Thursday, July 19, 2007

Modern Day Mockingbird Cast

Booklogged over at A Reader's Journal had a lovely discussion with a Canadian youth this past week. Apparently she was reading To Kill a Mockingbird when a teen told her Peck was wrong for the part of Atticus. I like his reasoning, but I still prefer Gregory Peck!

This got me thinking, which actors might pull off a modern day version. Below are 12 cast members and the characters they portrayed in the 1962 cast. If you were ahead of production, money no object, who would you place in the roles of Atticus, Scout, and Boo? This might make a fun meme, but please, no pressure. Have fun...

Note: I thought the "Not Suitable For Children" was a nice touch on the movie poster.

Gregory Peck........................................Atticus Finch

John Megna......................Charles Baker 'Dill' Harris

Frank Overton..............................Sheriff Heck Tate

Brock Peters.......................................Tom Robinson

Estelle Evans...............................................Calpurnia

Paul Fix..................................................Judge Taylor

Collin Wilcox Paxton.................Mayella Violet Ewell

James Anderson...............Robert E. Lee 'Bob' Ewell

Robert Duvall.............................Arthur 'Boo' Radley

William Windom...................Mr. Gilmer, Prosecutor

Mary Badham....................................................Scout

Phillip Alford........................................................Jem

9 comments:

Gentle Reader said...

I read booklogged's post and thought it was great that she could talk lit with that kid! But I can't imagine anyone but Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch. He IS Atticus Finch, to me. And I also always loved that Robert Duvall was Boo Radley. A very interesting exercise!

maggie moran said...

I was wondering if Spenser Tracy might fill in as an Atticus alternative, Gentle Reader. You are so right though, Harper Lee wrote the part for Gregory Peck! :)

Tiffany Norris said...

I'm jumping on the bandwagon and agreeing that G. Peck was perfect for A. Finch. I can't even think of anyone today who could compare!
Meanwhile, like her or not, I have a feeling Dakota Fanning would snag the part of Scout...and what about Robin Williams as Boo Radley? He's done some off-the-wall stuff lately.

maggie moran said...

Hi Tiffany. What do you think about George Clooney as Atticus? We thought about Dakota but we also like that girl in Because of Winn Dixie. We, as in Hub and I, kinda like Jack Black as Boo. Robin's a little long in the tooth, it's like suggesting Barbara Streisand for Stephanie Plum, which one of my patrons did one day. If he could handle a serious role maybe he could play Boo's dad. :)

Diane said...

Like the others, I can't imagine anyone but Peck as Atticus . . . but when I did try, I too came up w/ Clooney as Finch and Fanning as Scout - of the two, I think Fanning as Scout is the least plausible . . .

maggie moran said...

What about Elle Fanning, Diane?

Tiffany Norris said...

Loving the idea of Jack Black for Boo Radley. Not sure about Clooney, though. I'm one of the maybe five people in the world who's not a huge fan. (Sorry.) :)

Anonymous said...

This is a hard one. Gregory Peck seems so perfect for me. I am sure Dakota Fanning would be Scout. She takes all the roles that age. George Clooney would be nice as Atticus I suppose.

Lana said...

fun, I think Robin Williams would be a great Boo!!

I don't know about the rest, I'm always bad about at these games but it's fun to see what others suggest.