David Rappaport in "The Most Toys"

Today I watched the deleted scenes with David Rappaport for only the second time since I bought the Blu-ray set. What do people think about his version of Kivas Fajo?

 

Perhaps it's not fair to judge, but I think that Saul probably did a better job with the character than David.

 

I agree it's hard to make a fair judgement based on the fact that when you first see the episode like I did in 1990 and then see it multiple times afterwards and then 20 years later you see it with a different actor saying the same lines -- it's hard not to prefer the one you're used to. Also I don't know if Saul was directed to act in a more flamboyant manner or if he just decided to go with that particular styled himself, but it certainly was a lot more entertaining to watch. You're supposed to despise the character and he certainly played him as far more Despicable.

 

Tosk is right; the circumstances behind the replacement actor are tragic and the recasting was not intentional.

If Rappaport's version had gone through he'd still be good - he was cast at the time since his test won over the people who made the episode. He brought in a different take on the role, as most actors would do, and for his Fajo there's more of a harder line menace from what I recall when seeing in those scenes. There was still a solid character being acted out really well.

That said, Rubinek put in a style that I found to be more compelling.

That said, both are great actors. Each brought something unique to the role. Both takes on the role were robust.

Did Rubinek audition for Fajo the first time around?

 

Apparently not. He did it as a last minute favor due to being a Trekkie and being convinced by director Timothy Bond, who had known him since school.
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/The_Most_Toys_(episode)

 

The one scene of the three where David seemed more effective was the first where they are asking if he knew what happened to Data.
Saul made Fajo seem so unaffected/bored by his "death" that he was almost tipping his hand that he knew more than he was admitting.

 

There's something about the pampered blasé dispassion that Rubinek brings to the role that really works for me. That, & Rubineck has somehow mastered weaving in a subtle cowardice to many of his roles that is just a wonderful dash of spice to his characters, & he does that with Fajo too.

 

I think we can tend to overlook sometimes how much a particular actor brings to a part - give ten actors the same script and basic character summary (no doubt what would have been provided to whoever played Fajo) and you'll get ten, possibly vastly different performances.

The most obvious Star Trek example I can think of where we actually get to see this difference would be Bujold/Mulgrew in Caretaker - they're saying the same words, they've had the same character outline, but the difference between the two performances is like the difference between night and day.

 

It's ironic that Saul Rubinek didn't do TV before this and didn't want to do it. Now he's an ionic character actor with so many memorable performances, all because he did a favor for someone.

 

This is one of my favorite episodes. I didn't know about the cast change.
I would love to see the footage, but I'm not the merch type. The last DVDs I bought were when the NDT "Cosmos" was released.

 

I would have preferred the Rappaport. It’s a decent episode, but it’s always been marred for me that the selfish merchant looking for a pound of flesh was played by a nebbish in a skull cap.

 

You'll find people posting the scenes onto youtube, having ripped it directly from the blu-ray merchandise. As a lot of people do for almost every show made.

 

I rewatched Rappaport's scenes, then the episode.

Rappaport is largely excellent, adding a veneer of direct harshness. There is one scene where he seems a bit out of character, but finding out he was suffering from a mental illness that cost him his life shortly after (and he had already made an attempt to commit suicide)...

Rubinek is also excellent, but I must concede he adds a layer of charm blended in with disdain that remains more appealing. Especially when coercing Data to do what he wants for his guests.

 

I feel there's something missing in the Rappaport scenes, but that could be my own bias judging it from my familiarity with Rubinek and the "correct" Fajo from my childhood. He's definitely more menacing, more malevolent, but Rubinek's take seems to add to the evil better, as his Fajo was more sociopathic even, not caring about the harm he did to others and only about his own hedonistic pleasures.

But if I grew up on Rappaport, and Rubinek only did the two days of filming that was later released on DVD, I might hold a counter-view, feeling that Rubinek's flippancy doesn't make sense and Fajo should be a cold-blooded psychopath.

I should probably acknowledge that Rappaport was going through some very dark times during those two days of filming, and his acting may have been affected by his mental state, so any perceived defects should not really be judged against the actor.

 

I get it. But Rappaport was Jewish, too.

 

Yes but Rappaport didn’t play it nebbish. He had a more ominous edge to his performance.

 

I had no idea so much footage even existed. Was this basically all that was done with Rappaport?

 

Rubinek's face twitches and finger snipping make Fajo more interesting, I think

 

He did tons of television work before Star Trek.

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0007210/

 

I will admit Rappaport’s delivery is kind of flat and lacking personality. I don’t get a lot from the performance, but I would still prefer a flat performance to one with anti-Semitic undertones. I also think the way Rappaport was shot was really uninteresting. There’s a lot of tight closeups that don’t allow for much body language to be seen and it also makes him seem disconnected from the other actors. It’s as if they wanted to shoot him to look like a normal sized man. There’s no clever usage of his size.