There's not much out there about the new book… but from what I have been able to figure out, it is a side story that takes place somwhere between the wizard and glass and the wolves of calla. I don't think it's even going to be about the tet.

I agree with you though, that it would be a mistake… I mean what's left to be sung for Roland and his tet? Sai King has his graphic novels for that purpose (for the stories inbetween) Sai king's books have always been like black and white for people.. either you love them or you hate them, there is no middle ground….ever.

I also agree that Sai Kings movies have always been a weak representation of his written master pieces…they are never the same. like I said in an earlier post, they have either changed the endings such as they did in the mist, cujo, dreamcatcher.. or they have only done a partial adaptation such as in the green mile, hearts in atlantis.. the tv movie done of the book IT was just rediculas..
so I agree that there is a great deal of trepidation in the idea of a dark tower movie.. not only for the fans that have followed it all of these years and know and love these and who have laughed and cried over these books but for the person who decides to take this task on.. There has been so much talk(and I have put in my 25 cents worth as well ) as to whom would play the parts of these legendary characters. but that is not as important as HOW they tell the story because all of it is important to the final outcome..if they leave out 1 iota of detail or god forbid change anything it would completley and utterly destroy it and that is my greatest fear.

And I don't understand why so many people are in love with Wizard and Glass. I've found this to be the most difficult book to get through every time due to the fact that it doesn't advance the main plot. I never really agreed with King's decision to insert a love story into a tale of an epic anti-hero who would let a child die in order to reach his tower. All the tale of Roland and Susan did for me was reveal where most of his coldness came from, although I found the betrayal of his mother and murder of his father to be reason enough. I was lucky enough to not be in the right age range to have to endure the agonizing wait after The Waste Lands only to be handed such a disappointment in Wizard and Glass. I personally thought that The Waste Lands was the best book of the series, and The Dark Tower is a close second, primarily because I was pleasantly surprised by the ending.

Any thoughts that King has decided to continue the series with another book? Something like The Wind Through the Keyhole? If it does anything but reveal side stories (i.e. Little Sisters of Eluria) I think it's a huge mistake.

NO,

I have gone back and forth in my love and hate of Roland and his many faults, but I have never once felt him to be in the same league as the Crimson King. The reasons of their existance differ far too much for that idea to even be considered. and yes, I am extremely biased in my opinion in this matter. and while I will agree that the first 4 books have been told half ass backwards, and while his motivations are less than worthy, I repeat, he is not the crimson king.

You agree , though stated in different ways, that:

first, Roland has repeated this quest countless times, other stories and the influences that we see in rolands world are a result of his past failed attempts at his quest.

Secondly that Eddy,Susannah and Jake are reflections Roland himself, parts that he is incapeable of..

Thirdly that they are key parts of not only his quest, but his existance in that they exist because he does and vise versa

Fourthly that the major importance of his quest is to rebalance the wheels of ka..in turn saving the beams and all the worlds in the many levels of the tower.

And Finally, When Roland goes with Jake to the vacant lot and sees within the Rose everything that is right and good and worthwhile in this world and all worlds, he says "This is worth everything"..
That right there, those 4 words are enough to convince me, if nothing else that Roland is NOT the crimson king.

The one consistant theme throughout all of these books is that constant inuendos, constant contrasts and battles between good and evil.. you see it everywhere..

the old people at river crossing vs the pubes and greys… their world, recovering from the great evil done to it in the past; growing lush and green, yet still mutated. blain the pain vs little blain…the people of the callas, peaceful and kind, yet betrayed by one of their own, their babies taken away and returned as giant husks of what they should have been…roland and his tet saving them from one threat only to be rewarded with the key to the eventual destruction of their tet and their lives… and on and on and on..
It is more likely that the Crimson king is more a result of all of Roland wrongs than the man himself. we already know that roland has repeated this same quest countless times and has failed countless times. all of that negativity had to put somewhere..and I think the Crimson King is a result of it–the wheels of ka balancing..
the fact that he had to wait so long for Roland this time could simply mean that maybe Roland did something right this time. I still hold the contention that Roland was never meant to reach the tower.. the fact that he does and the Crimson King is there waiting to destroy him only verifies my contentions.. at least in my mind..

what do you think?????

Forgive my lateness in responding, i was concerned with midterms.

