The Sandman creator Neil Gaiman revealed at San Diego Comic-Con that Tom Sturridge became the firm choice for Morpheus from the very beginning of the casting process.
Netflix’s The Sandman is the first live-action adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s critically acclaimed graphic novel. The series follows Morpheus, also known as Dream, the living embodiment of all dreams and stories, as he ventures across various worlds and realities.
During a presentation in San Diego Comic-Con’s Hall H, Neil Gaiman discussed the casting process for The Sandman and how Tom Sturridge immediately stood out against thousands of auditionees.
A Casting Director’s Dream
Speaking on the Sandman panel in Hall H, Neil Gaiman revealed that Tom Sturridge’s audition for Dream was one of the first he saw and from that moment on, his mind was made up.
Gaiman explained that the casting process was wildly different for all of the series’ principal cast. In the case of Morpheus, he recalls seeing around a thousand auditions and claims the series’ casting director Lucinda Syson would have watched closer to six thousand.
Throughout that lengthy casting process, however, Tom Sturridge remained the top choice. Listen to Neil Gaiman’s comments in full below:
As the creator of the graphic novel and co-creator of the Netflix adaptation, Neil Gaiman is surely the ultimate authority on The Sandman. To see such confidence in Tom Sturridge as the series’ lead is an encouraging sign for fans that the actor will deliver a performance that remains faithful to the spirit of the character.
Here is the new synopsis for Netflix’s The Sandman:
There is another world that waits for all of us when we close our eyes and sleep — a place called the Dreaming, where The Sandman, Master of Dreams (Tom Sturridge), gives shape to all of our deepest fears and fantasies. But when Dream is unexpectedly captured and held prisoner for a century, his absence sets off a series of events that will change both the dreaming and waking worlds forever. To restore order, Dream must journey across different worlds and timelines to mend the mistakes he’s made during his vast existence, revisiting old friends and foes, and meeting new entities — both cosmic and human — along the way.
The series stars Tom Sturridge, Gwendoline Christie, Vivienne Acheampong, Boyd Holbrook, Charles Dance, Asim Chaudhry, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Jenna Coleman, Joely Richardson, David Thewlis, Stephen Fry, Patton Oswalt, and Mark Hamill.
Wonder Woman co-writer Allan Heinberg serves as showrunner, writer, and executive producer on Sandman. In addition to their duties as writers, Neil Gaiman and David S. Goyer are also on board as executive producers.
The Sandman will hit Netflix on August 5, 2022. Stay tuned for all the latest news surrounding the upcoming series and be sure to subscribe to Heroic Hollywood’s YouTube channel for more original video content.
