Help me find a film/tv/photo stand-in for the Imperial Radch?
February 23, 2016 5:15 PM Subscribe
For extremely nerdy (ie Tumblr) reasons, I need a series of images which can be re-interpreted to illustrate various characters from Ann Leckie's Imperial Radch books -- Ancillary Justice, Ancillary Sword and Ancillary Mercy. In other words, I want photos that I can point to and say, "Hey, it's Breq!"
Or Seivarden, or Awn, or any number of other folks.
Functionally, this means what I need are images of dark-skinned actresses and actors in costumes and settings which can be read as space opera-compatible. Ideally, I'd love recs for films or television episodes, so that I can go and grab stills from them that fit what I have in mind.
If you don't know anything about these particular books, then recs for SF, fantasy and action films starring dark-skinned women and men would also be very helpful!
Or Seivarden, or Awn, or any number of other folks.
Functionally, this means what I need are images of dark-skinned actresses and actors in costumes and settings which can be read as space opera-compatible. Ideally, I'd love recs for films or television episodes, so that I can go and grab stills from them that fit what I have in mind.
If you don't know anything about these particular books, then recs for SF, fantasy and action films starring dark-skinned women and men would also be very helpful!
Best answer: How about Hannah John-Kamen from Killjoys for Anaander Mianaai? I read The Lord of the Radch as a female person, but I know a lot of people read the character as male.
I think Keisha Castle-Hughes would make an interesting Tisarwat.
Maybe Arjun Gupta from The Magicians or Ricky Whittle from The 100 for Seivarden?
In terms of ease in finding images I think a lot of Hannah's Killjoys episodes would be great. If Ricky Whittle suits your mental image then look for images from season 3 of The 100 like this one.
posted by Mouse Army at 6:51 PM on February 23, 2016
I think Keisha Castle-Hughes would make an interesting Tisarwat.
Maybe Arjun Gupta from The Magicians or Ricky Whittle from The 100 for Seivarden?
In terms of ease in finding images I think a lot of Hannah's Killjoys episodes would be great. If Ricky Whittle suits your mental image then look for images from season 3 of The 100 like this one.
posted by Mouse Army at 6:51 PM on February 23, 2016
Best answer: I don't know if any of these are what you have in mind. My personal headcanon is 100% female (even though the text indicates otherwise!), so clearly I'm not doing it right. And I don't really have mental pictures of any of the characaters.
Freema Agyeman in Doctor Who (not sure which episodes for more sf settings/clothes--maybe Gridlock, 42, The Stolen Earth, Last of the Time Lords, The Doctor's Daughter...)
Angela Bassett in Strange Days
Zoe Saldana in Star Trek
Will (and Jaden) Smith in After Earth
Gina Torres in Firefly (she does have other outfits, I think)
Whoopi Goldberg in Star Trek
Zawe Ashton in Doctor Who ("Into the Dalek")
Pippa Bennett-Warner in Doctor Who ("Time Heist")
John Boyega in SWTFA
Thandie Newton in The Chronicles of Riddick (haven't seen, don't how how much she's in it)
posted by wintersweet at 6:59 PM on February 23, 2016
Freema Agyeman in Doctor Who (not sure which episodes for more sf settings/clothes--maybe Gridlock, 42, The Stolen Earth, Last of the Time Lords, The Doctor's Daughter...)
Angela Bassett in Strange Days
Zoe Saldana in Star Trek
Will (and Jaden) Smith in After Earth
Gina Torres in Firefly (she does have other outfits, I think)
Whoopi Goldberg in Star Trek
Zawe Ashton in Doctor Who ("Into the Dalek")
Pippa Bennett-Warner in Doctor Who ("Time Heist")
John Boyega in SWTFA
Thandie Newton in The Chronicles of Riddick (haven't seen, don't how how much she's in it)
posted by wintersweet at 6:59 PM on February 23, 2016
Best answer: Ooooh, I like Will Smith/Jaden Smith for Anaander Mianaai because ideally you'd want different ages to represent her different bodies. Jaden also a good choice because in his personal style he wears dresses and other non-gender-binary clothing, which I feel like is also important for capturing the feel of the books.
Rekha Sharma from Battlestar Galactica strikes me as a good possibility for Awn?
Several of the actors/actresses from the 100 could work well for Tisarwat since the cast is young and racially diverse.
I would also look at folks who identify off the gender binary, even if they're not on scifi shows. Rapper Angel Haze and artist Alok Vaid-Menon could fit the bill (Alok in particular feels like a Seivarden to me).
And, although she is obviously very white, Tilda Swinton is who I most picture in my head for Breq.
posted by rainbowbrite at 8:09 PM on February 23, 2016
Rekha Sharma from Battlestar Galactica strikes me as a good possibility for Awn?
Several of the actors/actresses from the 100 could work well for Tisarwat since the cast is young and racially diverse.
I would also look at folks who identify off the gender binary, even if they're not on scifi shows. Rapper Angel Haze and artist Alok Vaid-Menon could fit the bill (Alok in particular feels like a Seivarden to me).
And, although she is obviously very white, Tilda Swinton is who I most picture in my head for Breq.
posted by rainbowbrite at 8:09 PM on February 23, 2016
Best answer: Here are a few more from shows I haven't seen (continuing to interpret things pretty liberally, because there's a definite shortage ...):
Shohreh Aghdashloo in The Expanse
Dominique Tipper in The Expanse
Keith Hamilton Cobb in Andromeda
posted by wintersweet at 8:53 PM on February 23, 2016
Shohreh Aghdashloo in The Expanse
Dominique Tipper in The Expanse
Keith Hamilton Cobb in Andromeda
posted by wintersweet at 8:53 PM on February 23, 2016
Response by poster: Investigating all of these excellent links shall be my reward for handing a work thing in tomorrow!!!!!
posted by Narrative Priorities at 12:39 PM on February 28, 2016
posted by Narrative Priorities at 12:39 PM on February 28, 2016
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Due to the female pronouns used in the books I have a hard time envisioning either of them as men but here are some other possibilities:
Alex or Fred Johnson in The Expanse.
Michael Pena's character in The Martian.
Romilly in Interstellar.
Laurence Fishburne's character in The Signal (not a good movie, sorry).
posted by esoterrica at 6:46 PM on February 23, 2016