So here goes…

Roland is not a force, he is THE force. Without him there is no quest, without his despair and dryness, there is no ka-tet. I would argue that he is the binding glue between all these characters, Mordred and the Crimson King are reflections of the bad side of this force. Roland is immortally going to travel this quest, i mentioned before and do so now, that i don't think this is the first time he's been on this quest, i would like to believe that this may be just one of infinite loops where he is consistently making the same mistakes, (a la the talk that Roland and the Crimson King have when he is trapped in the Wizard's glass, "Roland, i know you, and will ever know you") this seems a clear indication that this is a continuous quest, a replay needed in order to balance the worlds every so often. This seems more possible because Roland's quest spans whole worlds, and who knows how much time elapsed between the journeys he made to each of the seperate doors, maybe not in his world (which i feel is a nexus since it is where he is from, and in my theory, MUST exist to balance the worlds, and therefore is integral to the nature of the universe) but in the other ones that rely on his ability to complete his journey.

this is all supposition of course, but if we look at the idea of multiverses, it stands to reason that there would be a leyline of sorts, eg; the tower, Roland's world and the world of the Stand where the green castle resides (with T-T man and Martin/ Randall Flagg)
and the dark lights, which represents despair and loss and horrors unimaginable. I am assuming that Pennywise is either The Crimson King itself, a version of Mordred, or Walter/RF in a different form

That being said, Elements of Roland are in EVERY CHARACTER that King has ever used. In fact, i would go so far as to suggest that These other Characters are embodiements of Roland, caskets for his soul and genetics that lay dormant (living their own lives) until they die and the parts of Roland head eternally towards the End.

To clarify, look at the end of The Stand, RF is reincarnated, and ones has to assume that the events that have just occurred will occur in exactly the same way again, Same thing with the nature of the magician in Eyes of the Dragon, there is a latent feeling of deja-vu, that these things have occurred before and will continue, even if its just a feeling.

Another theory i have about King's other stories and how they tie in is that Roland has been lax in his quest, got hung up in another world (either spiritually or physically) and has avoided his long journey, this type of thing could explain why he must suffer so, The fact (in this idea) that he defaulted from his appointed task would be cause enough for the other acting forces (the ones concerned with the balance of the worlds and Keeping the Crimson King from his goal) to make him elongate his journey eternally for avoiding the quest in the first forms.

There is one issue with this notion however, a single line that has discouraged this more and more in my mind. The fact that The Crimson King tells Roland that he has been waiting for longer this time. Implying through language that this is not the first time their encounter occurs at the tower. If the Crimson King is beyond actual realms and their limitations (as i think is the general consensus) then he would be aware (theoretically) of Roland's eternal journey and the possible endings. What if Roland has failed countless times to reach the tower, or has been able to change in the past, that would explain the reason for his suffering, I would argue on this basis, that Roland is not questing for the tower, but actually for The Crimson King, for the encounter between two evils, of which the universe can only sustain one to be rebalanced. This theory immediately dictates that the worlds have a set schedule of unbalance, coming to a close when Roland takes up this quest ( or is born to it) and that this Play must continually occur to re balance the worlds in preparation for the journey once again, Like resetting a timer or clock so that all the elements are in place.

Jake must exist in his world, eddie in his, Jack Mort, Walter/RF, Susannah, Blaine, Tick-tock man, Oy, The spirit that uses Roland's genetic identity, Callahan, so on and so forth. These elements must constantly be reproduced for the quest to happen as it must, suggesting a distinct time line, Even Roland's own world must be in the throes of doom
(much like in The Stand) All these elements (Alain, Cuthbert, Stephen, The Coos witch, Coffin hunters, Farson) must happen to be for the quest to happen the same each time.

So now i pose a question to any out there brave enough to answer.

What if Roland IS the Crimson King, what if the entire epic is backwards, and we are routing for Chaos, not order? What if Roland's Ka-tet is the unbalancing equation leading to the quest's continuance, the need for the quest. What if, should the 'Crimson King' be left alone, the worlds would be restored to order under his goal. I know what it says in the book, concretely speaking, but what if we are meant to see the Quest from a decidedly biased point of view, sounds like something that SK would do just for the hell of it.

Long nights, pleasant fields.
Camuss 111

do you think Rolands story and ultimate end would have been different if there hadn't been abt 15yrs between the books???

Ok, so now that I said stuff, what are your favorite parts?

