The Only Actor

[Avon]

the solution for all casting problems:

Jason Isaacs.

 

[BillJ]

Agreed. Enterprise was waaay to "American" to begin with.

What the fuck were you expecting exactly? This is an American produced show with the United States being its primary viewing market.

It would be like me watching Space Battleship Yamato and complaining there are too many Asian actors in it.

 

[Gaith]

What the fuck were you expecting exactly? This is an American produced show with the United States being its primary viewing market.

Maybe you've heard of a little show called Star Trek? It had two non-Americans, with non-American accents, in its main cast. Enterprise had one Englishman with a BBC-style accent (oh, wow, points for daring there), and pretty much all the rest of the mains were either American, had American accents, or both.

So maybe they expected the fuck of at least as much diversity as, you know, the show upon which this show was based.

 

[zar]

It had two non-Americans, with non-American accents, in its main cast. Enterprise had one Englishman with a BBC-style accent (oh, wow, points for daring there)

Um, you know, the non-American accents on TOS were faked by American actors, while Dominic Keating is actually British.

Oh and, on topic: they should have cast Jeffrey Combs. As the entire crew.

 

[Gaith]

Um, you know, the non-American accents on TOS were faked by American actors, while Dominic Keating is actually British.

I did know, and I don't particularly care. I'm talking in-universe, here, and gave no indication otherwise.

 

[Mach5]

Agreed. Enterprise was waaay to "American" to begin with.

What the fuck were you expecting exactly? This is an American produced show with the United States being its primary viewing market.

So the primary market for TNG was France?

I'm talking in-universe, here, and gave no indication otherwise.

So am I, and I really see no reason for all this "this show was never for you anyway, so fuck off!" attitude.

 

[Dukhat]

Space.

Ok, smart guy, let me rephrase my question: What was the Mayweather ancestry? Because Travis and his family didn't give me any indication that their family line didn't originated anywhere other than the good ol' USA.

 

[zar]

I'm talking in-universe, here, and gave no indication otherwise.

But in-universe, ENT does have a diverse crew. Only 2 out of 7 are Caucasian Americans. Your criticism only makes sense if you're talking about the casting.

And you did give an indication otherwise:

Enterprise had one Englishman with a BBC-style accent (oh, wow, points for daring there)

How is this in-universe? What's BBC? Who gets points for daring?

Also, in-universe, Hoshi is a master of multilingualism, so why would she still have a Japanese accent?

 

[Dukhat]

Hoshi is a master of multilingualism, so why would she still have a Japanese accent?

Because she's supposed to be Japanese, born and raised. Just because she knows a lot of languages, that knowledge shouldn't automatically change her Japanese accent into an American one if it was not what she was brought up with.

 

[zar]

She doesn't merely "know" languages. Mastering a language entails being able to change your accent to match it. I actually have seen bilingual Japanese-native people who have mastered English to the degree that they speak it using an American or British accent.

 

[Dukhat]

She doesn't merely "know" languages. Mastering a language entails being able to change your accent to match it. I actually have seen bilingual Japanese-native people who have mastered English to the degree that they speak it using an American or British accent.

So when she's talking to Reed, why doesn't she use a British accent? When she's talking to Trip, why doesn't she use a Southern drawl?

 

[T'Girl]

the non-American accents on TOS were faked by American actors

While they didn't play Canadians, two of the actors in TOS were Canadian by birth and both began their acting careers in Canada.

But in-universe, ENT does have a diverse crew. Only 2 out of 7 are Caucasian Americans.

And who exactly wasn't American? There's T'Pol, Phlox and Reed. Sato's and Maywheather's nationalities were left non-defined.

I can't say they were American, but you can't say they weren't American. Reed was certainly Caucasian.

 

[Shanndee]

I worked with a girl from Saudi Arabia. She learned English at an International school with generous helpings of American TV. She spoke the language with a perfect "American" accent. When we all asked her about it she just shrugged and said that everyone she studied with spoke this way and they considered it a "non-accent".

