CASTING COUCH!!!!

[RobertScorpio]

Okay...we all know that other's were considered for the rolls of our beloved star trek characters. Which, if any, would you have preffered over the person who got the job...

Captain Kirk
We all know WILLIAM SHATNER got the job, and really created an ICON in Kirk. But there were others they approached...including JACK LORD/PETER GRAVES and LLOYD BRIDGES, and others...Was Shatner the best? Could one of these others have done a better job?

Mr. Spock
Leonard Nimoy created a whole race! And yet, he wasn't their first pick either. Martin Landau and, wow, even Deforest Kelly were first thought of as our friendly first officer.

Captain Picard
Someone other than Patrick? Yep. I have read through the years that GR wasn't sold on Patrick Stewart. I have also read that Colm Meaney tried out for the part. They even approached the great character actor Donald Moffat, who isn't even French or English.

Tasha Yar/Troi
We all know that Crosby and Sirtis switched parts. Did they get it right?

Captain Sisko
I have heard many different names attached to Sisko. I think Avery, to be honest, started off a bit shakey. I think they wanted a black-Picard, and he finally told them "let me be me". Thus the goatee and more of the Sisko he became. I loved Avery Brooks, so I think they got it right. But there were others...including Alexander Siddig/Richard Dean Anderson/James Earl Jones. The only person I would have gone with, perhaps, was Tony Todd. He is one of TREK's best guest stars. Kern/Hirogen/Older Jake..great actor

Captain Janeway
kate Mulgrew; you either like her or you don't. I do. I think she did just fine. Gene Buljold was a terrible actress. Just watch EARTHQUAKE, the move, and though she had nice perky breasts, that was about all she could do. COMA? She put me into Coma with that performance. Edward James Omos has recently revealed they approached him for the role of Captain of Voyager. That would have been interesting. Linda Hamliton's named popped up once, and so did Lindsey Wagner's.

Commander Riker
Frakes was great. HE IS cool. I have met this guy like four or five times at Comic con. He is, in my opinion, the most down-to-earth Trek actor. And he is humble too. Great guy. Ronald Perlman lost the job to Frakes, we all know this by now I think. But he told me, Frakes did, that an aged Nick Nolte was approached for the part. Huh??? I like Nick, but Frakes was far better.

DATA
Well, this is strange. I remember reading tha GR wasn't onboard with Patrick Stewart as Picard, but did see him as Data!!! As was Donald Moffet. But Moffet had played a similar part on Logan's Run tv show. Eric Menyuk, who played the Traveler, lost out to Spiner

Geordi
Levar beat out, among others, Tim Russ.


So...TREK friends...did they chose the right person? Would you have preferred another actor that was considered??

Robert

 

[Michael]

Didn't Jeff Combs also audition for the part of Riker? Though I love Frakes as Riker I would have liked to see Combs in the role. I think he would have given the character another spin.

 

[Mistral]

I could see Stewart as Data-just look at Locutus to get a feel for how Patrick might have played it. Omos got the Captain's Seat he was best suited for, Lindsay Wagner has too much religion in her life to handle the science of Trek and Linda Hamilton...might have made a great Janeway. Crosby/Sirtis-a nobrainer-Crosby is far too wooden to play a caring, understanding empath. And she aged so badly the character would have to have been dropped when they were making the movie!

 

[JiNX-01]

Okay...we all know that other's were considered for the rolls of our beloved star trek characters. Which, if any, would you have preffered over the person who got the job...

Captain Kirk
We all know WILLIAM SHATNER got the job, and really created an ICON in Kirk. But there were others they approached...including JACK LORD/PETER GRAVES and LLOYD BRIDGES, and others...Was Shatner the best? Could one of these others have done a better job?

I can't picture anybody else as Kirk, so I would say no.

Mr. Spock
Leonard Nimoy created a whole race! And yet, he wasn't their first pick either. Martin Landau and, wow, even Deforest Kelly were first thought of as our friendly first officer.

No substitutes here either.

