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-Oscar Wilde		 Brilliant at Breakfast title banner "The liberal soul shall be made fat, and he that watereth, shall be watered also himself."
-- Proverbs 11:25
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"I came here to chew bubblegum and kick ass. And I'm all out of bubblegum." -- "Rowdy" Roddy Piper (1954-2015), They Live
Saturday, September 08, 2007

"I was born into a world full of people, and now I live in a pack of mad dogs"
Posted by Jill | 6:21 PM
Thus spake Margaret Tyzack as Antonia, Claudius' mother, in the 1976 BBC miniseries meticulously adapted from Robert Graves' novel, I, Claudius.

I think of that series all too often of late, given the resemblance of the current occupant of the White House to variously just about every character in Graves' loose Roman history at one point or another.

It's surprising how well the series has held up over thirty years; far better than The Forsyte Saga, which kicked off Masterpiece Theatre just eight years earlier and now seems awkwardly stagy. It's also surprising just how little Patrick Stewart has aged in thirty years.

But how do you remake a classic? A few years ago, a new Forsyte Saga ran on public television, and it was nearly impossible to take it on its own merits, with the memories of Nyree Dawn Porter and Kenneth More still vivid after thirty years. Now producer Scott Rudin has obtained the film rights to I, Claudius, and Leonardo DiCaprio is rumored to be interested.

One's first reaction is a kind of eye-rolling "Oh, Lord, no!". But if you look back at What's Eating Gilbert Grape, you can see that DiCaprio is not as awful a choice as you'd think. With his pretty boy years behind him, DiCaprio has finally managed to once again find the actor inside that got lost in the hype following That Boat Movie. You wouldn't think he could be Howard Hughes either, but even Mr. Brilliant, who was one of the scores of American males who detested DiCaprio for years had to admit that he pulled it off. Claudius is extremely difficult to play, and Derek Jacobi is one hell of a tough act to follow. And it's hard to imagine someone like Johnny Depp being subtle enough to do it. So if the rumors are true, it's a promising start.

Many years ago, I used to sit in a coffee shop with a friend and cast Stephen King's The Stand as we envisioned the characters. So let's, on this weekend where I'm having trouble getting motivated to do much of anything, cast I, Claudius.

To begin:

For Livia, the role originated by Sian Phillips and the inspiration for Tony Soprano's mother of the same name:





a) Helen Mirren:




b) Judi Dench




c) La Streep




Or who else?

And who would you cast as:

Augustus?



Caligula?




Sejanus and Tiberius?



How do you recast perfection? Do your best in the comments. And for everything you ever (or never) wanted to know about the historical accuracy of I, Claudius, see the Coolest Student Project Ever.

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