Movie Cast Mondays: February 8, 2010

Natalie at Mindful Musings has this meme in which you create fantasy casts for books of your choice. The rules are as follows:
1) Create your own cast for an upcoming book-to-movie adaptation OR pick a book you'd like to see be turned into a movie and choose a cast.
2) Post the book title, author, and summary.
3) Try to pick at least 3 of the main characters to cast.


This week's pick is...

Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

"Locked in a coffin-like darkness, there is nothing to distract me from my memories of killing Reyad. He deserved to die—but according to the law, so do I. Here in Ixia, the punishment for murder is death. And now I wait for the hangman's noose.
But the same law that condemns me may also save me. Ixia's food taster—chosen to ensure that the Commander's food is not poisoned—has died. And by law, the next prisoner who is scheduled to be executed—me—must be offered the position."

I loved the Study series by Maria V. Snyder, I only wish she would have continued the series beyond a trilogy. I think the first book would make a great movie, if not the whole series, because the concept presented in the plotline of a woman escaping the death penalty by way of becoming a food taster in a militaristic society is very unique.

Eliza Dushku as Yelena Zultana

I love this actress for her roles in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Tru Calling, and recently deceased Dollhouse. I think she could easily bear the role of Yelena, especially with the acrobatics that Yelena learned as a child. Sci-fi/fantasy roles have always suited Eliza well, and this role is no different.

Jason Statham as Valek
I found his name on a list of stunt actors - actors who do their own stunts, and I recognized him from a number of blockbusters, such as The Italian Job, The Bank Job, The Transporter, and Death Race. Valek is both a trained assassin and Yelena's trainer, as well as immune to magic, so this role would suit Jason well. Ironically, I think the hardest part for Jason would be the romantic aspects of the role, since Valek falls in love with Yelena.

Jane Lynch as Commander Ambrose

So I'm giving a huge spoiler for the series by wanting to cast a female for the role of Commander Ambrose. As Yelena discovers, Ambrose was originally female, but believes he is a male trapped in a female's body and styles himself as thus. I've put off completing this post for hours because I couldn't come up with anyone else other than Jane. She currently plays in the television series Glee, and it seems like anything that I see her in, her character always seems to have a "butch" persona. Nothing against it, since this really seems to work for her acting career.  I think with good costuming, she could fool even me.

So what do you think of my choices?