Who would make a good Honor Harrington in a Movie/TV role?

[what I did about Gal Gadot in another thread...

I saw the new Wonder Woman movie. FANTASTIC!

Gal Gadot certainly is a wonder of a woman! She pulls it off flawlessly. The director deserves many accolades! OMG!

I once personally picked her to play Honor Harrington in a thread floating about somewhere. I was sure of that casting then. Moreso now! What a wonderful Honor Harrington Gal Gadot would make.

Her Israeli roots create the much needed exotic look one would come to expect from a Sphinxian.

Gal Gadot is Hollywood’s newest “IT” girl and her breakthrough performance as Wonder Woman is making everyone pay attention.

A former Miss Israel and Gucci Model was a combat instructor in the Israeli Army before she took up acting.

She has the credentials—military training—for the role, to boot.

EWW! STOP LICKING THE SCREEN![/quote]

I'm not licking the screen, I'm drooling on my keyboard. But I'll sign on to this one in a heartbeat. She's got an exotic look, she's tall enough to work with, she projects an air of physical ability - Gawd! Why didn't I think of her the moment I saw her? Thank you![/quote]

I'd be thrilled to have her and root for nude scenes but at this point, a TV series couldn't afford her.

There was a good actress Tessa Thompson in the new Thor movie. She's black, but who really cares? And she's a good screen fighter and has a great persona.

ldwechsler wrote:[what I did about Gal Gadot in another thread...

I saw the new Wonder Woman movie. FANTASTIC!

Gal Gadot certainly is a wonder of a woman! She pulls it off flawlessly. The director deserves many accolades! OMG!

I once personally picked her to play Honor Harrington in a thread floating about somewhere. I was sure of that casting then. Moreso now! What a wonderful Honor Harrington Gal Gadot would make.

Her Israeli roots create the much needed exotic look one would come to expect from a Sphinxian.

Gal Gadot is Hollywood’s newest “IT” girl and her breakthrough performance as Wonder Woman is making everyone pay attention.

A former Miss Israel and Gucci Model was a combat instructor in the Israeli Army before she took up acting.

She has the credentials—military training—for the role, to boot.

EWW! STOP LICKING THE SCREEN!

AJKohler wrote:I'm not licking the screen, I'm drooling on my keyboard. But I'll sign on to this one in a heartbeat. She's got an exotic look, she's tall enough to work with, she projects an air of physical ability - Gawd! Why didn't I think of her the moment I saw her? Thank you!

ldwechsler wrote:I'd be thrilled to have her and root for nude scenes but at this point, a TV series couldn't afford her.

There was a good actress Tessa Thompson in the new Thor movie. She's black, but who really cares? And she's a good screen fighter and has a great persona.

Although a black Sphinxian does sound rather intriguing, Honor Harrington simply cannot be black. No disrespect to the black race, but it would deviate from storyline far too much and lessen in subtle ways Michelle Henke and Honor's friendship, not to mention what it would do to my visual comprehension vs book reality. I wouldn't be able to process it in time to enjoy the movie.

Also, as soon as a black Honor shows herself onscreen. diehard Honor fans would scream bloody murder and the entire effort would suffer from it. There would be more rage garnered from blackening that character than from the very cold acceptance of a black Rue in the Hunger Games -- a controversy that detracted very much from the film. Some things you just can't change.

cthia wrote:

ldwechsler wrote:There was a good actress Tessa Thompson in the new Thor movie. She's black, but who really cares? And she's a good screen fighter and has a great persona.

Also, as soon as a black Honor shows herself onscreen. diehard Honor fans would scream bloody murder and the entire effort would suffer from it.

A google image search satisfies me that Tessa has the Eurasian-like coloring and presence to be Honor Harrington. If LDW hadn't made a point of it, I would not have classed her as "black." She certainly isn't "black" enough to play Elizabeth or Michelle.

cthia wrote:

ldwechsler wrote:There was a good actress Tessa Thompson in the new Thor movie. She's black, but who really cares? And she's a good screen fighter and has a great persona.

Also, as soon as a black Honor shows herself onscreen. diehard Honor fans would scream bloody murder and the entire effort would suffer from it.

Weird Harold wrote:A google image search satisfies me that Tessa has the Eurasian-like coloring and presence to be Honor Harrington. If LDW hadn't made a point of it, I would not have classed her as "black." She certainly isn't "black" enough to play Elizabeth or Michelle.

