The Cast of Stephen King's THE STAND to Include James Marsden, Amber Heard, Whoopi Goldberg, and More
Director Josh Boone (The Fault of Our Stars, The New Mutants) has started casting his big ensemble cast for his series adaptation of Stephen King’s epic novel The Stand. CBS All Access is producing the 10 episode series, and the cast they are putting together is pretty impressive.
Thanks to Collider, we know some of the actors who the director is casting in the film. They include James Marsden, Amber Heard, Whoopi Goldberg, Greg Kinnear, and more. Here is the list of actors currently in negotiations:
James Marsden (Westworld) is in “advanced negotiations to play Stu Redman, a Texan who is the first man discovered to be immune to the Captain Trips virus that has ravaged the planet. He eventually becomes a leader in a community known as the Free Zone, and is tasked with confronting the evil Randall Flagg.”
Amber Heard (Aquaman) is in negotiations to play Nadine Cross, “a private school teacher and virgin who believes she has a unique destiny to be by Flagg’s side.”
Whoopi Goldberg is in negotiations to play Mother Abagail, “who is immune to the superflu and leads the ‘good’ survivors of the plague toward Boulder, Colorado. She also claims to be a prophet of God.”
Greg Kinnear is in negotiations to play Glen Bateman, “an arthritis-afflicted professor who joins Stu on his journey to meet Mother Abagail.”
Odessa Young (Assassination Nation) is in advanced negotiations to play Frannie Goldsmith, “a pregnant woman who leaves her devastated community with a man named Harold Lauder, but ends up falling in love with Stu, much to Harold’s chagrin.”
Henry Zaga (The New Mutants) is set to play Nick Andros, “a young, deaf-mute grifter who wears an eye patch for most of King’s book.”
There are still a lot of other characters to cast, but this is a great start! The Stand is an incredible story, the ultimate good vs. evil story. Boone is a huge fan of the novel, and I think it’s great that the project evolved from a series of films to a ten episode series. This will allow him the time to deliver the best possible adaptation of the story.
When previously talking about The Stand being adapted into a series, King said:
“I’m excited and so very pleased that The Stand is going to have a new life on this exciting new platform. The people involved are men and women who know exactly what they’re doing; the scripts are dynamite. The result bids to be something memorable and thrilling. I believe it will take viewers away to a world they hope will never happen.”
The Stand tells the story of good vs. evil after a virus wipes out most of the American population. While it features dozens of characters and overlapping storylines running over many years, the struggle boils down to a group of survivors fighting the Antichrist-like character Randall Flagg.
I can’t want to see how this series turns out! What do you all think of the cast?