Dick Grayson Casting Thread

[Airwings]

I want to give Michael Barbieri (born 2002) a chance.

While Taplitz was something of the heart and emotion in Little Men, Barbieri represented the energy, the physical.
He went on to play minor roles in The Dark Tower and Spider-Man: Homecoming (yay, a CBM). Then I don’t know what happened. There are no other acting gigs after that. Really strange considering he was happy and excited for every new role he got.
I would have given him close to a Yes if he didn’t “retire”.
Right now, maybe he’s a Maybe (that was a fun word-play)

Geez, I look forward to see The Rings of Power. I will binge-watch the show, and not only for trying to find Robin suggestions.

 

[Airwings]

Barbieri only got maybe. Here's another one

Louis Ashbourne Serkis (born 2004)
Known from The Current War, The Kid Who Would Be King and No Return. He's a decent actor but when looking more closely, he's not really the Robin type. Atleast not in the performance I saw.

The big factor here though is that we can't give the Grayson role to actors when their father is already involved in the production. It's the same with Serkis jr as with was with Griff Giacchino
No actor on my list this week.

 

[shauner111]

Airwings you’re gonna be at this for another 5 years

Thread shall be renamed to “Airwings Diary: the Robin Project”.

 

[Airwings]

Airwings you’re gonna be at this for another 5 years

Thread shall be renamed to “Airwings Diary: the Robin Project”.

No, haha, I won't keep doing this for five years.

You've heard about the shortlist for Susan Storm (Fantastic Four)?
It consists of Lily James, Amanda Seyfried, Phillipa Soo, Jodie Comer, Saoirse Ronan and Vanessa Kirby.

I want to create my personal shortlist for Robin, and share it with you guys. It won't be too long before the studio presents an official shortlist for the character. I predict it will happen within a year.

 

[shauner111]

It’s possible that he’s in the sequel but maybe they’ll hold until a third movie.

 

[Lautox]

Knowing reeves' background with the 60s show he surely has an interest in Robin so yeah it is likely we'll see him in the third installment fully formed.

 

[Airwings]

It’s possible that he’s in the sequel but maybe they’ll hold until a third movie.

Knowing reeves' background with the 60s show he surely has an interest in Robin so yeah it is likely we'll see him in the third installment fully formed.

I hope for the second film. Maybe both of you already know that

 

[shauner111]

Maybe you should audition for Robin @Airwings

 

[Airwings]

Maybe you should audition for Robin @Airwings

Lol, I'm too old

 

[Airwings]

You know that English kid in The Dark Tower, the one people say isn't good at acting.

Tom Taylor (born 2001)

He's played other roles. I saw him in The Kid Who Would Be King
My verdict is that he hasn’t improved that much as an actor since he teamed up with The Gunslinger. He's still decent, but no prodigy.

I think he does have some charisma as the bully boy Lance in TKWWBK. And plenty of youthful energy. He worked well as that character.
In relation to Serkis jr (who was the lead), if I have to take someone from that film to be Robin, I would rather go for Taylor. He's the best choice of the two.
But is he good enough to really earn a place on my shortlist on his own? I'm not really sure, to be honest.
According to recent pics, he’s matured a lot the last three years. Grown taller too. It can be a problem considering a Batman sequel won't come out before 2025
But the energetic teen vibe he is, or was, gifted with is a strong factor here. I’ll give him a “maybe"

As you know, my rules are allowing me to try with one actor more this week. Stay tuned!

 

[Airwings]

Who else is there?

Owen Myre, the young actor from Psycho Goreman and Alternate Ground (I've only seen the former).
He's finally revealed his birth year (2006)
To me, he seems like a quite suitable Dick Grayson. He's a good actor. I have to point it out that he's good, but not terrific. Him having something of a Grayson look is also a factor.

Owen Myre it is, then. Yes to him.
Maybe I should mention that one of his latest films, Terrifier 2, is about an evil, murderous clown (hint hint)

If somebody has a different opinion here, don't hesitate to share it
Who's the best one - Tom Taylor or Myre?
Will it be easier to pick one if we try to imagine them performing with Cirque du Soleil, or what do you say @shauner111 ?

