(no subject)

[camwyn]

Another PB search post today, I fear. This one's for a character I'm interested in testing out at a sandbox or two. I just finished reading Saladin Ahmed's novel Throne of the Crescent Moon- which is a pretty good read, especially for a first novel- and I'm interested in trying out Doctor Adoulla Makhslood, the primary protagonist. Problem is, he's in his sixties, bearded, fat, and so very much not Santa Claus. He's a ghul hunter; the book is set in a fantasy world based off Arab cultural memes and story expectations, and the various ethnicities in the book are based off various Middle Eastern and Near Eastern ethnicities. Trying to find a suitable real person to provide his face is a bit tough, as I wouldn't know where to begin looking for Arab actors in their sixties or later, and the one search I did that seemed promising mostly turned up Arab actors in older movies, rather than older Arab actors.

For now, I'm going to go with pictures of Omar Sharif from late in his life. If anyone can point me in the direction of a suitable figure, let me know. This is only for testing purposes, mind- if I can't sustain playing the character in the sandbox games it won't matter much whose face he has, but it'd be nice to have some expressions other than just the one he has in the book's cover art.

Comments

[delight]

Irrfan Khan is Indian, but he does meet the descriptors otherwise? I think. I'm minorly faceblind so if I'm way off do let me know. :)

[ceitfianna]

That's the author's name, I was searching for the book at Barnes and Noble but having the problem of I couldn't recall the title or autho'rs name exactly.

[camwyn]

If you haven't found the book yet, Mr. Ahmed has part of the first chapter up at his web site: http://www.saladinahmed.com/wordpress/the-books

[bjornwilde]

Heh, Omar was my first thought as I read this. Let me see if I can find the sources I found found for when I was PB hunting for Palamedes.

[bjornwilde]

Would Ben Kinsley looking Amish help?

Or how about Erick Avari?

[camwyn]

Ooh. Erick Avari I like. According to Wiki he's from an old Parsi family, so while he's not Arab he's at least descended from an ethnic group that's originally Iranian- and given the number of countries and cultures referenced in Throne of the Crescent Moon there's probably Parsi/Persian/Iranian analogues in there that I just missed...

[genarti]

My first thought was of the movie al-Massir, which revolves around a 60sish bearded ibn Rushd (Averroes). It sounds like Nour el-Sharif might be a good match, if he makes the right kind of faces? But a quick google search showed me mostly clean-shaven and jovial pictures when he's not in the role of ibn Rushd, and I think he wears a turban the whole time in that movie. I haven't read the book (though I've heard good things), so I don't know if a period piece set in 12th century Muslim Spain is remotely appropriate costume-wise for your purposes.

ETA: I was too lazy to log out of my roleplay journal. Sorry.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

The Doctor (this is the most common way canon refers to him, which makes things interesting when all hell is breaking loose) doesn't wear a turban, alas. I'm not fussy about his clothing, since there's no way I'm going to find a sixty year old Arab guy in a perpetually white caftan, but the only person in the book who wears a turban is his seventeen-year-old assistant, Raseed the dervish.

Which is a shame, because wow does that guy have the right face when he has a beard. Jovial, not a problem, the Doctor is generally good humored, but no turban and no glasses.

[camwyn]

... oh bugger. The actor's a Holocaust denier, according to his wiki article.

Dammit.