An Actress to play Honor Harrington

BrightSoul wrote:

Subo wrote:I like Stana Katic for the role. Yes, a little vertically challenged (5'9") and yes not eurasian, but has the slavic almond eyes and projects the dignity and inner presence that an actress portraying Honor has to have.

She is kinda my first choice for a name actor personally. She's 175cm (only 7 cm short of Honor's 182cm) and she definitely has the command presence. Watch the episode where Castle is caught in a bank robbery and you'll see what I mean. A little cosmetics could get closer to the Honor look if really needed.

My problem with Stana is the same problem I have with another actress who I'd otherwise love to see in the role, Kristin Kreuk - she's too gosh-darned pretty. Honor's supposed to be striking, beautiful in the way of a Keira Knightley or Sigourney Weaver or Cate Blanchett, not a model-esque knockout, and there is absolutely nothing you can do to Stana to make her any less beautiful than she is. Which, of course, throws a huge wrench in Honor's most critical early story arc - her crisis of self-confidence, or rather lack of it.

Honestly, the face I see when I think of Honor is a Babylon 5-era Julia Nickson. But I suspect Honor's going to be played by a complete unknown, and the big names will come in as supporting roles. (Still holding out for Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Elizabeth, dammit!! )

roseandheather wrote:Still holding out for Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Elizabeth, dammit!!

You've got my vote here.

roseandheather wrote:

BrightSoul wrote:She is kinda my first choice for a name actor personally. She's 175cm (only 7 cm short of Honor's 182cm) and she definitely has the command presence. Watch the episode where Castle is caught in a bank robbery and you'll see what I mean. A little cosmetics could get closer to the Honor look if really needed.

My problem with Stana is the same problem I have with another actress who I'd otherwise love to see in the role, Kristin Kreuk - she's too gosh-darned pretty. Honor's supposed to be striking, beautiful in the way of a Keira Knightley or Sigourney Weaver or Cate Blanchett, not a model-esque knockout, and there is absolutely nothing you can do to Stana to make her any less beautiful than she is. Which, of course, throws a huge wrench in Honor's most critical early story arc - her crisis of self-confidence, or rather lack of it.

Honestly, the face I see when I think of Honor is a Babylon 5-era Julia Nickson. But I suspect Honor's going to be played by a complete unknown, and the big names will come in as supporting roles. (Still holding out for Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Elizabeth, dammit!! )

Ya know, now that you've name dropped her, I can kinda see Stana as Eloise Pritchard. For added benefit, if you want to work the chemistry you can then try to get Fillion for Giscard XD.


That said, I still hold hope that Will Wheaton could play Thom Theisman. I literally cannot see anyone else in that role.

Hmn, as for Howard Clinkscales, I can kinda see Hector Elizondo in the role.

and, while I'm on the roll, how about John Lithgow for High Ridge?
Though, on the other hand that might be a waste of Lithgow's talent...

yannosh wrote:Ya know, now that you've name dropped her, I can kinda see Stana as Eloise Pritchard. For added benefit, if you want to work the chemistry you can then try to get Fillion for Giscard XD.


That said, I still hold hope that Will Wheaton could play Thom Theisman. I literally cannot see anyone else in that role.

Hmn, as for Howard Clinkscales, I can kinda see Hector Elizondo in the role.

and, while I'm on the roll, how about John Lithgow for High Ridge?
Though, on the other hand that might be a waste of Lithgow's talent...

Honestly, I can't see Stana as Eloise. Eloise needs an indefinable something, and Stana hasn't got it. It's hard to explain - she needs to look like a queen, distant and untouchable, but at the same time show us all the heart and vulnerability that has to be there if we're to feel any sympathy with her. We have to believe we're seeing something almost no one else around her can, and she has to make us believe that she can fool the entire Committee while not fooling us.

Mary McDonnell's got it; just watch Battlestar Galactica. So does Cherry Jones; just watch 24. But I've struggled with casting my girl ever since I heard there was going to be a movie, and I haven't come up with an answer yet.

yannosh wrote:Ya know, now that you've name dropped her, I can kinda see Stana as Eloise Pritchard. For added benefit, if you want to work the chemistry you can then try to get Fillion for Giscard XD.

NONONONONO. Malin Crépin is Eloise. Go look at an episode of Annika Bengtzon, Crime Reporter (corny title), a really good Swedish TV crime drama, particularly the episode "Nobel's Last Will."

roseandheather wrote:

yannosh wrote:Ya know, now that you've name dropped her, I can kinda see Stana as Eloise Pritchard. For added benefit, if you want to work the chemistry you can then try to get Fillion for Giscard XD.


That said, I still hold hope that Will Wheaton could play Thom Theisman. I literally cannot see anyone else in that role.

Hmn, as for Howard Clinkscales, I can kinda see Hector Elizondo in the role.

and, while I'm on the roll, how about John Lithgow for High Ridge?
Though, on the other hand that might be a waste of Lithgow's talent...

Honestly, I can't see Stana as Eloise. Eloise needs an indefinable something, and Stana hasn't got it. It's hard to explain - she needs to look like a queen, distant and untouchable, but at the same time show us all the heart and vulnerability that has to be there if we're to feel any sympathy with her. We have to believe we're seeing something almost no one else around her can, and she has to make us believe that she can fool the entire Committee while not fooling us.

Mary McDonnell's got it; just watch Battlestar Galactica. So does Cherry Jones; just watch 24. But I've struggled with casting my girl ever since I heard there was going to be a movie, and I haven't come up with an answer yet.

