A Half-Life fantasy casting!

I'm taking a break from SFM for the next week or so to finish some work contracts, and to get my energy back for the animation of the final (!) scene and the extensive post-production work involved.

But in the meantime, let's have ourselves a little Half-Life fantasy casting. I've always wanted to make a live-action Half-Life film, and it's still a bit of a pipe dream of mine. I almost see this SFM series in some respect as an animated storyboard of sorts.

So if money was no object and the film could be made tomorrow, here are my picks for Half-Life's leads. Feel free to give your suggestions in the comments below!

Gordon Freeman: Bernhard Forcher

 

Star of the absolutely INCREDIBLE web series The Freeman Chronicles, Forcher is already everything we want from Gordon Freeman. Taciturn and intense, he injects the right mix of fear and determination into our favourite blank-slate hero. Watch The Freeman Chronicles here:

http://www.thefreemanchronicles.com/

Runner up: Keanu Reeves, the blankest of blank slates.

Alyx Vance: Alia Shawkat

 

Youthful and wide-eyed, the Green Room and Paint it Black star would do justice to both Alyx's kind, warm-hearted demeanour and her tough, determined spirit without ever being relegated to a sexy damsel for Gordon.

Runner up: Adriana Lima, because what better way to ruin Half-Life for the fans by taking influence from Cinematic Mod's worst excesses? 

The G-Man: Peter Capaldi

 

Capaldi has been on our screens recently as the enigmatic Twelfth Doctor, but it's his portrayal of the terrifying, sinister government DoC Malcolm Tucker in The Thick of It that would lend the G-Man a suitable sense of menace. That, and he literally looks exactly like him.

Runner up: Christopher Walken - he's so bizarre anyway it wouldn't take much effort to portray someone who may or may not be an alien impersonating a human without total success.

Barney Calhoun: Paul Rudd

 

Like Barney, Rudd is just too damn likeable. He could always be counted upon to provide some levity and friendly camaraderie against the backdrop of a disastrous global nightmare.

Runner up: Robert Downey Jr, who seriously needs a break from the endless stream of shite that Marvel is churning out with no sign of stopping any time soon.

Eli Vance: Clarke Peters

 

Sorry, literally everyone on the internet, Morgan Freeman is just lazy casting. Clarke Peters stole so many scenes in The Wire as Lester Freamon - a father figure of sorts to the Major Crimes Unit, and an indispensable detective and strategist. His leadership and quiet dignity is perfect for Vance Sr.

Runner up: Fine, it can be Morgan Freeman, okay?

Isaac Kleiner: Kevin Spacey

 

Bear with me on this one. An odd choice, but Kevin Spacey is such a talented, diverse actor that he could nail basically any role. It would be great to see him play against type as the neurotic, excitable genius Kleiner and he'd make the perfect foil for Clarke Peters' Eli.

Runner up: Woody Allen, who Kleiner must have been influenced by to some degree. Neurotic? Check. Jittery? Check. Intelligent? Check. Big forehead? Check.

Wallace Breen: Bryan Cranston

 

Sure he'd be a bit underused, but he was underused in Godzilla as well, and was swiftly dropped in favour of the cast of a late 2000s Call of Duty title and the Olsen that no one's heard of (she's the talented one). He would nail Breen's insincere smile, and could do despotic madness pretty well.

Runner up: Malcolm McDowell, because he's all kinds of sinister.

Judith Mossman: Gillian Anderson

 

She's a cult hero in science fiction already - imagine the cheers from the audience when she appears on screen for the first time in Black Mesa East. Anderson could be uptight, duplicitous and endearing for one of Half-Life 2's underappreciated characters.

Runner up: Gillian Anderson. No one else gets to be Mossman.

I could go on. There's a whole host of supporting characters, such as Father Grigori (Alfred Molina), Odessa Cubbage (Alfred Molina), the All-Knowing Vortigaunt (Alfred Molina)...but this entry is clearly reaching tl;dr territory and it's 3am so I should probably go to bed.

As I said, feel free to agree, give suggestions or tear me a new arsehole for not casting Morgan Freeman in the comments! And think about other characters too. I personally would like to see Clint Howard as a headcrab.

P.S. As a thank you for everyone's patience and further support while I battle on with episode two, here's a little teaser image for future work demonstrating some model replacement and custom texturing...

HECU Fire Team Heron 1-1 en route to a mission whose brief is as yet unknown.
L-R: PFC David Nielsen, Pvt Martin Rosenthal, SSgt James Levine, Cpl Laura Walko