The "embodiment of fear and pity"..strong statement, but also unfourtunatly..accurate. I refuse to believe that they are simply drawn as pawns in Rolands game and they are all meant to die. like you said, I want so badly for Jake, Susannah and Eddy to be Rolands salvation, I do not want their lives to be in vain. They go through so much, they grow and change and become "better" people in spite of Roland and because of their experiences and their quest; they are closer and love more unconditionally and purely than anyone; only to have their destiny turn around and bite them in the butt, it simply isn't fair.

I think too that they are reflections of the humanity that Roland has been incapeable of before. Eddie reflects the humor,wit and carefree nature Roland doesn't and can not understand.
Susannah reflects the conflict within himself(Odetta Holmes and Detta Walker) and the potential for something better(susannah)
Jake..poor Jake is the most important of them all. he represents hope, love, happiness and the connection they all share. he is the glue that binds them, he sees what they can't and understands better than all of them what that means. he knew what the outcome would when before he died in the first book ("go then there are other worlds than these") and yet he returns out of love and only to die for a second time.

Roland is destined to be alone because he is unable to change..I think their destiny, fate, ka, whatever is beccause of Rolands very nature. because I don't believe he is ever meant to reach the tower itself. I think his quest, finding Eddie, Susannah and Jake, are his quest..his key to saving the beams and the door to all of their salvations and rebalancing the worlds.

WHew! I hope I said that right, I didn't mean to be so wordy, lol…
Anyway, tell me some of your favorite scenes from the books that you think should be in the movies and why…

Fenris, thanks for your 2 cents.. and I agree with you(and aristotle) this is the perfect tragedy..and Roland is the tragic hero… sometimes it is almost easier to imagine him as the bad guy because of his many faults but as you pointed out, he is only doing what it is in his nature to do…

let me ask you.. if it is Rolands's fate to be the tragic hero, what is Jakes? in any other story he would have been utterly defenseless being torn out of his world, and thrown into the land of 19..so what is his purpose? why is he chosen to be part of this katet and why did he have to die, not once, but twice?

I wanted a "get down dirty discussion" and you delivered one.. YEAH!! :) lol
anyway… You bring up some interesting points.. and I have a few questions about your views.

First… you see Roland as a force and I agree, he is a force, but my question is this…

what type of force? and who or what deemed it so? What drives this force within him? The turtle and the bear?
Do you see Roland as a mere extension of the turtle and the bear because of his quest(the turtle) and his robotic mentality and lack of emotions and killing everything he loves(the bear)? good vs evil, white over red, ka..

You argue that Rolands story happens within the dead lights (described in the book it) even though in spans differents worlds.. Im not sure I can concede with this simply because the dead lights is death, despair. isolation and without hope. even the battle between stuttering bill and pennywise took place outside the dead lights in the space between worlds. But I often wondered if pennywise and the crimson king were connected, if not the same being. Both shape shift,(he darkles, he tincts) but their true forms seem to be spiders, both decorate their sanctum with skulls and each kill with an insanity uneaqual to anything i have ever seen.

NExt question.. when you said that "Roland is morphing and becoming someone different, And as this occurs the younger, more human Roland of Gilead comes out to make his own stand. I would argue that it is this Roland who fights Mordred (explains why he hesitates to shoot) and ultimately this Roland, who has changed, but not enough, who makes it to the top only to be returned to the beginning as the gunslinger." did you mean that the elemental force of the gunslinger is a seperate entity than Roland the mortal human???? if so than I can definately wrap my head around that idea.
It would make sense that the force would give roland his immortality as well as his inability for the "human condition" it would also confirm the theory that he ages (becoming mortal) during his rare displays of humanity: such as when he attempts humor, cries or expresses remorse or empathy therefore making him vunerable to physically aging, body pains and second guessing himself and his mission the ability to love again etc…

I could quote scenes from so many other books such as the dead zone, regulators, desperation, hearts in atlantis, insomnia, the talisman, black house, lisey's story and 1/2 dozen others that mention, the crimson king, the tower, ka and Roland in some way.. in my mind it only confirms my contention that these stories are an extension of Rolands quest of the dark tower. These other worlds and stories that exist in the different levels of the tower are what I believe to be Rolands past and failed attempts at his quest. And that possibly the horn is more a symbol of hope rather than past sins.. Hope that maybe this time it will be different. If he can find his humanity, if he stands and is true.

