This Actress Would Be Perfect As This Character’s Mother

In the grand world of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series, there are so many pivotal characters and events that cannot be excluded from a live-action adaptation. Of course, there is Roland Deschain, the gunslinger and protagonist of the story, as well as his villains, The Man in Black and the Crimson King. Eddie Dean, Susannah, Jake Chambers, Oy, and many other characters are the heart of this epic saga too. Yet, it isn’t only the main story that has incredible characters. The characters from Roland’s past hold great importance in his development as a protagonist. One such character is his mother, Gabrielle Deschain.

The mother to Roland and wife of Gilead leader and gunslinger Steven Deschain, Gabrielle is a tragic figure. She plays a haunting role in Roland’s development as a hero, and in the hero/villain dynamic that Roland and the Man in Black share. For Mike Flanagan’s upcoming adaptation of The Dark Tower, there is one actress with the gravitas and heart that would perfectly bring this role to life. That is actress Kate Siegel, known for her roles in Hush, The Haunting of Hill House, and more recently, The Life of Chuck.

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Who Is Gabrielle Deschain?

Gabrielle Deschain was born Gabrielle Verriss. She married Steven Deschain when they were both very young, and in the early years of their marriage, they were both very happy. They had one son together, Roland, and she became beloved by the kingdom of Gilead as she not only took care of her family, but became immersed in the aristocracy of their society. However, things changed when Roland was a young man, and a man named Marten Broadcloak entered Steven Deschain’s court.

Marten was made Steven’s chief advisor, and he used his manipulative skills and his power as a court magician to woo and seduce Gabrielle, beginning a two-year affair with her. Unbeknownst to Gabrielle, Steven knew the entire time, suspecting a much larger plot was afoot but wanting to protect his son from whatever manipulations were at work. However, this was for naught. Roland learned the truth one day when he walked in on Marten and his mother, and his anger at the situation forced him into taking the test of manhood far earlier than was planned. This was exactly what Marten Broadcloak had planned for.

Marten knew that Roland had a destiny, and had hoped to use this affair to force the test so that Roland would fail and be exiled. However, Marten was surprised when, somehow, Roland was able to beat his teacher, Cort, in battle, becoming the youngest known Gunslinger to ever live. However, Steven knew this was a trap, and that the only way to save his son from assassins would be to send him on a mission away from Gilead. Admitting he knew of the affair, he sadly sent his son away, knowing Roland would hold a grudge against his father for letting things go as far as they did.

Gabrielle tried to atone for the affair, confessing at one of their religious convents. But the friar she confessed to turned out to be Marten in disguise, and he used his power to seduce her again. She became so enthralled by his power that she was convinced to try and carry out an assassination attempt on her husband after Roland returned from his mission. However, she was ashamed, leaving her husband alone and instead settling for stealing the artifact Roland had brought home. But Roland caught her, and the entity inside the artifact forced him to see not his mother, but Rhea of the Coos. Thinking an enemy had returned, Roland shot his gun, tragically killing his mother, an event which haunted Roland for the rest of his days.

Kate Siegel Would Bring Heartbreak and Tragedy To The Role

A powerhouse of emotions and strong characters in her resume, Kate Siegel is no stranger to the genre. She has starred in many of her husband Mike Flanagan’s horror series, such as The Haunting of Hill House, Bly Manor, and Fall of the House of Usher. She is also an avid Stephen King fan, loving The Dark Tower series and also name-dropping the Dark Tower-related novel Rose Madder on social media. With her impressive resume and the source material, she’s an ideal candidate for such a deep-cut of a character in the series.

Yet it is her skill that truly makes her ideal for the role of Gabrielle and the tragic circumstances she faces in the series. Her fall from grace due to the Man in Black’s manipulations, as well as the emotional toll her betrayal has on Roland, Steven, and the people of Gilead, leads to the downfall of their people in the end. Kate Siegel’s ability to haunt audiences in one breath, and bring them to tears with a gut-wrenching twist of the knife in the next, is what makes her such a standout in her projects. Bringing that energy to Gabrielle is so important in order for audiences to feel the weight of that loss for Roland both in his past and his present.

Gabrielle Deschain, much like Susan Delgado, has one of the most profound emotional impacts on Roland in his hero’s journey. The walls he puts up in his heart as a result of his actions against his mother and the trauma he quietly suffers through need to be explored. Kate Siegel has the raw talent and heart that would make her perfect for this role. If anyone is going to be cast as Gabrielle Deschain in Flanagan’s adaptation of The Dark Tower, it needs to be Kate Siegel.

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Birthdate

September 21, 1947

Birthplace

Portland, Maine

Notable Projects

The Shining, Cujo, The Shawshank Redemption, It, Carrie