Production is under way at Paramount, recently having won the film rights, of the newest adaptation of Erik Larson’s “The Devil in the White City”, led by none other than the cunning Leonardo DiCaprio playing Doctor H.H. Holmes. Not only is DiCaprio the perfect physical embodiment of a mustached, blue eyed, man of large stature like Doctor Holmes, but he is uniquely talented in playing a vast range of visages and their accompanying personalities, as is required to play a man truly sadistic yet apparently empathetic like Doctor Holmes. Much like Holmes was able to adopt a dangerously enticing, romantic façade to draw innocent young women to work for him and become his lovers, and eventual victims; DiCaprio is quite the romantic too, playing the handsome young lover in both “Romeo and Juliet, and Titanic”. Dicaprio also played the role of a mustached, gun slinging villain in the recent film “Django Unchained”, proving that he can perfectly emulate the vile, evil nature of Dr. Holmes also.
As of this moment Leonardo DiCaprio is the only actor to have been cast for this film, but there is innumerable existing talent to fulfill the remaining roles. One forerunner for the part of Patrick Eugene Prendergast is Robin Lord Taylor. Spectacularly cast for the role of Penguin in the hit TV show Gotham, Taylor fulfilled an eerily similar role to the Devil in the White City’s Prendergast, in which he was a willing servant, distraught and set on revenge when his superiors did not show their appreciation as deserved. He is wonderfully suited for the demented character exhibited by Prendergast.
One of the largest roles yet to be filled is that of the Director of Works of the Chicago World Fair, Daniel Hudson Burnham. An architectural genius ahead of his time, Burnham was a burly man with a steel reserve, and a taste for the finer things in life. He was a loud, commanding, larger than life figure, but still emotionally in touch and passionate, and therefore John Goodman is perfect for the role.
Another monumental role, not only for his part in the world fair and the Devil in the White City’s rendition of it, but also for the feat of engineering that left its mark on history, is that of George Washington Gale Ferris. The inventor of the modern day Ferris wheel created the greatest feat of engineering to date, with the intent of surpassing the wonder of the Eiffel Tower’s unveiling at the Paris Exposition, and was largely responsible for the lucrative success of the fair. For this role I would suggest a Tombstone era Kurt Russle. His masculinity is perfect for the character responsible for such a feat of engineering, and his exquisite mustache alone, along with other physical similarities, qualifies him for the part.
Work Cited
Larson, Erik. The Devil in the White City. Vintage, 2004.
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