Red Dead Redemption 2 is one of the best games that I have ever played. from it’s attention to detail to its unforgettable characters, RDR2 shows that video games can have the same level of cinematic quality of a movie. So it’s inevitable that someone somewhere will try to adapt this into a movie or (preferably) a TV series. Whether or not such a project ever sees the light of day (or if it’s even good) is not important – I just want to wear my casting director hat for the evening.

** SPOILER WARNING **

Main Characters

Arthur Morgan – Bradley Cooper

Dutch van der-Linde – Josh Brolin 

Josh Brolin has had a career playing both rough heroes and intimidating villains (Thanos comes to mind). This makes Brolin a perfect fit Dutch, as in many ways the charismatic leader of the “Van der-Linde Gang” was both.

Unlike other antagonists, Dutch is not really the kind villain you face as an enemy time and time again – if anything he was Arthur’s mentor who raised him like a son (at least in Dutch’s eyes). In the beginning, he seems to be an anarchist dreamer who wants to create a society free of government and all that comes with – only to have his mind slowly be turned down by his failures and the deaths of his friends. Ultimately, he ends up less of a villain and more of a heroic leader fallen from grace.

As for Brolin, he has played hard type western characters a few times before. He may have played a drunk in True Grit, but a much better comparison would be his role in both Sicario films – where he shows us someone who is commanding and ruthless all the while nurturing the heroes until they no longer serve him.

Sadie Adler – Jamie Pressly

Sadie needs to be played by a woman who’s had years of living on the frontier. Someone who already knows how to use a gun ready to explode into a vicious and thirsty killer the second you take away her husband. This would be a slight change for Jamie Pressly, who most people know from My Name Is Earl, but even in that show she played a tough no nonsense character who knows what she’s doing.

Alternate pick: voice actress Alex McKenna

John Marston – Kit Harrington

While John Marston may have been the protagonist in the first game, in RDR2 we see him as an NPC stumbling through his his origin story, playing him only as RDR2’s epilogue fades into its setting as a prequel (an unusual but nice touch for a #2 game).

In the context of the gang, Marston is substantially younger than the rest of the “core” members – about a decade or so younger than our dear Mr. Morgan. So it makes sense to cast someone within that age range (mid-20s or at least looks it). This is an opportunity for Kit Harrington to break out of his Jon Snow “She’s muh Queen” legacy and play a character who isn’t the brooding sad type, but instead the brooding angry rebellious type. Interestingly there have been fake trailers inserting footage from Kit’s western film, Brimstone. So I’m not the only one envisioning Jon Snow as John Marston.

Sabastian Stan was also in consideration, but he seemed to close in age to Cooper. He could however play John Marston in for the first Red Dead Redemption narrative, as that game is set about 12 years later.

Hosea – Ben Mendelson

Hosea is certainly the “old man” of the bunch, but is far from weak as he was even willing to hunt down a Legendary bear with Mr. Morgan. He was however more of a strategist than a gunfighter and served as a counterpoint to Dutch’s plans.

Ben Mendelson is mostly known for playing villains thanks to his appearance in Rogue One: a Star Wars Story does resemble Hosea in some ways and he has played gritty mentor characters before in other media like The Outsider.  It can be an opportunity to play a more reserved character and break out of playing the villain (though, I hesitate to call our main characters heroes since they are outlaws of their own free will).

Charles – Winston Duke

Charles brings his own seasoned history to the gang, and is one of the story’s more memorable side characters whose loyalty is more to his friends than to Dutch. More than once Charles would risk life and limb for his gang from saving John Marston, to later teaming up with John and Sadie to avenge Arthur Morgan. Owing to his half Native American background Charles also works to try to broker relations with Dutch’s gang and the suffering Wapiti Indians until realizing Dutch’s truce with the Natives was a means to an end.

Charles is a somewhat hard person to cast as It’s difficult to find actors who have an Afro-Native heritage (not to mention that Charles is just a broad guy). Tobagonian-American actor Winston Duke who’s getting recognition from his roles in Black Panther and Us is one of the few black actors working who fits the physical appearance as of now.

Finding the right actor with mixed Afro Native ancestry would be a challenge as he also needs to be a large bulky individual. Potentially this could be one of the few characters a director may take creative liberties with. One chance to get around this obstacle to have Winston Duke play the part could be Instead of having a mixed race ancestry he could be a free black man who sought safety with the plains Indians as a child, which led him on his path to the gang. This has been known to happen historically, and It would explain why Charles has an affinity to Native american tribes and wouldn’t change any other of Charles’ stories. With all that said, It is still possible in the future to find a mixed Afro-native with a heavy build to play Charles.