Captain Picard
Someone other than Patrick? Yep. I have read through the years that GR wasn't sold on Patrick Stewart. I have also read that Colm Meaney tried out for the part. They even approached the great character actor Donald Moffat, who isn't even French or English.

Well, I think Meaney is fantastic, but as Picard was drawn, I can't picture him in the role. I guess Stewart was the better choice.

Tasha Yar/Troi
We all know that Crosby and Sirtis switched parts. Did they get it right?

Well, I didn't know that. I don't know if Crosby would have been a better Troi, but if she had been stuck with the same "let me step in here and state the obvious" role, I might have been less shocked and dismayed when the oil slick killed her.

Captain Sisko
I have heard many different names attached to Sisko. I think Avery, to be honest, started off a bit shakey. I think they wanted a black-Picard, and he finally told them "let me be me". Thus the goatee and more of the Sisko he became. I loved Avery Brooks, so I think they got it right. But there were others...including Alexander Siddig/Richard Dean Anderson/James Earl Jones. The only person I would have gone with, perhaps, was Tony Todd. He is one of TREK's best guest stars. Kern/Hirogen/Older Jake..great actor

OMG, James Earl Jones?! I would have SO LOVED THAT! I agree that Sisko started out too stiff and unnatural. Shaving his head and growing a beard helped a lot.

Captain Janeway
kate Mulgrew; you either like her or you don't. I do. I think she did just fine. Gene Buljold was a terrible actress. Just watch EARTHQUAKE, the move, and though she had nice perky breasts, that was about all she could do. COMA? She put me into Coma with that performance. Edward James Omos has recently revealed they approached him for the role of Captain of Voyager. That would have been interesting. Linda Hamliton's named popped up once, and so did Lindsey Wagner's.

I liked Mulgrew, but I could have lived with Linda or Lindsay. I can't even picture Genvieve in the role. Snore.

Commander Riker
Frakes was great. HE IS cool. I have met this guy like four or five times at Comic con. He is, in my opinion, the most down-to-earth Trek actor. And he is humble too. Great guy. Ronald Perlman lost the job to Frakes, we all know this by now I think. But he told me, Frakes did, that an aged Nick Nolte was approached for the part. Huh??? I like Nick, but Frakes was far better.

I liked Bearded Frakes. He seemed to be more relaxed in the role and became more fun to watch -- for me anyway. So the only change I would have made there is to tell JF to relax and have fun with the role (And grow that beard... makes you look more mature!)

DATA
Well, this is strange. I remember reading tha GR wasn't onboard with Patrick Stewart as Picard, but did see him as Data!!! As was Donald Moffet. But Moffet had played a similar part on Logan's Run tv show. Eric Menyuk, who played the Traveler, lost out to Spiner

I could see Stewart as Data. He would have been different, but there were times when he seemed like an android to me anyway.

Geordi
Levar beat out, among others, Tim Russ.

Can't picture Tim as Geordi. Levar was definitely the one that worked.

 

[JNG]

Jonathan Frakes was a home run as Riker.

Clearly something was amiss with their decisions regarding what to do with Sirtis and Crosby, but I don't know if Crosby was right for Hernandez-turned-Yar and they just never had enough ideas for her, or if Crosby's casting somehow kept the character from gelling to the point that they wanted to make much use of her. It was before my time. For what it is worth, I personally think Crosby fared well enough and Yar only suffered as part of a large cast during a show with major growing pains. Troi was often saddled with painful nonsense during those seasons, but the actress typically gave it a good shot and was rewarded for sticking it out.

 

[flandry84]

Iseem to recall reading that Bill(Rocketeer)Campbell was a very cinch for the part of Riker.That could have been interesting,but I'm glad that Frakes won out.

 

[Warp Coil]

I think we're all so accustomed to these actors playing these roles that it's hard to imagine anyone else filling their shoes. Having said that, I can't help but wonder what it would be like to see other actors (or even other characters!) on the screen.