 

[shauner111]

It could. But I don’t think it matters really, since they’ll have stuntmen/kids probably. They just have to look and act believable when the scene calls for it. I’m sure they’ll train as well. I think they just have to go with the best actor for the part and do a chemistry reading with Rob.

It’s easy to look at a movie and say this is the one. But their look or skill set means nothing if they get in that audition room and fail to deliver. Or if they do well but fail the chemistry test.

 

[Airwings]

It could. But I don’t think it matters really, since they’ll have stuntmen/kids probably. They just have to look and act believable when the scene calls for it. I’m sure they’ll train as well. I think they just have to go with the best actor for the part and do a chemistry reading with Rob.

It’s easy to look at a movie and say this is the one. But their look or skill set means nothing if they get in that audition room and fail to deliver. Or if they do well but fail the chemistry test.

I have heard about young actors that get to hang in wires on set. Tom Holland did that for his first Spidey (granted, he wasn't a teen anymore during the filming). That means even young actors do some stunt work. It's only the dangerous scenes that requires stuntmen.

Of course actors have to train and prepare for physical roles.
You make it sound that just anybody can play the role as long as they are believable. But have you never fancasted someone, like ever? I don't remember if you did in this thread.

What will you think if you had a really good actor suggestion in any other thread, and people don't give their opinons about him/her, but just go "it doesn't matter how close to the character that he/she looks, or how talented he/she is, or if he's/she's played similar roles before.... he/she can still fail at the audition"!!!
One should stop suggesting actors altogether then, not even mention someone that will work, and just wait to the casting announcements. Imagine how boring all threads about different upcoming superhero films will be then

Why can't we look at an actor's previous work and say he'll suit Grayson (either by looks or by energy)???? Heck, that's how a big chunk of actors are brought up for every new adaption of an existing property.
And that's even why many are actors are called to audition. They have something going for them that suits, or can be translated to, the character. Why shouldn't those things matter in the slightest?
If not, round up a lot of names who are as far from the Grayson look and persona as someone can possibly be. Go especially for those actors, on purpose. Then let them try out for the role. Nobody with a Grayson vibe or look is needed. You say those things don't matter. So why audition actors that already seem suitable anyway? They could in fact deliberately be left out of of the casting process. The studio should only go for the opposite kind of actors and try to find a Dick Grayson there.
Why? Because all that matters is the performance at the chemistry reading with Pattinson. We'll still get a Robin who's awesome, right?
That was a little experiement to think about. It's not how it really works though. Several Grayson esque actors will be gven a chance along with others.

Shortlists made by studios, aren't those fancasts as well (the studio's own)?
A shortlist consists of names they're thinking about before the actual casting starts, right? But why are they adding names of certain actors to it in the first place?
Because it's their own fancast.
I'm putting together my own shortlist here. A personal one, it's not official.
When I look at the names I got so far (more will be added later), I seriously don't think that all of them will fail. Atleast a couple (out of nine) will manage to stay longer in the audition process.

 

[shauner111]

Calm down lol. I don’t know any of these kids and I’m not about to search 213 child actors on YouTube just to see what they could bring to the table for a Batman movie. Do I ever fancast? Maybe go to our main casting thread...I’ve been giving my fancasts since the beginning. And I have a whole thread on twitter for that. But as for Robin actors you suggest, I don’t know any of them so all I can offer (when you ask me for my input) is, well, if they’re good enough they might be considered but kids grow quick and change quick and sound different from year to year. It might be a boring answer but someone has to say it. They’re tricky to cast. Because they may suit this role in 2023 but by 2025 they might be completely wrong and too old for the part. Hence my response about chemistry reads being more important here than stuntmen or finding the right kid who can do acrobats.

