It’s the announcement that Fourth Wing fans have been waiting for – who would be playing Violet Sorrengail and Xaden Riorson in Prime Video’s adaptation of Rebecca Yarros’ fantasy romance series. But now that the dragon is out of the lair, the fans don’t seem too happy.
Despite plenty of discussion and fan-casting online, Prime Video announced that the leads of the upcoming series would be played by emerging actors Esther McGregor and Emilio Sakraya.
Immediately, fans of the series questioned the casting choice.
“They’re going to mess this up,” commented one Fourth Wing fan on Instagram.
“This is a joke, right?” wrote another.
“I don’t think they read the book while casting,” said another.
As a lover of books myself (obsessed, actually), I can understand where these people are coming from. If I’m being honest, I can’t imagine that there is an actor out there that could be the perfect Rhysand from the popular book series A Court of Thorns and Roses. So trust me, I get it.
But with all the immediate negativity around the Fourth Wing casting, are we being negative without giving these actors a chance to prove us wrong?
The same can be said of the cast announcement for the last book-to-television series obsession – Prime Video’s Off Campus.
Again, the comments were flooded with the same sentiment: “This is really, really bad,” “I’m disappointed” or “There better be some kick-ass wigs or bleaching involved,” and, once again, “this must be a joke.”
However, once the series came out, we were all proven wrong by Belmont Camelli and Ella Bright’s absolutely sizzling chemistry. So have we not learnt our lesson?
When you read a book, you get to delve into a world outside your own. You go on adventures, try new things and live different lives, all inside your head.
Naturally, we get attached to the visuals and the emotional connection we form with these characters as they take us along on their journeys, so it’s valid to have these thoughts and feelings when our connection is so strong. But I, for one, say we need to take a backseat and release that control over casting.
Frankly, the cast for the new Fourth Wing series is hot, and isn’t that what all us book lovers want? Someone hot to stare at. Let’s have a little faith in the actors, the production crew and the casting team to keep our much-beloved characters safe, so we can experience our favourite stories in a new format. What’s more exciting than that?
