The Secret Scripture: Casting includes Theo James as Fr. Gaunt, Eric Bana as Dr. Grene

Would you cast gorgeous hunky Theo James - he was Four in Divergent - as a priest? Because apparently he's playing Fr. Gaunt in the adaptation of Sebastian Barry's The Secret Scripture, currently in preproduction. I don't see it. Granted, I'm only two thirds of the way through the book, perhaps the novel and his character takes a turn I've yet to see because otherwise why waste Theo James mega sex appeal on a role that calls for none of that? I've written about the upcoming adaptation a couple of times; initially Jessica Chastain was set to play Roseanne, the younger version of the ancient patient (Vanessa Redgrave is Roseanne at age 100) at a Irish mental hospital. Her life is revealed through her secret diary; Rooney Mara replaced Chastain this past summer.

In addition to James as Gaunt, I've learned that Eric Bana will play Dr. Grene, the psychiatrist charged with assessing Roseanne's condition. Variety reports that Jack Reynor will play Roseanne's 'love interest' but it's not clear whether that means he plays her husband Tom McNulty or John Lavelle.  McNulty is described as a "short, thickset, almost fat man in a sturdy and neat suit"  while Lavelle is said to be dark-haird and pale-skinned. And simply irresistible. That sounds like Aidan Turner who has been cast in an unspecified role to me. Turner who you know from The Hobbit also stars in the upcoming Poldark Masterpiece Theater series on PBS. He ticks all the boxes for tall dark and handsome! Jeremy Irons is also onboard, while imdb doesn't break it out, I assume Irons is too old to play her beloved father and probably has been cast as John Kane, the old pervy man who cleans Roseanne's room and goes about with his fly undone. That likely leaves Tom Vaughan-Lawler (Charlie, Love/Hate, Peaky Blinders) to play her da. 

I expect to finish The Secret Scripture and get my take up sometime this week; I'll see how I feel about the casting of Theo James as Gaunt when I finish the novel but I gotta feeling this book, already full of horrors, takes another dark and disturbing turn. 

MY TAKE ON THE SECRET SCRIPTURE BY SEBASTIAN BARRY

Rooney Mara plays the young Roseanne McNulty

Does Aidan Turner (The Hobbit, Being Human) play Lavelle? Fingers crossed.

Eric Bana seen here in Deliver Us From Evil cast as Dr. Grene

Jack Reynor seen here in Transformers: Age of Extinction plays Roseanne's love interest