Casting U.N.C.L.E.

Now that George Clooney has had to back out of Steven Soderbergh's 1960s-set Man From U.N.C.L.E. movie for health reasons, the role of Napoleon Solo is wide open. There was concern among fans that Clooney, 50, was too old to play Solo (the original Solo, Robert Vaughn, was 50 when he appeared in the 1983 reunion movie, The Return Of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. as a retired agent!) anyway, so the studio now has the option of casting a younger - and less expensive - actor in the role (which would certainly make potential sequels more viable, as well).

Not that anyone cares what I think, but here are my choices for Solo and his Russian colleague, Illya Kuryakin: Topher Grace, age 34, as Napoleon Solo, and Alex Pettyfer, age 21, as Illya.

Grace has yet to really find a star-making film role, and I think his charm, sense of humor and looks would well-suit the part of U.N.C.L.E.'s top Enforcement agent. He's even worked with Soderbergh before in Traffic and the Ocean's 11 movies

Pettyfer was great in the under-seen Alex Rider teen spy movie, Operation: Stormbreaker, and has a quiet, thoughtful charisma reminiscent of the original Illya, fellow Brit David McCallum. And the blond hair, of course. He's a little young, but Illya could easily be portrayed as a rookie agent paired with the more experienced Solo.

Anyway, those are my choices. As for Waverly - Ian McKellen of course!