Netflix Casts Additional 12 Including 'Death' For 'The Sandman' Series; Neil Gaiman Comments

Entertainment

by Outsiders
May 26, 2021

Neil Gaiman, author and executive producer for Netflix's 'The Sandman' expressed his feelings about the newest additional cast members to the series and these roles.

Every afternoon I get an email telling me that there are “dailies” from The Sandman ready to be watched. It's the best bit of the day. Once every couple of weeks I get an email letting me know that there's a finished episode waiting for me to watch it. It's the best bit of the month.

The Sandman is being made, and it's... well, it's The Sandman. Which is the best thing of all.

You know that The Sandman is based on my comic book series of the same name. A rich blend of modern myth and dark fantasy in which contemporary fiction, historical drama and legend are seamlessly interwoven, The Sandman follows the people and places affected by Morpheus, the Dream King, as he mends the cosmic — and human — mistakes he's made during his vast existence.

You all know that Tom Sturridge (he/him) is Dream of the Endless, Gwendolyn Christie (she/her) is Lucifer, Sanjeev Bhaskar (he/him) and Amid Chaudry (he/him) are Cain and Abel, Charles Dance (he/him) is Roderick Burgess, Vivienne Acheampong (she/her) is Lucienne, and Boyd Holbrook (he/him) is The Corinthian.

But there are more parts to be announced. And I thought it would be fun to tell you about some of them, and the thinking behind them.

DEATH – Dream's wiser, nicer, and much more sensible sister. Significantly harder to cast than you might imagine (well, than I imagined, anyway). Hundreds of talented women from all around the planet auditioned, and they were brilliant, and none of them were right. Someone who could speak the truth to Dream, on the one hand, but also be the person you'd want to meet when your life was done on the other. And then we saw Kirby Howell-Baptiste's (she/her) audition and we knew we had our Death.

DESIRE – Dream's sibling and everything you want, whatever you want and whoever you are. Desire is also trouble for Dream. Families are complicated. We had barely started looking when Mason Alexander Park (they/them) reached out on Twitter, and threw their hat into the ring. We were thrilled when they got the part.

DESPAIR – Desire's twin, Dream's sister. She is the moment when all hope is gone, the bleakest of the Endless. Donna Preston (she/her) will be playing her, and her performance is chilling and sad. You feel her pain.

JOHANNA CONSTANTINE – Eighteenth Century occult adventuress, John Constantine’s great-great-great grandmother. This Sandman character became so popular that she even had her own spin-off series. I created her to fill the role that John Constantine does in the past. When we broke down the first season, given that we knew that we would be encountering Johanna in the past, we wondered what would happen if we met a version of her in the present as well. We tried it and the script was sparkier, feistier, and in some ways even more fun. So having written her, we just had to cast her. Jenna Coleman (she/her) gave us the Johanna of our dreams – tough, brilliant, tricky, haunted and probably doomed.

ETHEL CRIPPS – Roderick Burgess's love, John Dee's mother, is a small but vital role in the comics, but she became more important as we told our story. In the 1920s and 30s, she is played by Niamh Walsh (she/her): a betrayed and determined young woman seeking to survive. In the present day, now a woman of a hundred identities and a thousand lies, she's played by the brilliant Joely Richardson (she/her).

JOHN DEE – Ethel's son is dangerous. He was driven mad, long ago. Now he's out and on a quest for Truth that may destroy the world. We needed an actor who could break your heart and keep your sympathy while taking you into the darkest places. We were lucky that David Thewlis (he/him) took the part.

Now we're shooting The Doll's House, the second big Sandman storyline. It's the story of:

ROSE WALKER – a young woman on a desperate search for her missing brother, who finds a family she didn't know that she had, and a connection to Dream that neither of them can escape. We needed someone young who could make you care as she ventures into some very dangerous places. Boyd Holbrook's Corinthian is waiting for her, after all. Kyo Ra (she/her) achieves that as Rose.

LYTA HALL – Rose’s friend, a young widow mourning her husband Hector. Rose doesn't know that Hector has started showing up in Lyta's dreams, though. Or that strange things are happening. Razane Jammal (she/her) is Lyta, and she's terrific.

UNITY KINKAID - Heiress, Rose's mysterious benefactor. She has spent a century asleep. Now she's awake, having missed out on her life. She's played by Sandra James Young (she/her).

GILBERT – Rose Walker's debonair protector. A dab hand with a paradox and a sword cane. Stephen Fry (he/him) is a National Treasure, and we forget sometimes that he's also a remarkable actor. Seeing him in costume and make up on the dailies made me blink: it was as if the comic had come to life.

MATTHEW – Dream’s trusted emissary. A raven. I expected our animals to be CGI, and was both taken aback and thrilled when the dailies started coming in, and there was Dream talking to... well, a raven. But ravens don't really talk. The question was, could we find an actor who could make you care about a dead person who was now a bird in the Dreaming – one who isn't certain what's going on, or whether any of this is a good idea? And could we find a voice performer who was also the kind of Sandman fan who used to stand in line to get his Sandman comics signed? The answer was, we could if we asked Patton Oswalt (he/him). And Patton was the first person we asked, and the first person we cast, the day before we pitched The Sandman to Netflix.

