Paul Wesley's incarnation of James T. Kirk

[KirkusOveractus]

No, simply no.

James T. Kirk is most definitely not a historical figure.
And Star Trek episodes are not *Thermian singsong delivery* " historical documents. "
Star Trek is fiction. The universe and characters it portrays are imaginary.
At most, Jim Kirk is a figure of modern folklore.
And characters in folk retellings are subject to reinterpretation and reexamination.
Ellie Norwood's portrayal of Sherlock Holmes differs from Arthur Wontner's, who differs from Basil Rathbone's, who differs from Peter Cushing's, who differs from John Neville, who differs from Douglas Wilmer, who differs from Christopher Plummer, who differs from Nicol Williamson, who differs from Jeremy Brett, who differs from Robert Downey, Jr., who differs from Benidorm Cabbagepatch, all of whom differ in significant respectds from Arthur Conan Doyle's literary version while sharing similarities with him.

We're talking about creative dramatic arts, not documentary arts.

You are in the same spot I am with this, in that things like Sherlock Holmes, or Shakespeare, or any form of folk retellings have had recastings over the many years, with each actor portraying those characters in various ways.

Even with historical figures, you have had many people portraying Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Winston Churchill, Queen Victoria, etc. with a lot of those actors putting a slight variation on those people, despite documentation on how these people spoke, walked, acted, etc.

Funny how people who are fans of a franchise built on open-mindedness are the most closed minded.

 

[Awesome Possum]

I'm glad he didn't do a Shatner impression, it would've been fucking awful.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Cast Dame Judi Dench as Nelson Mandela in a serious biopic and tell me it's fine that she sounds and looks nothing like him, because she's "putting her own stamp on him", "not wanting to do a Mandela impression". It's preposterous, particularly when the show is deliberately cashing in on the original character AND telling us that this is the same man. They haven't even tried to make him look or sound the same.

Last time I checked, Mandela was a real person. James T. Kirk not so much. Wesley was hired to play JamesT. Kirk, not William Shatner or Chris Pine for that matter. He’s not required to look or sound like either of them.

 

[Ovation]

Fiction on screen is essentially theatre with (mostly) more realistic props and decor. The characters are portrayed--portrayed--by actors. They are NOT the actors (nor the reverse).

If the "no one else can play..." "logic" was applied to characters--no more plays, no more films, no more TV shows... That view, frankly, is asinine. One can certainly have a favourite portrayer (Shatner remains my favourite Kirk, though I thoroughly enjoy Pine and am willing to give Wesley more time before I decide) but that does NOT, nor should it, mean that "no one else can play..." ANY role. Same with other performing arts. Only one ballet dancer can play...? Only one musician or band or orchestra can play...? Ridiculous.

 

[Gilora]

I'm barely half his age and he's in better shape and has more energy than I. He may not have been beefcake and six-pack in the 1960s but like you said he's been doing something right.

Riding horses.

 

[Mudd]

Last time I checked, Mandela was a real person. James T. Kirk not so much. Wesley was hired to play JamesT. Kirk, not William Shatner or Chris Pine for that matter. He’s not required to look or sound like either of them.

This is exactly it.

It's tiresome when people continue to conflate fictional continuity with history. No, the same judgments do not apply.

 

[cooleddie74]

Trek characters have a half-century habit of being played by different actors and even in the same timeline and universe. Paul Wesley isn't even one of the first, oh, half-dozen to attend this particular rodeo.

 

[Donald G]

Trek characters have a half-century habit of being played by different actors and even in the same timeline and universe. Paul Wesley isn't even one of the first, oh, half-dozen to attend this particular rodeo.

Let's see, IIRC, from 1982-2005 alone, off the top of my head, we've had two Saaviks, three Alexander Rozhenkos, two Tora Ziyals, two Daimon Boks, two Borg Queens (though that's a special case), and Quark and Rom have had two Moogies. There may have been more that I've forgotten.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Quark and Rom have had two Moogies.

I saw that book at the library.

 

[cooleddie74]

Let's see, IIRC, from 1982-2005 alone, off the top of my head, we've had two Saaviks, three Alexander Rozhenkos, two Tora Ziyals, two Daimon Boks, two Borg Queens (though that's a special case), and Quark and Rom have had two Moogies. There may have been more that I've forgotten.

Three T'Paus!

 

[Nerys Myk]

Three T'Paus!

Two guys played Pike in the Menagerie!!

 

[cooleddie74]

TREK IS A TAPESTRY OF LIES.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

And six Spocks in SEARCH FOR SPOCK... five actors and one voice actor for Spock's Scream, which is not to be confused with Chekov's Cries.

 

[Nerys Myk]

OMG! My immersion is RUINED!!!!!!!

 

[Bad Thoughts]

Well, Shatner is the only Kirk who got a stamp.

(Not that I care that Wesley plays Kirk differently, but some performances are clearly more iconic than others. Who else would play Hitler best than Bruno Ganz?)

 

[fireproof78]

Does iconic mean never recast?

Because, if that's the case Phantom of the Opera is nothing without Sarah Brightman.

 

[Mudd]

Does iconic mean never recast?

Because, if that's the case Phantom of the Opera is nothing without Sarah Brightman.

Close to true, though.

I don't give a thought to Shatner as some kind of standard for playing Kirk. I watched him do it for thirty years. I enjoyed it. And it was all over twenty-five years ago. That's a long time.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

They're all James T. Kirk, just different actors. And now the character is Paul Wesley's to play.

 

[cooleddie74]

Wesley does have Shatner's steely eyebrows.

 

[fireproof78]

With some time I'm sure he can work up to it.