VERY glad he wasn't in it. Aside from the fact that Hemsworth was freaking awesome....Damon would have taken me out of the moment. I seriously hope they don't do any stunt casting in the next one.
Matt Damon Turned Down the George Kirk Role
- Thread starter LutherSloan
- Start date
That only worked because it was at the end. If it had been at the beginning, the rest of the film would have sucked even more since Sean would not have been around to improve it.
Bingo.
The worst part of any movie is when some asswipe like Danny Devito shows up for five minutes.
Joe, anti-vito
Thank God Damon turned it down. I can't stand him, and I don't want him anywhere near Trek.
Not that I hate the guy but I too am glad he passed on it.
If George Jr.or is it 'Sam now?
Were to show up in the next moive. Who better to play him then C Hemsworth. As for DM I see him as the 
Uncle 
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We did get Winona Ryder and Eric Bana, though.Damn, this movie could have had Matt Famon, Tom Cruise, Russel Crowe and Daniel Craig in it
Depends on where you live. Aussies sat there saying, "Hey, it's Kim the buff surfer dude from Summer Bay!" (The actor playing George Kirk is well known for his role in "Home and Away", a prime time soapie Down Under.)
We did get Winona Ryder and Eric Bana, though.Damn, this movie could have had Matt Famon, Tom Cruise, Russel Crowe and Daniel Craig in it
And if this was 10-15 years ago, Winona Ryder would have had a much larger role in the cast if there were room for it. Or she wouldn't have done such a small part at all.
I don't necessarily see casting names as stunt casting. Stunt casting, to me, is when you cast either a non-actor in a role to take advantage on unrelated fame* or when actors are cast to bring associations from other parts they've played, like Richard Hatch as Tom Zarek in BSG (for that matter, BSG used casting as a way to reward long-time sci-fi/fantasy fans: Lucy Lawless, Dean Stockwell, Michelle Forbes). In the first instance, the casting often backfires, in the second--at least in the case of BSG--it adds depth and richness.
Matt Damon is a very good actor in his own right and looks a great deal like Hemsworth and Pine. And, as I jokingly pointed out up-thread, a lot of Kirk's character beats are reminiscent of Will Hunting's (in an ABC Family Channel way) and so you'd get the resonance that comes from casting Apollo as a terrorist/politician. I liked Hemsworth just fine but I think Damon would have worked just as well while upping Trek's marquee value.
*The closest thing we get to this kind of stunt casting in Tyler Perry, whose chitlin circuit (it's not a racist term; google it) notoriety has only an incidental fan-base in common with Trek. Even then, it's not truly this kind of stunt casting since Perry has an established acting career.
Matt Damon is a very good actor in his own right and looks a great deal like Hemsworth and Pine. And, as I jokingly pointed out up-thread, a lot of Kirk's character beats are reminiscent of Will Hunting's (in an ABC Family Channel way) and so you'd get the resonance that comes from casting Apollo as a terrorist/politician. I liked Hemsworth just fine but I think Damon would have worked just as well while upping Trek's marquee value.
*The closest thing we get to this kind of stunt casting in Tyler Perry, whose chitlin circuit (it's not a racist term; google it) notoriety has only an incidental fan-base in common with Trek. Even then, it's not truly this kind of stunt casting since Perry has an established acting career.
^
I don't know, I think putting a celebrity in a movie just for the sake of having a celebrity in a movie also counts. That certainly wouldn't have been the case for Damon (I've no doubt he would have pulled off that scene beautifully), but something like John Wayne intoning 'Truly this man was the son of Gawwwwd' is definitely stunt casting.
I don't know, I think putting a celebrity in a movie just for the sake of having a celebrity in a movie also counts. That certainly wouldn't have been the case for Damon (I've no doubt he would have pulled off that scene beautifully), but something like John Wayne intoning 'Truly this man was the son of Gawwwwd' is definitely stunt casting.
One wonders how Eric Bana's uneven track record in Hollywood played into him picking up the villain role also. To say he's wasted is something of an understatement - Ryder, by contrast, I thought was rather good with the very small amount of material she was given.
Personally, I'm glad he didn't get the role. It would have been too distracting. CH did a bang up job opening the new film for us.
That's very true--so I guess the Tyler Perry cameo is in that vein, though I'd say Mr. Perry acquitted himself better than Mr. Wayne.
For comparison:
Damon would of been good am sure but am more than happy with what we got. I think its pretty clear that Damon turned down the role because he felt that at the time STAR TREK was a bad product that he didn't want to go near.
^^IMO, a cameo is different from a major role. Stunt casting for a cameo can be fine, but for a meatier role I prefer it not be done. George Kirk, Sr. was a major role even though it was not a lot of screen time. While it is fun to wonder "What If?", I think it worked really well the way JJ and Company cast the role.
Just for fun, anyone out there with the photoshop skills want to try and whip up a "family photo" type of lineup of the kirk family?
Chris H, Chris Pine, Matt Damon (as George Jr) and Jennifer Morrison, all together.
Chris H, Chris Pine, Matt Damon (as George Jr) and Jennifer Morrison, all together.
That would be sweet, especially as we never actually saw George, Sr., and Winona Kirk together in the same place.Just for fun, anyone out there with the photoshop skills want to try and whip up a "family photo" type of lineup of the kirk family?Chris H, Chris Pine, Matt Damon (as George Jr) and Jennifer Morrison, all together.
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