Casting Revealed: Shadows of the Apt III - Revenge of the Insects : Shadows of the Apt

Casting Revealed: Shadows of the Apt III — Revenge of the Insects

And here we go again, following on from Empire in Black and Gold and the rest of the first plot arc, and finishing with a special sneak preview.

The Scarab Path

Jodry Drillen — Phil Avery(1), Accius/Malius (the Vekken) — Lance Reddick, Berjek Gripshod — Giancarlo Esposito

Praeda Rakespear — Freema Agyeman, Hrathen — Danny Trejo, Amnon — Idris Elba

The Sea Watch

Laszlo — Dominic Monaghan, Tomasso — Andy Connell, Helmess Broiler ‑Don Cheadle

Paladrya — Nicole Kidman, Arkeuthys (voice) — Benedict Cumberbatch, Mycella of the Aldanrael — Jennifer Connelly

Heirs of the Blade

Lowre Cean — George Takei, Salme Elass — Michelle Yeoh, Dal Arche — Tony Jaa

Varsec — Julian Barratt, Varmen — James Purefoy, Maure — Evanna Lynch

The Air War and War Master's Gate

Straessa the Antspider — Katee Sackhoff, Eujen Leadswell — Michael B Jordan, Averic — Tom Felton

Gerethwy — Jim Parsons, Lissart (te Liss) — Emma Watson, Edmon — Noël Clarke

Willem Reader — Jeffrey Wright, Sartaea te Mosca — Tamsin Grieg, Castre Gorenn — Dichen Lachman

Pingge — Nicki Clyne, Esmail — Paul Bettany, Tactician Milus — Edward James Olmos

Seal of the Worm

Metyssa — Patricia Tallman, Orothellin — Ian McNeice, Messel — Vincent Cassel

There aren't many characters new to book 10, understandably, but these three have significant roles to play. Metyssa, as the name suggests, is a Spider-kinden, one trapped in Collegium after the events that rounded off War Master's Gate. Orothellin's identity, or at least his kinden, you may be able to guess from his name, and Messel? Messel is something completely new.

Thanks once again to everyone who contributed. I have had an indecent amount of wholly self-indulgent fun putting the cast together. Probably I'll do the same for Guns of the Dawn when it comes out, so any suggestions gladly received as and when.

(1) Yes, I know, but he would have been perfect.

Posted by Adrian Tchaikovsky on June 3rd, 2014

Posted in Blog, Home

Tags: casting

10 Comments

10 comments to “Casting Revealed: Shadows of the Apt III — Revenge of the Insects”

Jarek, June 4th, 2014 at 1:48 am:

Ah, Paladyra…
But never mind.
I really enjoyed the results of the casting game but I could not decide myself. Too many options, too many possibilities. Accius/Malius — perfect. The same Hrathen and Laszlo. Have I mentioned Paladyra, yes, I think I have. Te Liss and Esmail also great. Orothelinn's identity, you say? Hmm…
J.
Smithy, June 4th, 2014 at 5:56 pm:

Some great choices here, that it would be really fun to see on the screen. But (you knew there was a but coming, didn't you?) Idris Elba, though a great actor, doesn't have the kind of 'built like a ****house' vibe that I got from Ammon; Danny Trejo looks as though he could snap Elba in half, so those choices don't really work for me.

But on the other hand I don't have a better suggestion either, I can't think of any huge black actors.
Adrian Tchaikovsky, June 4th, 2014 at 6:59 pm:

Dunno, Elba as Heimdall looked pretty damn buff, even next to Chris Hemsworth
CommissarFeesh, June 5th, 2014 at 4:39 pm:

Hmmm, methinks it's time to start a re-read of the series again (in time for Seal of the Worm to come out) 😀

Co-incidentally, I'm about to wrap up the RP game I've been running, so I'll be able to get back on the wagon with writing my SotA FATE-hack 😛 Might have to just borrow some of the examples in these updates for kinden physical profiles 😉
Khan Podo, June 5th, 2014 at 5:18 pm:

I actually hadn't realized until these castings that the Dragonflies were designed to be more Asian in appearance. I'd always thought of them as Mediterranean. The more you know.
Adrian Tchaikovsky, June 5th, 2014 at 10:26 pm:

Well, they're described as 'golden-skinned' which would cover a range of ethnic types. In all honesty, as this is another world, one assumes none of the ethnic groups would exactly map onto real world ones, but it seemed a good way to get a nice diverse cast, and given the Dragonflies a definite identity.
Vesy Vesy, June 6th, 2014 at 1:28 pm:

I think we've hit the jackpot with the baddies. I like the other choices too, but for me the best ones are Sophie Turner, the actress for Scyla (forgot the name) and OMG, Paul Bethany is SO Esmail.
Tommy, June 13th, 2014 at 4:42 pm:

Some really good choices there, and having Idris Elba as Amnon would be incredible. I still think that if there was to be any form of filming, it should be in a television series format. Like i said on here a few years ago, much like the format of GOT, otherwise a lot of the plat line will be lost!!
Lee, October 17th, 2014 at 7:15 am:

Has anyone considered Gerard Butler for Amnon? If you have seen the movie "300" you will probably know what I mean. I just finished my second read of The Scarab Path and for some reason I had King Leonidas in my head whenever Amnon came up.
Claus Appel, August 24th, 2021 at 7:28 am:

I especially love Tom Felton as Averic and Edward James Olmos as Milus. 🙂

Shadows of the Apt