Dirk Bogarde. Guess I'm showing my age.

    http://members.aol.com/Alpheratz9/pics.html

    But then, I am as old as Vimes.

    I saw a House episode the other night, and that is a flawless American accent House has. Perfect Chicago with a 1% Brooklyn whine.
  12. drunkymonkey New Member

    I think Sean Bean out of the four, but he's not as subtle as Vimes, so he wouldn't be my ideal choice.
  13. QuothTheRaven New Member

    It apears that my ingnorant americanitude* has decreased somewhat, and I now know who Huge Laurie is. I voted for him because he is excelent in House MD

    *if this wasn't a word before, it is now.

    edit: to put something in the correct spot.
  14. Katcal I Aten't French !

    Yikes ! you're actually making me thankful it's dubbed ! Hugh with an american accent... :shock:
  15. lord_vimes001 New Member

    Well I saw Hugh (my real name is Hugh also, by the by) as a guest on an American talk show a few months back, and was astounded to hear him talk like a London theatre bloke. House is an uneven show because Hugh just mops the floor with anyone who has the courage to be in a scene with him.
  16. Katcal I Aten't French !

    Well, he is quite a character, no matter the part... It took me a while to get where I had seen his good-looking Cancerologist (or whatever) pal, he was the kid in Dead Poets Society, makes me feel sooooo old...
  17. jaccairn New Member

    I thought he looked like Pete Postlethwaite in the book.

    Picture link if you don't know the name.
    Pete Postlethwaite
  18. lord_vimes001 New Member

    He does, but not quite as homely. :oops:
  19. Katcal I Aten't French !

    What do you do if you can't even mentally pronounce the name ?
  20. jaccairn New Member

    Say the first syllable and mumble the rest. :D
  21. Katcal I Aten't French !

    Sounds good to me :D


    House tonight, yay !!
  22. Perdita New Member

  23. Katcal I Aten't French !

    Yep, we know :D
  24. tanatie New Member

    Vimes would be a mix of Clint Eastwood and Gene Hackman would be my vote...the appearance...Michael Madsen'd do the voice and personality though...

    Carrot is a kind of Superman (I can't remember the fella's name)...

    Nobby would be Tim Roth.

    Colon - Danny DeVito.

    Angua - hmm, don't have any ideas there...maybe supergirl (whoever she was)?

    Cheery - Suzan Sarandon with a beard?

    Detritus - Mount Rushmore?
  25. lord_vimes001 New Member

    If I were seriously casting "Vimes" I'd take a good look at Craig Ferguson.
    He has a late night talk show in the USA. He was Drew Carey's boss on the Drew Carey Show. A scots talk show host in America? He's a gifted comic actor.
  26. wannabenanny New Member

    Nobby has gotta be Steve Buscemi c'mon look at him am I right ?! Vimes ,I 'm thinking Hugh Laurie is the one,however seeing Mr Litle out of Stuart little is winding me up a bit. LOL What does everyone think of Uma Thurman as Magrat?
  27. Human New Member

    NO.
  28. Katcal I Aten't French !

    In the words of Detritus "U must B kiddin"

    Translation : NO WAY ! :shock:
  29. Pixel New Member

    Someone may have said it before - but for Magrat I'd say Jane Horrocks (Bubble in Absolutely Fabulous)
  30. wannabenanny New Member

    O.K. I sem to have hit a bit of a sore point there ,sorry ,my dh suggests Carol Kane for Magrat although I think shes a bit old.( think princess bride)
  31. puckbunny New Member

    I always thought the girl who played alice the verger in the vicar of dibley was a perfect magrat, sorry I can't remember her name. I also thought Miriam Margoyles or Dawn french to play Nanny Ogg.
  32. Pixel New Member

    Emma Chambers - yes - could be a possibility for Magrat.

    I can't see Dawn French as Nanny Ogg - still too young and pretty - Miriam Margolyes (Note Spelling! :) ) could be good in that part.

    Edited to add the bit about Nanny Ogg. (Hang on - isn't this thread supposed to be about casting Vimes?)
  33. Silvermoth New Member

    I've always seen Dylan Moran as a perfect Vimes.
    [IMG]

    and for the witches I always saw...
    Dame Maggie Smith- Granny Weatherwax.
    [IMG]
    Magda Szubanski- Nanny Ogg
    [IMG]

    Emma Chambers-Magrat

    and finally...
    Kathy Najimy- Agnes Nitt
    [IMG]
    ________
    AngelOnline
  34. Mithras-Kosmokrator New Member

    Hmmm... I'm having trouble with Hugh Laurie as Vimes. Sean Bean is still top of my list. Pete Postlethwaite is an interesting one, because that - apparently - is how Terry sees him (rather than Paul Kidby's Clint Eastwood-ish version), but he isn't at all how I seem Vimes.

    Patsy Byrne (Nursie in Blackadder II) or Liz Smith (all sorts, but most recently Gran in The Royle Family) for Nanny Ogg.
  35. Katcal I Aten't French !

    I don't know the other lady, but Nursie Ogg... Oh yeah !! Although Nursie was slightly soppier than Nanny, but yeah, defInItely...
  36. toraspanda New Member

    Of all the suggestions for Vimes I've read here, as far as appearance is concerned, Sean Pertwee gets my vote (he played Hugh Beringar in the first tv recordings of the Brother Cadfael books). Hugh Grant is far too pretty, and Hugh Laurie too hilarious!

