Neil Gaiman Wanted Benedict Cumberbatch For SANDMAN; Now Likes Tom Hiddleston For Role
It turns out the fan-favourites for the role of Morpheus in Warner Bros.' planned Sandman movie are also the comic creator's picks. While talking to The Radio Times, Neil Gaiman names both Cumberbatch & Hiddleston as the actors he'd most like to see don the black cloak.
Jack Thorne, David Goyer and Joseph Gordon-Levitt are currently hard at work on the script for a big-screen adaptation of Neil Gaiman's acclaimed Sandman comic series. Levitt has also been rumored to be in line to direct and possibly even star in the film, but Gaiman seems to have other ideas about who could bring life to Morpheus. In an interview with the Radio Times, the writer admits that at one time he thought Johnny Depp would be a good fit, but after seeing Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock he began to like him for the role. Gaiman then acknowledges that's unlikely to happen since Cumberbatch will play Doctor Strange for Marvel, but states that "Tom Hiddleston is still out there".
From his comments (which you can read in full below), it doesn't actually sound as if he's particularly fussy about who winds up playing the distinctively pale personification of dreams -- though an English accent seems to be a must! Gaiman also praises the passion of those involved with the project, and reveals that he'll be sitting down to read the most up-to-date version of the script over Christmas.
"There was a time Johnny Depp would've been a great Morpheus, but now he's too old and it's fine. I think the first time I saw Benedict [Cumberbatch] was as Sherlock Holmes, I thought, 'wow, that's incredibly Morpheus.' Tom Hiddleston is still out there, and the truth is, as far as I'm concerned, anybody who sounds English with great cheekbones can probably pull it off. With Joseph Gordon-Levitt in charge, his instincts are good and he loves the material. He wants it to be true to the material. [T]hey've written a script. I got a phone call about two, three weeks ago from Joe and David [S. Goyer] saying, 'Jack did a script, we read it, we want some things done to it. We want you to see it, but not this version. The next version will be in three weeks and then you'll be the first person to see it.' So I am now a week before seeing the script. It's going to come in just before Christmas. I'm nervous, I'm on tenterhooks. But do I have good feelings? Yeah I do."
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Mark Cassidy is a writer, photographer, amateur filmmaker, and Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic from Dublin, Ireland.