I know you’re wired up, I appreciate the enthusiasm but maybe take a bit of a chill pill and realize that most of us don’t know who young actors are so what else are we supposed to say to you after the 40th suggestion in a row? There’s only so much we can say when a sequel is a few years away, kids change rapidly in voice and height in less than three years, and a lot of us don’t know these actors. So what we can offer right now in 2022 is very limited because we don’t know anything yet. It is clearly not the same as suggesting seasoned adult actors who are fully grown and developed.

 

[Airwings]

Calm down lol. I don’t know any of these kids and I’m not about to search 213 child actors on YouTube just to see what they could bring to the table for a Batman movie. Do I ever fancast? Maybe go to our main casting thread...I’ve been giving my fancasts since the beginning. And I have a whole thread on twitter for that. But as for Robin actors you suggest, I don’t know any of them so all I can offer (when you ask me for my input) is, well, if they’re good enough they might be considered but kids grow quick and change quick and sound different from year to year. It might be a boring answer but someone has to say it. They’re tricky to cast. Because they may suit this role in 2023 but by 2025 they might be completely wrong and too old for the part. Hence my response about chemistry reads being more important here than stuntmen or finding the right kid who can do acrobats.

I know you’re wired up, I appreciate the enthusiasm but maybe take a bit of a chill pill and realize that most of us don’t know who young actors are so what else are we supposed to say to you after the 40th suggestion in a row? There’s only so much we can say when a sequel is a few years away, kids change rapidly in voice and height in less than three years, and a lot of us don’t know these actors. So what we can offer right now in 2022 is very limited because we don’t know anything yet. It is clearly not the same as suggesting seasoned adult actors who are fully grown and developed.

You don't have to search anyone.
I include pictures of the actors I pick for my shortlist, so people can judge for themselves if somebody seems fit. The pics are also added because some of you might have seem them before but didn't catch their names.

Are you sure you don't know about anyone of them? Even the actor that didn't end up on my list, Tom Taylor?

I have dedicated myself to this. I actually see films with those actors, to judge them fairly. That's my enthusiasm right there
Nobody outside the industry has ever gone as far to find an actor for a role, lol

I have acknowledged several times that these young actors might age fast, and made it a part of whether they should be on my list or not
How do I make my picks? I go for the ones who had, more or less, a Grayson vibe during the last few years and up until today. Since I don't know how much they will change later, I can't take that into consideration.
I just do my best

 

[Airwings]

I continue with looking at Psycho Goreman.
I noticed the kid who played Alasdair, a friend of the two siblings. He’s the boy that got a tragic, but still funny, demise in the story.
Scout Flint (age unknown) is perhaps the first actual suggestion in this thread who nobody has heard of before, including myself.
It’s important to point out that we shouldn’t only look at the leads. Sometimes there can be an unexpected gem stone among the supporting cast.
.
I know that some people are always saying that it should be an unknown actor for Dick Grayson.
Here he is!!

Personally I give him no. I can’t see anything Grayson-like in him.

Perhaps you rather prefer the actor to be picked from a film that you've seen?
What about Zemeckis’ Pinocchio??? You must surely have seen it by now!
Then you can suggest the lead actor Benjamin Evan Ainsworth (who only provided his voice).
As for myself, I won’t include him in any capacity because I will never take a look at that film. It looks really soulless and plastic..

 

[Airwings]

I want to open up for some discussion with a topic.

Alan S Kim (b. 2012) has been mentioned as a proper candidate, in favor of ALL the older ones of various talents (some even with a classic Dick Grayson look). Let’s go with that.

If it’s accepted to go that young, Bruce Wayne getting a 10/11 year-old (or so) sidekick, I will bring up another one so that you can compare the two. Because this is interesting.

Asher Miles Fallica (b. 2013).
Judging boy actors born as late as 2012-13, it would be intriguing to see which one people prefer. This isn’t about being right or wrong.

I’ll start with Kim.
I haven’t seen him act, only pics.
Personally, I can’t see anything that resembles Dick Grayson in that little kid. I don’t mean to disrespect someone’s opinion, but how many of you would look at him and think “he’ll suit Robin”?
He’s not only a small child, he’s extremely short too.