Also, Oh and, on topic: they should have cast Jeffrey Combs. As the entire crew.

I second this! You rock Zar!

 

[zar]

So when she's talking to Reed, why doesn't she use a British accent? When she's talking to Trip, why doesn't she use a Southern drawl?

If the actress could pull it off, and they could work it out so it doesn't appear that she's making fun of them, that actually might have been cool.

 

[Dukhat]

I worked with a girl from Saudi Arabia. She learned English at an International school with generous helpings of American TV. She spoke the language with a perfect "American" accent. When we all asked her about it she just shrugged and said that everyone she studied with spoke this way and they considered it a "non-accent".

And yet there are tons of people who were born and raised in a foreign country, then moved to the US and have lived here for decades, and still retain their original accent.

I would say your friend is the exception, not the norm.

 

[zar]

And who exactly wasn't American? There's T'Pol, Phlox and Reed. Sato's and Maywheather's nationalities were left non-defined.

Hoshi Sato is an unambiguously Japanese name, Mayweather didn't grow up on Earth at all, and their nationalities can be determined by their appearances. If you're going to call them undefined, then you'd also have to say the same about Uhura and Sulu, because their nationalities were never explicitly stated either.

Reed was certainly Caucasian.

So were Gaith's aforementioned non-Americans with non-American accents -- Scotty and Chekov.

 

[Gaith]

Hoshi Sato is an unambiguously Japanese name

Uh, no. It could easily be a Japanese-American one, and that's just in our own time.

 

[Dukhat]

Hoshi Sato is an unambiguously Japanese name, Mayweather didn't grow up on Earth at all, and their nationalities can be determined by their appearances.

Huh? Just looking at Sato and Mayweather without knowing their names or hearing them speak, how do you know where they came from? You mean that because Sato is Asian and Mayweather is black, they must come from Japan and Africa, respectively? I think not. My black friend Nijui didn't come from Africa, despite his "unambiguously" African name.

Unless you meant to say "can't be determined."

If you're going to call them undefined, then you'd also have to say the same about Uhura and Sulu, because their nationalities were never explicitly stated either.

Sulu: "San Francisco. I was born there." (Despite having the name "Hikaru")

 

[zar]

Dukhat: Sorry, I interpreted the word "nationality" to mean "ethnicity". A lot of people use them interchangeably.


Gaith: Well, It IS a Japanese name, regardless of whom it's given to .


Here's a complete (in-universe) comparison of the races and origins in the 2 main casts:

Scott - Scottish, born in Scotland
Chekov - Russian, born in Russia
Sulu - Asian American
McCoy - American
Kirk - American
Spock - alien
Uhura - African, unknown country of birth

Reed - British, parents live in Malaysia
Archer - American
Tucker - American
Phlox - alien
T'Pol - alien
Hoshi - Asian, unknown country of birth
Mayweather - African, born off-world

TOS: 3 Americans, 2 non-American humans, 2 non-Caucasian humans, 1 alien, 1 unknown human
ENT: 2 Americans, 1 non-American human, 2 non-Caucasian humans, 2 aliens, 1 unknown human

I'd say they're pretty even.

 

[T'Girl]

Hoshi Sato is an unambiguously Japanese name

Played by a Korean actress, who was raised in central California. From listening to her at conventions (youtube) she wasn't employing or affect a accent. What we were actual hearing on the show was Linda Park's normal speaking voice. A voice (or accent) she came by through growing up in San Jose.

Hoshi Sato possessed an Pacific coast American accent.

Mayweather didn't grow up on Earth at all, and their nationalities can be determined by their appearances.

Growing up in space doesn't mean that Travis doesn't possess a nationality, American or otherwise.

I was born on a Air Force base in Germany, I did not live in America for my first dozen years, but I wasn't a citizen of the five country I lived in first. I was an American the whole time. Travis (likely) was not a "citizen of space."

If you're going to call them undefined, then you'd also have to say the same about Uhura and Sulu, because their nationalities were never explicitly stated either.

By canon, Uhura's nationality was undefined.