How would Marina Sirtis have portrayed the Enterprise security chief Macha Hernandez (the original character's name until the actresses switched roles)? And how might this have affected the character of Worf? Michael Dorn didn't have much to do until Denise Crosby quit the series, allowing his character to move up and become more prominant.

What would have happened if an older actor like James Earl Jones was hired to play Sisko? Would he have been a Commander still, or bumped up in rank? Would he still have a teenage son? Or what if TPTB had gone younger? Would Jake Sisko have been re-written or removed altogether?

Wesley Crusher was originally a girl, Leslie. Kira Nerys was only created because TPTB couldn't get Michelle Forbes to sign-on to play Ro Laren on DS9. Data could have been a completely different color (cobalt blue or even pink!). Star Trek is full of "What if..." scenarios behind the scenes.

 

[Kirby]

Captain Kirk
We all know WILLIAM SHATNER got the job, and really created an ICON in Kirk. But there were others they approached...including JACK LORD/PETER GRAVES and LLOYD BRIDGES, and others...Was Shatner the best? Could one of these others have done a better job?

After seeing Lloyd Bridges as Commander Cain in TOS Battlestar Galactica, I would love to see how he would've approached Kirk. It's hard to think of anyone other than Shatner though.

Captain Sisko
I have heard many different names attached to Sisko. I think Avery, to be honest, started off a bit shakey. I think they wanted a black-Picard, and he finally told them "let me be me". Thus the goatee and more of the Sisko he became. I loved Avery Brooks, so I think they got it right. But there were others...including Alexander Siddig/Richard Dean Anderson/James Earl Jones. The only person I would have gone with, perhaps, was Tony Todd. He is one of TREK's best guest stars. Kern/Hirogen/Older Jake..great actor

James Earl Jones as Sisko would have been awesome, he easily could have pulled off more of a Picard-type character, but I doubt DS9 would have become the the same show that we ended up with.

Commander Riker
Frakes was great. HE IS cool. I have met this guy like four or five times at Comic con. He is, in my opinion, the most down-to-earth Trek actor. And he is humble too. Great guy. Ronald Perlman lost the job to Frakes, we all know this by now I think. But he told me, Frakes did, that an aged Nick Nolte was approached for the part. Huh??? I like Nick, but Frakes was far better.

Nolte? Seriously? Thank god for Frakes.

DATA
Well, this is strange. I remember reading tha GR wasn't onboard with Patrick Stewart as Picard, but did see him as Data!!! As was Donald Moffet. But Moffet had played a similar part on Logan's Run tv show. Eric Menyuk, who played the Traveler, lost out to Spiner

I had heard Colm Meaney had tried out for Data, not Picard. I can see Stewart as Data though.

Geordi
Levar beat out, among others, Tim Russ.

Didn't Tony Todd try out for Geordi as well? Poor guy, I think he needs to be a regular on any new Trek series just because he's tried so many times... And he is a very good actor.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I would have preferred Tony Todd as Sisko, Tim Russ as Geordi, and maybe Jeffrey Combs as Riker (that certainly would have sent the character in a whole other direction). And they should have found some French guy to play Picard.

They even approached the great character actor Donald Moffat, who isn't even French or English.

Why should they look for an English guy to play a French character?

 

[TGTheodore]

We all know WILLIAM SHATNER got the job ... But there were others they approached...including JACK LORD/PETER GRAVES and LLOYD BRIDGES, and others...

You really want to see Jack Lord or Peter Graves without a shirt?

[shudder]

--Ted

 

[HoundDog]

I can't see anyone else in the roles of Kirk, Spock, Picard, Sisko, Janeway or Data - I think they were perfectly cast (though Brooks is a little over-the-top he is still very convincible as The Sisko - and regarding Janeway, I'm really glad that Bujold gave up on this part).
And about the Crosby/Sirtis-switch: Well, I don't think that this change really mattered that much in the end - both were cast for eye-candy mostly and not for acting ability (and yeah, Crosby hasn't aged too well).

One thing about the Picard-casting: Didn't they want a French actor first? And if they did, who?

