Eonwë

Haakon

Administrator
Staff member
So we need an actor who can play 1) a diplomatic envoy and 2) one man army...

Suggestions?
 
Jet Li. Not really, but 'twould be awesome.


Although ... on that note... This guy:
John_Cho_2008.jpg


He plays Sulu in the modern Star Trek Movies and can look like both a very nice guy, and then suddenly get very intense and dangerous.

Like so:
StarTrek_Cho_Sulu_flipped.jpg


And so:

tumblr_mrz44ijEJV1s6x05to2_r1_250.gif
 
Jet Li. Not really, but 'twould be awesome.


Although ... on that note... This guy:
John_Cho_2008.jpg


He plays Sulu in the modern Star Trek Movies and can look like both a very nice guy, and then suddenly get very intense and dangerous.

Like so:
StarTrek_Cho_Sulu_flipped.jpg


And so:

tumblr_mrz44ijEJV1s6x05to2_r1_250.gif
Yes! I actually noted this guy as a possible choice. John Cho.

Or this guy, Daniel Wu:
images
images
images
 
I would really love it if we could avoid casting an Asian as the martial arts master. If you guys want John Cho, let's really, really focus on the "master of ARMS" part of Eonwe's character, and have him fighting in a way that is very clearly not martial arts inspired? I groaned in the theater when poor Sulu was reduced to the cliche of the Asian Martial Arts master after Takei and Roddenberry had intentionally sidestepped that stereotype 50 years ago.
 
I would really love it if we could avoid casting an Asian as the martial arts master. If you guys want John Cho, let's really, really focus on the "master of ARMS" part of Eonwe's character, and have him fighting in a way that is very clearly not martial arts inspired? I groaned in the theater when poor Sulu was reduced to the cliche of the Asian Martial Arts master after Takei and Roddenberry had intentionally sidestepped that stereotype 50 years ago.
I hear you, I actually had some reservations along those lines.
 
Hehe. I think that presenting Eonwe as diplomat initially might help us sidestep that stereotype. I always saw him as a fencing master with a rapier rather than "Karate Man".
 
On a serious note, we don't have to reach consensus here in this thread. Let's just discuss the candidates we consider and then post all possible ones in the nomination forum.
 
Hehe. I think that presenting Eonwe as diplomat initially might help us sidestep that stereotype. I always saw him as a fencing master with a rapier rather than "Karate Man".
To me, rapier signals something too modern - 15th century at the earliest, which makes me associate it with early forms of pistols and ways of fighting that I don't imagine a mythical figure would use. (I know that isn't what you're suggesting Nicholas, these are just my associations.)
If I had to chose one and only one weapon for Eonwë, it would be a long spear. And as a secondary weapon, a short sword. Anyway, the choice of weapon should give an archaic feeling.
 
As for the problem of risking to present an Asian stereotype - since we have been discussing his first role as being similar to Hermes of the Greek mythology, we could give him a slightly Greek style. Perhaps later, when he becomes the arms champion, he could have a helmet that looks a bit like the hoplite or Corinthian helmet.
 
I don't really have a problem with that per se, but if we go down that road, it's all too easy to make every member of the Valar of European descent. Again, you can make the argument that since it's a European story, that would not necessarily be out of place. Since there is a clear move against that, I have been trying not to think of the mythological inspiration as a starting point.

Where I started was actors I had seen in combat who were not too big to seem out of place as a herald.
 
I don't really have a problem with that per se, but if we go down that road, it's all too easy to make every member of the Valar of European descent. Again, you can make the argument that since it's a European story, that would not necessarily be out of place. Since there is a clear move against that, I have been trying not to think of the mythological inspiration as a starting point.

Where I started was actors I had seen in combat who were not too big to seem out of place as a herald.
Yes, my idea was to do it while keeping John Cho or Daniel Wu.
 
I am going to lean towards Asian here, more especifically, towards Japan.

I always, and for some strange conections on my brain that I have long given up on untangling, I imagined Eönwë as this type of Samurai figure.
 
While I support an Asian candidate, I am also going to look for another alternative. The Big 3 want someone who looks a bit like Manwë and I'm not going for an Asian actor to play him.
 
It would be kind of fun to cast Radcliffe in a role that starts by being this small character in the background (unexpected thing #1), then when he is given something to do, he gets killed (unexpected thing #2) and then turns into a one man army (unexpected thing #3).
 
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