Then Fallica
He’s also way too young for Robin at the moment. He’s even too young to be judged as an actor overall, let alone someone that could be a future Grayson.
He’s been in The Last Full Measure and NOS4A2, but his characters were around the kindergarten age.
Still, someone here at SHH was able to imagine Kim as The Boy Wonder. And it’s only a year’s difference between the actors.

BUT there’s one pic I found that makes Fallica seem like he might be suitable for Dick Grayson (scroll down to see it). With some stretch of imagination, he could work sometimes in the future.
To me, the Kim actor doesn’t have that.

It’s something with that particular photo of Fallica, a certain vibe. Is there a classic Grayson look hidden there somewhere?
If so, that would make him a stronger candidate as a “kid Robin”, imo.
Perhaps he has a Maybe in him. He’ll just need to grow for five more years or so.
BUT at the moment, I will say no to Kim and to Fallica. They're waaay too young

Now, what do you think? Which one could play Dick Grayson in the Batman sequel 2025/2026?
All opinions are welcome

Here you’ll see them both!!!

 

[Airwings]

I mentioned Robert Zemeckis' Pinocchio last week. The director previously also made another adaption of a beloved fairy tale adventure, Roald Dahl's The Witches.
The latter one did racebend some characters.
As this seems, it's not something unusual these days.
David Lowery’s upcoming Peter Pan will go for something similar. And it's not even the first version of Peter Pan where the actor had a different skin color (Come Away, with Reece Yates in one of the roles, did the same).

How will this affect the casting for Dick Grayson? Is it likely that Warner Brothers will push for the trend to continue? They already did a slight change to Aquaman.
What do you think about an untraditional Robin instead of the classic one?

 

[Airwings]

There's an actor I’ve mentioned before, let’s put his name back up.

Pierson Salvador, from a new film called Better Nate Than Ever, among other projects.
His age is unknown at the moment, and he's slightly mixed-race. It won't bother me a bit if he's a good choice for Dick Grayson.

I've only seen him in the NOS4A2 series. He got a few scenes and showed a little range, as he went from a normal kid to being possessed and crazy. He somewhat impressed me there.
It will be a Yes to him. For his acting range and that I can picture him in the suit.

He's got so many curls!!! lol
It might look awesome in one role but not for every character. I think he really needs to straighten his hair for Robin. Or cut it. Perhaps both.






I can expand the topic of mixed-race actors for known characters.
I think it was yesterday that I brought up David Lowery and Peter Pan. The director will go for that kind of actor, in Alexander Molony (hey maybe he too can be a Robin suggestion further down the line?).
Does it work? To an extent, yes!

I go off-topic even more here for a moment
Looking at the PP cast, they have decided to racebend Tinkerbell as well.
But the most eye-catching thing is that one of the Lost Boys is played by an actress (Curly). Either she is going to pretend being a boy... or the character is actually a girl this time. If so, it's interesting how they reinterpret the story for the modern world.
Lost Boys changed to Lost Children?

There will obviously be other adaptions of PP in the future where more is being altered. I can even imagine some stuff.
But this is not the right thread for that topic.

How much will this trend affect the casting of superheroes/CBMs?
Let's hope we get a perfect live-action version of the first and original Robin before he's changed too much. I'm ok with a mixed-race actor, it can still be very good. But a gender-swapped Dick Grayson is something I hope we won't get.
Last year's Eternals went that route so maybe we should be concerned.

 

[Airwings]

Who is going to join Marcel Ruiz and the rest on the shortlist?

There's a new live action version of Avatar The Last Airbender coming soon at Netflix. Of course there will be some occasional Dick Grayson suggestions once we've seen the first episodes.

I will keep looking at NOS4A2 right now.

You've seen the NOS4A2 series, right? I'm asking to be sure
Then you know about Vic McQueen and Charlie Manx.

