Claire Yvaine?!

Just browsed on into the trailer for the film adaptation of Neil Gaiman's Stardust. This is one of my favourite graphic novels, and the star Yvaine one of my all time favourite characters.

Yvaine's played by Claire Danes!!! I probably may have cast her as Yvaine some time ago (in fact I probably remember 4 years ago I said she may have been a good Yvaine), but what was I thinking?! Granted, she's got the hair (wig) down pat, but it would take a lot of superb effort on Danes' part to get the subtle wryness of Yvaine's humour accurate. A bit too much wide eyed fallen star innocence (aka Romeo and Juliet) and too little of that wry look which I know that Claire Danes can pull off. And there's something too human and in the flesh about her, with nothing of the ethereal qualities that Yvaine is supposed to have. She's a star for crying out loud, a celestial being - and slightly funny, almost spooky, kind, ethereal and off-kilter that makes her that lovable character that she is. I would almost have preferred Milla Jovovich blonde, does she not have that kick-ass look about her.

I don't know about you, but that bit where Tristan goes, "Here is the crater, this must be where it (the star) fell!" And Claire Danes as Yvaine going, "Yeah... this is where I fell (shrug and tosses long blonde hair off shoulder)" made me cringe a little. It was a little too... high school modern blonde chick for me to digest.

And Michelle Pfeiffer as the evil witch?! Unbelievable. Turning what is probably the most complex Mother Earth character into... hmm, a sultry Sex in the City wannabe. It's a bit of a shame, and I think part of it is due to her hair being just a little too blonde (more red, more Irish and less American in the sexiness). I think in the adaptation, it's gone a little too much in the way of smooth celluloid instead of primal carnal which it should have been. Add dirt in the fingernails tinged with a bit of animal blood to make it realistic.

Nevertheless, the trailer is worth watching, and the movie probably worth waiting for, even if my heart is eternally broken by the film version of Yvaine. It's a good cast, I am not quite sure who to blame for the slightly off kilter performances, however.



And a side note, I know it's not all about the hair, but Yvaine's hair is slightly frizzy, not rebonded straight. After all that falling from the sky at high speeds of lights and what not, how could a star have straight hair?!

So... votes on who Yvaine should be, if not Claire Danes? I would say Bryce Dallas Howard (Layd in the Water), except I can't imagine her blonde or Jane Horrocks (Little Voice).