Im gonna be fr for a second I think a lot of the reactions ppl have about the castings in general (not just Mia and Faly) has shown that too many people in this fandom are shallow and very appearance obsessed and its pretty dissapointing.
I personally love Chloe and Rachel castings and I was stunned to find out that some people think Maisy and Esther aren't pretty enough to be Amberprice and that they 'deserve better' whatever that means. Actually people are pretty rude about Esther and how she's 'too weird looking' to be Rachel and again 'erm Rachel is supposed to be beautiful and they gave her to Esther??!'
Like y'all.....these are real people we are talking about. Let's not say fucked up things abiut Tatum, Maisy, Mia, Emily, Faly, Billy etc just bc this fandom has crazy expectations and can be really fucking mean.
Obviously people are allowed to have their feelings about the casting but like the way people are sharing them is so incredibly rude and lacks decorum. Lets all remember that the game is called Life is Strange and not America's Next Top Models.
The entire cast are all supposed to be your average everyday teenagers, why on earth do people want everyone to look unnaturally beautful like they all jumped out of the CW is beyond me but that's just how I see it.
Would love to know your opinion on this matter if you wanna say anything.
I was gonna make a separate post about the matter, so THANK YOU for bringing this up. The mass fan reaction to these castings has been so frustrating, ever since Maisy and Tatum were announced. I don't watch a lot of TV and I had zero expectations for who they would cast because it was likely that they'd cast unknown actors. Life is Strange won't have a Mario, Zelda, TLOU, or Fallout-level budget. They were always going to cast people you'd never heard of (which I elaborated on here back in September). And now they have and people are losing their goddamn minds.
I understand that this show has been highly anticipated for many years and it gave people a lot of time to build up expectations in their heads. For them, they want an actor who will dazzle them right away with some appearance or "vibe" that feels like the character jumped right out of the game. And just because Maisy is short, or Faly and Mia are Black, or Esther has a certain face shape, that illusion is ruined and people feel entitled to voice their opinions.
People forget that casting directors are looking for an actor who will nail the audition and the chemistry read. Maybe Emily, Mia, or Esther did a great Chloe audition, but Maisy is the one who booked it because she clicked the most with Tatum. Max and Chloe are the central relationship of the game, so their chemistry is going to be vital for the show. Also, Esther is a fucking MODEL. Like an actual, working model. She's modeled for Fendi, Stella McCartney, Miu Miu, and others, so it's insane to me that some fans feel entitled to comment on her appearance when it's a part of her damn career. Like, maybe stop policing women's bodies?? It's disappointing how heavily skewed the hate is toward the female actresses; this is Bella Ramsey as Ellie all over again.
On the flip side, you have Tatum, who looks enough like Max that people are instead being parasocial with her and spamming her comments sections with "OMG MAX" and Max gifs. It's harmless right now, but I worry it might escalate to an uncomfortable level after the show comes out where fans won't be able to see Tatum as their own person. The last thing I'd want is people villainizing Billy, Faly, Tom, Emily, Raul, or even Maisy for playing antagonistic characters in a show because they can't separate the actor from the character. It should already be incredible enough that Life is Strange is getting adapted at all and that most of its cast are actual fans of the game. Mia, Tatum, Billy, and Emily have at least played LiS, and Faly said recently he's played it three times. Imagine joining a project that you're also a huge fan of, only to be met with hostile fans who say you can't play a character because of how you look? Do better.
Y'all. These are young, online, Gen Z actors. They see the shit you post about them. They have accounts on the same sites where you're posting hate. They have friends and family who will see what you say about them, like in Tatum's IG post from last month (she sees you calling her a "she/they unknown actress!") Don't forget that while we have seasoned actors onboard, Tatum is basically a newcomer. Life is Strange is her television debut. If this show does do unexpectedly well, it's gonna catapult this cast into mainstream stardom, and the least we can do is be decent to them while they adjust to fame. At the end of the day, they're human beings who deserve privacy and respect like anybody else.
I've seen this happen before with Heartstopper and Heated Rivalry, and I'm sure LiS will get the same treatment because it's a queer show with a lot of queer talent onboard. So for the sake of a pre-emptive PSA:
Do NOT speculate about these actors' sexualities or harass them into coming out.
Do NOT speculate about their relationship status.
If they have a partner, LEAVE THEM ALONE.
If you're publicly hating on an actor for their race, height, appearance, or otherwise something they can't change, you suck. Get the hell off my blog.
Do NOT project your feelings about a character onto the actor. They're here to do a job, not answer whatever reservations you have about how their character was written in the game or the show.
These characters do not belong to you. There is no "not my Chloe/Kate/Warren/Rachel/etc." Stop bothering and hating on actors based on your interpretations of fictional characters that you are not entitled to.
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