That is all very probable, but there are times when Roland becomes younger in the eyes of his companions, and thusly his age changes for a time

When Eddie stops calling him old, tall and ugly
when SK observes hat Eddie can see the visage of handsomeness behind Roland's face
after R has related the tale of Wizard and Glass
in the cavern at the end of Wolves
in the battle with Mordred
when he makes the "ka-ka' joke
so on

I agree with your sentiments and am pleased that my comments still matter. I won't say that you're wrong, or not right, or any combination of those sentiments. But i do feel that Roland is a force, not a man. He is the epitomy of all heros, the anti-hero and savior in one. He is myth incarnate. Arthurian legend to be much more technical.

But he is a man, a broken and hardened shell. It takes the journey to the Tower for him to re-discover himself, but i don't think this is his first time on that journey.

I look at the series as just a repeated leg of his life, Roland will always reach the tower, but each time, his spirit will be broken, it 's much like the tortures of hell described by Dante. Repetitive, Roland must suffer all these event continually to keep the beams in place, balance out the universes etc…

I would argue that, even though this series takes place over different worlds, it all happens within the dead-lights, (read IT) the zone where the turtle and bear are constantly fighting each other, In fact, the turtle and bear are the sides of good and evil.
(Turtle creates, bear destroys.Also in IT) Roland is merely an extension of those forces, as is the Dark Man, Mordred, and the Crimson King. Roland is no different from them in how he goes about things.

Yes, he is unable to think around corners, and is stupidly dogged, but that doesn't mean that this is why he suffers, The Dark Tower is a symbol of salvation, (a lying one too) Roland is simply following the wrong path to get it right, and so is doomed to continue the same journey, lose the same friends and lovers and kill the same people, because he is such an unstoppable force, He is unable to look at others with true empathy, a point well made by your comment, but further than that, he is unable to look at his own life with empathy, he is startlingly dumb respectively, for a hero that we all love, he is nothing short of a cold-hearted bastard who thinks like a machine. But Blaine is the juxtaposition to this, Blaine is the catalyst as is Charlie the Choo-choo, It is only after meeting Blaine that Roland really become ROLAND, not the gunslinger, even his rescue of Jake is driven by selfish motives. But as he becomes more adept at either pretending or genuinely caring, we see some of the years melt away, freeze on his skin and chip off. Roland becomes the shadow of the gunslinger, he becomes a man. True he is still incredibly uncouth and shit-faced, but he cries and laughs, when Susannah dissappears, he shows compassion towards Eddie, at least in his mind. Roland is morphing and becoming someone different, And as this occurs the younger, more human Roland of Gilead comes out to make his own stand. I would argue that it is this Roland who fights Mordred (explains why he hesitates to shoot) and ultimately this Roland, who has changed, but not enough, who makes it to the top only to be returned to the beginning as the gunslinger.

interesting side note

The horn could represent Roland's sin, a new burden that he has to carry for his failure to change fast enough

Ka has come, yes this time there's no turning back

Camuss111

I can not count the times I have laughed out loud at Eddie's smart mouth antics or Detta calling Roland a "Honkey" the God Bomb minister and countless others… But I can count the times that I have cried every time I have read these same books over and over again…

Each time that Jake dies
When oy says " I ache"
When Roland is afraid to sleep
When Susan dies
When Eddie loses Susannah and then finds her again
when Callahan dies
When Roland dances
When Susannah sings with the guitar player in the street
When Roland kills his mother
When Jake calls Roland "Father"
when he is able to read the sign at the rose
When he meets Susannahs god father and recieves his watch
When Roland finds sheemie again after all the lost years
When Eddie dies
When the beam speaks to them in their dreams
Everytime Roland cries
when Susannah is reunited with eddie, jake and oy in the other world
When Oy dies
When Roland reaches the tower and calls out the names of those he has lost.

What are some of your favorite scenes in the series?

Thank you Fenris.. I have been a DT fan since I first picked up the Gunslinger when I was 11 years old. and everytime I read the series, I pick up something new or come to a new understanding of their quest. It has been excruciating having no one to discuss these books with. Everyone I know has neither read them or only the first few, but have not finished them so the are not able to share my excitment, thrill, anxiety and even fear of the possibility of the DT movies.