Of course, there are more delights and nightmares cast than I've listed here, and we have a few more secrets up our sleeves. I can't wait until you can start watching.

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Comments...

Last 10 comments - ( Read All Posts )

Outsiders - 2021-06-04 @ 9:45 pm

7 hours ago, kILLMonger said:
Even Neil Gaiman thinks you incels are clowns:
https://www.avclub.com/neil-gaiman-the-guy-who-created-sandman-defends-decis-1847019074
So now that the creator has spoken of his support for the casting and the outright foolishness of"cancel culture" /whatever nonsense rationale you jokers wantto "random bigotry bs go" throw out...maybe now we can haveactual discussion.
So for next time; how about we leave that backwoods talk in the trailer and we approach the internet with decency, class, and most importantly...facts.
And I couldn't care less about any "opinion" that starts and stops with bigotry. I will call you out for it and displayzero respect for your crappy worldview.
Remember that when one of y'all want to be greasy on here.
Always a pleasure gents....

We have never insulted you so why are you insulting us with your comments, such as, "incels" "clowns" "jokers" "bigotry?"

Actually, I changed my mind... I'm not continuing this with you.

kILLMonger - 2021-06-04 @ 2:04 pm

Even Neil Gaiman thinks you incels are clowns:

https://www.avclub.com/neil-gaiman-the-guy-who-created-sandman-defends-decis-1847019074

So now that the creator has spoken of his support for the casting and the outright foolishness of"cancel culture" /whatever nonsense rationale you jokers wantto "random bigotry bs go" throw out...maybe now we can haveactual discussion.

So for next time; how about we leave that backwoods talk in the trailer and we approach the internet with decency, class, and most importantly...facts.

And I couldn't care less about any "opinion" that starts and stops with bigotry. I will call you out for it and displayzero respect for your crappy worldview.

Remember that when one of y'all want to be greasy on here.

Always a pleasure gents....

kILLMonger - 2021-06-01 @ 1:31 pm

On 5/28/2021 at 5:18 PM, Outsiders said:
@kILLMonger @memocromatico
I'm not going to continue this here. You are going to believe what you want to believe and I'll believe what I want believe. As I said, it's my opinion about the casting of the series. If you don't like it then that is your opinion.
I'll flat out ask... Are both of you Democrats? Reason I ask is anytime I have a discussion among this situation and it starts becoming political is when I'm discussing the situation with Democrats.

What in the actual hell does being a "Democrat" have to do with anything? Decency has nothing to do with political allegiance....unless you want me to start aligning bigotry and racism to the Republican party (and it's REALLYeasy).

I'll tell you this: I'm Black. I am a sci-fi/comic book fan. I'm sick of incels bringing in their thinly veiled bigotry because they are butt hurt about representation. It's maddening that the best people can say is nonwhite actors get roles "because they Black/female/gay" and not because of their talent and ability.

How about you and every other mayosapien just work on being better because it's the right thing to do as opposed to hiding behind some bs "da Dems...." nonsense.

I don't have to be a Dem to feel what you say is horrible.

memocromatico - 2021-05-29 @ 2:38 am

4 hours ago, Outsiders said:
I see the Weinstein or Polanski cases as a win for the justice system.

Sure, it is, but it was brought up through what could be set as examples of cancel culture. I mean, Weinstein was in the business for over 40 years, and only in the past year was he sentenced and condemned? Cancel culture can have a positive power on society if harnessed correctly. The problem I see that people have with it is that it goes against inhumane attitudes, beliefs and behaviors... and they like getting away with them but can't anymore.

memocromatico - 2021-05-29 @ 2:29 am

3 hours ago, Outsiders said:
@kILLMonger @memocromatico
I'm not going to continue this here. You are going to believe what you want to believe and I'll believe what I want believe. As I said, it's my opinion about the casting of the series. If you don't like it then that is your opinion.
I'll flat out ask... Are both of you Democrats? Reason I ask is anytime I have a discussion among this situation and it starts becoming political is when I'm discussing the situation with Democrats.

I'm not a US citizen or resident, I don't standwith either party. I will say I'vefelt a certain level of repel from Republicans from a few years back... so yeah, not a fan of them. I will say thatI've noticed that Republicans have a tendency to make political comments and then claim that the other side is the one making everything political.

But hey, what do I know, you probably didn't bring up "cancel culture" or race and gender swapping (which are political subjects) into this conversation about the casting of a show to be political and you were just posting your opinion... which happened to be political. You're a Mod, you know JayC prefers if the forums steer clear of politics because we're not gonna fix the world here, you should know better than to bring those things up. I would expect it from any other member, not an overseer.

Outsiders - 2021-05-28 @ 10:18 pm

@kILLMonger @memocromatico

I'm not going to continue this here. You are going to believe what you want to believe and I'll believe what I want believe. As I said, it's my opinion about the casting of the series. If you don't like it then that is your opinion.

I'll flat out ask... Are both of you Democrats? Reason I ask is anytime I have a discussion among this situation and it starts becoming political is when I'm discussing the situation with Democrats.

