There are several main characters in Carnivàle, an American television serial drama set in the United States Depression-era Dust Bowl between 1934 and 1935. It aired on HBO from 2003 to 2005. It follows the disparate storylines of an ensemble of characters, with the two central characters of Ben Hawkins, a young man working in a traveling carnival; and Brother Justin Crowe, a Californian preacher.
Carnivàle has a large cast, with eighteen regular actors over its two-season run. Most of them are introduced in Ben's storyline: Samson, a little person co-running the carnival with an individual known only as Management; Jonesy, Samson's right-hand man with a crippling knee injury; Apollonia and Sofie, two fortunetellers working a mother-daughter act; Lodz, a blind mentalist, and his lover, Lila the Bearded Lady; "the Dreifuss family striptease act"; the snake charmer Ruthie and her son Gabriel, a strongman; and many other sideshow performers. The supporting characters of Brother Justin's storyline are his sister Iris, his mentor Reverend Norman Balthus, the radio show host Tommy Dolan, and the convict Varlyn Stroud. Several characters appear in mysterious dreams and visions, connecting the slowly converging storylines.
Show creator Daniel Knauf's original story pitch to HBO included elaborate character biographies, which he gave to the actors, the writers and the studio as an overview of the series' intended plot. These biographies were rewritten before the filming of the first season began. Receiving little to no mention in the series afterwards, the original character backgrounds were summarized on the official HBO website. After the show's cancellation, the writers revealed future character arcs and forwarded all original biographies to fans as part of the show's so-called "Pitch Document". Due to their nature, these sources do not offer canonical information as such but provide a frame for the characters' motivation throughout the series.
The thematic and period setting of Carnivàle required an unusual casting approach. While some actors were hired for their genetic disabilities, most actors were specifically cast for their unique and distinct looks to fit the series' 1930s setting. Award-winning costumes and make-up enhanced the illusion. Reviews generally lauded the actors and characters, and several actors received awards for their performances.
Conception
Conceiving the initial script for Carnivàle between 1990 and 1992, Daniel Knauff set its plot in a carnival environment in the 1930s Dust Bowl, which he felt had not been dramatized as a series yet. He had grown up with a disabled father who was not commonly accepted as a normal human being. Freaks of the 1930s, however, who may not have found another place offering a future outside of a carnival, tended to be celebrities in the period. Daniel Knauf expanded the plot with a complex fictional universe based on a good versus evil theme, led by carnival healer Ben Hawkins and Brother Justin Crowe, a California preacher. In his story pitch to HBO, Knauf presented Carnivàle as a collection of media samples from the perspective of a fictional author trying to uncover Ben's mysterious story. These fictional samples consisted of interviews, diary entries, and various newspaper clippings, photos and book references forming the character biographies of all major Carnivàle characters. The character backgrounds were further developed before the filming of Carnivàle began but were not made part of the show's visible structure. The audience would therefore only get to know the characters as a natural aspect in the story. The characters themselves are confronted with "self-realization and becoming aware of these [supernatural] powers and learning to harness them, and the implications of this battle between good and evil." Seventeen actors received star billing in the first season; fifteen of whom were part of the carnival storyline. The second season amounted to thirteen main cast members, supplemented by several actors in recurring roles.Numbers are based on the number of actor names appearing in the opening titles of each season, respectively. Although such large casts make shows more expensive to produce, the writers have more flexibility in story decisions.
Ben Hawkins
Played by Nick Stahl, Ryan Hanson Bradford (as child) – Further information: Genealogy, and season 2 finale and character fates
Ben Krohn Hawkins is the protagonist in Carnivàle. He begins the story as a young Oklahoma farmer and chain gang fugitive who is picked up by a traveling carnival when his mother dies. Ben has displayed inexplicable healing powers since childhood, and with the beginning of the series, he has begun to suffer dreams and visions of people unknown to him. As Ben learns from staying with the carnival, he seems to be related to Henry Scudder, a man who once worked at the carnival. He also learns that his powers come with a price – to give life, he must take life; to raise the dead, he must deliberately kill someone else. When the beginning of season two makes the mysterious happenings in the carnival clearer, Ben is told to find the preacher of his dreams to prevent an unfolding chain of catastrophic events. Henry Scudder, at this point revealed to be Ben's father, allegedly knows the preacher's name, and after a number of near misses and harrowing encounters, Ben is able to bring Scudder before the carnival's Management. A fight ensues in which Ben is forced to kill Management, leaving him a full understanding of his powers. Season two concludes with Ben's setting out to confront Brother Justin in California, where they finally meet in battle in a cornfield. The carnies find Brother Justin slain and Ben passed out from his own grievous wounds. They take Ben back to their camp and leave New Canaan.Carnivàle. Seasons 1 and 2 (2003–2005). HBO. See Episode guide on hbo.com and List of Carnivàle episodes.
