I know I’ve been posting a ton of Witchy content lately, so, today, I thought why not dip our toes back into the book-ish content? And what better way to do that than to freak out about the Hulu ACOTAR adaptation?

I am both beside myself with excitement, and absolutely terrified, of this adaptation. ACOTAR is one of my favorite series, and I cannot wait to see it be brought to life. On the other hand, though, these characters are so near and dear to my heart, as is the story, that anything mishandled or told wrong is likely to send me into a rage.

For those that don’t know, ACOTAR stands for A Court of Thorns and Roses, a series written by Sarah J. Maas. The first novel opens with our main character, 19-year-old Feyre, hunting to provide for her starving family. When she kills a wolf that’s not a wolf, she is hunted down and dragged back over the Wall to Prythian, the land of the Fey, sure she’ll be killed for her crime. Instead, she’s kept as a prisoner by the High Lord of the Spring Court, Tamlin. While staying with him, she finds out that he and the rest of Prythian were cursed by another Faerie named Amarantha 49 years ago, and Feyre is said to be the one that can break the curse and set Tamlin and the other Fey free. If this sounds familiar at all, this is because ACOTAR is a Beauty and the Beast retelling. There are currently five books in this series, and I’m hoping that Sarah J. Maas will come out with at least one more. I’m not ready to let go of Prythian any time soon.

But on to the dream cast! Below, you’ll find the actors and actresses that I think would be perfect for the main characters for the first season. I do want to make a note that most of these actors and actresses will be a bit older than what you’d normally see on a list like this, and this is for a couple of reasons. The first one is that I, myself, am thirty. The second is that this is not a YA series. It may have originally started that way, but moved into NA in the second book (although, I would argue it was pretty risque for a YA novel in the first book).

FEYRE ARCHERON

We’ll start with the main character, Feyre Archeron. Feyre is the sole provider for her family. She hunts and preserves the meat from the animals she kills, and then sells the pelts to attempt to put some money into her family’s pockets. Those attempts fail once her two sisters get hold of the coin. Feyre starts as a cold and hardened character but later opens up into someone warm and extremely trusting, almost naive.

My first pick is Victoria Pedretti, from The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor. She’s a great actress and does sweet and naive very well. I think branching into Fantasy, especially a world like Prythian, would be both super easy and an interesting challenge for her. I know she hasn’t been in much, but I’ve loved her in what I’ve seen her in.

My second choice would be Charlotte Hope. She does cold, calculating, and determined extremely well. For those that may not recognize her, she played Myranda in Game of Thrones, the girl that was completely in love and obsessed with Ramsey Snow. I haven’t seen her in anything that would give me the impression that she can be warm and naive, but this role would be a perfect time to test that! And, she’s super handy with a bow and arrow, which is a major plus!

NESTA ARCHERON

The eldest of the three Archeron sisters, Nesta is the epitome of cold, calculating, and usually has something snarky and cruel to say. She and Feyre do not get along, and neither does she get along with their father. But she is extremely overprotective of their middle sister, Elain. In the first book, she and Elain are described as extremely selfish and vain, being overly accustomed to a lavish lifestyle and then thrust into poverty.

Emilia Clarke has been one of my favorite actresses since I saw her play Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones. She has since been in many things, including Me Before You, Terminator: Genisys, and Solo: A Star Wars Story, and has proven that she can portray a large array of characters. There are two reasons I think that she would kill at the role of Nesta; one, she is an amazing actress, and two, I desperately want to see her reunited with the person that I want to play Cassian. Which we can discuss later, as he technically doesn’t show up in the first book.

ELAIN ARCHERON

Elain is the gentlest and kindest of the three Archeron sisters, at first. She could spend hours in her garden and is the closest to their father. In the first book, she is engaged to a lord named Graysen.

Elizabeth Olsen is my favorite actress, and I desperately wanted her to play one of the Archeron sisters. At first, I thought would be an excellent Feyre, but then I got to thinking about Elain. Especially in the later books, and with the rumors flying around about how Elain’s character will evolve and change, paired with how Elizabeth Olsen has nailed characters like the Scarlet Witch…have I said yet that she’d be perfect?

TAMLIN, HIGH LORD OF THE SPRING COURT

Tamlin is the High Lord of the Spring Court and is cursed by the big bad in the book. His powers have been reduced to mere shreds of what they were before the curse, and his lands are the closest to the Wall that separates Prythian from Feyre’s village. When one of his sentries is slain by Feyre, he kidnaps her and brings her back to Prythian as punishment for her crime. He has a hair-trigger on his temper, though, and loses it quite often.

