Kait Mae

From the start of the news about the adaptation of Sarah J. Maas’s A Court of Thorns and Roses, I have been adamant that an animated show would cover the book better than a live-action. Many people keep saying it has to be live-action because there is currently a crossover happening in the books between Crescent City and ACOTAR, with theories the Throne of Glass characters might also show up. But I disagree – DC is doing future crossovers between their future animated and live-action projects – how hard could it be?

What Would It Even Look Like?

Have you seen the viral fan art of Rhys and Feyre looking like they’re in a cartoon? It’s similar in style to Critical Role’s Amazon Prime show, The Legend of Vox Machina, and I think that’s the best route for this show.

And yes, I’m saying that because I’m tired of people fighting over who would look the hottest as Rhys, Cassian, and Azriel – I want their wings to look good.

Out of all the information we’ve gotten from the Hulu plans, they’re aiming for a television series – which I absolutely agree with. Going off this, I would A Court of Thorns and Roses and A Court of Wings and Ruin as one season of 18-22 one-hour episodes each. I’d also split A Court of Mist and Fury and A Court of Silver Flames into two seasons of 18 one-hour episodes each.

The only book I can’t see being a season is A Court of Frost and Starlight, which I would make a shorter movie between the third and fourth seasons.

In addition, I also would wait for Sarah to finish the book series (and the Crescent City series) so there’s no chance of a repeat of Game of Thrones season 8 with this show.

And just because I can say this, if I were to find music for the show as well, I’d look to Arcana, Victoria Carbol, and Kelsey Woods’ already-written music inspired by the series.

Read More: How I Would Adapt ‘Throne of Glass’

Who Should Be Cast?

Every fan casting I’ve seen has been based on characters’ looks, but since I’m seeing this adapted best as an animated show, I’m casting based on voice and if they could handle the role. As I usually say, I’d rather cast unknowns, but I wouldn’t rule out established actors because of my preferences.

Let’s get the Bat Boys out of the way first. I haven’t found the right voices yet, but I have criteria: Rhys needs a smooth, deep voice; Cassian needs a raspy-ish, deep voice; and Azriel needs a quiet but deep voice.

Now, for Feyre, I think Danielle Rose Russell – someone who got bullied because people thought she was cast as Feyre a while back – has the voice. She has the looks, too, but her voice gave off Feyre when I was watching Legacies, especially when she went No Humanity during season 4.

What about Nesta and Elain? I genuinely loved the fan casts of Alycia Debnam-Carey and Jessica Alexandra, but for voice work only, I’m leaning toward Jessica. Her voice fits Nesta’s vibe. As for Elain, it took a while because I could hear a specific tone of voice in my head, and the closest I found was Camren Bicondova, who you might recognize from Gotham.

Read More: How I Would Adapt ‘Crescent City’

As for Amarantha, I knew immediately who I would want to voice her. If you think Laura Bailey couldn’t pull off the evil Fae, you haven’t listened to her voice work enough.

Regarding Mor, I was thinking of mixing Nesta and Elain’s voice styles. That’s how I came upon Kiana Ledé – her voice is perfect for the Mor I heard while reading.

Last but not least, for this post, I would have to cast Anna Leong Brophy as Amren. She showed her acting chops in season 2 of Netflix’s Shadow and Bone (too soon, Netflix, too soon), and I’m sure she’d be able to translate that over well to voiceover. She has that edge to her voice that I was looking for.

Sadly, I couldn’t find any voices that fit perfectly for Tamlin, Eris, or Lucien. If you think of anyone, let me know so I can go check them out.

Since this is one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, I’m going to end the fan cast there and hope Hulu gets lesser-known or brand-new actors for the TikTok-beloved series and characters.