Locksley of Sherwood: The Extended Family

In the throes of research I made another discovery.

Will Scarlett is also known as "Will Scathelocke".

And "Scathelocke" means "lock smasher".

Which means Will, Robin Hood's second-in-command, could have been a very passionate, hot-headed, impetuous little--person. And so much fun to write.

In some versions of the Robin Hood tale, Will is related to Robin Hood in one way or another(his cousin, his nephew, his half-brother--thank you Kevin Costner, Alan Rickman and Christian Slater for that one), and this particular re-incarnation is no exception--he's Locksley's older brother.

And of course, because Locksley and Will are related, the celebrity models in my head have to look related in one way or another too, yes? Yes.  AND he has to have the ability to play both the passionate and the mellower side of Will's nature--which was actually easier to find than I thought. The delightful European male who has the honor or portraying will in my head is:
                                                        
Colin Morgan. Those of you who are as obsessed with BBC costume dramas and the like will recognize this gorgeous Irish man from the films "The Huntsman: Winter's War" and "Testament of Youth"; and also as the title character in "Merlin"(which, by the way, is one of the BEST adaptions of the Arthur story I've ever seen, and not just because of the eye candy 😏😛) with Santiago Cabrera(Lancelot). No, this was not intentional casting, just interesting. And I think this song is perfect for his personality:

Because this is a sequel and Locksley and Marion are married, why not have the same thing happen to Will? And to make it even more interesting, why not make Will's wife, Elodie, a former assassin and yes, there is an very interesting story to how they got together, and one day I'll write it).

Here's the thing: because Will is so much of a firebrand(and also because Marion is Locksley's equal), the actress who gets to portray Elodie has to be someone who could hold her own no matter what and be as compatible to Will as Marion is to Locksley. Someone who looks likes this:
                                                                   
Ladies and gents, this is Lea Seydoux--aka the lastest "Bond Girl"(she was in "Spectre", with Daniel Craig), and also the fabulous Belle from "La Belle et La Bete"(also staring Vincent Cassel from "Shrek", Black Swan" and "Ocean's Thirteen"; and released in 2014). She's from France(I'd kill for her accent, no joke); and from her other work I already know she can portray someone hold her own and she doesn't take crap from anyone.  In other words, an excellent companion/wife for Will. Also, her theme song is in French(and I suppose it's also kinda Marion's song as well). For those who don't speak French, "F.T.T.: Femme Tout Terrain" means "girl's territory".

Robin Hood can't be Robin Hood without Little John, so of course in my version there is a "Little John". Only he's not a "giant". He's Will's oldest son, Jean-Luc; and his mother calls him "Petit Jean". Jean=John and therefore Petit Jean=Little John. You're welcome. Jean-Luc has inherited Will's suspicion of everyone and is constantly butting heads with Cassian(I LUV writing those parts!)

Casting Jean-Luc was harder than I thought; and I'm not gonna lie he changed several times. The guy who finally won is someone I've seen play characters both sinister and romantic and I love to hear the sound of his voice.

This is Harry Richardson. He's currently in BBC's "Poldark" and he was in Julian Fellowes' "Doctor Thorne". He can spit venom or wax poetic or just walk into a room and steal the scene with his presence(and I love me some actors who can draw attention by just standing still). In other words, Jean-Luc to a tea, as is this song:

Summer 2019 Update:  Celebrity Models change, and I recently saw an adaption of the novel "Ophelia", which had yet another model for Jean-Luc:

This is Devon Terrell, who also had the title role of young Barack Obama in the film "Barry". He's the current model, but this might change again, because it happens.

Will and Elodie's younger daughter happens to fulfill two things: this other tendency I have as a writer--to create a character that's just plain adorable, and wouldn't harm a fly--unless she had to; and allowing me to put an incarnation of Alan-a-Dale(the fun-loving, happy-go-lucky minstrel of Robin Hood stories)  and Much the Miller's son into this awesome story. Only in this instance, her name isn't Alan-a-Dale or Much(well, unless it's Jean-Luc talking to her). It's Braelyn.

Because Braelyn is adorable and innocent and has that awesome Scathelock/Locksley fire I needed someone who could embody all that. Someone who looks adorable but can bite if provoked. Someone like this:

                                                             
Saoirse Ronan, from "Hanna", and "Brooklyn" and "City of Ember". She's fierce, she's fiery, she's more than capable of holding her own, and she's so freakin adorable . And this is Braelyn's song:

And there you have it: Locksley's extended family. More Character Models and Tidbits coming soon....