So I jumped at the chance to get my thoughts and feelings of this epic saga out there and feared that I would not be able to put these ideals into the proper words. Thank you for agreeing with my sentiments…

There are still so many thoughts and opinions rolling around in my head and I welcome a get down and dirty discussion of these books.(LOL) I have been dying to ask someone if they ever considered the possibility of Roland being the bad guy rather than the hero of these tales.. or just what the real reason Jake kept showing up and what was his true purpose was in the role he played…
or what how the books would have ended if there had not been a 15yr gap in the series.. would we still the harry potter, star wars and other influences depicted in the later books….
Or.. was it pompass pride or ka that caused stephen king to put himself into this legendary saga..
the possibilities are as endless as they are exciting so people PLEEEASE bring on the discussion.. I am game.

Camuss111… I agree with you to a certain extent that Roland's age reflects his mentality throughout his journey, but for 2 different reasons than you propose. I believe his aging is more of a result of his inability for human(mortal) emotions and in relation to his distance to the Dark Tower. I will try to explain my reasoning behind this, but I do not have your flair for words, or your eloquence, so please bear with me.

Roland is described as cold, methodical, stubborn,heartless- and having a slow, plodding single-mindedness; lacking imagination and inabilaty to think around corners. incapable of of humanities purest emotions such as love, honor or the ability to hope and believe.
He considers these to be weaknesses when in fact they will prove to be his most defining, worthwhile achievments.

Rolands quest for the Dark tower spans centuries adding to his air of immortality, yet, We see Roland physically age at critical points of his journey and at profound moments of realization and in his rare displays of humanity. For example:

when he catches up to the man in black, he is closer to the dark tower than he has ever been. After their palavor and the vision of the dark tower, he wakes up aged and 2 dawning truths. first, that he truely loved Jake, regretted killing him to get to the man in black and secondly, the enormity of the quest he had taken on and only now began to understand the importance of the tower itself.
The first sign of his mortality is when he nearly dies from the lobstrosities. I believe this is punishment for Rolands inability to grow, to love, to change- to know what things truely matter and killing Jake whom could have been was his chance at redemtion.

he ages again when in the very end of the 4th book closer yet to the dark tower; after he is forced to remember his past..he realizes he has found something more important than the tower and instead of ordering them as dihn to stop the quest to the tower, he takes the cowards way out and allows them convince him to go on. as a result this is when the tet begins to break up.. in book 5 they start to keep secrets from each other Roland begins to doubt himself, his body grows older and more unreliable. he manipulates the others and opens them up to all the chaos that follows in the last 2 books.

Throughout these books was the constant reminder to Stand…Be True.. it wasn't untill Roland reached the top of the tower that he understood what those words meant. I believe that Roland was doomed to repeat his quest because he could not learn from his mistakes, because he was unable to let go of his selfish obsessions, his inability to see around corners and immagine what life could be like without the tower, his inability to change and was unable to open himself to the love of his katet.

I don't believe that Roland was ever meant to reach the dark tower. I think that the quest was what was important. I believe that eddie, susannah and jake yes, even Oy were his second chance.. his redemptiont for cuthbert, alain, susan and david.

what do you think?

just doing my bit, and yes, i believe it was when they were in THE STAND's version of Kansas that he said that bit. I was the same when i heard about ledger, but my god, he brought the joker to a much higher realm than most villains in cinema, astounding performance (NTS watch Dark Knight again)

I'm glad that you folks enjoy my commentary, i'm just such a huge fan that i feel the need to discuss all the reasons for this movie to be made, i'm a writing major myself, so to see what SK has done with his short time on this earth has been a driving force for my own stories. The Dark Tower is not just a SK masterpiece, it is a soul-searching story, a new Illiad or Odyssey for our entire society, it is not only Stephen King's magnum opus, but it also our own, it is our epic as a society in the world, it is a tribute to the people of this time. We are part of it physically and mentally and spiritually, and for those reasons alone, i will do all in my power to try to bring about the best DT movie that can be made.

