Cast the Characters of Trek Literature

[snakespeare]

As I mentioned in my last post, which is at the bottom of the previous page and was probably skipped over...

I don't see why T'Ryssa has to be played by an Asian actress. If she's Vulcan and she bleeds green, and she has black hair, then they could use makeup on whoever they would pick. I don't know that they would need to start with a Chinese face. Would they?

I originally thought her Chinese half was apparent (reading GTSS), but now it is clear that everyone confuses her with a full Vulcan (LtP).

 

[Christopher]

I don't see why T'Ryssa has to be played by an Asian actress.

Because her name is T'Ryssa Chen. Her human ancestry is primarily Chinese. And because p. 68 of Greater Than the Sum explicitly refers to her "tomboyish Asian features."

I originally thought her Chinese half was apparent (reading GTSS), but now it is clear that everyone confuses her with a full Vulcan (LtP).

How is that inconsistent? We've seen "white" Vulcans and "black" Vulcans, so why couldn't there be Asian-looking Vulcans? We've seen at least one full Romulan, Caithlin Dar, played by a Chinese-American actress, and there have been Asian extras cast as Vulcan background characters.

 

[Paris]

How is that inconsistent? We've seen "white" Vulcans and "black" Vulcans, so why couldn't there be Asian-looking Vulcans? We've seen at least one full Romulan, Caithlin Dar, played by a Chinese-American actress, and there have been Asian extras cast as Vulcan background characters.

According to Memory Beta, Caithlin Dar was half-human/ half-Romulan. It actually says her dad was from Ireland, and mother was Romulan. I don't know where the asian features are supposed to come from. Maybe when the Irish mate with Romulans, you get asian looking Romulans? I assume this comes from the novelization of STV.

 

[apenpaap]

According to Memory Beta, Caithlin Dar was half-human/ half-Romulan. It actually says her dad was from Ireland, and mother was Romulan. I don't know where the asian features are supposed to come from. Maybe when the Irish mate with Romulans, you get asian looking Romulans? I assume this comes from the novelization of STV.

That begs the question, though: how can she be half human when humans didn't even know what Romulans looked like 19 years earlier?

EDIT: I looked her up, and it seems she is just one quarter human, which makes it even stranger.

 

[snakespeare]

I understood all that, what I didn't get was why she HAS to be played by an Asian, because makeup can make it work once the imaginary casting team chose someone based on talent.

 

[Paris]

According to Memory Beta, Caithlin Dar was half-human/ half-Romulan. It actually says her dad was from Ireland, and mother was Romulan. I don't know where the asian features are supposed to come from. Maybe when the Irish mate with Romulans, you get asian looking Romulans? I assume this comes from the novelization of STV.

That begs the question, though: how can she be half human when humans didn't even know what Romulans looked like 19 years earlier?

EDIT: I looked her up, and it seems she is just one quarter human, which makes it even stranger.

Where did it say she was 1/4 human and not 1/2? As to how it could be possible...there's no saying that her father knew that her mother was Romulan. He may have thought she was a Vulcan. There was no mention of her parents relationship, so it's possible that Caithlin is the result of a one-night stand. Or maybe her mother was a spy posing as a Vulcan, and then left without word and took her daughter with her...

who knows

 

[Christopher]

I understood all that, what I didn't get was why she HAS to be played by an Asian, because makeup can make it work once the imaginary casting team chose someone based on talent.

You're not seriously suggesting making up a Caucasian to look Asian?! Reverting to the days of Charlie Chan? That practice was not only racist, it was ineffective. You can't convincingly make a white person look Asian by sticking latex folds over their eyelids. Maybe American audiences in the '40s or '60s, who didn't know or care what real Asians looked like, could buy such a substitution, but nobody with any sense today would fall for it, and no casting director with any decency would attempt it.

 

[DimesDan]

I understood all that, what I didn't get was why she HAS to be played by an Asian, because makeup can make it work once the imaginary casting team chose someone based on talent.

You're not seriously suggesting making up a Caucasian to look Asian?! Reverting to the days of Charlie Chan? That practice was not only racist, it was ineffective. You can't convincingly make a white person look Asian by sticking latex folds over their eyelids. Maybe American audiences in the '40s or '60s, who didn't know or care what real Asians looked like, could buy such a substitution, but nobody with any sense today would fall for it, and no casting director with any decency would attempt it.

