Red Dead Redemption: Who Should Play Who In A Live Action Adaptation

It's been over two years since RDR2 (also known as the last game you'll ever need to play) has been released, and with every replay or roam around the frontier, the game just seems to get better and better.

We came for the horse-riding, hard-shooting and train robbing, but we stayed for the amazing story and characters.

The Van Der Linde Gang is the heart and soul of Red Dead, and despite there being quite a few members, players knew each of them personally, and throughout the game even grew fond of them. (Except Micah Bell of course - he can get taken by the Murfree Brood for all we care.)

If the world were perfect, a live action adaptation of the games would be in development this very second, and come in the form of a well-made and carefully crafted television series that would join the ranks of television drama like The Sopranos, Game of Thrones or The Wire. Every character and story arc in the games would be explored in great depth, no stone unturned, and no story aspect dishonourably cast aside.

An epic Red Dead series is but a pipe dream right now, but why not think about who would be the perfect actor to play the ensemble cast of characters from the games? While there are hundreds of characters to imagine actors playing, let's keep it simple with just the main twenty-three members of the Van Der Linde Gang from RDR2.

The Character: Reverend Orville Swanson is the last person you would confess your sins to and while he doesn't contribute much to the game in lure of story or character development, he is unmistakably a valid and insightful member of the group.

At first Swanson is an alcoholic who spends most of his time around camp in a drunken stupor. But as times became more dire, the Reverend sobers up and became more of an aware individual. Interactions with him at Beaver Hollow suggest he saw the disturbing change in Dutch before everyone else. And like a canary in the coal mine, Swanson escapes the gang before any of that harm can be inflicted on him.

Hard to disagree with him, seeing as how things turn out.

The Actor: While Swanson is clearly much older in the game than James Badge Dale, that shouldn't be a hindrance. Instead, we should be looking at actors who have played wiry figures, and can carry off a tremendous moustache in the process.

James Badge Dale has the talent to play a complicated character, and who would be more interesting than a drunken man of the cloth?