I needed help with this one. I’ve seen so many people recommend Chris Hemsworth, or Kellan Lutz, a couple of recommendations for Robert Pattinson, and even a couple for Henry Cavill to play Tamlin. I texted Manoans last week, and asked him whom he would cast for someone who is blonde, tall, athletically built, and has an anger management issue. And his first suggestion was Alexander Skarsgård. He has portrayed characters such as Eric from True Blood, Tarzan from The Legend of Tarzan, and Nathan Lind in Godzilla vs. Kong. Another actor that has been shown to be able to portray a wide range of characters, I agree with Manoans and think he would be absolutely perfect to portray Tamlin.

LUCIEN

Emissary to the Spring Court and son of the High Lord of the Autumn Court, Lucien befriended Tamlin before the events of A Court of Thorns and Roses take place. Lucien is snarky and witty, but also very kind.

Here’s another one that was difficult for me to decide on. I’ve seen tons of recommendations in other fan casts for people like Sam Claflin or Paul Wesley, and then tons of red-headed actors that I have just never heard of. I was leaning towards Sam Claflin, at first. And then I couldn’t get the thought of American Gods out of my head. For those that may not recognize the actor above, his name is Pablo Schreiber, and he is known for his role as Mad Sweeney in American Gods. Not only does he look fantastic with red hair, I think Lucien would be a great role for him. Mad Sweeney is definitely more outspoken and wild than Lucien, as a character, but Lucien has to be able to go toe to toe with Tamlin when he loses his temper, and I honestly can’t imagine a better person to portray that side of Lucien.

AMARANTHA

Amarantha is the big-bad in this book. Originally a general for the king of Hybern (whom we will discuss later), she came to Prythian and fashioned herself as High Lady of Prythian, cursing all of the residents, reducing the powers of the High Lords of all of the Courts, and making them all pay homage to her Under the Mountain, which is a sacred site for most of Prythian. Amarantha is wicked and cruel and loves to play games with pretty much everyone. She thinks she’s the best thing since sliced bread and wants everyone to know it. She is known for her signature shock of bright red hair. I have two picks for Amarantha, I think. This one was hard to pin down because there are plenty of really good actresses that would be able to portray her, I think.

Eva Green is one of those actresses that has a signature style, but could be cast as nearly anything and rock the part, I think. The first thing I saw her in was 300: Rise of an Empire, in which she played the cruel, calculating Artemisia, who was determined to see the fall of Greece, even if she had to do it with her own two hands. Amarantha is just as fierce and calculating as Artemisia, and I cannot get the thought of Eva Green as Amarantha out of my head.

My second choice would be Carice van Houten. For those that don’t know, she played the Red Woman, Melisandre, in Game of Thrones. Melisandre was a crazed zealot, a priestess for the Red God R’hllor in Game of Thrones, and in the TV show, she burns a young girl at the stake to appease that god. While I haven’t seen her play “cruel” and “cold,” she has calculating and cunning down pat, and I think she would do an amazing job of bringing Amarantha to life.

RHYSAND

Amarantha’s whore, and a thorn in Tamlin’s side, Rhys is the epitome of cocky and arrogant. But he always seems to be at least 10 steps ahead of everyone else, too. He is cold and calculating and is quoted as being the most beautiful male that Feyre has ever seen. I can’t say much else without giving away spoilers, but…there can be only one.

Henry Cavill has proven that he is capable of taking on a myriad of different roles, ranging from all-around good guy Clark Kent/Superman to the indomitable, intimidating Geralt of Rivia. He is extremely talented, and I have no doubt he could pull Rhys off without even trying hard. He’s also a huge nerd, which is a ridiculously big plus in my book. It’s been reported that he only read Superman comics, and did not watch nor look to the other Superman movies already in existence for his portrayal of Superman, wanting to be as accurate to the original character as possible. Who’s to say he wouldn’t read the books, just to make sure he’s portraying Rhys right? That kind of dedication is rare and exactly what we would need in a Rhysand.

THE SURIEL

While not technically a main character, the Suriel does play what I would call an important role in the first book. The Suriel is one of many of a specific type of Faerie in Prythian that, when captured, must answer one question of yours truthfully.

This is another one I had some difficulty with, so I consulted Manoans. He, again, had an excellent idea. The Suriel’s voice is described as both old and young, grotesque and beautiful, all at once. Manoans said why not do two voices, and put them together? So, together, we decided on Idris Elba and Patty Mattson. Idris Elba has a fantastic voice that is deep and rich, perfect for the “beautiful” aspect of the Suriel’s voice. Patty Mattson voices Sylvanas Windrunner in the World of Warcraft franchise and would provide an excellent contrast to Idris Elba’s voice.

And there you have it! These are the people that I would love to see in the ACOTAR Hulu adaptation! Notice that some characters are missing, such as most of the Inner Circle, the other High Lords, and many of the more minor characters. This post was just for Season 1, which will, hopefully just be the first book. The other fan casts I’ve seen do include more characters than what I have here because we really don’t know how they’re going to do the series. But I’ll do another post including the characters I missed!

Who would you love to see in the Hulu adaptation of ACOTAR? Let me know below!