Background and development
As his powers and use of powers already suggest in the series, Ben is an Avataric Creature of Light. An early draft of Carnivàle, which consisted of diary entries by Benjamin "Ben" Hawkins, summarized his childhood as growing up on a run-down farm with his mother and grandfather in the belief that his father had died in World War I. After both his grandfather and mother had died from cancer, he was "shanghaied by a group of carnies" in 1930. In a later version closer to the actual series, Ben left his mother's farm at age sixteen and fell into a criminal life in Texas. After receiving a twenty-year sentence in a state prison-farm for a failed bank robbery, Ben planned his escape to return home to his sick mother, but he accidentally killed a prison guard who drew a gun on him. Show creator Daniel Knauf gave the latter as Ben's chain gang background in the series.
The writers always intended Ben to be the leading man and hero of the series, and were looking for an actor to showcase a youthful, innocent and anti-hero quality. Of the many actors auditioning, the producers found that Nick Stahl brought a "particular introspection" to the character, "project[ing] a great deal of sensitivity, of quiet intelligence, of pain." They also felt that his seemingly little-trained physique worked well for the 1930s period. Nick Stahl, who interpreted Ben as "very stoic", "very quiet", with a "dual nature" and a "real internal struggle going on", embraced this role as a personal challenge.
Reception
In reviewing the first three episodes, The New York Times commented that "Ben is a taciturn hero, and Mr. Stahl does a remarkable job of wordlessly conveying his character's moods and yearnings, as well as his ungainly grace." The Boston Globe regarded "Stahl, with his watchful eyes, [as] one of the show's strengths. He has a boyish face, but the grim expression of a worn-out elder", and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer said Stahl "speaks volumes with his eyes and weary frown, so much so that his understated portrayal almost carries the series." In a season 1 DVD review, DVD Talk thought that "as the two leads, Nick Stahl and Clancy Brown are nothing short of brilliant. Ben Hawkins is a very isolated and quiet character, and yet he carries a significant part of the series on his shoulders. Without the right actor it could be disastrous, but Stahl brings a level of thoughtful emotion to the character such that a glance or a stare speaks volumes." DVDverdict felt in a season 2 review that "both Nick Stahl and Clancy Brown deliver perfect performances. Stahl's gradual acceptance of his own power, and his subsequent struggle, are fascinating."
For his portrayal of Ben Hawkins, Nick Stahl was nominated for a 2003 Saturn Award in the category "Best Supporting Actor in a Television Series". He was also nominated for a 2003 Golden Satellite Award in the category "Best Performance by an Actor in a Series, Drama".
Brother Justin Crowe
Played by Clancy Brown, Jamie Kaler (as young man), Jordan Orr (as child, Alexei Belyakov), Don Swayze (Tattooed Man) – Further information: Genealogy, and season 2 finale and character fates
Brother Justin Crowe is the antagonist in Carnivàle; reviewers also saw in him a possible alternate protagonist. (Archived version retrieved on 2007-10-20.) Brother Justin is introduced as a Methodist minister who resides with his sister Iris in the small town of Mintern, California. As the series reveals in later episodes, Justin's birth name is Alexei Belyakov. He and his sister Iris are orphaned immigrant children in the wilderness, who were found and raised by Reverend Norman Balthus. Following strange visions and supernatural abilities in the pilot episode, Brother Justin erects a church in his God's name. But after a fire in his new ministry leads him almost to suicide, Brother Justin is hospitalized in a sanatorium and discovers his ability to manipulate and control those around him through sheer force of will. Shortly after Brother Justin's return to Mintern, Norman suspects his foster son to be possessed by a demon and confronts him, but Brother Justin is not disturbed by his true nature for long. In the beginning of season 2, Brother Justin has begun to gather a huge flock of worshippers of mostly migrants and Okies outside Mintern via his nightly radio sermons and newfound abilities of persuasion. A scholar named Wilfred Talbot Smith identifies him as the Usher and tells him that, to gain his full measure of power and fulfill his destiny, he must find and kill a man named Henry Scudder. While escaped convict Varlyn Stroud helps Brother Justin, the Crowes find a new chambermaid in ex-carny Sofie, not knowing that she is Brother Justin's daughter. Brother Justin at long last meets his adversary, Ben, in the final episode of the series. Brother Justin is killed in a battle in a cornfield near his home, but Sofie as the Omega arrives and places her hands on his chest, causing the corn stalks around them to wither and fall away.
Background and development