The second season takes place several years after the first. Vic is no longer a teenager but a young mother. She's got a son who's around 7-8.
That boy is played by Jason David (b. 2010), mostly known from General Hospital.
In NOS4A2, he somehow reminds me of a child-age Noah Jupe.
His age is a problem. I don't want too young actors in the running for Dick Grayson.
But he has a lot of scenes, I mean A LOT.
One can't deny that he seems to be a quite good actor. Give him a couple of years more and he will be a possible Robin.
Right now, he's just a Maybe (bc of the age).

Though with his character named Wayne, and second name Bruce, and Vic giving him the nickname Bats... it will be hilarious if he’s cast as Grayson in Reevesverse.

 

[Airwings]

In season 2 of NOS4A2, we'll see the origin of villain Charlie Manx.

Aidan Pierce Brennan (b. 2006 or 2008) played the young version of the character. I think he did a good job when he portrayed the naïve teenager before the transformation into that supernatural child-kidnapper.

The actor's resume is sad to look at. His career consists mostly of guest appearances in various TV series, and he never remains on any of the shows. He's been doing that for years, and he still is.

Can really a TV actor be of any interest for a big role such as Dick Grayson?

The fact that he's never played a lead, or even been among the ordinary cast, must make him really a low ranked name.
In comparison with others, It's likely that up-and-comers like Gordon Cormier (Aang) and Ian Ousley (Sokka) will surpass him as soon as the first episodes of (Netflix' new version) The Last Airbender are out.

But as you know, I take as closer look at actors' performances and the vibe they have.
When I saw Brennan in NOS4A2, I felt that he has something to him. I do think he'll work just fine as Robin, so there's a Yes from me.

 

[Airwings]

A somewhat long post here. Sorry for that.

Avatar 2 will debut in cinemas later this year. The film is going to be a huge event, like the first one.
It's interesting for several reasons. I cannot help but pointing out that the film is also interesting when we look at the topic of this thread: finding actors from current films (and TV) who might be candidates for Dick Grayson. LOL. But that's what I have set myself to do.

It has been revealed that Jake Sully and Neytiri have gotten a few kids since last time we saw them. There will also be other Na’vi teens, and even a human youngling.
I'm surprised James Cameron decided to include that many young characters instead of just 1-2. Perhaps it will make sense in the plot. We have to trust the man, the myth, the legend. He knows what he's doing.
At the moment, I don't know who these particular actors are. We'll see when the film opens.

Another title that has several young actors is The Alienist series (from a few years ago) starring Luke Evans, Daniel Brühl and Dakota Fanning.
For those who haven't heard about it, it's a crime story centered around the very immoral New York brothels back in the 1800s. In this story, the prostitutes were young males dressed as women. So yes, really immoral. Because of this element, it's not a TV series that everybody would want to watch.
I have read a review, the critic was harsh on the show..

When looking at IMDB's cast list, there's a whole bunch of young actors.
I did some research and was taken aback. There were so many of them.
I don't know how they could convince all of them to star in something like this.

Every genre should be included in my search for Robin, which means I also had to watch this.
I went with the first season. But already at an early stage, it was a letdown from the perspective of finding a Grayson actor.
I just didn't catch many of them. Their screen time were only a few seconds here and there.
It was impossible to judge these "extras". I can't sort them by Yes, No or Maybe.

Another thing was weird. Some of the names haven't acted since they starred in Alienist back in 2018.

A few even have this as their only acting credit. Well, I don't see these people as actors. They don't deserve to be called that.

Then there's the thing with people who acts and actually have several projects on their resume, but for some reason their age isn't revealed to the public.

Let me include some names that IMDB claims are in Alienist, but in reality it's just very limited screen time

Kyle Stevens, Nicolo Borgatti, Tate Pitchie-Cooper
Tate is the only one I got a glimpse of but it wasn't memorable at all. I managed to find his age (born 2004) but I can't sort either of them.

But then there's Jamie Kaye, who really stands out from the crowd and appeared in several scenes over the course of a few episodes.
For a total newcomer, he delivered a good performance in his little but controversial role. Not all actors would be able to portray such a morally incorrect character without feeling uncomfortable about it. Some wouldn’t even want to act in such a role. But Kaye did, and there’s no sign of feeling uneasy or shameful about it. He really became his character. Not bad for someone’s acting debut.
IMDB states he's born 1999. He’s too old for Grayson now, and also looks much older today. I give him NO
It's kinda sad because he could have played the character some years ago.