First things first. I personally don't take umbrage to your wording. Mostly because I know you didn't mean it how it sounds. My black friends would chew your ass off. I'm sure you meant "dark" enough instead of "black" enough -- the latter being highly disrespectful and politically incorect. In a real social setting, you really wouldn't want to make that mistake.

Truth of the matter is, it would be a very poor casting choice from the get go. You must respect storyline and the fans if you want your project to be successful and make money. It doesn't matter that Tessa may have light enough skin. Her features are enough to readily identify her as black. And fans will google her to find out anyways. Tessa has already made herself very visible by playing in very prominent black roles such as For Colored Girls, and as the civil rights activist Diane Nash in Selma. As loyal fans, we are owed at least a certain indivisible atom and conformance to storyline, or the art suffers.

Honor Harrington should no more be portrayed by a black actress as Allison Harrington.

So blatantly disrespecting your fans before the first take is a very bad idea. You want Honor Harrington to be played by an actress, not a prankstress.

Jodele Ferland my pick for Helen Zilwicki. not quite the right type for a young Honor.

People being people. People would go looking for controversy and look to be offended. Remember the controversy in the movie The Martian. One character got "Whitewashed" changing the race of a character from Indian-American to mixed race African-American-Indian. But they had to be offended over the supposed "Whitewashing" of another character from Korean-American to White but hear is the thing in the book, Nowhere and I mean nowhere does it mention the characters race or ethnicity. The characters name was Mindy Park. While the name Park is uncommon in the western world it is very common in Korea. But the name Park does crop up occasionally like Air Marshal Sir Keith Park CO RAF in the last years of WWII.

Disclaimer: Gal Gadot is a gift from a benevolent God as proof that He truly does love humanity (and especially geeks), and I have zero doubt whatsoever that she would be absolutely brilliant in the role of Honor Harrington.

However - stash your pitchforks for a minute and let me explain - she is, so far, the only actress I have come across with both the looks and the screen presence to play my one and only love, Eloise Pritchart. If push came to shove, I'd rather see her in that role. Because holy hell, Gal Gadot.

Please don't kill me?

Unfortunately, once an actress has starred in something hugely successful (like, say, Wonder Woman), you can pretty much scratch her off the list for a part in an Honorverse movie or TV series. Unless she secretly loves the Honorverse and has always dreamed of playing Honor, there's no chance; the budget just won't be there.

saber964 wrote:People being people. People would go looking for controversy and look to be offended. Remember the controversy in the movie The Martian. One character got "Whitewashed" changing the race of a character from Indian-American to mixed race African-American-Indian. But they had to be offended over the supposed "Whitewashing" of another character from Korean-American to White but hear is the thing in the book, Nowhere and I mean nowhere does it mention the characters race or ethnicity. The characters name was Mindy Park. While the name Park is uncommon in the western world it is very common in Korea. But the name Park does crop up occasionally like Air Marshal Sir Keith Park CO RAF in the last years of WWII.

That is exsctly my point. So don't give them the podium or the fuel to light that fire. Don't turn your project into a fight for civil rights or a spotlight for racial injustice or a reminder of racial divisiveness.

It is such a serious matter, that it almost happened to JK Rowling and I hurt for her. Her character of Rue is pretty much a little black girl if you really read the book and didn't allow your preconceived prejudices to shape your reading comprehension. Rowling even admitted that Rue was a black girl when she penned the story. Yet, this is how fans rewarded the casting...

I would imagine that Honor Harrington is as big as Supergirl to some fans. But don't make the mistake of casting Supergirl as black, or rabid, ignorant, pitchfork wielding fans might actually try and see if she's the girl of steel.

Why needlessly do that to your production? If you're a producer who merely wishes to experience that kind of pain, just shoot yourself in the foot instead.

roseandheather wrote:Disclaimer: Gal Gadot is a gift from a benevolent God as proof that He truly does love humanity (and especially geeks), and I have zero doubt whatsoever that she would be absolutely brilliant in the role of Honor Harrington.

However - stash your pitchforks for a minute and let me explain - she is, so far, the only actress I have come across with both the looks and the screen presence to play my one and only love, Eloise Pritchart. If push came to shove, I'd rather see her in that role. Because holy hell, Gal Gadot.

Please don't kill me?

Disclaimer: You've had your New York minute, but the party is over. I'm calling the casting cops.

However - stash your pitchfork and let me explain. Honor Harrington's character is like the new Secret commercial, "Strong enough for a man, but made for a woman."

Gal Gadot is strong enough to play Eloise Pritchart, but made for Honor Harrington.

Put another way, don't steal her from us geeks and men, rose. The gods would not be pleased.