Cast the Characters of Trek Literature

[JD]

Jack Bauer said:
I think Jeffery Donovan would be pretty darn good as Mackenzie Calhoun.

I've always gone with Joe Flanigan from Stargate Atlantis, but he would be a pretty good second choice.

 

[TJ Sinclair]

Flanigan seems to be just about everyone's choice for Calhoun, and while I definitely understand why, I think he just seems too darn young to play the part. Donovan might work better than Flanigan, but I think Nathan Fillion gets my vote for Calhoun.

 

[Christopher]

TJ Sinclair said:
Flanigan seems to be just about everyone's choice for Calhoun, and while I definitely understand why, I think he just seems too darn young to play the part. Donovan might work better than Flanigan, but I think Nathan Fillion gets my vote for Calhoun.

Hate to break it to you, but Nathan Fillion is four years younger than Joe Flanigan.

 

[TJ Sinclair]

Actually, I was aware of that (and momentarily forgot, honestly), but it doesn't alter the perception. Fillion, at least as Mal Reynolds, seems older than Flanigan, and projects more of the maturity that I'd expect from Calhoun.

 

[tenmei]

It's always been Dylan McDermott as Calhoun for me.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

TJ Sinclair said:
Flanigan seems to be just about everyone's choice for Calhoun

Not mine.

 

[TJ Sinclair]

trampledamage said:
For Ael, I don't know who I imagined when I first read the novel but now I hear the voice of the Romulan captain from the TNG episode where Troi becomes a member of the Tal Shiar.

After much soul searching, there's only one actress I know who can fulfil both the physical and acting requirements of the nobel Ael.

Mira Furlan.

I dare anyone to come up with someone better to portray Ael.

 

[Turbo]

Wait, wait, waitaminute. Joe Flanigan as Calhoun? Sorry, but as much as I like Flanigan, he's too nice-looking. He really doesn't have the tough-guy image Calhoun is supposed to have.

I see Calhoun as an older, tougher, guy. I think that Ben Browder could be a good choice.

 

[Csalem]

Well Calhoun is just over 40 in the latest books, so if he shaped up a bit I would still go with my original choice of Alec Baldwin for him.

 

[Christopher]

Turbo said:
Wait, wait, waitaminute. Joe Flanigan as Calhoun? Sorry, but as much as I like Flanigan, he's too nice-looking. He really doesn't have the tough-guy image Calhoun is supposed to have.

Well, I think the main reason people go for Flanigan as Calhoun is because he bears a strong resemblance to the model who has always been used for Calhoun on the NF novel covers.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

In a dopey sort of way, I suppose. Frankly, I still don't see it.

 

[Turbo]

Christopher said:

Turbo said:
Wait, wait, waitaminute. Joe Flanigan as Calhoun? Sorry, but as much as I like Flanigan, he's too nice-looking. He really doesn't have the tough-guy image Calhoun is supposed to have.

Well, I think the main reason people go for Flanigan as Calhoun is because he bears a strong resemblance to the model who has always been used for Calhoun on the NF novel covers.

Really? I can see some resemblance, but the eyes and chin are all wrong.

 

[Christopher]

Well, all I know is, my mental image of Calhoun was originally based on the cover paintings, but the first time I read an NF book after Stargate Atlantis premiered, I gradually realized that the face I was visualizing had changed a bit, and I then figured out that I was imagining Joe Flanigan without consciously intending to. (Just the face, though, not the voice.)

 

[Turbo]

Fair enough. I just have Sheppard and Calhoun as two totally different characters in my mind, and I'm having a hard time seeing Flanigan as Calhoun. It's more the personality than the looks.

 

[JD]

Yeah, but he is an actor, so presumably he could play more than one type of character. I admit, I do often look at personallity of the actor's current character, but then I have to remind myself that they are actors who can do multiple characters.

 

[TJ Sinclair]

JD said:
Yeah, but he is an actor, so presumably he could play more than one type of character. I admit, I do often look at personallity of the actor's current character, but then I have to remind myself that they are actors who can do multiple characters.

That depends entirely on which actor.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I thought Mel Gibson would make a pretty good Calhoun.

 

[Turtletrekker]

^Mel Gibson's portrayal of William Wallace in Braveheart is, in fact, Peter David's inspiration for the character.

 

[TJ Sinclair]

Wow. Never heard that one before. When did PAD say that?

 

[Csalem]

Well in Voyages of the Imagination he said Calhoun is based on William Wallace, i.e. a very young guy leading his people to freedom, and that Mel Gibson was way too old in the film to play the character.