I disagree. I'd have rather they introduced a new character rather than let Robin Curtis assume a role she was ill-prepared for.
ST6: Why didn't they offer Robin Curtis the part of Saavik?
- Thread starter Capt_Pickirk
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Why? You can’t have Vulcans in two movies without them being the same character? Personality-wise they are completely unalike, they don’t look a lot alike or sound alike at all, and there’s no indication in TWOK that Saavik is the kind of scientist who would be assigned to the Grissom’s mission at Genesis. But just because she’s a brunette Vulcan fans would have said “They should have called her Saavik”?
Well, it might appear to you that she was ill-prepared, but Director Nimoy got exactly what he wanted. He deliberately asked that she be given slanted eyebrows, refused to let her watch Alley's performance, and coached Curtis to be totally cold and unemotional in her scenes. He kept telling her, in the David Marcus death scene, "Colder, say it colder."
That's why I chose the expression "ill-prepared." I readily blame Nimoy for that nonsensical performance.
I read the STII novel before I saw the movie and, while the movie is fabulous, I lamented the loss of the additional stuff set on Regula One and the stuff between Peter and Saavik. Thus I was disappointed at Nimoy's decision to make Curtis play it like a controlled Vulcan. She would have been far more interesting if she'd been able to portray repressed anger and emotion in some of the scenes. I was also disappointed that the recent comic adaptation didn't delve into the wider stuff from the novel. If anybody hasn't read the novel, I recommend it highly.
Maybe Meyer didn't approach Curtis because there was no earthly good reason ever to have Robin Curtis play Saavik, period.
Like you and others have said, I've always put that 'cold fish' performance down to Nimoy rather than Curtis. Speaking as someone who's only seen films and never read any background material. Personally I've never rated Alley's Saavik, other than she comes across as slightly...naughtier? less Vulcan? Which I believe from what I've read here was Meyer's intention (i.e., she's not full-Vulcan).
I quite liked Curtis when she guest-starred on TNG as a Romulan. But her Saavik I've always found rather blah. Like others here, I blame Nimoy for the direction. Maybe with Spock coming back as an ongoing character, Nimoy didn't want to have to compete with another (young, sexy) Vulcan for popularity.
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