• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Casting sheet for imaginary Cage crew remake TV series

That third one ended up becoming one of the shows' better characters. Although technically she was the fourth.
 
Mastro said: I can't really reconcile "Caucasian" with "human origin unknown." I'm seeing genre actress Gina Torres in the role, and I'm neither casting her because she's black, nor avoiding casting her because she's black. She fits everything but that Caucasian part.
Reason for the Caucasian part is that the actress(Majel) that played the part of Number One is a dark haired Caucasian women. and ,,the human origin,, part is that Number One nationality is unclear. Personally i would cast Number one as Caucasian Russian woman, honoring that the first women in space was Valentina Tereshkova. I think Sarah Lancaster and Lake Bell fit Number One profile better then Gina Torres or Sydney Tamiia Poitier. However i like Torres and Poitier but casting them as new characters is a better in my opinion.

But is the character "caucasian"? Roddenberry describes the character as " slim and dark in a Nile Valley sort of way". Which in my mind gives one a lot of leeway in casting.
I really don't know. Caucasian women was cast as Number One(Majel) so i only presumed the character is Caucasian. But you are right about having a leeway in casting.
 
If everything that occurs is the same -- no violation in the canon from events -- I would think that having Gina Torres as Number One would be acceptable, since the casting sheet doesn't demand that she be Caucasian.

It would be different if we cast Katee Sackhoff as Captain Christine Pike.
 
The fact that Majel was already Number One makes the character caucasian, no matter what the casting sheet says.


Christine Pike? ....Epic fail
 
Caucasian is a look; a specific appearance that Majel had.

Kirk and Spock weren't Jewish but their actors were.


Gina Torres is a hispanic/black actress; but could she actually pass as a character already defined as white?

Answer is no.


It's the equivalent of trying to pass off a white actress as Uhura...
 
What's up with this bizarre obsession of casting Caucasians only?

It is frankly ridiculus... Roddenberry improved his casting for the actual series - Yet now you are intent on forcing everyone in this little game to redo the casting mistakes of Roddenberry. :lol: (Not that he cast bad actors - but casting on skin color only)

And if canon is so holy that your little recasting excercise must have everyone match something as pointless as the skintone of the original actor - Why bother? You already have a "The Cage" that apparently is flawless...:rolleyes:
 
Caucasian is a look; a specific appearance that Majel had.

Kirk and Spock weren't Jewish but their actors were.


Gina Torres is a hispanic/black actress; but could she actually pass as a character already defined as white?

Answer is no.


It's the equivalent of trying to pass off a white actress as Uhura...

Dude, Caucasian includes everone from Dolf Lungren to Kal Penn. There is no specific appearance for that. "Black " and "Hispanic" have a pretty wide range too. I know hispanics and blacks with Majel's complexion. With so little information about Number One, Majel could be playing a character who's not "white" or even human. We know much more about Uhura ,so an actress of African descent is required.
 
Dude, Caucasian includes everone from Dolf Lungren to Kal Penn. There is no specific appearance for that. "Black " and "Hispanic" have a pretty wide range too. I know hispanics and blacks with Majel's complexion. With so little information about Number One, Majel could be playing a character who's not "white" or even human. We know much more about Uhura ,so an actress of African descent is required.

I know hispanics that would look like Majel too.

The point is

Gina Torres doesnt:

713pxnumberonethumb300x.jpg
GinaTorres1.jpg



I mean it's not even close.

Majel played a character with that appearance. Torres doesn't have it.
 
I also realized if we're sticking with canon and starting from the beginning of Pike's captaincy; Yeoman Colt shouldnt even be in the cast.

She joined during "The Cage" after Pike's male yeoman was killed on Rigel.


Not to mention Pike's line (in regards to Colt) that he's going to have to get used to having a woman on the bridge (not including Number One).