Or you could just do an open "colour blind" addition and then pick the best woman for the role, yes you may have written her as looking Asian, but that doesn't mean it can't change if she did get cast now would it?

 

[snakespeare]

[Bolian]Look, I'm just asking!!! It's your damn character! You tell me![/Bolian]

 

[Christopher]

Or you could just do an open "colour blind" addition and then pick the best woman for the role, yes you may have written her as looking Asian, but that doesn't mean it can't change if she did get cast now would it?

I don't think that's at all in the spirit of a fantasy casting thread. The whole point is to find people who fit the descriptions in the books. We're not subject to the exigencies of real casting here; we don't have to settle for "not quite but the closest we could find."

 

[snakespeare]

Aha! So you require epicanthic folds. Well, then it could be an Amerind actress, too. One of my daughters has them and the other doesn't, and they are both part Mi'kmaq/part Irish. I had not imagined T'Ryssa with obvious epicanthic folds. Now I shall. Thanks. Prominent cheekbones, too? OK. I'll be back...

 

[William Leisner]

Or you could just do an open "colour blind" addition and then pick the best woman for the role, yes you may have written her as looking Asian, but that doesn't mean it can't change if she did get cast now would it?

I don't think that's at all in the spirit of a fantasy casting thread. The whole point is to find people who fit the descriptions in the books. We're not subject to the exigencies of real casting here; we don't have to settle for "not quite but the closest we could find."

Well, of course, the real reason this is "fantasy casting" is because there are no plans to put these characters on film, and none of us are Hollywood casting directors. And even if we were real casting directors, we'd be under no obligation whatsoever to pay the slightest bit of attention to the author.

How about Betty White as Trys?

 

[Allyn Gibson]

How about Betty White as Trys?

Only if she's foul-mouthed.

 

[JD]

What do you guys think of Lance Reddick for Zett Nilric?

 

[captcalhoun]

oh, yeah. good choice!

 

[JD]

I feel that Mattew Abaddon and Agent Broyles both have that sort of intimidating, mysterious aura about them that I've always imagined Zett having.

 

[Captaindemotion]

I understood all that, what I didn't get was why she HAS to be played by an Asian, because makeup can make it work once the imaginary casting team chose someone based on talent.

You're not seriously suggesting making up a Caucasian to look Asian?! Reverting to the days of Charlie Chan? That practice was not only racist, it was ineffective. You can't convincingly make a white person look Asian by sticking latex folds over their eyelids. Maybe American audiences in the '40s or '60s, who didn't know or care what real Asians looked like, could buy such a substitution, but nobody with any sense today would fall for it, and no casting director with any decency would attempt it.

I dunno, I thought Sean Connery was really convincing in that make-up in You Only Live Twice. And John Wayne was a great Ghengis Khan. And I don't know about you, but for years after seeing Breakfast at Tiffany's I thought Mickey Rooney was Chinese. I mean, that's a Chinese name, right?

 

[snakespeare]

^thanks for handling my light work

Personally, I think when the character keeps being mistaken for a VULCAN, demanding a Chinese actress play the part is absurd. But Christopher invented the character and we never knew until I made a racist remark, accidentally, that she had epicanthic folds. Perhaps the writers should make more of a point about her Chinese looks, and stop having people think she's a Vulcan. Vulcan eyes, you see, have nictitating membranes, and there isn't an actress born on planet Earth who has those, is there?

 

[JD]

I understood all that, what I didn't get was why she HAS to be played by an Asian, because makeup can make it work once the imaginary casting team chose someone based on talent.

You're not seriously suggesting making up a Caucasian to look Asian?! Reverting to the days of Charlie Chan? That practice was not only racist, it was ineffective. You can't convincingly make a white person look Asian by sticking latex folds over their eyelids. Maybe American audiences in the '40s or '60s, who didn't know or care what real Asians looked like, could buy such a substitution, but nobody with any sense today would fall for it, and no casting director with any decency would attempt it.

I dunno, I thought Sean Connery was really convincing in that make-up in You Only Live Twice. And John Wayne was a great Ghengis Khan. And I don't know about you, but for years after seeing Breakfast at Tiffany's I thought Mickey Rooney was Chinese. I mean, that's a Chinese name, right?

Maybe, but that still doesn't help with the racism part.

 

[Christopher]

^You saw the wink smiley, didn't you? He was being sarcastic, listing some of the most egregiously and offensively bad attempts by Caucasians to play Asians in the movies.