    Has anyone suggested Alan Rickman for Vimes? He has a wider range than Snape (e.g. his rôle in Sense & Sensibility).

    I could see Patsy Byrne as Nanny Ogg, but my ideal casting for the three Wyrd Sisters would be:

    Granny - Stephanie Cole (her Diana in Waiting for God is pure Weatherwax!)
    Nanny - Dawn French (she can act anything, never mind her pretty face)
    Magrat - Emma Chambers would be perfect, IMO (although the voice in the animated Wyrd Sisters is Jane Horrocks, the visual representation looks as if inspired by Ms Chambers!)
  37. pfft New Member

    How about Sir David Jason as Sam Vimes? (Maybe he would have to be a little younger).
    How old is Vimes supposed to be anyhoo??


    Rincewind screamed, and it ran and hid behind a rock.
  38. Buzzfloyd Spelling Bee

    Vimes is supposed to be somewhere in his forties or early fifties. I really don't think David Jason has the right physique for Vimes, before we get to anything else. Vimes is supposed to be mostly made out of sinews.
  39. pfft New Member

    You can imagine David Jason eyeballin' Vetinari though can't you. Go on, admit it, you CAN can't you??? Also someone said "Sean Pertwee" as Vimes. Hmmm- I kinda like this idea, just trying to imagine him married to Lady Sybil. Isn't she supposed to be a bit of a Laaarge Maaarge?

    Bill Nighy as Lord Vetinari, then? Whoops, should that be a new thread?
    --------------------------------------



    "In the land of the blind, the one eyed man is King"
  40. legspin New Member

    My first thought was always Alan Rickman
  41. Buzzfloyd Spelling Bee

    Yours, mine & Pterry's.
  42. Katcal I Aten't French !

    Really ? I don't know, I had him down as being rather skinnier than that... I love Alan Rickman, and he would be good at the character, but I'm not so sure he fits the physical part... But then, what we all see on the inside of our own eyelids, eh...
  43. Buzzfloyd Spelling Bee

    When Pterry said he imagined Rickman as Vetinari, he actually referred to him as the guy who played Hans Gruber in Die Hard. Rickman's face has fallen a bit since then!
  44. Katcal I Aten't French !

    Oh, right. I must say that if he had been referring to Rickman's part in Galaxy quest, I would have been rather more concerned. But yes, age is no-one's friend. Except Sean Connery. Damn him.
  45. TamyraMcG Active Member

    You noticed that too, huh?
  46. Katcal I Aten't French !

    Yep. He's not human.
  47. Aussie_nobbyau New Member

    Yep,
    I reckon Sean Bean. Who'd play Sgt. Colon & Cpl Nobbs?
    Gray
  48. Sunna New Member

    I SOO thought Postlethwaite too!!
  49. nutkar97 New Member

    Well I think to play vimes, it would have to be one of two people. My best mate and I talk of discworld casting a lot, and for Vimes we came up with Sean Bean as mentioned earlier, someone said too blond, but he is older now, and there is such a thing as dye, or, and this is gonna be controversial, Bruce Willis. He has the right sort of look about him, the slight rebel streak, and you can see him not being happy with putting on tights or wearing feathers in his hat.

    He may have to work on his accent though
  50. Buzzfloyd Spelling Bee

    I love Bruce Willis. He can play any DW character he likes, as far as I'm concerned - Vimes, Death, Nanny Ogg, whoever!
  51. Stercus Stercus New Member

    Now that I've got to see, Bruce Willis as Nanny Ogg. :lol:
  52. Aussie_nobbyau New Member

  53. Pinkystupot New Member

    Yer, Sean Bean would be awesome as Vimes, just like Sharpe really. Plus hes around the right age
  54. FairyHegehOGG New Member

    Not Colon:

    But Knobby --umm they guy who played him in HogFater was okay but I really tend to picture him a bit more like the Danny DeVito from the old days when he was in "Taxi" Short -scruffy-a little off color on his humor, and a little off on his comedic timing. Definately Not a Man you dould take home to Mama.
  55. Buzzfloyd Spelling Bee

    Or would want to!
  56. nutkar97 New Member

    For Nobby, I definatly think Mackenzie Crook would work. For those who don't know 'Gareth' from the uk series of "The Office" the blonde curtained, nerdy one.

    Also, Fred Colon would have been a great role for Sid James, may he rest in peace, don't you think??
  57. Pinkystupot New Member

    Mackenzie Crook may be too small. And Sid James isn't fat enough. Colon's supposed to be very rotund i believe. What about John Savident, "fred" from coronation street or is he too old?
  58. Pinkystupot New Member

    Nobby is so obvious! what about Tony Robinson! He does the storytapes after all
  59. Katcal I Aten't French !

    I think there's already a thread for that. Of course it's obvious but he's not getting any younger and Nobby is supposed to be quite young...
  60. Hsing Moderator

    Well, he is a kid at the time of "Nightwatch", so he about a decade younger than young Vimes, not much more. That would put him where? By now? Early fourties?

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