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Playing Devil's Advocate to Test Our Argument

Ninja_Squirrel

Ninja_Squirrel

Regular
Playing Devil\'s Advocate to Test Our Argument

I don't know if this is a risky road, but let's play devil's advocate for a minute. Let's say hypothetically that re-casting is inevitable even if letters and B5 Bucks have to get shipped into L.A. using super mega barges...

Is there anyone among "name" actors who could play these roles? As many excellent actors as there are, I'm still having trouble imagining any of them in B5 roles. So, I haven't given up hope. I'm just wondering if we're firm enough in our positions that we can poke holes in all possibilities that roles could be successfully re-cast.

For instance, Ian McKellan would have the right spirit and vocal quality for G'Kar, but the physique would be too different as would the introduction of the British accent.

Off the top of my head, and also using my DVD collection for inspiration, here are some "name" actors and actresses:

Sean Astin
Sean Bean
Orlando Bloom
Matthew Broderick
Pierce Brosnan
Michael Caine
Jim Carrey (ughh)
Kevin Costner
Tom Cruise (ughh)
Matt Damon
Michael Douglas
David Duchovny
Laurence Fishburne
Harrison Ford
Morgan Freeman
Mel Gibson
Mark Hamill
Tom Hanks
Ian Holm
Anthony Hopkins
Denis Leary
Heath Ledger
Christopher Lee
Tobey Maguire
Viggo Mortensen
Paul Newman
Edward Norton
Joe Pantoliano
Keanu Reaves
John Rhys-Davies
Tim Robbins
Andy Serkis
Martin Sheen (he has done B5 before)
Patrick Stewart (now wouldn't that be weird)
Hugo Weaving
Billy Dee Williams (hey, it worked for Star Wars)
Bruce Willis
Elijah Wood

Annette Bening
Cate Blanchett
Minnie Driver
Kirsten Dunst
Jennifer Garner
Sarah Michelle Gellar
Allyson Hannigan
Famke Jansen
Diane Lane
Carrie-Anne Moss
Natalie Portman
Julia Roberts
Rene Russo
Liv Tyler
Reese Witherspoon
Catherine Zeta-Jones

Okay, any possibilities so far?

Sheridan: Costner, counterproductive to revenue; Harrison Ford, getting too old; Viggo Mortensen, too many obvious Sheridan/Aragorn parallels; Michael Douglas, not too bad, but also getting too old???, not the science fiction type

Ivanova: Minnie Driver, not enough spunk; Famke, probably too young; Carrie-Anne Moss, too slick and edgy; Liv Tyler, too soft-spoken; Zeta-Jones, eh, don't know, just not right somehow

Garibaldi: Joe Pantoliano, tooo Italian; Bruce Willis, this one's tough, there are similarities

Delenn: uh, yeah, I got nothin'

Londo: Tom Hanks, got the Euro-ish accent from The Terminal but not enough of a dark side

G'Kar: Martin Sheen, not strong enough facial expressions to emote through the make-up

Galen: Micheal Caine, wrong voice; Ian Holm, too old and too "nice", Anthony Hopkins, just too old; Patrick Stewart, not stern enough

Lochley: I don't know, same lousy choices as for Ivanova, I guess

Zack: Denis Leary, hmmm, too edgy, maybe even too self-confident

Lyta: Allyson Hannigan, ah, red hair, but that's about it

Lennier: Mark Hamill, face is too messed up from that auto accident he had between Ep. IV and V

Vir: Matthew Broderick, Tom Hanks, Jim Carrey, Andy Serkis??? Can't describe it, but none of them are quite right; Woody Allen, now that would just be way too freaky, also, too much stuttering, not enough heart, also not the serious science fiction type

Corwin: Elijah Wood, Keanu Reeves, Matt Damon??? ;)


Okay, "name" actors, even if they're lesser "name" actors than some of my examples, just won't work. In a story with lesser characters you could possibly get away with it. But B5 *is* the characters.

Re-cast Andromeda, re-cast Seaquest, re-cast Earth Final Conflict. But how could a person with a mind and a soul put someone other than Mira Furlan in the Delenn make-up and still look at themselves in the mirror? How could you plop any Brit into the role of Galen or any ole brunette into the role of Ivanova and still shake your pastor's hand Sunday morning? How could a person cast anyone other than Peter Jurasik as Londo and still look their kids in the eyes every night when they tuck them in? And most importantly, how, how could a person cast anyone other than Andreas Katsulas as G'Kar and still call themselves an upright, sentient primate, I mean, seriously, who the #@!! would they get?