 

[TremblingBluStar]

Captain Kirk
We all know WILLIAM SHATNER got the job, and really created an ICON in Kirk. But there were others they approached...including JACK LORD/PETER GRAVES and LLOYD BRIDGES, and others...Was Shatner the best? Could one of these others have done a better job?

I wonder how many of these, like much of what we hear regarding TOS, is a made up story the fans have accepted as truth - or a story that is only semi-truthful.

Trek wasn't exactly a hot property in 1966. If they could have gotten a big name actor in the role, I doubt Shatner would have stood much of a chance.

Captain Picard
Someone other than Patrick? Yep. I have read through the years that GR wasn't sold on Patrick Stewart. I have also read that Colm Meaney tried out for the part. They even approached the great character actor Donald Moffat, who isn't even French or English.

This one makes me go

Colm is a great actor, but he was only 33 when TNG premiered in '86. How could he concievably pull off being a Captain, much less the one of the flagship. Granted, Kirk wasn't much older - but I thought the whole point of Picard was to be Kirk's polar opposite (except in gender and race).

 

[A beaker full of death]

Captain Kirk
We all know WILLIAM SHATNER got the job, and really created an ICON in Kirk. But there were others they approached...including JACK LORD/PETER GRAVES and LLOYD BRIDGES, and others...Was Shatner the best? Could one of these others have done a better job?

I wonder how many of these, like much of what we hear regarding TOS, is a made up story the fans have accepted as truth - or a story that is only semi-truthful.

Trek wasn't exactly a hot property in 1966. If they could have gotten a big name actor in the role, I doubt Shatner would have stood much of a chance.

umm... which of those is the big-name actor you have in mind?

 

[alicelouise]

Andrew Robinson, I've read somewhere, auditioned for the part of Odo on DS9. He would have done well in that part.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I believe Vaughn Armstrong was in the running to play Riker, and Stephen Macht (General Krim from DS9) was a possible candidate for Picard.

 

[Aragorn]

Erin Gray was up for Janeway. I don't like Mulgrew, but casting could never have saved that show's godawful writing. Though Janeway probably would've worn skirts more often.

 

[number6]

I am profoundly disappointed.

I thought this was going to be a thread about all the babes Roddenberry banged, promising them a role on the series.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Erin Gray was up for Janeway.

Lindsay Wagner too..

 

[Kegek]

Captain Kirk
We all know WILLIAM SHATNER got the job, and really created an ICON in Kirk. But there were others they approached...including JACK LORD/PETER GRAVES and LLOYD BRIDGES, and others...Was Shatner the best? Could one of these others have done a better job?

Wasn't Leslie Nielsen, who played the proto-Kirk in Forbidden Planet, also considered? Nielsen might have been interesting. And, of course, Jeffrey Hunter was originally going to play Kirk in the second pilot.

Mr. Spock
Leonard Nimoy created a whole race! And yet, he wasn't their first pick either. Martin Landau and, wow, even Deforest Kelly were first thought of as our friendly first officer.

Kelley is baffling, but not that much so. Landau? I can definitely see him as a compelling Spock. But Nimoy was a casting coup, fair and square.

Captain Picard
Someone other than Patrick? Yep. I have read through the years that GR wasn't sold on Patrick Stewart. I have also read that Colm Meaney tried out for the part. They even approached the great character actor Donald Moffat, who isn't even French or English.

Well, Colm Meaney isn't French or English either. But, wow. I had no idea. I loved Stewart in the role, but Meaney as the lead on TNG? Amazing idea. It sounds kind of bizarre; and doubtless Picard would have evolved into a far different figure than the one we know (not quite so British, for one thing) - that'd be something.

Tasha Yar/Troi
We all know that Crosby and Sirtis switched parts. Did they get it right?

Either way, meh. But I think Sirtis could pull of an ethnically Ukranian character far more convincingly than the blond Crosby.

