Now, this is what I believe the Greek deity look like. This is how I picture them, as everyone pictures them differently. You can agree, you can disagree, either way is fine with me. I’m posting this as a blog because I feel like I have to explain some of my decisions.
I’ll put the god/goddess, who I want to portray them in story, a link to an image (or two, or three) for visual aid – just because I put an actor/actress/musician down doesn’t mean I mean what they look like now, it could be from a certain movie or time – followed by my reasoning for that choice (if I had a reason, because for some of them I really don’t have one).
Zeus | Sean Bean | This one or maybe this or even Game of Thrones Sean Bean
So if you’ve seen Percy Jackson and the Lightening Theif you’ll notice the similarity in Zeuss. Yes, it’s the same guy for those of you who haven’t. This is the only casting decision I agree with for how the gods & goddess are portrayed. I picture Zeus as blond, and in the first one Bean is blondish (that’s enough for me, to be honest). However, he’s almost always described as having a beard. So that’s where the Game of Thrones Bean comes in. With Zeus’s appearance I’m not as picky as I am with the other’s, but you get the general idea. I’m looking for a more early thirties look for most of the original six. So maybe go with a Fellowship of the Ring Sean Bean and we’ll have a fairly good comprise.
Poseidon | Tom Hiddleston | I think just one just do it
I don’t know why I picture Hiddleston as Poseidon, I really don’t, only that I do. I know the god of the sea is pictured as having a long beard, I just don’t see it. He’d have a beard, but not a particularly long one. I’m not a huge fan of facial hair, as you’ll learn, but I think Hiddleston pulls it off very well. I’m also completely smitten with him as an actor, so that might have something to do with it.
Hades | Gerard Butler | My favorite or why not 300 Gerard Butler?
I picture Hades as either in one of three ways; the first being the Disney version, no beard and a head of fire, the second being very pale and a dark, pointed beard, or thirdly as Butler. Either way, he’d be paler than he was in 300 – as he never sees the sun, so it makes sense to me – but I think you get the point. He’d be very dark, mysterious, and just as, if not more, gorgeous as the rest of the deity (except Hephaestus, but I’ll get to him later).
Hera | Catherine Tate | This first one or this one only because she's wearing a crown & scowling
So it’s taken me months to finally land on a Hera. Months. So finally, instead of basing my choice mostly based on looks, like I had for most of the other deity, but what I pictured her personality would be like. Well, for one, she’d be sassy, ballsy, and she’d be extremely vengeful. I choose Tate based I believe she plays that well… and there needed to be another ginger deity.
Demeter | Meryl Steep | She's not going to have wrinkles, if that's what you're thinking
I’m not going by what she’s normally described as looking like, but this is entirely what I believe Demeter looks like (I honestly doubt she’ll ever actually appear in the story, never-the-less). I’ve always pictured her to look slightly older than her brothers & sisters, mostly because of what she did when she discovered that Hades had kidnapped her daughter Persephone. She went straight to Zeus, Persephone’s father, and demanded that he brought her back from the Underworld. This goddess purposefully argued with the king of the gods and didn’t take no for an answer. (Well, she didn’t entirely get her way. But it’s more than what most people would do, given the situation.) For this reason, I see her more as a motherly figure than any of the goddess, especially Hera, and therefore would look maybe a few years older than everyone else. How I came to Streep? I don’t know. I just like her for Demeter.
Hestia | Annasophia Robb | Just one
Hestia will forever in my mind look the youngest of the original six. She’d look innocent, young, and be just as pretty as her sisters and brothers. There’s not much else to it, other than it took me almost as long to finally settle on a Hestia as it did to settle on a Hera.
And then, of course, we have…
Aphrodite | Rihanna | Only one
The red hair isn’t totally necessary, but I love that picture of her. Anyway, so you would think that the most beautiful goddess would’ve taken me forever to decide. Well it didn’t. It took me less than five seconds. Why? Because Rihanna is fucking gorgeous, that’s why.
My thing with the next generation is that I’ll always picture them looking younger than their parents (or, in this case, just Zeus because all but one are his children). So I’ll start with the two the story focuses more on, then I’ll go from there.
Dionysus | Justin Timberlake | I could only decide on one
Dionysus is described as either have a beard very similar to Hades or not having a beard at all. I’m settling with the middle ground here. I can’t really see Dionysus not having a beard, maybe a little scruff but not totally clean-shaven. If Dionysus is going for a full blown beard, it’d be more like Hades’s. I picture this god looking more like Hades than Zeus, maybe not quite as pale.
