Hey loungers - on this long holiday weekend ahead I plan to catch up on some inspiration. I'm a Trekkie and Alice Krige is forever my Borg Queen. Yes, Susanna Thompson did a marvelous job in her turn as Borg Queen. Now, welcoming Annie Wersching in the role on Picard.
My question is - as the audience, how do you feel about when a character is associated with an actor - and now, you get a switch in talent for the same role?
As a Producer, what would you do to keep the series going?
I'm asking because as my series is getting together, I have a talent I love but she (her agent) won't commit to the full series, just the pilot - so - it leaves me in a sticky situation of not wanting to book her at all. I want to cast once and be done. I smell a price hike post pilot too.
What would you do in this situation?
Producer Art Linson said it best, "If this actor died today would you still make your movie (in your case, series) with another actor?" If the answer is "yes," then pretend she just died and get someone else.
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Do you have anything about your secret project online? I would love to learn more
David Santo “Smile and wave, boys. Smile and wave…" Thank you for asking, yet, the answer is no'ish. I keep the cards close until distribution. Lindbergh E Hollingsworth - thanks for the suggestion!
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1) Back at ya, fellow Trekkie - and I'm all about that ST:TNG.
2) When there is a significant series change, then I don't mind the actor change (provided it works). A great example is The Hulk changing from Edward Norton to Mark Ruffalo. Norton was a great choice for the first film, but I can't see anyone pulling off any of the Avengers films better than Ruffalo. The break from one film to the other helped.
3) Since this is within the same series, there isn't the advantage of a significant enough break, so I tend to agree with Lindbergh E Hollingsworth. However, there have been instances where actors have been hired and fired even during the filming of said pilot, and it still worked out for the best (I'm thinking specifically of the show Firefly - Morena Baccarin was not originally cast, but replaced their first choice after a particularly terrible table read).
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It's not unusual that some TV shows replace actors after the pilot. The first example that popped into my head was New Girl. Instead of recasting Coach, they simply gave his story arc to Winston.
In regards to your show, if you love the actress and she committed to the pilot then just get it done. There will always be many reasons why you shouldn't proceed, but it seems like you already have plenty of traction. Why stop now?