Micha Bell – Sam Rockwell

The idea behind Micha Bell is that he is a flexible and cunning schemer, gunslinger, and a survivor who likely joined several gangs prior joining up with Dutch. He needs to be played by an actor who can exhibit these traits.

Sam Rockwell has already portrayed such characters and traits at several points in his career, but his recent roles in Three Billboards, The Best of Enemies, and JoJo Rabbit, come to mind. Obviously, we’d love to see him use this opportunity for him to play more comedic villains.

Alternate pick: Ewan McGregor

Supporting Gang

Javier Escuella – Michael Pena

Certainly needs to be played by a Latino actor who’s has the range to be reserved, but can switch to a killer quickly. Pena has mostly been known as a comic actor now, but prior to that Pena has done a variety of dramas such as Crash and even been in several recent war films such as Fury and 12 Strong. Pena’s previous roles show he would fit well in our late-western setting.

Lenny – Tyler James Williams

 

Lenny seems to be among the younger bunch of Dutch’s gang and has often been mentored by Arthur in a sort of younger brother type relationship. In some ways Lenny is a comic relief among the gang as known from his bar scene (see link below). Some may take issue with Lenny being the sase black sidekick but many people (spoilers) were shocked when he was killed in chapter 4, showing Lenny has stuck a core with fans of the game. As Lenny was a bit of a comic relief casting, Tyler James Williams would make sense.

Bill – Clive Standen

Bill is the enforcer of the gang. An army veteran who is discharged from the army. Naturally this calls for a character that is large and has a quick temper.

Clive Standen has played such characters before in the history channel series Vikings as Rollo. This could be a chance to see Standen play a role that is just as brutish but much more unhinged. Think a Viking Berserker with a gun.

Abigail – Kaya Scodelario

There were several prominent female characters who joined the gang either as prostitutes or companions. Abigail joined as a prostitute, but likely changed her ways when her son Jack was born. Despite changing her ways, being a new mother and being more of a participant in the gang’s daily life, she is far from a pushover as she seems to almost take pleasure shaming and bashing around her on-again-off-again relationship with John. This role needs an exceptional actor who can make a snarky character who has a lot of heart.

Kaya Scodelario is someone I’ve only seen recently in Pirates of the Caribbean 5. I didn’t like her so much character in that film (the cliched woman ahead of her time trope). That said Kaya does have potential in other roles that are better written. She is much more widely known from her Maze Runner role, but seeing as since I’ve yet to actually see Maze Runner and she has the best resemblance out of all the other growing brunette actresses we could find, we’re going with her on the shallow resemblance basis alone. Realistically, if the producer decides his niece’s favorite actress needs to be in the movie, this is the role for <insert a literally interchangeable actress here>.

As a side note, I originally considered Jennifer Lawrence, but realized more that she would be a great fit for the role of Bonnie MacFarlane in the first RDR game.

Mary-Beth – Charlotte Hope

Mary Beth seems to be the most reserved of the “working girls” in the Van der-Linde Gang – more interested in literature than knocking over banks and trains. She’s someone whom Arthur Morgan approaches whenever Arthur feels he needs to talk. This requires someone who is easy to approach and can convey a little sisterly bond to Arthur Morgan.

This would be a great opportunity for Charlotte Hope (known for playing Ramsay Bolton’s psychopath girlfriend in Game of Thrones) to play a much more kindhearted loving character. Perhaps most importantly, not having her suffer through a bad Spanish accent like her most recent role as Queen Cathrine in The Spanish Princess.

Ms. Grimshaw – Lucy Lawless

Given that she is the highest ranking female member of this gang, the portrayal of Miss Susan Grimshaw needs someone with high authority in her performance. Lucy Lawless has certainly played stern matriarch characters in the past and yet she hasn’t played in a western yet as far as I have been able to dig up.

Sean – Domhnall Gleeson

Whenever possible it’s always appropriate to cast an Irishman to play one. In Domhnall’s case it’s more than just the accent, he bears large resemblance to Sean – not to mention has played frontier characters in the past such as in The Revenant.

Tilly – Lettia Wright

As an African American woman in the game’s southern setting, Tilly is likely the most vulnerable person in the group – both inside and outside the gang. Lettia has certainly played a strong role as Shuri in Black Panther, but this is an opportunity where she could play someone who isn’t a badass, instead a vulnerable but optimistic character. Her portrayal would provide perspective of the harsh reality of a black woman struggling getting by in the American frontier, even amongst the supposedly more tolerant Van der-Linde gang.

