Casting Tulkas

Phillip Menzies

Phillip Menzies

Moderator
Staff member
I'm sorry but after listening to Session 1.6 and the fleshing out of Tulkas and in particular the characterisation, there is now only one candidate who can do quick to anger and quicker to laughter with a booming voice,
Brian Blessed.



of course a younger version, or at least motion capture and voice.
 
Haakon

Haakon

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I just Love Brian Blessed. Do we have a picture of him from his younger days?
The only argument against this that I can come up with right now is that he doesn't look like the fastest man on earth, exactly.
 
MithLuin

MithLuin

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I think it a good idea to keep in mind that a TV show would certainly use wigs and makeup to get the right look for a character. With casting, you are more in need of getting body type and personality (when acting!) to match. Hair is just an incidental detail that can be altered.

I think that Tulkas should look like Conan the Barbarian or Thor....something like that. All big and muscley. Wrestlers would work. Then just to get the larger-than-life laughter and persona down.
 
winrobee

winrobee

New Member
I imagine Tulkas to be a young Donald Sutherland, or a 40ish actor who looks like Sutherland generally. And he's got to play blond.
 
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MithLuin

MithLuin

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Staff member
I agree that Tulkas ought to be blond. (Though I am perfectly happy using a wig to achieve that). The guy's name literally means 'Blond Dude'

Tulukhastâz (sic - read Tulukhaštâz?) is supposedly a compound containing tulukha(n) "yellow" and (a)šata "hair of head", hence "the golden-haired". Adapted to Quenya as Tulkas. (WJ:399)
Source: http://folk.uib.no/hnohf/valarin.htm

That being said....how many of the Valar 'have' to be white? I get that Tolkien's universe seems to consist of very few people of color, and also that casting decisions tend to be super racist in the real world. I imagine we don't want to add to that, and would rather have some variety to the cast, particularly the Valar, as they could have literally any skin tone (and even change it at will!) But I do have to admit that I'm not seeing someone with a brown skin tone pulling off a golden haired wig very convincingly in my mind, so I'm immediately jumping to the blond = white guy mental image.

I'm not sure what I think about that. I mean, Marvel had Idris Elba play Heimdall the White, so I don't think it's a bad idea to consider him for Tulkas, either. But I am having trouble mentally putting a flowing blond wig on the guy, which is silly, since....alien-looking Valar needn't keep real-world complexions. But would it look silly?

Here is a sketch Jenny Dolfen did of Tulkas in 2005:
 
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MithLuin

MithLuin

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And the color version. Tulkas by Jenny Dolfen (2005)



I definitely see him as being very strong/muscly and not wearing much in the way of clothing. So, yeah, something like this, and with the personality to match.
 
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Haakon

Haakon

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Staff member

What about this guy - Adam Copeland? I know virtually nothing about wrestling...but I could absolutely see him as Tulkas.
 
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Haakon

Haakon

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Staff member
He's wonderful.
This brings an older topic to my mind: We've had a discussion (briefly anyway) about casting dead actors. Should we have a dicussion about casting actors at a younger age? I'm not sure what I think.
 
Marielle

Marielle

Well-Known Member
Why has no one mentioned Chris Hemsworth? I understand he might be too associated with another blonde, big, laughing god, but he's really good as Thor, and I would love to see him playing Tulkas, if nothing else than to see his facial expressions as Melkor does intellectual gymnastics around him.
 
Karita Alexander

Karita Alexander

Administrator
Marielle said:
Why has no one mentioned Chris Hemsworth? I understand he might be too associated with another blonde, big, laughing god, but he's really good as Thor, and I would love to see him playing Tulkas, if nothing else than to see his facial expressions as Melkor does intellectual gymnastics around him.
Click to expand...
And it would be a gift to the people of the internet who love to connecting fictional universes and timelines! I can see the web comic now, explaining how Tulkas and Thor are actually the same person, just in a different continuum/slice of reality/earlier or later on a timeline.
Tumblr would love it.
...Which might not be the best reason to cast someone, I know, but hey. You are getting what you paid for when it comes to the casting department here at the SilmFilm Project.
 
Carlia

Carlia

Member
Karita Alexander said:
And it would be a gift to the people of the internet who love to connecting fictional universes and timelines! I can see the web comic now, explaining how Tulkas and Thor are actually the same person, just in a different continuum/slice of reality/earlier or later on a timeline.
Tumblr would love it.
Click to expand...
Ha! That would be wonderful! Tumblr and Deviant Art would totally explode!
 
Haakon

Haakon

Administrator
Staff member
Marielle said:
Why has no one mentioned Chris Hemsworth? I understand he might be too associated with another blonde, big, laughing god, but he's really good as Thor, and I would love to see him playing Tulkas, if nothing else than to see his facial expressions as Melkor does intellectual gymnastics around him.
Click to expand...
I coming around to this casting alternative. We need a blonde guy, and The 3 were suggesting someone young. He fits.
 
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