12 Book Characters Who Physically Changed When They Were Brought to Life on Screens

One of the oldest book-to-movie adaptations dates back to 1899, when Georges Méliès took it upon himself to create Cinderella. The French film was based on the fairy tale of the same name by Charles Perrault. Ever since then, books have been countlessly used by filmmakers to bring to the screens new stories and characters. However, they don’t always follow the original character’s description to a tee.

James Bond, Casino Royale

Undoubtedly, Daniel Craig elevated the character of James Bond to his most human and sentimental side. His personality and intelligence outlined a perfect spy. But the truth is that Craig and the character created by Ian Fleming are nothing alike. The author had always described Bond as a man who was 5’9″ with long hair falling over his forehead.

Anna Karenina, Anna Karenina

The 2002 film Anna Karenina had mixed reviews: some people were confused by the theater decor, and others criticized the casting. The fans of the novel said that Anna is supposed to be a plump woman and Keira Knightley is not even remotely curvy.

Keira Knightley said, “I think that if I was made plump with makeup or a costume, nobody would even talk about my character: everyone would just discuss the plump Keira Knightley.”

Vronsky, Anna Karenina

Tolstoy described Vronsky as “a short, well-built man with brown hair, that started losing hair early.” The author mentioned that he was quite attractive too, but it seems that the creators of the 2012 film only focused on his positive traits. Aaron Taylor-Johnson is not only a man with great blonde hair, but he’s also quite tall.

Daario Naharis, Game of Thrones

The appearance of Daario Naharis in the Game of Thrones series is very different from the book version. George Martin describes him like this, “Daario Naharis was flamboyant even for a Tyroshi. His beard was cut into 3 prongs and dyed blue, the same color as his eyes and the curly hair that fell to his collar. His pointed mustache was painted gold.”

John Milton, The Devil’s Advocate

The author of the novel, Andrew Neiderman, described John Milton as a pretty tall man with bushy silver hair, pale skin, and red cheeks. Even though Al Pacino doesn’t look anything like that, it’s hard to imagine anyone else in his place.

In fact, a different actor could have played the antagonist: Al Pacino turned down the role of John Milton 3 times because he thought the character was a regular superficial villain. And it was only after the script was changed a bit that he finally agreed to take the part.

Dorian Gray, Dorian Gray

Dorian Gray is supposed to be an attractive young man with blue eyes and golden locks. This is why Ben Barnes wanted to dye his hair and wear contact lenses, but it turned out that the film director was totally okay with the actor’s appearance.

A funny fact: before giving the role to Barnes, Oliver Parker was walking around with his photo and asking people if the actor was attractive enough.

Ginny Weasley, Harry Potter

Unfortunately, Ginny did not have the same weight in the movies as she did in the books, since she was reduced to a love interest for Harry. She was described as intelligent, energetic, and eloquent, something we didn’t see much of in the films. Also, like a good Weasley, she should have been much more redheaded and freckled, just like her brothers.

The Ancient One, Doctor Strange

Doctor Strange’s mentor is supposed to be an elderly Asian man. But the director of the Marvel film decided to reconsider the look of this character, thinking that the original character was too stereotypical. So, Tilda Swinton ended up playing The Elder One because it’s more of a title than a specific person.

Grandmaster, Thor: Ragnarok

In the comics, Grandmaster is a man with blue skin, a big head, and yellow eyes without pupils. But the director of the film, Taika Waititi, decided to change the appearance to prevent viewers from having flashbacks of Earth Girls Are Easy where Jeff Goldblum portrayed a blue alien. Also, Waititi didn’t want to hide the appearance of the actor under makeup.

You can still see the leftovers of the canon look of Grandmaster: a blue line on the chin, the same-colored nails, and the blue color of his lower eyelids.

Daenerys Targaryen, Game of Thrones

At the beginning of the first Game of Thrones book, Daenerys was only 13 years old, but in the beginning of the series, she’s 17 years old. And that’s not all. George Martin described her as a short slim girl with purple eyes and silver-white hair.

When Daenerys goes into the fire and becomes the Mother of Dragons, her hair burns and she becomes bald. Her hair grew slowly, so there could not be any beautiful hair like there was in the series.

Erik, The Phantom of the Opera

When talking about the actor for the role of Erik, producer Andrew Lloyd Webber explained, “We needed somebody who had a bit of rock and roll sensibility in him. He’s got to be a bit rough, a bit dangerous — not a conventional singer. Christine is attracted to the Phantom because he’s the right side of danger.”

So, it’s clear that the creators of the film didn’t try to portray Erik, from Gaston Leroux’s book, exactly as he was. The author described him as an incredibly thin man with very deep eyes, yellow skin, a small, almost invisible nose, and almost no hair on his head.

Katniss Everdeen, The Hunger Games

The saga was a great success on the big screen; however, the rating, in terms of fidelity to the literary work vs the adaptation falls short. In the film, actress Jennifer Lawrence does not portray the 16-year-old girl with a much thinner body due to food shortages and short stature.

Did you like the new appearance of any of the characters from this compilation? Share your opinion in the comment section below!