Considering that the Tomb Raider video game franchise owes its origins to Indiana Jones, there are few video game characters quite as well-suited to an onscreen adaptation as Lara Croft. We’ve seen the adventuring woman in big-screen films and animated series, but now the upcoming live-action Tomb Raider series is coming together as nearly a dozen roles have been cast for the show, including a pair of heavyweights in Sigourney Weaver and Jason Isaacs.
The upcoming Tom Riader series is written by Phoebe Waller-Bridge and will star Sophie Turner in the lead role as Lara Croft. Up to now, hers was the only role that had been cast, but today several new additions were announced, including a few that will be recognizable to fans from the game. The descriptions of the characters come from Variety.
- Sigourney Weaver - Evelyn Wallis, “a mysterious, high-flying woman who is keen to exploit Lara’s talents”
- Jason Isaacs - Atlas Demorney, Lara’s uncle
- Bill Paterson - Winston, Lara’s Butler
- Martin Bobb-Semple - Zip, Lara’s Tech Support and Friend
- Celia Imrie - Francine, the head of advancement at the British Museum
- Jack Bannon - Gerry, Lara’s personal pilot and snack collector
- John Heffernan - David, an exhausted government official who finds himself tangled up in Lara’s unusual world.
- Paterson Joseph - Thomas Warner, “a senior government official brought in to clean up an almighty mess.”
- Sasha Luss - Sasha, “a fierce, deeply competitive new adversary of Lara’s.”
- Juliette Motamed - Georgia, “a devoted, by-the-books curator at the British Museum, dedicated to the ‘proper’ preservation of history.”
- August Wittgenstein - Lukas, “an illegal raider who shares history with Lara in more ways than one.”
As somebody who has generally enjoyed playing Tomb Raider video games and watching the various adaptations, I’m always interested in what a new take on the material would bring. Every step of the princess has made this particular project especially intriguing, from bringing in Phoebe Waller-Bridge as co-showrunner and writer to the casting of Sophie Turner; every choice hasn’t necessarily been the most obvious, but that’s what makes it interesting.
Game fans will recognize some of the characters listed here, like Winston, Lara’s Butler, who players would routinely lock in the freezer (iykyk), and Lara’s uncle, who is usually portrayed as a less-than-loving family member, making it just the sort of role we’d expect from Jason Isaacs.
The most interesting character, however, is the one being played by Sigourney Weaver. The word “exploit” being used would seem to indicate that she’s not playing one of the “good guys” either, but time will tell. Weaver has certainly played her share of villains, though she's generally the good guy, so we'll have to wait and see how this character shakes out.
The casting of so many characters that aren’t previously known would seem to confirm what had been previously rumored; that this series, which will be available with a Prime Video subscription, will be a fresh take on the material, rather than an adaptation of a previous game. It’s yet another decision that has the potential to make the show truly unique, and I, for one, can’t wait to see it.
