Casting Robin Hood

I have been fascinated with Robin Hood since I was a little kid and first watched Errol Flynn sweep Olivia de Havilland off her feet with his heroics. (I then graduated to that adventuresome fox, followed by a curly-headed kid, and finally a big, handsome rogue.) Recently, a friend and I sat down and casted our ideal Robin Hood movie. But we had a problem with finding the perfect couple to play Robin and Maid Marian. I mean, should Robin be debonair or bold? Young or old(er)? There were too many different versions of Robin Hood, and all versions were equally good. Maid Marian was much the same. The quintessential lady or a stubborn firebrand? Her age would have to match Robin's, too... There were far too many choices, so we decided to choose four different Robins, with Maid Marians to match them. The rest of the characters are more or less the same in every movie (or TV show) we've seen, so there is only one actor or actress for each.

Note: All filmography links on this page courtesy of The Internet Movie Database. Clicking on said links will send you to that actor's or actress's IMDb page, complete with filmographies, photos, bios, and other information. Another great picture resource is Masterpiece Theatre, which has pages for most of the movies mentioned in this post.

Robin Hood (outlaw rogue; Richard Greene in the old TV show): Christian Bale (Batman from Batman Begins and The Dark Knight). Very muscular, good dramatic actor.

Maid Marian (elegance personified): Rosamund Pike (Jane Bennet from Pride and Prejudice 2005 and Lady Harriet from Wives and Daughters). Very elegant, very beautiful.


Robin Hood (suave; Errol Flynn): Rupert Penry-Jones (Captain Wentworth from Persuasion 2007 and Richard Hannay from The 39 Steps). Clipped tones when speaking, but oozes honor.

Maid Marian (Sweet and noble): Daniela Denby-Ashe (Margaret Hale from North and South). Large, luminous eyes, good at playing a proper young lady.


Robin Hood (adventurer; the fox in the animated classic): Ben Barnes (Prince Caspian from Prince Caspian). Dashing looks, reminds me of Orlando Bloom in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

Maid Marian (tough): Lydia Leonard (Victoria Sinclair from The 39 Steps). Sweet smile, good as an energetic young woman.


Robin Hood (young guy; Richard Todd in the live-action Disney version): William Moseley (Peter Pevensie from The Chronicles of Narnia). The only British actor we could think of who's the right age!


Maid Marian (young lady): Kimberley Nixon (Sophy Hutton from Cranford). Sweet face, plays a good gentle young lady.


The rest of the cast:

The Sherrif of Nottingham: Ciaran Hinds (Captain Wentworth from Persuasion 1995 and Mr. Rochester in Jane Eyre 1997). Great voice for a bad guy!

Prince John: Mark Gatiss (John Dashwood from Sense and Sensibility 2007). Looks like a typical Prince John and plays a weak guy pretty well.

Sir Guy of Gisbourne: Ioan Gruffudd (Horatio Hornblower from the Hornblower series). Good at dark, conflicted characters.

Little John: Matthew Macfadyen (Arthur Clennam from Little Dorrit and Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice 2005). Not a conventional Little John, but he's really tall and can look stupid.

Friar Tuck: Eddie Marsan (Mr. Pancks from Little Dorrit and Mr. Scudder from The 39 Steps). Short, round-faced guy who could easily be roly-poly.

Will Scarlet: Dan Stevens (Edward Ferrars from Sense and Sensibility 2007). Handsome, and I can easily imagine him playing a debonair, adventuresome outlaw.

Much the Miller's Son: Andrew Buchan (Jem Hearne from Cranford and St. John Rivers from Jane Eyre 2006. Good cockney accent.

Bess (Marian's Maid): Claudie Blakley (Martha from Cranford and Charlotte Lucas from Pride and Prejudice 2005). Good cockney accent, plays a loyal maid very well.

As you can tell, we had too much time on our hands when we sat down and drew this up. However, I'm satisfied with the result. Anyone have any disagreements, suggestions, observations, or questions?