Outsiders - 2021-05-28 @ 10:12 pm

3 hours ago, memocromatico said:
As for the "good" it's done, check the Weinstein case, or the Polanski, or any other that deserved to be "cancelled". And for the outraging crowd doing the cancelling, remember the James Gunn situation were he was "cancelled" and fired because of 12 year old inappropiate comments digged by the republicans because they didn't like how he was calling out Trump? Yeah, that happens both ways, not only to people being conservative. Cancel culture isn't about the casting in any show, it's about the persons' involved behavior in society.

I see the Weinstein or Polanski cases as a win for the justice system.

memocromatico - 2021-05-28 @ 6:42 pm

20 hours ago, Outsiders said:
How long has "cancel culture" been going on and what good has "cancel culture" done?

Well, for starters you were talking about gender and race swapping being the "big thing" because of what has been going on for the past 2 years, not cancel culture. To the race and gender swapping I'llsay it's incredibly naive on your part to think so, we can go back to 2015 with Jane Foster Thor and the outrage, or Sam Captain America on 2014, or the casting of Michael B. Jordan as Johnny Storm, which is all more than 2 years, I'd go as far as Miles Morales on 2011. I'm sure you can keep googling and find plenty more examples for both comics, movies, and books, even games dating far longer ago, and see how and which people were complaining without even a trailer or reading a panel.

As for cancel culture, the term coinedhas been around for a year or so, but I'm sure we can see examples of that behavior from way before. As for the "good" it's done, check the Weinstein case, or the Polanski, or any other that deserved to be "cancelled". And for the outraging crowd doing the cancelling, remember the James Gunn situation were he was "cancelled" and fired because of 12 year old inappropiate comments digged by the republicans because they didn't like how he was calling out Trump? Yeah, that happens both ways, not only to people being conservative. Cancel culture isn't about the casting in any show, it's about the persons' involved behavior in society.

By the way, Lucifer was also a woman in 2000's Bedazzled, so it's nothing really new for a biblical figure to be swapped.

kILLMonger - 2021-05-28 @ 1:45 pm

15 hours ago, Outsiders said:
How long has "cancel culture" been going on and what good has "cancel culture" done?

See my post above. Yt people have been cancelling stuff from jump. Just because you heard it on Fox News last year doesn't make it a new thing. We could have sooooo much fun listing way more than I already did on the stuff mayosapiens have cancelled.

Google is your friend.

It's 2021...no excuse for you to be this sheltered/ignorant.

Zero chill for you to have used a term without any apparent inkling of what it means/how long its been in effect/who'd the biggest culprit.

If you are a child of the 80/90s especially....I know Ican fondly remember a certain political party/people group (read: they would both end voting for Trump in 2016) who tried to cancel Dungeons and Dragons, Heavy Metal, Harry Potter, Hip Hop music and whatever else made them clutch their pearls.

Bruh stop...

kILLMonger - 2021-05-28 @ 1:36 pm

19 hours ago, Outsiders said:
@kILLMonger I'm sorry but I read your numerous posts and the only thing I'm seeing is that you want to point your finger that everyone is wrong and what you say is right. I see members posting their own opinions and you want to jump all over them for being wrong and not agreeing with you but without backing it up with why they are wrong. Just because I or someone else doesn't like who was cast for a series is our own opinion. So what if I don't like who was cast for The Sandman series for Death or Lucifer. It's my opinion...

You think so? Well enlighten us on how "cancel culture" has only been a thing for like 2 years?

Share with us the insight you have into Netflixon how theyintentionally cast the series the way they did to avoid the "cancel culture" label totally ignoring talent/ability/etc.?

You can't...but you said it anyways.

So you don't know what you are talking about...because if you knew what you are talking about you would not have said the bs you said.

Actually if theywanted to be really faithful to the source material....there wouldn't be yt people or Black people. They'dcast anorexicalbinos because just about every Endless was glue white and scary hungry looking (looking at you Dream).

Snow roaches can post their opinions...they just shouldn't be shocked/whatever when people post opinions back and chide them for their stupidity.

We know powder possums are the OG "cancel culture" champions:

They canceled Native Americans.

Freedom for Black people

They cancelled correct depictions of historical figures in all forms of education and entertainment that weren't yt.

They cancelled seasoning

Cancelled common sense

Y'all cancelled decency

But in this show...you denigrated the talent and professionalism of actors who tried out and were selected to star in this show...because of "cancel culture."

Using bigoted/micro aggressive nonsense as a reason for not like something is way different than not liking something for a valid and relevant reason that can facilitate discussion or even friendly debate.

I can meet people on the latter.

I'll keep calling out the former.

If you don't like it...be better then.

Bruh you and Mako are frickin mods... out hereacting like incels.

Now if this really is a incel group for entitled mayosapiens...go on ahead and tell us all now. Y'all can have it. God willing your genetic information will continue to be spent in tissues and latexdolls so that your worldview will not pass on to your kids andcontinue to stain the Earth when you are gone....

Own your BS...don't try deflecting to what I'm allegedlydoing in a attempt to gloss over the foulyou committed from jump.

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