The path leads ever onward

Camuss111

Camuss111, thank you for your comments, a beautiful description of Roland's age perception. Yep I agree, Viggo was splendid in A History of Violence, and his character had a transformation of sorts, something that Roland definitely experiences as he becomes friends with his ka-tet. I loved that scene (think it was book 4) where Roland said something to the effect of "I don't want to continue to the Tower anymore, your lives have become too meaningful to me."

thank you for your support. It is not in my heart to say that it won't happen, I love these stories, and the characters as if they were my own. But as previously stated, Hollywood is unfettered and lax currently, whether the director has free script control or not. I would love to see them done right (or do them myself) but i just can't see a clear way through all the bureaucratic hassle of Tinseltown. I wish for them to be perfect, i wish these characters to reach out with their message to people everywhere, this is a story and message worth getting right, by one of the greatest storytellers of modern times, no combination of this should be unconsidered, but it will be, because that is the nature of Hollywood. I can tell you that some of the best myths and legends have been ruined or maimed by the folks over on Beverly Hills, i hope to God that i am wrong, but somewhere deep inside, i know i'm not. When Roland loses it all to Mordred, when Jake dies the second time, these moments are so succinctly painted that i can't help but cry, Hollywood will draw them out, and, while the rest of the movie may be amazing, it is these minor, integral parts that i fear the most for.

May Ka look favorably your way.

Camuss111

to clarify,
Read the Gunslinger and look at physicality for tell, but by the time the Wastelands occur, Roland is no longer a physical person, not so much as he has become an insurmountable force. How does this affect his age you may ask? well, SK is a master of innuendo, when Roland is acting as the Gunslinger, he is much older than his compatriots (i.e. End of Drawing) But when he is acting as Roland the human, he is described in a much lighter way, almost as if his mindset affects how old he is physically. Get to the latter books, where Mordred and The Crimson King become larger players, and Roland, as the gunslinger, acts more wise and aged. He rotates in and out, almost as if he is the last pulsating remnant of his own world. As if he is striving to be more in each plane than he can truly be in life. He ages with the events and his own attitude, Roland is myth, He is the hero of all legends, and legends only get better with age.

I see no reason why Eastwood couldn't play Roland for the less-taxing places, with a stunt double or something to do the action sequences. But on the same note, i see no issue with Viggo playing Roland, yes, he's known from LOTR, but so what? As far as choices go i think he's tops, his performance in AHOV is startling and could easily be transmuted over to the Dark Tower epic.

Same for Laurie, too, i'm not a big house fan, but i know good actors when i see them. Laurie would be another great candidate, His eyes are right on the mark, and he's weathered enough to make it seem real.

Caviziel? maybe, i think he's too good looking, honestly, I imagine Roland as an old broken, dirty cowpoke, you seen any of those lately? i mean, come on, Roland is a weathered man, he's traveled through the apotheosis of all deserts for god knows how long, he is tired and dryed, practically dies, and, oh yeah, seeking cold vengeance, that tends to eat up stamina and that affects how your body will react to the elements, Caviziel, an amazing actor in his own right, has not aged enough.

All in all, TDT series needs to be a masterwork to be anything like the books, and some of my favorite scenes will undoubtedly be cast aside. (Roland sticking his gun in the Tull fat lady.) i'll go see the movie, but i think in the end, it just won't do the books justice.

Along the road we'll meet again.

Camuss111

I agree that these characters should be played by recogniizable, but little known actors. But age is a huge factor in these roles because it will take so long to complete the saga. In The book the only one that really ages is Roland. whom I always felt to be physically in his mid 40's. Eddie is only.. what? 24 yrs old. Jake is 11- 12 and susannah is in her early 30's.

The hard part is going to find actors who can age gracefully because I see this movie taking upwards of 10 yrs to complete and release. That's only IF they do a 7 part saga AND IF they find the perfect actors AND THEN film and release a movie per year. See what I'm saying?

The Infamous Clint Eastwood has been mentioned more times than I can count and while I agree that Roland was based on -at least in part- by this man he is too old to be considered for the part of Roland. so sad..

I loved Viggo in the Ring trilogy…but alas..he is no Roland.

And Hugh Jackman in the xmen and Austrlia.. but I can not picture him as Roland.. he is too short, too muscular and by the time the movie is started too old.

But Hugh Laury!??! JE$US CHR!ST Banannas! no flippin way!!! People.. Come On!!

So who do I think will make a perfect Roland????
James Caviezel

He played in G.I. Jane, Frequency, DeJaVu, and most recently.. Outlander. He is of a perfect age, right body type, has the eyes and the ability to play Roland and do it right.

As to the rest I will leave up to Ka…greedy 'ol Ka….
Ka-Ka…. :)