Maybe the human race really is in trouble.
 
Re: Playing Devil\'s Advocate to Test Our Argument

I don't even want to think about who Warner Brothers would actually cast if they didn't use the original cast. I can't really think of many myself, but here goes.

(Assuming they can get the accents down)
Sheridan - Kurt Russell
Garibaldi - Michael Madsen
Ivanova - Diane Lane
Delenn - Maura Tierney
Londo - Christopher Walken
G'Kar - Ben Kingsley

I left some out such as Franklin out of respect for Richard Biggs, and the others because we wouldn't really need a big name for everyone. Let's just hope it never has to come to that.
 
Re: Playing Devil\'s Advocate to Test Our Argument

John Lithgow as Londo
Jack Nicholson as G'Kar
John Voight as Bester
Susan Sarandon as Delenn, or maybe Lena Olin
Liam Neeson as Sheridan, he could do G'Kar too
Nick Cage as Garibaldi
 
Re: Playing Devil\'s Advocate to Test Our Argument

Corwin: Elijah Wood, Keanu Reeves, Matt Damon??? ;)
Click to expand...

Actually, I think Elijah Wood might just make a nice Galen if our good friend Mr. Woodward absolutely cannot make it (due to a schedule project or a conflict, that is). When shaved, not only may he look similar, but I can imagine his voice being similar and possibly capturing some of that same... (is it poetic, or Shakespearean?) quality of Galen's voice. The softer parts at least, I have yet to see him use a harsher voice, or enough in any movies other than LOTR to judge his style as an actor.

It could be his scope is indeed too limited, made all the more likely by his youth. A younger man to play Galen is hardly a bad thing, as in A Call to Arms he is portrayed, it would seem, as the youngest of the Technomages, however he is still far beyond most mortals in knowledge, power, influence and discipline, in his own wizardly way. When it comes to casting decisions and the B5 crew's fondness of defying typecasting, the fact he had been in a "fantasy-type" production before might at first not seem appealing, however as Galen the character is entirely different than that of Frodo it would be interesting to see what he could do with the part, arguably.

I have to say, that so far this is the only actor and the only character on this list I might even be interested in seeing cast. All of the characters we saw introduced in B5, in my opinion, absolutely cannot be played by any other actors. It would be suicide not only for Warner Brothers, but for the quality of the movie as well. It would be like giving a friend a raise, killing him, putting his skin on a marrionette and pay it for doing his new job. Neither does the new job get done, nor does the friend recieve any compensation, and it infects the workplace with such a pungent stench as could kill a goat.
 
Re: Playing Devil\'s Advocate to Test Our Argument

A couple more (pretend) nominations:

Garibaldi: Billy Bob Thornton, or Vin Deisel
Lyta: Julianne Moore, or Nichole Kidman

but of course, we ALL want the real thing, which is NONE of the above!
 
Re: Playing Devil\'s Advocate to Test Our Argument

Liam Neeson as Sheridan, he could do G'Kar too
Click to expand...

Having the same guy playing both Sheridan and G'Kar really would be a talking point!

:D

Maybe the human race really is in trouble.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it probably is .. but I don't think it has that much to do with B5 re-casting considerations.

:p
 
Re: Playing Devil\'s Advocate to Test Our Argument

Delenn - Maura Tierney
Londo - Christopher Walken
G'Kar - Ben Kingsley
Click to expand...

I'm still laughing at these three choices.

Yeah, so far I think we're proving that "name" actors won't work. Fame isn't going to enhance characters that are already established.

Well, unless they want to re-cast Na'Toth, again. ;)
 
Re: Playing Devil\'s Advocate to Test Our Argument

Double devil's advocate:

I must honestly admit... from my subjectvive opinion... those people are even *less famous* than Mira Furlan, Peter Jurasik, Bruce Boxleitner or Andreas Katsulas.

I know nothing about them, and *cannot* recall any of their works by the actor's name. Not to speak of recalling any *notable* works.

In addition they:

1) Know nothing about relevant characters, and have no shortcut for obtaining 5 seasons of experience.

2) Might not succeed in convincingly playing their role, when obstructed by alien makeup.

