Thursday, 17 September 2009

Tomorrow When the War Began: Casting The Movie

Tomorrow, When the War Began is a seminal Australian YA novel. Written by John Marsden it details the invasion of Australia by a faceless enemy. In the town of Wirrawee, all that is left between the enemy forces and the townspeople are a ragtag group of Aussie teens bent on throwing a massive spanner in the works.

It's an absolute doozy of a novel...beloved by high school students the country over and for good reason (read my review). In fact this novel has sold over two million copies in Australia and New Zealand alone!

After years of rumours, a movie is about to start shooting in New South Wales and thoughout the past week the cast has been revealed.

Ellie - Our Protagonist

Caitlin Stasey

The Girls
From left: Ashleigh Cummings as Robyn Mathers and Phoebe Tonkin as Fiona Maxwell.

The Boys
From left to right: Chris Pang has been cast as Lee, Deniz Akeniz as Homer Yannos, Lincoln Lewis as Kevin Holmes and Andy Ryan as Chris Lang.

Corrie?

Have they not found anyone to play this character yet?

Regardless, the movie is actually going to be made...which is beyond exciting. I am also hopeful that this movie will be a great success easing the way for other Australian YA novels adaptations eg Jellicoe Road (I know there's a script and director, ready and waiting).

Even more exciting they kept the ethnicities of the cast correct - Homer is Greek and Lee is Asian - hurrah! Though I don't see Caitlin Stasey as a ballsy farm chick, I am quite willing to be proved wrong. The entire cast is pretty much the age of their characters (17) and thankfully Australian. I can't wait to see the final product, especially to see my beloved Homer in glorious action...sigh.

Thank you, John Marsden and Stuart Beattie.

30 comments:

Catherine (On The Nightstand) said...

I am impressed that they actually kept them right as well. So many tales of white-washing and Dawson's casting about in the adaptation world these days.

Now the big thing to worry about casting is the portrayal of the enemy, I guess?

Steph Bowe said...

To be honestm I'm not that keen on Caitlin Stasey.
The rest, though, look awesome.
I can't wait till the film comes out ;-)

Anonymous said...

Well, I don't think any of them look at all like I imagined but then, how likely is it that they would? It's hard to imagine people you've already seen in Neighbours and Home and Away in the any of the parts but to be fair they're young actors who we've only see do one thing. Who knows what they're capable of.

I'm really looking forward to this, it's one of my favorite series of all time.

prophecygirl said...

Looks good to me. Do you think it will get a worldwide release?

The Compulsive Reader said...

I read this series about 4 years ago, and I loved it. Such a gripping set of books! I guess I never realized it was so popular (I'm American). I am really excited that a movie is coming out, and very curious as to how it will play out...a lot of intensity and violence, but such a great story.

Lauren said...

I just finished reading this book, and I'm quite glad I did read before catching sight of most of the actors from the movie! (I hate doing that thing where I'm reading the book imagining the movie actors as the characters).

The only one of those that I'm unsure of is Lincoln Lewis, because his character in Home and Away is so annoying I can't see past that right now.

Lauren said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lauren said...

Actually, I just read that Rachel Hurd-Wood got the part of Corrie. I'm not sure if that's official, but she's a pretty good actress.

Rhiannon Hart said...

Li and Homer are PERFECT! *phew* Hmm Corrie MIA? Strange.

Rhiannon Hart said...

And when I say Li I mean Lee!

Rhiannon Hart said...

And when I say Li I mean Lee!

kate.o.d said...

i wonder if i'd be happy with any of the choices? the characters are so alive in my head...i feel like a nattering judgemental old nanna shaking my head "oh i'm just not sure, no no no this isn't right"
it had better be good. fingers crossed!

Ink Mage said...

OMG so exciting! I don't really like Ellie based on her looks--too prissy/prim/preppy. Kevin and Robyn are pretty much how I pictured them, though.

Maybe once we get some clips I'll be able to picture the rest of the cast in their roles....

Anonymous said...

I can't exactly say i'm hapy with these choices...who knows, i'm hoing to be pleasantly suprised but at the moment it looks like the movie is going to be too teeny bopperish, the girl playing ellie is much too fine and delicate....would be better as fi.
not happy about the neighbours and home and away tags either....
not a good start.

Anonymous said...

i heard on a different website that Rachel Hurd-Wood was playing Corrie, might just be a rumour though...

Anonymous said...

Such an awesome book! I am definately keen to see what this will look like, and I pray that my gut instincts about these casting choices are wrong. I also think it looks too teeny bopperish. Not a true representation of Australian rural teens. They've haven't stuck to correct ages - some of them are in their 20s! I think that producers have been too concerned with casting people from other shows we've seen, rather than true casting. I guess its hard as they want people recognised to get people interested. I hope that the film does justice to book, otherwise we will wish they hadn't touched it. FYI I've heard that they are giving the invaders a nationality, which is concerning.

Anonymous said...

i thought Elle was supposed to be the farm girl not the most pretty and can stand on her own to feet. and i thought Robyn was a tall sporty girl but Ashleigh Cummings in my opion she doesnt. with the guys Homer and Kevin a great choices and Chris is a maybe for me but Lee doesnt look like he would be the guy to be with Elle.
I thought Miley Cyrus would be a good chocie to chose for either Corrie or Elle but thats just what i think.

I hope the movie turns out great as i loved reading the books.

Anonymous said...

thats really not what fi should look like, at least i dont think so. i imagined her thin, blonde and pale.

and im not too wow about ellie either....
but the rest look good :)

Anonymous said...

apparently rachel hurd-wood is playing corrie

Anonymous said...

We have just done casting for the movie extras in Newcastle, the movie itself will be filmed in a little town called "Dungog NSW"

Shannon said...

eeeeee! I'm excited!!! i've loved these books for many years and always thought that they would be great if adapted into film. Actors all look great, except Ellie. Nooot liking her. She looks more like Fi. I always imagined Ellie and kinda farm-y, with freckles and muscles and hair bleached by the sun. If Caitlin Stasey can pull off a convincing Ellie, then the film looks perfect. But I'm not totally convinced.

Shannon said...

Also lolwut on the Miley Cyrus comment. :S please no.

Demi said...

I'm so glad a movie is finally coming out! And yes, hopefully this will pave the way for Jellicoe Rd to become a movie (because I'm dying for it to become one!)

I just hope the 'Tomorrow' movie/s meet our expectations. I hope Caitlin can pull off Ellie.

Anonymous said...

i belive fi should be played by robyns charcter and eille should by somone with more country backround . lee needs to be a bit more acctritive and should be played by somone else . i loved the books i just think fi robyn and lee need to be changed

Anonymous said...

TomorrowFan said...

Arghhh im soo freakin exciteddd!! I've been hanging out for this (a tommorrow series movie) ever since i read the book (5 years back).. I just hope that it doesn't turn out crap and make the book look bad, coz the book is one of the finest pieces of literature... I have read tomorrow when the war began so many times its not funny, i hope the movie has the same effect.

Anonymous said...

Trust me, I know Ash, and the girl is amazing, you can rest knowing that she will play the part well. especially considering she is probably the most innocent person you will ever meet - so she will have the religious thing down pat.

Filming is apparantly all going well, but the guns are really freaking everyone out.. haha city girls in a country girls role was always going to be hard..

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davidbieber80 said...

Regardless, the movie is actually going to be made...which is beyond exciting. I am also hopeful that this movie will be a great success easing the way for other Australian YA novels adaptations eg Jellicoe Road (I know there's a script and director, ready and waiting).
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