Geneviève Bujold's Janeway?

[Kaziarl]

Most of you all probably knew this already, however I didn't. I know they tend to go through many casting processes of course, but I don't usually watch for who is being considered.

However, I'm a bit curious what people think of this version of Janeway.

Here is a video showing a scene with Bujold and Mulgrew:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NANUpPaiGG8&feature=related

I know a lot of people didn't like the Janeway we got, and I'm sure Bujold would have gotten better over time, but in this scene she seems very rigid. It reminds me of that scene from TNG where Picardisdescribingthatprofessorwhokeepstalkingandtalkinginoneincrediblylongunbrokensentance...

Anyway, thats just my thoughts. I don't think I've heard of this Bujold, maybe I'll go see what else she's been in.

 

[Basill]

I've always thought she was an excellent actress and I loved her in Anne Of A Thousand Days. She would have made good Vulcan, but I have to agree, she was not right for that role. I myself was very happy with the Janeway we got.

 

[Warped9]

I've always been curious to see this and now that I have I think it's intriguing.

Firstly Bujold's Janeway looks older and more experienced than Mulgrew's. Her performance is more subtle and nuanced. She looks more "real world" than Mulgrew does who comes across as more consciously animated.

Yes, it's a little jarring because Mulgrew is now so familiar in the role, but who is to say it wouldn't have worked out.

 

[sonak]

I've seen youtube clips of her Janeway performance before, and I have to say I think she's awful in the role. She looks stiff and uncomfortable. I wonder if it's a case of the actress not really being very familiar with sci-fi or maybe she just didn't have a very good handle on the character. At any rate, I'm glad they got Mulgrew.

 

[Basill]

Warped9: Definitely older and more experienced, but subtle and nuanced or dry as a bone? Don't get me wrong. The three scenes I've seen her in are such remarkable comparisons to Mulgrew that I too am intrigued with what could have been. However, I fear I would have lost all interest in the series by the end of the pilot with her extremely restrained performance.

 

[AuntKate]

Mulgrew IS Janeway in a way Bujold never would have been. I think we are lucky that Bujold withdrew so quickly or Voyager would have gone down in flames.

 

[black_dranzer]

I didn't like it personally, mainly because (in my opinion) in some scenes she puts emphasis on the wrong words and the sentence sounds odd...

However, I think the lack of background music and effects may also play a part in her performance not seeming as good, I did see a video where someone put the music and effects from Caretaker on top of the scenes and it didn't seem as bad...

 

[Jefferies]

I find Bujold's performance wooden and unengaging. Her disdain for the role, that I believe she revealed in a later interview, is also evident in her expressoin when they announce "cut" at the end of the scene.

Furthermore, her accent is a bit jarring. I would expect that by the 24th century all humans would have English as a first language, at least within the context of the Star Trek universe. A fact that was sort of established with the Picards during TNG.

 

[Brutal Strudel]

Bujold is a great actress--better, I think, than Mulgrew. But Mulgrew was a much better Janeway, right from the start. I wonder, watching that clip, if Bujold thought she was superior to the material or if she just was uncomfortable with it.

 

[Deks]

What I got from watching brief scenes of Bujold as Janeway was that she never really tried to get into the character.
I think there's a possibility she decided very early on that this is something she doesn't want to do and therefore performed abysmally.

Mulgrew's performance on the other hand was actually a real 'try' to get into it (and I'm not just saying it because I've grown accustomed to her as Janeway).
It was a serious attempt at playing Janeway as a character.
Bujold never gave off the feeling she tried in the first place.

 

[LOKAI of CHERON]

Something to consider; the available clips of Bujold in the role haven't had the benefit of post production. I have to say the "raw" footage isn't particularly encouraging however!

 

[froot]

As much as I'm a fan of KM's Janeway, those Bujold clips do not have any post-production work added! She was pretty sedate, but proper audio mixing, music, and that background "white noise" was not added to her scenes. I don't think the camera angles changed as much, either. (I know someone on YouTube added in the music and SFX, but it nearly drowned out the voices, IMO)

Those things can really make a difference.

An older, slightly more soft-spoken French Canadian Janeway might have been interesting (had she actually settled into the role,) although I am quite glad with what we got, too, of course If she stayed quiet, any scenes with her and Chakotay together would have put the audience to sleep!

 

[henbane]

I've seen some clips of Voyager (with Kate Mulgrew as Janeway) where post-production work, music and sound clips etc were yet to be added and I must say, they were fairly bland compared with the final product.

Genvieve Bujold is an extremely talented actress (overall a better actress than Kate Mulgrew) but it seems that the role, the actress and producers expectations simply didn't suit each other. We all try things and fail or find they are not what we expected - it's part of life - and just as Bujold didn't seem comfortable as Janeway, I've seen some very average performances by Kate Mulgrew in other roles too.

 

[SPCTRE]

VOY did have a lot of problems, but I don't think Kate Mulgrew's acting was one of them.

I think KM is a great actress regardless of whatever flaws she may or may not have as a person (she seems to be quite the diva at times ). She just wasn't very lucky in terms of the writing she had to work with on VOY, which was, to say the least, highly inconsistent when it came to Janeway's character.

So no, I don't think VOY would have improved with Bujold as Janeway, on the contrary. She apparently didn't feel the role the way Mulgrew obviously did.

 

[Itisnotlogical]

Genevieve Bujold must not have wanted the role very badly if that's the best she could do. She wasn't even trying to convey some sense that she cared what was going on...

 

[LOKAI of CHERON]

Genvieve Bujold is an extremely talented actresses too

She was excellent in a 1978 movie with Michael Douglas called Coma - directed by Michael Crichton.

 

[Therin of Andor]

I don't think I've heard of this Bujold, maybe I'll go see what else she's been in.

She is a young mother in "Earthquake", a doctor in the thriller "Coma" - and a patient in the very quirky "Dead Ringers". Loved her in all of those, but very disappointed in her quite bizarre performance as Elizabeth Janeway.

 

[propita]

While Bujold is a good actress, I don’t think she was right for Janeway. And while I can’t stand a lot of the writing for Janeway’s character over the course of the show, Mulgrew acted very well. I just wish TPTB had kept their hands off more.

 

[henbane]

Bujold was brilliant in Coma and Dead Ringers!

SPECTRE: I didn't mean to imply that KM isn't a good actress - she did a very good job with Janeway, and some of her other roles too. I have to agree with you though - she is a bit of a diva at times, but we all have a strong points and flaws.

 

[David cgc]

As much as I'm a fan of KM's Janeway, those Bujold clips do not have any post-production work added! She was pretty sedate, but proper audio mixing, music, and that background "white noise" was not added to her scenes. I don't think the camera angles changed as much, either. (I know someone on YouTube added in the music and SFX, but it nearly drowned out the voices, IMO)

Here's a link to that edit, if anyone wants to see a more complete looking take of Bujold as Janeway.