3) Did not contribute to building the story of Babylon 5 previously, for which reason:

3)A) Employing them as original characters would break consistency.
3)B) Preferring them over original actors would irritate me.

Relieving any of the problems (except 3.B which is impossible to resolve except by getting a new audience) would require *way* bigger fish than the shallow waters of Hollywood contain.
 
Re: Playing Devil\'s Advocate to Test Our Argument

Ninja Squirrel, I gotta agree with Sleepy on at least one point, some of those "Names" are no bigger than the real actors that played them.

Pat Tallman for instance, has boatloads of Scifi Credits. Barbara in Night of the Living Dead Remake, B5, Multiple stunt and acting roles in Star Trek spinoffs. Allyson Hannigan was Willow and the Girl from Band Camp, not a bigger name in my opinion, so what would be the point? Delenn, Londo and G'Kar absolutely I do not think could be replaced, ever by anyone. Sheridan, I wouldn't like to see replaced, but years from now when Bruce is too old to play the part, I could accept someone else playing his part. Bruce Willis probably could fill Garibaldi's shoes, as Jerry Doyle is often referred to as the "Poor Man's Bruce Willis". Galen, could probably be replaced by a reasonable stage actor, I think Patrick Stewart would be good aside from the age, not sure about Elijah Wood, his voice is too high, IMHO.

And I go back once again to saying, most movies only have 1 or 2 big names, so if they get a Big name for Diane Baker, and fill another new role with a big name, why are they being stupid enough to consider recasting anyone else. Two big names is plenty for most pictures, any more than that is a waste of money, because you can't give them enough screen time to justify their pay scale, plus you alienate the fans.
 
Re: Playing Devil\'s Advocate to Test Our Argument

Galen, could probably be replaced by a reasonable stage actor, I think Patrick Stewart would be good aside from the age, not sure about Elijah Wood, his voice is too high, IMHO.
Click to expand...

I agree that Wood's voice isn't right for Galen. It is something about the resonance. Wooward could bring a certain Richard Burton-esque quality to the delivery to many of the lines (particularly when he was in "being a *technomage*" mode). Ansara brought a similar vocal quality to his technomage in GoS. I can't remember hearing anything approaching that from Wood. Fankly, even Stewart (as good as he is) only stikes me as only being borderline acceptable on that particular scale of purely resonant vocal instrument (and he *is* too old for Galen).

There just aren't that many people out there who have that kind of voice.
 
Re: Playing Devil\'s Advocate to Test Our Argument

Its funny, three years ago Lord of the Rings was a big risk film partly because of the B to C list cast it had. Now I think all the main actors from the Fellowship are listed in that big "A List" post.

WB take note.
 
Re: Playing Devil\'s Advocate to Test Our Argument

The Lord of the Rings cast was also predominately younger. With B5's higher age average, I doubt the rewards would be as great. However, it should not, and probably would not, diminish the quality or marketability of one B5 film.
 
Re: Playing Devil\'s Advocate to Test Our Argument

Delenn - Maura Tierney
Londo - Christopher Walken
G'Kar - Ben Kingsley
Click to expand...

I'm still laughing at these three choices.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I really had nothing after Ivanova. :D

That just goes to show that we really do need the originals.
 
Re: Playing Devil\'s Advocate to Test Our Argument

I was afraid to bring this up for the past few weeks, but there's only one "name" actor I can see playing Galen: Jude Law. He's got the look, the accent, the cold stare, and although he's quite well known and getting lots of work, I don't believe he is an expensive mega-star yet. Also, he's done sci-fi before, from A-I to Gattica (any others?).
 
Re: Playing Devil\'s Advocate to Test Our Argument

What about sheridan as played by pee wee herman?
or garibaldi as played by arnie....

come on people - common sense please.

you might as well cast my arse as a shadow while you're at it.

:D
 
Re: Playing Devil\'s Advocate to Test Our Argument

Londo - Christopher Walken
Click to expand...

What would I give to see Christopher Walken in a Londo outfit saying "Zooty! Zoot-zoot!" My immortal soul. :LOL:

Not for the movie, mind you. I just want to see it.
 
Re: Playing Devil\'s Advocate to Test Our Argument

Well, if we had need for an older Ivanova (Say Sleeping in Light time period), Stockard Channing could probably do nicely, but can't imagine anyone else doing Ivanova at the age we know her.
 
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