Terry Pratchett's The Colour of Magic - Casting

Casting

David Jason was the first actor to be cast for the production, as it had always been his desire to play Rincewind in a film adaptation of The Colour of Magic. Jason had mentioned in an interview some fifteen years previously that, of all the parts available, the character of Rincewind was the one he coveted the most. Jason describes the wizard as "just such an amusing, endearing character... I always kept this idea in my head that one day I play Rincewind". Jason's appointment to the role, announced in April 2007, drew mixed reactions, with comments ranging from "terrible choice" to "brilliant". A common criticism was that Jason, at 68, was too old to play a character who is, according to the books, middle-aged.

From the day Jason was cast, rumours began to fly that a major American actor would be cast alongside him to bolster the film's international appeal. On 31 July 2007 it was revealed that Sean Astin, world-famous for his part in the Lord of the Rings film trilogy, had been signed for the role. The casting of Tim Curry as Trymon and Christopher Lee as the voice of Death was revealed at the same time. The choice of Astin as Twoflower was criticised by some fans, who had anticipated that the tourist would be Oriental. Pratchett responded to this criticism in an open letter, where he noted that he had only described Twoflower as "exotically foreign" until Interesting Times. The choice of Lee to replace Ian Richardson, who had voiced Death in Hogfather, was more widely accepted; Lee had previously voiced the part in the animated adaptations of Soul Music and Wyrd Sisters.

The part of the Patrician of Ankh-Morpork, Havelock Vetinari, was not revealed until the premiere of The Colour of Magic, where Jeremy Irons, billed as a "guest star", was revealed to have played the role. A small number of Pratchett fans were invited to participate as extras in the mob scenes towards the end of the film, and the bar fight in the Mended Drum.

Several members of the cast previously had roles in Sky One's previous adaptation of Pratchett's novel Hogfather, including David Jason as Albert, Nigel Planer as Mr. Sideney, and Stephen Marcus as Banjo. Pratchett himself had also made a cameo in Hogfather as The Toymaker. Nigel Planer had also previously contributed his voice to Discworld audiobooks, as well as the computer games Discworld II: Missing Presumed...!? and Discworld Noir.