10 Pictures To Prove That Movie Adaptations Love Ruining Characters From The Book

Movie adaptations have been accused of ruining books many times before. Sometimes, they messed up so badly that you have to wonder if the movie creators actually read the book or not. If the answer is yes, then why do they keep messing up the character designs? How can they bring the characters to life if they can’t even make them look right?
So if you’re wondering how your favorite characters would look if the exact book descriptions were used, then you have found the right post. Here are 10 pictures of popular roles if they look like their book versions.

1. Fire & Blood — Rhaenyra Targaryen

Source: © House of the Dragon / HBO

In the book, George R R Martin described Rhaenyra as one of the most beautiful girls in the Seven Kingdoms when she was young. She had a typical Valyrian look: silver-gold hair in long braid and purple eyes. However, Rhaenyra started to gain more weight after multiple pregnancies. She got quite big by the time she has her third child.
Her outfits are also quite different from the movie. Rhaenyra loves luxurious clothes, maroon velvets, and golden lace. Her crown is a yellow band set with seven gemstones of different colors.

2. The Addams Family — Pugsley Addams

Source: © Wednesday / MGM Television

Charles Addams described Pugsley as an energetic monster of a boy and a dedicated troublemaker. Pugsley was supposed to have blond red hair and popped-blue eyes. He sounded very different from his onscreen adaptation versions.

3. Les Misérables — Éponine

Source: © Les Misérables / Universal Pictures

Éponine turned from a pretty young girl to a pale, skinny teenager. Her transformation symbolized the poverty and the suffering of the poor. She was described to have entangled hair, dressed in rags, and missing several teeth. Higo wrote in his books, painting Éponine as “an unripe young girl with the look of a corrupted old woman; fifty years joined with fifteen; one of those beings who are both feeble and horrible at once.”

4. The Shining — Wendy Torrance

Source: © The Shining / Warner Bros. and co-producers

Wendy Torrance is a bright and charismatic blonde with the temper of a cheerleader in Stephen King’s book. Everything about her completely changed in the movie adaptation. No wonder why Kubrick’s interpretation didn’t sit well with King.

5. Carrie — Carrie White

Source: © Carrie / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) and co-producers

Carrie White also changed a lot in the movie version. Stephen King described her as a slightly chunky girl with pimples on her neck, back, and buttocks. Her hair was short and full of split ends. Carrie always had sweat stains under the arms of her blouses, which never show up in the movies.

6. The Fault in Our Stars — Hazel Grace Lancaster

Source: © The Fault in Our Stars / Fox 2000 Pictures

Hazel Grace Lancaster was supposed to have a pageboy haircut. Her hair should be dark brown and her eyes should be green. Her steroidal treatment gave her “chipmunk cheeks,” which the movie version failed to portray.

7. The Witcher — Renfri

Source: © The Witcher / Netflix

Renfri has blue-green eyes and light hair in the book. She told Geralt that her hair once long past her hips, but she got lice so she had to cut it all off. It never grew back right, which was another tragic detail in her life.

8. The Three Musketeers — Milady de Winter

Source: © The Three Musketeers / Summit Entertainment

In the book, Milady de Winter was about 26-28. Athos described her as a woman with light hair and “blue and clear eyes of a strange brilliancy.” She also had black eyelids and eyebrows.

9. James Bond series — James Bond

Source: © Quantum of Solace / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Daniel Craig was handsome, but he didn’t fit the vision of James Bond in the books at all. Ian Fleming had a great idea of what the character in his novels looked like. The author mentioned many times before that he took inspiration from Hoagy Carmichael to create Bond. The book version of the spy is a man with dark hair, not blonde.

10. Dune — Lady Jessica

Source: © Dune / Warner Bros.

The author of Dune used his wife as a prototype for Lady Jessica. In the book, she had hair like shaded bronze and green eyes like the morning skies of Caladan. Her nose was small and slightly upturned. She also got a wide, generous mouth.