2 Attachment(s)
The Stand TV Series Reportedly Casts James Marsden, Amber Heard & More
The CBS All Access TV series adaptation of Stephen King's apocalyptic epic The Stand reportedly casts James Marsden, Amber Heard, and more. In 1978, King published The Stand, what many fans would consider his magnum opus as a writer. A doorstopper of a book, The Stand revolves around the accidental release of a man-made virus that manages to wipe out most of the human population, and what happens to those who survive this plague. The "good" side of humanity is drawn to the Nebraska home of a kindly old woman named Mother Abigail, while the "evil" side is drawn to Las Vegas, and a demonic being named Randall Flagg.
While that might sound like a fairly straightforward setup, as with most of King's writings, things are a lot more complex than they might first appear. For one, many of those on the side of good aren't exactly saints, while many on the side of evil have reservations about what they're doing. As always, people aren't morally black and white, and The Stand reflects this, even if King's story can get a bit too heavy handed with the religious aspects at times.
Originally planned to be a series of films, director Josh Boone's passion project, a new adaptation of The Stand is set to become a 10-episode limited series on the CBS All Access streaming service. It's been a while since any major developments occurred, but now, a new report by Collider has shed some light on how the casting is shaping up. The two biggest names reported to be involved are James Marsden (Westworld) and Amber Heard (Aquaman). Marsden is in talks to play lead hero Stu Redman, a Texan, and the first person seen to be immune to the virus. Heard will reportedly play Nadine Cross, a conflicted woman destined to become Flagg's dark bride.
Also reportedly onboard for The Stand is Greg Kinnear (House of Cards), set to play the role of kindly professor Glen Bateman, who meets up with and joins Stu early in his journey toward Mother Abigail. Speaking of her, in perhaps the most surprising bit of casting, Whoopi Goldberg is in line to play God's 100-plus-year-old emissary. Despite her current notoriety as a host of The View, it's important to remember that Goldberg is an accomplished actor, and has won the rare EGOT combo of awards. Rounding out the current casting report are two relative unknowns, Odessa Young (Assassination Nation) as Stu's eventual love interest Fran Goldsmith, and Henry Zaga (The New Mutants) as Nick Andros, a deaf mute who comes to form a friendship with a learning disabled man named Tom Cullen.
While Marsden and Heard are both around the same age as Gary Sinise and Laura San Giacomo were when playing the roles of Stu and Nadine in the 1994 ABC miniseries version of The Stand, fans are likely to notice that the casting of the 56-year-old Kinnear as Glen Bateman represents a major reduction in age from Ray Walston, who played the role in his late-70s for the miniseries. Notably though, this is actually adhering closer to the book, which places Glen in his late-50s when the virus hit. Goldberg is also about 10 years younger than Ruby Dee was as Mother Abigail in the miniseries, although the character is extremely old, so she'll need to be under makeup either way.
Assuming all these castings actually happen, that will still leave an array of important roles in The Stand in need of filling, including Randall Flagg himself, fast-talking crooner Larry "Baby, Can You Dig Your Man?" Underwood, infamous turncoat Harold Lauder, Flagg's top lieutenant Lloyd Henreid, and the aforementioned Tom "M-O-O-N" Cullen. It'll be interesting to see how King's sprawling landscape fills out in the live-action realm this time.