There's more names to look at.
As I said, there's a whole bunch

 

[Airwings]

Here's a group photo of the young cast in the upcoming Avatar: The Way of Water, which I talked about. They are the future!!! Expect most of them to get roles in other films.
Just perhaps one of them will be Dick Grayson




I have more to say about The Alienist and how disappointing the use of young actors was. Many were nothing more than extras.

This time I will bring up Lewis McGowan, Aldo Maland, Oliver Cater, Harvey Weedon.

If I go more detailed about them:

McGowan (b 2004) once played Will Turner's son in one of the Pirates films and then he didn't do much more. I wonder why. Well, I can't sort him.

Maland, then? Pics make it seem he’s a terrible suggestion. No to him

What about Cater? He was seen, but in too few scenes to be fairly judged, He doesn't look like Grayson. Also a No.
To be honest, Milo Herschlag (one of my shortlist names) doesn't have the right face either. Lol
I looked at other factors for him.

The last one, Weedon also had short screen-time. But it was a face that I can imagine would suit a flashy Cirque du Soleil costume (maybe the kind of circus for a modern Dick Grayson). I will be nice and give a Maybe for that.
Does he still act though? There's no project listed since 2019.

Still disappointing. Hope to find a real actor next time. Someone I can judge based on acting skills

 

[Airwings]

More extras from The Alienist, the majority with an unknown age

Didn't see Kingston Taylor or Henry Helm onscreen
The former hasn’t acted in three years, and isn’t the type either!!!!
I can't sort them in any list for Dick Grayson.

Anson Boon (b. 2000)
Was hardly seen. Hence, I can’t judge him as an actor.
It's surprising to look at his IMDB resume. The dude has a career.
I've seen one of his films, Sam Mendes' war flic 1917 but I don’t remember him there.
It’s not fair to only look at pics to see if he's a Robin candidate. He might have been partly suitable for the character once, but that moment has passed ever since he agreed to play John Lydon in Pistol, and went totally edgy.
I give him No

Rio Thake
The only age related thing I could find is that he's somewhere around 20.
Didn’t see him in any scene in Alienist. Which means it can’t be no or yes.
An Internet search reveals he's not as much an actor as he's a model, probably a successful one. There's a whole bunch of pics from different photoshots. Those shouldn’t be judged, according to my rules lol, but I think he possess some Grayson vibes after all.
When I add that he's into judo and gymnastics, perhaps he’s a Maybe after all.

 

[Airwings]

More of these Alienist actors. Now we're talking! These guys seem to be the strongest bunch so far.

Max Fincham (b. 2004)
I did barely notice him in the background.
In fact, I've never seen him act which is my rule for sorting someone. I can’t fairly give him any no, yes or maybe.
His other projects include Blue Story, Invasion and Dark Money series. Is he a good dramatic actor? Perhaps I will check out those titles someday

Billy Barratt (b. 2007)
Too young to be judged four years ago. He hadn't not much screen time either. I won’t sort him.
The actor has done many projects. He's also on Invasion. I would need to check it out to see if he’s any good.

Lewin Lloyd (b. 2006)
I got a glimpse of him and he doesn’t seem like the right type. He's a No
But he's got a career going on. Interesting!.
Among his projects are several episodes of HBO’s His Dark Materials, and the Lampwick character in Zemeckis’ Pinocchio.

Jackson Gann
The most interesting one of the four. He played a real character, appeared in several episodes, and was included in the final good vs evil showdown
He has an unique expressive face with a sort of "pointy" look that might not suit Dick Grayson. It will look wrong in the Robin suit
But he was was good enough to get a strong Maybe from me.
I can also mention that he portrayed young John McEnroe in a film called Borg (biopic about Swedish tennis legend). I haven’t seen that one yet.