Casting Talk: Cassandra Clare talks casting adult roles in ‘City of Bones’

We at the point in pre-production where filming is less than two months away and casting is the hot topic.

Last week, Jemima West was cast as Isabelle joining Lily Collins (Clary) and Jamie Campbell Bower (Jace), who where previously cast.

We also learned that Alec had been cast, but his identity will remain a secret for now because of said actor’s schedule.

Cassandra Clare also said that Simon wouldn’t be cast until July most likely. She also said that there’s a Magnus that the studio has agreed on but they have to officially make an offer.

So much emphasis has been on the “kids” lately, so what about the adults?

Clare took to Tumblr to address the question:

For the adult roles, people don’t so much audition. When you’re a younger actor, you tend to have less of a body of work, whereas if you’re asking, like, Dame Judi Dench (I pick her randomly because there is obviously not a role for her in the movie so no one will think I am giving oblique hints!) she has a huge body of work you can look over to see the vast range of roles she can play. So it is very unlikely anyone would ever ask her to audition. It tends to be much more a “chat with the director over lunch or Skype to make sure you’re simpatico, that’s it” kind of thing. So it’s just not a question of like the hundreds and hundreds of auditions that came in for Jace and Alec and Izzy. (As for Lily and Jamie auditioning together, the moviemakers are aware that the chemistry between Jace and Clary has to be a centerpoint of the film, so that was nonnegotiable, but testing together doesn’t always happen.)

With the adults there is a definite “well, if this person then this person but not this person” thing — like, Luke and Valentine have to be very different. It’s all very complicated with lots of moving parts. These days I tend to be amazed that any movies ever get made at all.

Who are some of your favorite actors for the roles of Valentine, Jocelyn, Luke and Hodge? Do you think any big names will be involved in the film? Sound off in the comments!