6. Viggo Mortensen As Guy Fawkes
Whilst the Gunpowder Plot and its known associates have inspired many a story (V for Vendetta, a recent Sherlock episode), there has never actually been a period piece detailing the actual lives of the conspirators. To take on the role, Lord Of The Ring's Viggo Mortensen has both the looks and the ability to play the character as a twisted yet likable anti-hero you're never quite sure if you're rooting for, from which the key elements of the story would stem. A film about Fawkes could encompass his entire life from the childhood death of his father and his role in the Eight Years War against the Dutch. However, a more succinct, period thriller about the lead-up to the Gunpowder Plot would be more entertaining. The film would focus not just on Fawkes, but on Robert Catesby (the man who recruited Fawkes) and other members of the organization that were in on the operation, including Thomas Wintour, John Wright and Thomas Percy. As the film focuses on a group of 'anti-heroes' with an outcome that is already common knowledge among audiences, it leaves the idea feeling not too dissimilar to The Assassination Of Jesse James or Valkyrie. However (like TAOJJ, opposed to Valkyrie) the real heart of a Guy Fawkes film would be in its approach to the characters, rather than the Gunpowder plot itself. Jesse James' director Andrew Dominik or John Hillcoat (having already worked with Mortensen on 'The Road') have the style and experience of recounting a story such as this. Both have worked on period pieces and TAOJJ and The Road deal with the intricacies of human relationship respectively - an element very important to a film of this nature.