With Thorne now attached as Sandman's writer, it is quite possible that he could bring some of his The Fades cast with him. Many of the British cast have gone on to bigger things in American TV and film, but one in particular is a major rising star: Natalie Dormer. A series of regal roles from The Tudors' Anne Boleyn to Game of Thrones' Margaery Tyrell (and, slightly more oddly, the Queen Mother) have shown Dormer as adept at playing characters that are ambitious, cunning and manipulative as well as not above using their seductiveness and sexuality to achieve their ends, perfect for the role of antagonistic Endless sibling Desire. As The Fades' angelic Sarah she has experience of playing a powerful supernatural being and has also worked on a Gaiman adaptation after featuring as Door opposite James McAvoy and Benedict Cumberbatch in the radio version of Neverwhere. The prettily feminine Dormer might not instantly seem a fit for Desire's other defining characteristic, his/her androgynous gender switching, but her role as The Hunger Games' Cressida not only looks like giving her the step up from TV star to movie star but also showcases her half shaved head, half long tresses appearance that definitely suggests an ability to flip between androgyny and femininity. On top of that, Dormer is an actress who can quite confidently play both Irene Adler and Moriarty, so this gender flip shouldn't be beyond her at all. Other options: I've deliberately not opted for any of the actors on my shortlist for Dream to appear in any other roles on this list, but many of them would be equally good Desires. The majority of my Dream selections have some background in playing gender flipped or transgender roles on film or other media, including: Tilda Swinton (many people's favourite for the part), Cate Blanchett, Lee Pace, Cillian Murphy, James Franco and Johnny Depp.