Captain Sisko
I have heard many different names attached to Sisko. I think Avery, to be honest, started off a bit shakey. I think they wanted a black-Picard, and he finally told them "let me be me". Thus the goatee and more of the Sisko he became. I loved Avery Brooks, so I think they got it right. But there were others...including Alexander Siddig/Richard Dean Anderson/James Earl Jones. The only person I would have gone with, perhaps, was Tony Todd. He is one of TREK's best guest stars. Kern/Hirogen/Older Jake..great actor

Alexander Siddig was rejected as being too young for the role, but he does have excellent leading man charisma - probably why Bashir evolved into more of a leading man than any of the other doctors on a Trek show. He would have been interesting... and Tony Todd would simply have been fantastic. That's all there is too it. As for Earl Jones, are you serious? That is all kinds of awesome. What sci-fi nerd doesn't love his litling baritone?

Captain Janeway
kate Mulgrew; you either like her or you don't. I do. I think she did just fine. Gene Buljold was a terrible actress. Just watch EARTHQUAKE, the move, and though she had nice perky breasts, that was about all she could do. COMA? She put me into Coma with that performance. Edward James Omos has recently revealed they approached him for the role of Captain of Voyager. That would have been interesting. Linda Hamliton's named popped up once, and so did Lindsey Wagner's.

I've seen the footage they shot with Bujold after she'd been cast. She was simply abysmal. It's clear she was bored with her lines and couldn't take the technobabble seriously. Okay, it wasn't all that great so I can't blame her, but an actor shouldn't let that kind of thing show. Mulgrew could always sound interested in her lines, her character arcs and her endless spews of technobabble, even if we weren't. I think she was good for the role and I don't think there were any other female actors considered which would have worked as well. Aside from Olmos, Gerrit Graham (Soval, among other Trek roles) was reputedly considered for Sisko and Janeway, before they decided to make the former black and the latter a woman.

Commander Riker
Frakes was great. HE IS cool. I have met this guy like four or five times at Comic con. He is, in my opinion, the most down-to-earth Trek actor. And he is humble too. Great guy. Ronald Perlman lost the job to Frakes, we all know this by now I think. But he told me, Frakes did, that an aged Nick Nolte was approached for the part. Huh??? I like Nick, but Frakes was far better.

Nolte? No. Ron Perlman is one of those actors who you'd just love to play a Star Trek alien, bedecked with generous quantities of makeup. (Yeah, aside from his performance as the Reman Viceroy in Nemesis). It's typecasting; but the truth is he's damn good at it, so I'd lean to Frakes in that case. Jeffrey Combs has a similar versatility under makeup; but he would have made an excellent Riker.

DATA
Well, this is strange. I remember reading tha GR wasn't onboard with Patrick Stewart as Picard, but did see him as Data!!! As was Donald Moffet. But Moffet had played a similar part on Logan's Run tv show. Eric Menyuk, who played the Traveler, lost out to Spiner

Interesting alternatives; but Spiner all the way. They really 'Nimoyed' on this role.

Geordi
Levar beat out, among others, Tim Russ.

Not surprised. He was one of the stars of Roots, and he had Reading Rainbow. And he was great with Geordi, sometimes underrated I feel. When it comes down to it, Geordi is an underwritten concept who relies on a few gimmicks (he's blind and he flies the ship... then he doesn't). It was only over the years they fleshed him out... to a nerdy guy who isn't so good with girls. That is, Barclay without all the charming neuroses. Plus he's the straight man to Data. Geordi could have very easily been very boring; but he remained consistently interesting and likeable through Levar Burton's charming charisma. I think he's the one character in Star Trek who's really interesting mainly due to the actor, and that's worth something in my book. Tim Russ would also have been good, they're both talented actors and I'd rank Russ up there with Nimoy and Lenard as giving one of the best performances of a Vulcan in the Trek canon. I'm sure he could have made Geordi succeed the same way Burton did.

 

[Navaros]

Famke Janssen, the original choice for Jadzia Dax, would have been infinitely better in the role. Also, any qualified actress would likewise have been infinitely better in the role.