I figured there was too much glib wink-wink-wouldn’t-you-find-it-cool to The Dark Tower casting rumors. And I did think the role of Roland would probably go to a dark horse, and not Viggo Mortensen or Javier Bardem.
But Christian Bale?
That’s the news according to The New York Post. Bale has pulled ahead of Mortensen and Bardem.
I know everyone loves Bale, particularly post-The Fighter, and it’s generally believed he can do anything. I have no doubt he’d actually amputate his own fingers to play Roland. But so would Mortensen or Bardem, who are both method men, and who have what Bale doesn’t: Age. Roland Deschain needs to be weathered, to complain of pain in his hip, to look like he’s actually talked to the Man in Black.
I have no doubt Bale can layer on the make-up and play up his grimness, and seem as old as the hills. I would have just liked to see the role actually go to an older guy, and not someone who will have to pretend to be older.
The NY Post also reports Jennifer Carpenter and Ghita Tazi are both on the short list to play Susannah. Susannah is African-American so…yeah. I’m sort of stymied by that one. Maybe that’s the clue this whole story is concocted out of some fevered tabloid imagination? Because I just can’t believe they would whitecash (or French/Moroccan wash in the case of Tazi) this character.
But this is Ron Howard. To say we were a little worried about his involvement is an understatement.