I think it’s becoming painfully apparent that we are something of Stephen King obsessives here at Trouble City. It’s also becoming painfully apparent that we are beyond excited for the CBS All Access adaptation of The Stand because it’s based on King’s greatest book and we have been waiting decades for a faithful adaptation of the novel. Plus, despite his rather thin filmography, we are certain that writer/director Josh Boone is the right man for the job because he’s probably one of the biggest King fans alive. The idea of The Stand being a 10-episode, not-on-network-TV epic helmed by a legitimate King fanatic sounds like music to our ears. M-O-O-N that spells “hyped”.
Now that production has begun on the mini-series, we are getting casting news left and right about it. Just today it was officially announced that Oscar nominee Greg Kinnear will play one of the main characters, Glen Bateman. Bateman is a retired sociology professor when the superflu decimates mankind. He is a calm, humorous and slightly cynical voice of reason who ends up being one of the major good guys. His relationship with lead character Stu Redman is particularly heart-warming in my opinion. Kinnear has been a rumored choice for the role for some time so his casting comes as no surprise. Some may balk at Kinnear’s casting because Bateman is an elderly character but he’s actually only 57 years old so Kinnear lines up, he’s 56.
Recently it was also announced that Heather Graham would be joining the cast as Rita Blakemoor, a pivotal role. Blakemoor is a wealthy socialite who crosses paths with rock star Larry Underwood right after New York City completely bites the dust. Her interactions with Underwood prove to be VERY important for the rest of his story. Graham is a solid choice for the part though it makes me feel uncomfortable because Blakemoor is supposed to be an older woman and I can’t live in a world where Heather Graham could even be considered “older”. Gosh, I feel ancient.
But there’s more casting news! Eion Bailey, Katherine McNamara and Hamish Linklater have also joined the cast. Bailey will portray Teddy Weizak, a superflu survivor and one of the people who helps clean up Boulder, Colorado. From what I remember, Weizak isn’t a huge part so I’m not sure we will be seeing much of Bailey. McNamara will be playing Julie Lawry, a small-town girl with an evil streak who causes some serious complications for the good guys. And Linklater will be playing a new character, Dr. Ellis, who attempts to find a cure for Captain Trips as society breaks down. I’m very curious about that part because it’s the second brand-new character that Josh Boone has dreamt up. It was previously reported that Daniel Sunjata would be playing a character named Cobb, a government employee who also deals with the initial outbreak and attempts to find a solution. I am just speculating but it seems that Boone is playing around with the first part of the story, the breakdown of society because of the unstoppable killer virus. I’m okay with that idea but I worry that I haven’t heard anything about one of the novel’s best characters, General Starkey, played by Ed Harris in the original ABC mini-series. Starkey oversees the secret government project that crafts the killer disease. His story contains some of the best, creepiest stuff in the entire novel. I hope and pray that Boone hasn’t replaced Starkey with these brand new characters. I guess we will see.
Despite all this casting there are still many more roles left to fill. People joke about the massive cast list of The Stand but it honestly has more characters than the damn Bible. As production moves forward, expect to hear more names.
As an additional fun piece of news, get a load of this pic that Boone recently shared on his Instagram. Fans of the novel will understand what this last name means:
