We’re Getting A New ‘Psycho,’ But Who Should Be The New Norman Bates?

08/29/2012 11:00 am by

Are you tired of sequels? Weary of remakes? Longing for a fresh new story to grip your ever-shortening attention span? Well, Hollywood is primed to give you the next best thing: the prequel.

squeakquel Were Getting A New Psycho, But Who Should Be The New Norman Bates?

Hey — at least it’s not a squeakquel.

Screenwriter and producer Carlton Cuse (Lost) and Friday Night Lights writer Kerry Ehrin are teaming up to create Bates Motel, a Psycho prequel series on A&E. Vera Farmiga has recently been tapped to play Norma Louise Bates (a.k.a. “Mother”), which should be the juiciest of juicy roles in a show focused on how her cray-cray parenting turned Norman Bates crazier than a shithouse rat.

sax rat 590x556 Were Getting A New Psycho, But Who Should Be The New Norman Bates?

I said SHITHOUSE RAT not SAXOPHONE RAT but dawwwww, saxophone rat.

Now, the important question: who will play Norman Bates?! While it’s clear that this is a prequel, it’s not yet evident how old Norman will be when we join the Bates household. I imagine there will be at least some scenes with a wee Norman, but I have a feeling the bulk of the action will take place when he’s in his adolescent years or early 20s, i.e., the years during which a crazy parent’s crazy parenting really starts to manifest some interesting effects. With that in mind, I present to you my top three picks for the new Norman Bates:

paul dano 590x319 Were Getting A New Psycho, But Who Should Be The New Norman Bates?

  • Paul Dano I know, I know — at 28, Paul is probably way too old for this role, AND he’s been cast as The Weirdo in so much already that it’s getting a little tiresome (Little Miss Sunshine, There Will Be Blood, Cowboys and Aliens), but I know he would KILL IT as Norman.

evan peters Were Getting A New Psycho, But Who Should Be The New Norman Bates?

  • Evan Peters Here we have another potential case of typecasting, since 25-year-old Peters turned in a powerful performance as disturbed teen Tate (compete with crazy mom) on American Horror Story. But guys! He would be soooo gooooooood.

cameron bright Were Getting A New Psycho, But Who Should Be The New Norman Bates?

  • Cameron Bright You might remember 19-year-old Cameron as the weird little kid in that weird movie Birth, but he’s moved on to star in the Twilight movies which is obviously a cry for help. Cameron has proven he can act, so let’s extract him from the sparkly vampires and place him safely in the clutches of a toxic mother-son relationship, shall we?

What do you think? Who would make a killer (heh) Norman Bates?

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About Jive Turkey

Jive Turkey lives in Pittsburgh and spends her time desperately clinging to the hope that someday the cast of Deadwood will destroy the cast of Glee.

Filed Under: Horror, Movies, Vampires Tagged With: , , , ,


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  • Brittany

    Who played Kevin in We Need to Talk About Kevin? That kid does creepy well.

    • Snarky_Amber

      Ooo, good one. But which one? Honestly, both of the kids who played him could represent Norman, depending on whether they decide to portray him as a very young child or an adolescent.

      • JiveTurkeyJones

        AGREED! I can’t believe I didn’t think of that. That kid/those kids would be awesome.

      • Brittany

        I was thinking of teenage Kevin, but the little boy was super creepy too!

  • Snarky_Amber

    Also, I learned yesterday that Evan Peters will be appearing in the second season of American Horror Story, as will Zachary Quinto and Sarah Paulson, Also? Clea Duvall and Chloe Sevigny. SO. EXCITE. I know this post is only tangentially related to AHS but um, I don’t care.

    • Lucky Earring

      CLEA!!!!!

    • SuzyQuzey

      Ska-wee! Cannot wait.

  • Brian

    And they chose Freddie Highmore as Norman. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2188671/