Cast the Characters of Trek Literature

Discussion in 'Trek Literature' started by Haval_Runa, Apr 10, 2006.

  1. Dark Gilligan

    Dark Gilligan Writer Fleet Captain

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    Oh good God, Cervantes Quinn is not fat. Cyrano Jones is fat.
     
  2. Sci

    Sci Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I know. Still in my head, though. Won't go away. I can't help but see Cervantes Quinn as being played by Stanley Adams.
     
  3. Thrawn

    Thrawn Rear Admiral Premium Member

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    That's so weird. In my head, he was always almost exactly like Billy Bob Thornton; wiry and weird looking.

    Though I'll admit, I almost never mentally cast characters; literally the only case I can ever remember where I did was when reading Vanguard, and it increased my enjoyment by a lot. But I've never cast New Frontier in my head, or Nan Bacco, or almost anything else. It usually just annoys me; I can never think of someone that really exemplifies my mental image. But the cast that David Mack posted for Harbinger was almost identical to my mental images anyway, so I just ran with it, and had a great time picturing them, especially Tommy Lee Jones as Reyes. He works SO much better than Olmos.
     
  4. Brefugee

    Brefugee No longer living the Irish dream. Premium Member

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    Christopher, as you created T'Ryssa Chen, who did you have in mind when you dreamn't her up?

    I only ask as I personally think either Natalie Portman or Kiera Knightly would be good casting for her. And as they are pretty similar in appearance and they both can do playful (Ms Portman in Garden State and Ms Knightly in the Pirates films for example) pretty well it dosn't make much odds over which it is.

    Also, how long has Sam Bowyers been black? I'm sure he was described as a fair skinned red head in DS9PF yet in Destiny, he is driscribed as dark skinned (I don't have my copies at hand right now so can't be sure on the exact discription) so, without the English accent, I was thinking of Colin Salmon who was Dr Moon in Doctor Who's Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead two parter last year and M's assistant in Tomorrow never dies and The World is not enough amoung a few other things.
     
  5. Sci

    Sci Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    You are mistaken. Bowers was described as being dark-skinned as long ago as Gateways: Demons of Air and Darkness by Keith R.A. DeCadido (and I only cite that as my first notice because I can't remember if he was described at all in Avatar or Abyss.)
     
  6. JD

    JD Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I'm pretty sure that they mentioned Sam being black in the DS9R, because I've been using Roger Cross, Curtis Manning in seaons 4, 5, and 6 of 24 for quite a while now.
    EDIT: Sci beat me to it.
     
  7. Brefugee

    Brefugee No longer living the Irish dream. Premium Member

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    Cheers for that, it's been a while since I've read Avatar and Abyss and as for Demons of Air and Darkness, I haven't read it yet as I wasn't too keen on the concept of the Gateways series.

    While thinking of Destiny casting, how does Mark Harmon (Gibbs from NCIS) as MACO Major Stephen Foyle and Miranda Otto (Eowyn in The Lord of Rings: The Two Towers and Return of the King) as Commander Veronica Fletcher.
     
    Last edited: Jan 26, 2009
  8. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    Nobody in particular. Although my default mental image of her does have a vague resemblance to a friend of mine from college, ethnicity aside.


    Good grief, not even remotely in the ballpark. She's nothing like them in appearance. Her human ancestry is Chinese, and her features are described as "tomboyish." She doesn't look like a porcelain doll. The elfin delicacy of Portman or Knightley's features would be a better match for how Counselor T'Lana was described. (Also, Knightley is disturbingly thin. I think you'd need to actually, you know, eat food to meet Starfleet's physical fitness requirements.)

    Also, it seems to me that a lot of people here are trying to cast actresses based primarily on their physical beauty. Does every female character have to be a knockout? We're casting for Starfleet officers, not Miss Universe contestants. Trys is attractive, but not movie-star gorgeous. Her sex appeal is more in her attitude.
     
  9. Brefugee

    Brefugee No longer living the Irish dream. Premium Member

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    Ah, I actually forgot about that (not so) minor detail.

    I had a very good friend like that when at university (still do actually) but when thinking of both Ms Knightly or Portman, I was thinking more of how I've seen them in productions and the roles they've played more than in physical appearance.

    And I whole heartedly agree, not everyone should be miss universe level attractiveness who appears on screen.

    So in her attitude, would Daphne (Brea Grant) in Heroes best describe her?
     
  10. William Leisner

    William Leisner Scribbler Rear Admiral

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    :lol: I'm sorry, but you're the same person who described Dina Elfiki as "annoyingly stunning with those great big dark eyes and holostar cheekbones," right?
     
  11. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    ^^I described Dina Elfiki the same way Dave described her to me (though not verbatim), and she's based on a real person. I'm just saying that there's no reason to expect every Starfleet officer to be a stunning beauty. It seems to me that some of the casting choices being offered here for female characters are based on rather superficial factors.
     
  12. Trent Roman

    Trent Roman Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Of course, television and movies being what they are when it comes to female roles, it's not as if there's a legion of unnattractive actresses out there to cast in these roles...

    Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman
     
  13. Sci

    Sci Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    As someone who has been involved in the words of amateur, university, and professional theatre, I can assure you that for every beautiful woman who is cast in a role, there are dozens and dozens and dozens of other beautiful women and even more dozens of less-attractive women who would be more than capable of playing the part as well. There are legions of unattractive actresses out there -- they just don't get cast because Hollywood doesn't think anyone wants to watch unattractive women.
     
  14. David Mack

    David Mack Writer Rear Admiral

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    Actually, Major Foyle was inspired by and based on the character of Inspector Christopher Foyle (from the BBC mystery series Foyle's War), so my template was actor Michael Kitchen.

    For the Columbia's XO, from the beginning I had pictured her as a blond Lucy Lawless.
     
  15. KRAD

    KRAD Keith R.A. DeCandido Admiral

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    It should be pointed out that "a blond Lucy Lawless" is a redundancy -- Lawless is a natural blond. She dyed her hair to play Xena.
     
  16. Trent Roman

    Trent Roman Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    This is what I meant, since the casting taking place in this thread is based on people seen in those mediums.

    Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman
     
  17. Sci

    Sci Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Ah, okay, gotcha. :)
     
  18. Stevil2001

    Stevil2001 Vice Admiral Admiral

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    On the other hand, I am utterly in favor of "fantasy casting" when it concerns actors who are 100% awesome.
     
  19. TJ Sinclair

    TJ Sinclair Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Yes, absolutely, I do indeed concur, wholeheartedly.

    Michael Kitchen is perhaps the best actor to ever grace a BBC drama, and that's saying a lot. Christopher Foyle is probably my favorite fictional cop. Period. (Though, I gotta admit I love Mark Harmon, too, but it's not the same).

    Every time I say Major Foyle's name, I kept thinking of Foyle's War (huzzah for more episodes, btw). Now that I know the character was inspired by Michael Kitchen, that might indeed be enough to get me to read Destiny. Excellent taste, David. :-)
     
  20. JD

    JD Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    What about the actress that Kermett and I both liked up thread, Lindsay Price. Here's a clip I found of her in Lipstick Jungle (no I don't watch it, I just saw a preview and thought she seemed pretty good for the part). According to wikipedia, she's even Korean/German/?