Oh don't worry, my post wasn't directed at you, I was just spouting some of my thoughts stream-of-consciousness style
Geneviève Bujold's Janeway?
- Thread starter Kaziarl
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I've never seen Bujold in any of her other roles, but I'll be looking them up now. I like Micheal Chriton, so maybe I'll start there.
And honestly, I can't think of anything else off the top of my head that I've seen Mulgrew in, so I don't really have much to compare her too.
But I agree with what a couple of you, Bujold didn't seem very interested in the role. And some of the interviews I've seen say that Mulgrew dived into the role from day one. I have no doubt that Bujold would have done better with time, but I think it would have really hurt the show in the first season.
And honestly, I can't think of anything else off the top of my head that I've seen Mulgrew in, so I don't really have much to compare her too.
But I agree with what a couple of you, Bujold didn't seem very interested in the role. And some of the interviews I've seen say that Mulgrew dived into the role from day one. I have no doubt that Bujold would have done better with time, but I think it would have really hurt the show in the first season.
It's kind of hard to judge, because we're basically seeing someone on the first day or two of work. But she is pretty lousy, notwithstanding her good work in other projects. On the DVD clip, I think it's Rick Berman who very tactfully says that her performance was perfect for a movie, but not right for TV. I agree with him.
There's just no energy there at all. And the scene with Tuvok is so awfully flat. When KM does it, she brings such emotion to it. GB doesn't really bring anything to it that I can see.
Here's something that's fun to do:Try watching both actresses in the bridge scene with the volume muted. You might notice something that I think is there--KM physically is quite dynamic. She just owns the space she inhabits in a way that many other actors do not. It's something that really pops about her performance from the start.
There's just no energy there at all. And the scene with Tuvok is so awfully flat. When KM does it, she brings such emotion to it. GB doesn't really bring anything to it that I can see.
Here's something that's fun to do:Try watching both actresses in the bridge scene with the volume muted. You might notice something that I think is there--KM physically is quite dynamic. She just owns the space she inhabits in a way that many other actors do not. It's something that really pops about her performance from the start.
As Janeway, Bujold had no charisma at all. She was a quiet little old lady who belonged be in a blue or yellow shirt at a background science panel, and not a military commander willing to take on the Kazon and the Borg, and get her crew home at any cost.
Can anyone imagine how dull the scenes between Bujold-Janeway and Chakotay would have been?
Charisma vortex!
Can anyone imagine how dull the scenes between Bujold-Janeway and Chakotay would have been?
Charisma vortex!
number6
Vice Admiral
I think Bujold would have been a more introspective female Christopher Pike, type of captain, while Mulgrew was more Kirk-like. Ultimately they made a better choice, but one can't help the impact a more cerebral Nicole Janeway could have had on the overall direction of the series. That said, I think I would have preferred Bujold overall.. She would have found her groove and made it cool. Apparently she underestimated the time commitment involved in a series and decided she wasn't right for the part. Too bad, really.. She's pretty amazing in the films she's been in.
Bujold's biggest problem, and she has admitted as much in interviews I've read, is that she was utterly unused to the hectic production schedule of TV. Her performance was understated, but only as compared to other TV performances of similar characters by other actors. If this had been for a film on the big screen, her performance, with the appropriate FX, music and sound balance (and ADR as needed, some of the dialog is unintelligible) would have been received much better, and she may well have been kept in the role.
I've never seen the other lady in anything other than these clips and I am sure she is a great actress. She did get chosen over Kate in the first place.
Sure post production is one thing but there are the other little things hand gestures, timing, word emphysis, and personality which "the other" didn't have. Also I feel the other lady didn't feel in the role, didn't become Janeway.
Janeway wasn't suppossed to be old and weathered. Wasn't she supposed to have been fairly new to command? That would make the other lady too old. Not saying she was anchient or anything but she was older and more mature.
KM is the only women alive ment to take on that role and I am soooo glad she did.
No disrespect to "the other lady" I'm just too lazy to look at how to spell her name, it's long and very ?french?
Sure post production is one thing but there are the other little things hand gestures, timing, word emphysis, and personality which "the other" didn't have. Also I feel the other lady didn't feel in the role, didn't become Janeway.
Janeway wasn't suppossed to be old and weathered. Wasn't she supposed to have been fairly new to command? That would make the other lady too old. Not saying she was anchient or anything but she was older and more mature.
KM is the only women alive ment to take on that role and I am soooo glad she did.
No disrespect to "the other lady" I'm just too lazy to look at how to spell her name, it's long and very ?french?
I agree. What I hated about TNG is how redundant the role of first officer was. The Captain should have been on away missions, not hidden away like in a chess game. I feel that Bujold was a female Picard clone wannabe. That's why she was hired. How come of all the peoples of Earth does the Captain of a series have to be French twice? As for Bujold's performance:
. No amount of F/X can cover up for the way she says "analysis". When you encounter a very strange and potentially dangerous phenomena, boredom should not be a response. After seeing this clip, it makes me appreciate Mulgrew much more. In Caretaker, she was the boss and acted like it. She showed spunk when dealing with Tom in the penal colony. Mulgrew's problem was the writers jerked her character around (esp S4-onward). Cobra
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Some people just do not get SF. Bujold is obviously one of those people. 
I am not the world's biggest Janeway fan but Mulgrew was the best choice and when you watch the same scene side by side, Mulgrew brings a great deal of strength and presence to Janeway that Bujold failed to deliver.
I just can't believe that Bujold was their first choice over Mulgrew.
I just can't believe that Bujold was their first choice over Mulgrew.
Bujold was never screen tested, AFAIK. They tested lots of potential male and female captains (and intended to test some female Chakotays in case a male captain won), which is why they had confidence in Mulgrew after Bujold walked. But, as soon as Bujold's agent said she was interested in the part, she was signed on the strength of her impressive backlist of film roles. The efficient, professional woman she played in "Coma" would have made a great Janeway, but supposedly Ms Bujold was used to the opportunity of numerous days of page-readings, plenty of rehearsals, and take after take of scenes that occurs in motion pictures and, despite the chat she had with Rick Berman about the rigors of TV production, she just wasn't suited to that style of performance. And found out on Day #2, luckily.
Added to that, her Nicole Janeway's grey-flecked, matronly hairstyle just made her look old and frumpy. She was such a stunner in her 70s, 80s and 90s film work!
Yeah I knew all that. I suppose I would have to have seen Bujold at her best to make a comparison between them. Mulgrew just seems right.
Although after watching NuBSG Michelle Forbes could've carried it well too, although that've would've caused some confusion since she was Ro Laren :P
Although after watching NuBSG Michelle Forbes could've carried it well too, although that've would've caused some confusion since she was Ro Laren :P
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