That means Number One was Pike's only female bridge officer prior to "The Cage"
 
01Pike-MichaelTrucco.jpg

Christopher Pike (Michael Trucco)

02Spock-ZachQuinto.jpg

Spock (Zach Quinto)

03NumberOne-RhonaMitra2.jpg

Number One (Rhona Mitra)

04JoseTyler-AllessandroJuliani.jpg

José Tyler (Alessandro Juliani)

05DrPhillipBoyce-SimonCallow.jpg

Philip Boyce (Simon Callow)

06Colt-RachelNichols.jpg

J.M. Colt (Rachel Nichols)

07ChiefEngineer-ADEWALEAKINNUOYEAGB.jpg

Chief Engineer (Adewale Akinnuoye Agbaje)

08SecurityChief-JamesPurefoy.jpg

Security Chief (James Purefoy)

09ChiefNurse-ZhangZiyi.jpg

Chief Nurse/Surgical Assistant (ZhangZiyi)

10TransporterChief-AishaTyler.jpg

Transporter Chief (Aisha Tyler)

 
Regarding Number One race. Personally i would pick an actress that has some reference to Majel. After all she was the first lady of Trek;) But however i open to other possibilitiess f.c. i like Rhona Mitra a lot and she is half Irish and half Indian. Maybe later on i will make a poll and you guys can vote for your favorites.

and THE this are some good picks. You have filled 10 position. I like almost everyone expect Zachary Ounito belongs to Abrams Trek, Simon Callow is 60 years old and looks older. Zhang Ziyi and Rachel Nichols are perhaps too big names for television. Anyway i think tall Rachel Nichols fit better to Number One profile then Colt. The rest is good especially Aisha Tyler
 
Last edited:
I really like the idea of a Pike series based on around 'The cage'.

But where's the need to add even more regular crewmembers, as some people here are suggesting? To me, a main cast of six seems to be big enough. And in fact, some of the other Trek shows got much too bloated in terms of characters that didn't get any development or story material to speak of. Do we really need any more ensign Kims or Travis Mayweathers?

Also keep in mind that there could always be a few recurring characters that only appear once in awhile (sort of like Barclay, O'brien or Guinan on TNG). But the main cast really need to be tight so that all the important characters will get some meaningful development.

Also, this is something I've been asking myself about Trek shows:
Why does the chief engineer always have to be part of the main crew, really? It will only ensure that the show gets bogged down in technical jargon and technobabble solutions that doesn't add much if anything to the plot. So why not shake things up a bit and make the engineer a recurring character at most, if we even include him at all.
 
Regarding Number One race. Personally i would pick an actress that has some reference to Majel. After all she was the first lady of Trek;) But however i open to other possibilitiess f.c. i like Rhona Mitra a lot and she is half Irish and half Indian. Maybe later on i will make a poll and you guys can vote for your favorites.

and THE this are some good picks. You have filled 10 position. I like almost everyone expect Zachary Ounito belongs to Abrams Trek, Simon Callow is 60 years old and looks older. Zhang Ziyi and Rachel Nichols are perhaps too big names for television. Anyway i think tall Rachel Nichols fit better to Number One profile then Colt. The rest is good especially Aisha Tyler

Thanks! I wasn't really trying to cast based on looks or age, rather based on talent, presence, and theoretical chemistry with the co-actors. That's why I think the sultry, and more sophisticated Rhona Mitra would be a better Number One than Rachel Nichols, who to me still has that youthful Yeoman quality about her. Also, Mitra plays nearly-emotionless very well (Boston Legal), and comes across as every bit Pike's near-equal. Just my feeling, really. Ziyi was just to give Simon Callow (who I don't care if he's 100, is still the best actor to play the "worldly-cynical" doctor) someone to bounce lines off of in Sick Bay.

And I'm not about to try to re-re-cast Spock again. Quinto is good enough for me... ;) :techman:
 
I really like the idea of a Pike series based on around 'The cage'.

But where's the need to add even more regular crewmembers, as some people here are suggesting? To me, a main cast of six seems to be big enough. And in fact, some of the other Trek shows got much too bloated in terms of characters that didn't get any development or story material to speak of. Do we really need any more ensign Kims or Travis Mayweathers?

Also keep in mind that there could always be a few recurring characters that only appear once in awhile (sort of like Barclay, O'brien or Guinan on TNG). But the main cast really need to be tight so that all the important characters will get some meaningful development.

You have a good point. Perhaps having only 6 or 7 regular crew member instead of 9 or 10 is better idea and gives important characters more time for meaningful development.
However my biggest beef is that i am tried off bridge centered episodes where they meet alien of the week. Let break that up and show more the inner dilemma within ship crew members.
 
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top