Hell on Wheels casting

[Temis the Vorta]

I don't know much about any of these actors but I'm very interested in what AMC is going to do with an Old West story about the transcontinental railroad.

Casting news and more casting news.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Nobody cares? On deadline.com, people are having conniptions about this show already. (They even dragged Serenity into it!) Because:

a) The lead white guy is an ex-slave-owning Confederate whose ongoing story arc is to find and kill the Union soldiers who raped and murdered his wife; and

b) The other apparent lead male role is an ex-slave

So the assumption is that AMC will whitewash history, make the Confederate guy the big hero, and he'll be instant buddies with the ex-slave character, who will probably also help him with his quest of vengeance.

If this show were on CBS, I'd be pouncing on it already too, but I think we should give AMC the benefit of the doubt that they can present the complexities of history without being anachronistic about characters' attitudes, can handle a lead character who will be an anti-hero at best to modern audiences, and deal with controversial material in a way that is both responsible and plausible, if not always comfortable.

 

[jefferiestubes8]

AMC "Hell on Wheels"

Nobody cares? On deadline.com,

I care. I saw it there via my mobile phone yesterday but was working and am busy this week.
It's just the pilot. Give it 6 months anyway before we see anything.
I wasn't wild about some of what I heard the plot and themes were though.

The project centers on Cullen (Mount), a former slave owner and a Confederate soldier determined to avenge the rape/murder of his beloved wife by tracking and killing the Union soldiers who killed her.

The above is what the series is centered on?!
I just want horses and steam engines and running out anyone in the way of that railroad. Oh and guns too.
This series should be about the wild west and the railroad, not the civil war ending...

 

[Temis the Vorta]

It's the Western formula: the Civil War is often the "prequel" to an Old West story. It sets up the personalities, issues and neuroses that the Western story deals with. You have a bunch of PTSD people (soldiers and slaves, both extremely fucked up by their traumatic experiences) who run off into a situation of unprecedented freedom, where all the rules are cast aside and nobody is watching them or controlling them. KABOOM! I like the notion of returning to that tradition. Deadwood didn't really make use of it.

 

[Aragorn]

Anson Mount is not a good actor, the the blonde actress from Moon is cute so that has to count for something.

Oh, the link you provided to the story, the backtalkers are the reason why comment sections should never be read.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

It's like the political-correctness olympics over there!

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Colm Meany joins the cast!

Colm Meaney is set to star opposite Anson Mount in AMC's period drama pilot Hell on Wheels. The Endemol USA/Entertainment One-produced Western centers on Cullen (Mount), a former Confederate soldier tracking down the Union soldiers who killed his wife who winds up working on the Nebraska prairie's Hell on Wheels' portion of the transcontinental railroad. Meaney will play Thomas "Doc" Durant, a businessman determined to make his fortune building the transcontinental railroad, a man of vision and a self-serving opportunist who is capable of "creative financing."

 

[jefferiestubes8]

Re: Hell on Wheels pilot

the Entertainment One/Endemol USA-produced Hell on Wheels. The pilot was just recently delivered to AMC, and word is that the network brass liked it.

With Rubicon vacating a slot on the schedule, it is easier for the network to slide a new series in it. Decision on Hell on Wheels is expected shortly, with its chances looking better by the minute.

http://www.deadline.com/2010/11/the-cancellation-of-amcs-rubicon-opens-the-door-for-hell-on-wheels/


fingers crossed.


related thread:
a new Western as a TV episodic series? discuss

 

[Captaindemotion]

This has the potential to be interesting. Shades of The Outlaw Josey Wales, one of my favourite Westerns (actually, my favourite Western). Anything with Meaney is worth checking out too.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Sorry for the Rubicon fans, but I'm looking forward to this one...any historical fiction is valuable since it's an undexposed genre.

 

[PsychoPere]

Hell on Wheels is moving forward to series.

 

[Aragorn]

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78zEDBmHwbU[/yt]

 

[Harvey]

Ted Levine's fake beard aside, this looks damned terrific. And it's with Colm Meaney! AMC dramas have been nothing but aces thus far. Can't wait.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Yeah this looks like a winner. Building a railroad is a great premise for a series - it keeps the action focused, but allows for forward movement across landscapes and through villages, Indian territory, across mountains, across rivers, etc. Very clever!

 

[PsychoPere]

Hell on Wheels premieres November 6!

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Raaahh! November is too long to wait.

Oh well, I suppose I'll cope...lots of interesting stuff premiering this fall, way better than last year.

 

[Captaindemotion]

First reviews are in and they ain't good. Oh dear.

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/51858

 

[24thcenstfan]

I plan on checking this out tonight. The previews have been pretty good.

 

[Captaindemotion]

^ Um, guess you didn't read the same ones I did (and linked to)?

 

[24thcenstfan]

^ Um, guess you didn't read the same ones I did (and linked to)?

LOL. Maybe not.

By previews, I meant sneak peeks/clips from the show. I haven't read any critic reviews yet.