I FOUND HIM!!! Oh yes I did! I found Jamie!......(as in James Alexander Malcolm MacKenzie Fraser.... as in the actor to play Jamie Fraser in the Outlander movie! As in the screen adaptation of the best selling Outlander series by the amazing Diana Gabaldon!... die hard fans have endlessly debated the casting of this larger-than-life-but-oh-so-glorious-Scott but almost always come back to the same man... but it will not do!
I am bucking the trend and saying "Down with Gerard Butler!"
Okay, not really... I'm actually a big fan of Mr. Butler but Jamie is suppose to be 21 in Outlander, for goodness sakes! Gerard is in his forties already there is just no way he can pull off a coming-of-age Catholic virgin, Scottish accent or no!
So who did I find? Well, first let me tell you he's not Scots.... but really, how hard is it to master an accent that most people cant understand half the time anyways?
What counts is that he is big, buff and (maybe not Jamie's 6'4") but as far as actors go, a near giant at 6'1"!
He's ruggedly good looking (having modeled for Ambercrombie and Fitch, American Eagle, GAP and others) and is currently the new "it" boy in Hollywood after the success of his staring role in Dear John.
His military, dance, and martial art background shine through giving him an authentic and athletic grace, raw physicality, poise and that (oh-so-necessary) menacing air of confidence and superiority.
His face roughly fits Gabaldons description of Jamie: close set, deep eyes, been-broken-before nose, and a full lower lip... his nose isnt long, nor is his mouth wide but he has the sharp edged jaw, and celtic look (having some Irish blood).
He even has a hint of red in his beard and a ruddy cskin that could easily pull off the look of a natural red head. And at age 29 he'll be the right age to play both Jamie of young and old(er).
Okay so are you ready? Wanna know who I've got?!!?
Why the fine Mr. Channing Tatum of course!
He has the face, body and moves but the big question is does he have the acting chops?
Maybe not... but he did an alright job in Stop-Loss.Either way I'm totally sold on this guy for Jamie.
And I'm ready to start a campaign to get him the role!
Not really.
But I think the producers really aught to consider him!
Oh! And while I'm at it I should also mention that Keira Knightly (who most argue for the role of Claire) would need to put on a good 30 to 40 pounds to be a credible Claire. If I had to pick an actress for Claire right this minute, I'd go with Scarlet Johansson.
She has the clear pale skin, beautiful eyes, fine bone structure and full lips, butt and bust that Claire would require... though as with Channing her ability to actually bring the character to life might be of question. Anyways, at least physically Scarlet and Channing should be able to make it work, (make it work-work make it work (name that song). )And that's all I have to say about that.... till next time at least:)