On another note, I also picked Timberlake because when I first started casting this, I started with him and Apollo. I hated that the Greek gods & goddess were always being played by someone from the UK, so I decided to rebel from that… but, as you’ve realized, that didn’t last long. Anyway, I think most of my decision steamed from seeing Timberlake dressed as a vine of grapes on an episode of SNL…
Apollo | Jake Abel | Yes Percy Jackson fans, the guy who plays Luke is my Apollo
I will believe to my dying breath that Apollo is blond. Even if the god stands in front of me and does not have blond hair, I will continue to believe Apollo has blond hair. Though Abel’s hair tends to lean towards the darker side of blond, it still works with me. Also, I believe that Apollo and Artemis are the babies of the group – right with Hestia and Persephone, of course – so naturally they have to look younger. Besides, if we’re going for the | [url= http://images2.fanpop.com/images/photos/8300000/Sean-Bean-sean-bean-8386702-856-1280.jpg]first[/url] picture of Zeus, the hair color generally matches anyway.
Artemis | Jennifer Lawrence | If you’re expecting a picture of her as Katniss you’re dead wrong
This one I had to think about for a while. It didn’t take me too long to pick Lawrence, but rather if I pictured her with black hair or blonde. To be honest, I mostly picture Artemis with white, silvery hair that more represents the moon. However, I think most people picture her as a brunette to contrast her twin. I disagree because odds are, I’m going to say Zeus has blond hair – as he is the god of the sky and it makes more sense – and Apollo must have blond hair as he is the god of the sun. Therefore, if Apollo has blond hair, than odds are his mother does too. And I’m not banking on Artemis taking after Hades. Therefore, Artemis has blonde hair (or a Malyfoy-resemblance blonde).
Persephone | Emma Watson | Since I mentioned Malfoy…
After hearing the story of her & Hades, I knew that Persephone was a teenager – or she inherited Poseidon’s teenager attitude – and is the youngest deity that might ever make an appearance in this story. How I came to Watson? I have no idea, it was just something that I pictured (with the exception that I think Persephone would have longer hair).
Ares | M. Shadows | This
First thing that pops into my mind when I think of a modern day god of war are: abs, sleeves, and extremely sexy. This decision took less time than my decision for Aphrodite, and I shouldn’t have to explain any further.
Hephaestus | Martin Freeman | I have a really long story about this
I do not in any way think that Freeman is ugly. I think that Freeman looks like your average guy – at least to me he does – and that is what I think Hephaestus looks like. I don’t think Hephaestus looks hideous, only that he looks average, and thus in comparison to the other deity looks unattractive as they are all breath-takingly beautiful. This being said, deciding an actor to portray Hephaestus took me a hell of a lot longer than it did for me to finally decide on a Hera. Actually, I didn’t come a decision till about two days ago (and I’ve been working on this list for almost two years). However, I didn’t want to put just a picture of one of the guys at my high school, so I left Hephaestus alone as I figured he’d never appear in the story. Don’t get your hopes up, he still probably will only be mentioned by name or in vague detail.
Hermes | Orlando Bloom | If you’re expecting a picture of Legolas or Will Turner you’re wasting your breath
To be honest, I completely forgot about Hermes when I started this. I picture him looking young, but not too young. Though I’m pretty sure he’s younger than Apollo, I picture Hermes looking older. However, I came to Bloom because I wanted Hermes to have dark, curly hair and Bloom was the first person I thought of.
Athena | Halle Berry | I’m running out of witty things to say because I typed this at elven p.m.
This decision was not an easy one. First, I decided Athena would be Lucy Liu, then she was Julianne Moore, and she Mila Kunis for about five minutes, then she was- well, I think you get the point. I couldn’t decide for the longest time, only that I wanted someone who I thought who was badass enough to tell any man that a woman could do anything – literally anything – a man could do. Then, I thought of Berry and my search was finally over.
And none, I only have two left. Yes, I know there are way more deities in Greek mythology. However, I just went with two whom I figured would mostly likely end up in the story – well, one of them probably won’t, but I figured I had to...
Heracles | Chris Hemsworth | Yes, I just made Thor Heracles while Loki is Poseidon, get over it
More commonly known as Hercules… and it’s only by chance that Hemsworth is again playing the most popular bastard son of the king of the gods. (Yes, in Norse mythology Frigga is not Thor’s biological mother, though her and Odin had seven sons together, I believe.) Only this time, he has a wicked step-mother. Anyway, Heracles means of Hera, which I find highly ironic. I prefer his Greek name to his Roman name, so that’s what he’ll be called in the story.
Iris | Emily Blunt | Click here
There really isn’t much to explain here. I picture Iris would be chatty, and full of sass. I’d imagine she’d be an awfully like Blunt’s character in The Devil Wears Prada. She’s probably make a couple of cameo appearances in the story, but not as much as I’d like (as I love sassy characters). To be honest, I don’t know very much about her, as I suspect she didn’t get into too much drama.
So, this has officially been declared the longest blog I’ve ever created. And if you’re still reading this, thank you for reading through my ranting. I’m really curious to see if people agree with me or not.
Either way, this was a little exhausting to write… but, overall, I’m glad I finally did it.
TTFN,
Emilee
*Reposted because I had a problem with the links, which have been fixed.