Reverend Swanson – William H. Macy

Swanson is something of a lost soul despite trying to be the moral center of the gang. This could be a chance for Macy who hasn’t been in the major spotlight in recent years to shine through in this kind of performance. This would be a great opportunity to play a misunderstood, but impactful character.

Karen – Florence Pugh

Florence’s career has really accelerated in the past few years thanks to her performances in both period dramas like Little Women and horror films such as Midsommar. She is no stranger to playing characters that have started out as cheerful and fun to becoming cold and detached (Her performance in Lady Macbeth for example is downright disturbing). Florence certainly has the range to play Karen, who in the game is a drunk charmer who’s slowly killing herself with the booze.

Molly – Evanna Lynch

She may have to dye her hair for this, but if there’s potential for Irish Evanna Lynch to get into the spotlight again it could be Molly. It could be fascinating seeing her evolve from a kindhearted girl like her Luna Lovegood character from the Harry Potter series to a hopeless romantic stuck in an uncaring relationship with Dutch.

Uncle – Bruce Dern

The most unproductive member of the group needs to be played by the laziest looking actor one could find. We’ve seen what Bruce Dern can be like in Hateful 8 as a guy just sitting there, taking his time taking in the sights, while everyone is killing each other.

Leopold Strauss – Ulrich Matthes

Strauss is one of those gang members that I’ve almost cut out, but I realize he was a major part in Arthur’s story arc. Strauss manages the gang’s finances most of which of course was stolen from the gang’s numerous heists. Arthur has spent a lot of side quests robbing people that owed the gang money whether they were innocent or otherwise. It wasn’t until chapter 6 that Arthur realizes that robbing poor desperate folk was wrong and he tosses Strauss out of the gang.

German Actor Ulrich Matthews does resemble Strauss quite a bit, and has a long career in the German film industry. For those who don’t know Matthes is known for playing Nazi minister Joseph Gobbles in the movie Downfall. So there’s a bit of a social irony their to have a guy who’s plays Nazi’s serve as Dutch’s accountant.

Side Characters

The following characters I don’t have the time for descriptions, but would love to see cast in these roles.

Mary – Emily Blunt

Agent Milton – William Fichtner

Sheriff Grey – Walton Goggins

Mrs. Brathwaite – Michelle Fairley

Angelo Bronte – Sergio Castellitto

Rain Falls – Wes Studi

Eagle Flies – Forrest Goodluck

Omitted Characters

I have decided to exclude other characters such as Trelawny (whom I originally thought of Aidan Gillen for the part) and Kieren as I felt they didn’t add much to the story. All Trelawny does is show the gang possible targets, before getting himself in trouble, only for Arthur to bust him out. Kieren on the other hand is completely forgettable (you forgot him too until I put him in this paragraph – don’t lie). So both those characters are cut. 

Another character I’ve decided to cut is Agent Ross He is a character best kept reserved as the next antagonist for the first red dead game. If anyone is wondering who I would have chosen, it would be Kurt Russell. At the very least Ross could be in the epilogue so that bringing in Kurt for a few foreshadowing seconds won’t seem as wasted as just tagging along Agent Milton’s shoulder the whole time.

I understand there may be other characters that I have yet to be included on this list, but understand that this list is about characters you know that would work and actors that this blogger believes could fit the role. Some of my picks could very well be “wrong” and there could have been others that I’ve missed, but it’s my imaginary movie so deal with it. In the future when Hollywood, HBO, or any network actually tries to adapt this, one casting director or producer would come across this list and recruit these talented individuals for such an ambitious project.

When and Where to Set it?

The time period is mostly set in 1899 at the end of the wild west. This time period is important because Arthur and especially Dutch know that the age of cowboys and outlaws is coming to an end. Ideally given the density of the story and characters it makes sense that it gets adapted into a TV series (high budget given the star power and scale of production in some scenes). Each season should represent each chapter of the game with the beginning snow level forming and as a hour and a half long pilot special.

It is important to stress that just because I imagined Red Dead Redemption being adapted for TV doesn’t mean it should be. This could be a subject that i may elaborate in the future, but to summarize the story should be able to fit in whatever realm it belongs, and at this point it belongs in a Video Game. this article is simply a what if this story and these characters were in a movie and who would play them.