Casting

Casting in a movie is sometimes the thing that makes a movie successful, and as far as the movie O is concerned who is cast as the lead characters is the thing that makes the movie. The part of Hugo has to be played by a person who is believably twisted. It would be a very difficult role to play just because of all the different angles he has to the character. In the book Othello, the character of Iago has so many different sides, he has to convince everyone he is something he is not. Hugo does the same thing, he hides his true self from those surrounding him, and this means that Josh Hartnett has to almost create a different character every time he is interacting with a different person. I think that the producers and casting directors did a great job finding actors who fit the descriptions of the characters in Othello, and it is very easy to see how they could fit into a true production of the play Othello. Yes, the story may have changed a little, but the underlying motives of the characters have not, and the actors accurately portray these motives.