Well, seeing as Eloise doesn't appear until HAE, and then could be safely excised without effecting the story overmuch there... Her first real significance is in EoH, so I feel there will be time enough to find the perfect fit.
Now my championship of Wheaton has quite a bit more urgency XD

rdt wrote:NONONONONO. Malin Crépin is Eloise. Go look at an episode of Annika Bengtzon, Crime Reporter (corny title), a really good Swedish TV crime drama, particularly the episode "Nobel's Last Will."

Frankly> I can't see her as Eloise. But it would be a truly dismal world if there were no differences in opinions.

yannosh wrote:
Well, seeing as Eloise doesn't appear until HAE, and then could be safely excised without effecting the story overmuch there... Her first real significance is in EoH, so I feel there will be time enough to find the perfect fit.
Now my championship of Wheaton has quite a bit more urgency XD

SNIP

Wheaton??

No. Nonono. Theisman needs to be a magnet. He needs to be the kind of man who takes a breath to speak and instantly the whole room stops to listen. He needs presence, power, dignity, and humanity in one package, all wrapped up in a plain, unassuming face.

In short, he needs to be a young Edward James Olmos.

(Personally, my front-runner is Chris Pine, though I think Pine might be a bit too pretty. Jeremy Renner might be able to pull it off. Idris Elba definitely would, but he's also stupendously gorgeous so no. Theisman... Theisman is a problem. And not just for my ovaries. )

roseandheather wrote:

yannosh wrote:
Well, seeing as Eloise doesn't appear until HAE, and then could be safely excised without effecting the story overmuch there... Her first real significance is in EoH, so I feel there will be time enough to find the perfect fit.
Now my championship of Wheaton has quite a bit more urgency XD

SNIP

Wheaton??

No. Nonono. Theisman needs to be a magnet. He needs to be the kind of man who takes a breath to speak and instantly the whole room stops to listen. He needs presence, power, dignity, and humanity in one package, all wrapped up in a plain, unassuming face.

In short, he needs to be a young Edward James Olmos.

(Personally, my front-runner is Chris Pine, though I think Pine might be a bit too pretty. Jeremy Renner might be able to pull it off. Idris Elba definitely would, but he's also stupendously gorgeous so no. Theisman... Theisman is a problem. And not just for my ovaries. )

And Wheaton can pull all of that of.
But, disregarding that, you are absolutely distorting the character through your own prejudices/desires.
Theisman does not, in point of fact have that sort of presence. For cripes sake, he was point blank described as 'another McKeon" and as a Brutus. Bruti were the ones who did what had to be done without the pomp. The ones who were disregarded in favor of flashier characters. Note than literally noone (except LaPic who for all reasons and purposes might as well have been joined at the hip to Thom) ever expected him to do/achieve what he achieved/done.

yannosh wrote:
And Wheaton can pull all of that of.
But, disregarding that, you are absolutely distorting the character through your own prejudices/desires.
Theisman does not, in point of fact have that sort of presence. For cripes sake, he was point blank described as 'another McKeon" and as a Brutus. Bruti were the ones who did what had to be done without the pomp. The ones who were disregarded in favor of flashier characters. Note than literally noone (except LaPic who for all reasons and purposes might as well have been joined at the hip to Thom) ever expected him to do/achieve what he achieved/done.

Look, I love Wil Wheaton, but... no. He can't. Not many can. I'm not saying Wheaton can't act, but the kind of gift an actor needs to play Theisman is, like the same gift needed to play Eloise, either something an actor has or they don't.

And I am doing no such thing. Theisman was able to do what he did because he made people want to follow him. Everyone was stunned at what he did because of how he pulled it off and because they never thought he would do it, because he had done his very best to make sure nobody would suspect him.

But his ability to lead - that "x factor", the same "x factor" that Honor has, and that Esther McQueen had before him - has never been in question. It's not as flashy as Honor's, perhaps, because he is a different sort of person - a more unassuming sort of person - but Tom Theisman's gift is in making people want to follow him. He has the gift of command, the ability to command unswerving loyalty, and that is how he pulled off his coup. The entire Havenite Navy would follow him into the pits of Hell if he asked them to. Giscard did, Tourville did, and neither of them are mediocre at this command business themselves, to put it mildly. But it was Theisman who led the way because it was Theisman who could unite the entire Navy - who could unite the entire Republic of Haven, in fact - enough to get the job done.

And that is why his stand succeeded. Without that gift, it never would have. Don't make the mistake of confusing 'unassuming' for 'no presence'. The difference is that, unlike Honor, Theisman can hide that magnetism - and until the Committee fell, that is exactly what he did.

roseandheather wrote:[Wheaton??

No. Nonono. Theisman needs to be a magnet. He needs to be the kind of man who takes a breath to speak and instantly the whole room stops to listen. He needs presence, power, dignity, and humanity in one package, all wrapped up in a plain, unassuming face.

In short, he needs to be a young Edward James Olmos.

(Personally, my front-runner is Chris Pine, though I think Pine might be a bit too pretty. Jeremy Renner might be able to pull it off. Idris Elba definitely would, but he's also stupendously gorgeous so no. Theisman... Theisman is a problem. And not just for my ovaries. )

Jeremy Renner > Theisman = Yes! (though Fat Chance hiring him, unless he's a fan.)

Chris Pine = N-n-not so much. (That translates as "Please don't".)

I like Wheaton - but not suitable for Theisman. I see him as a better fit for (rnh - please don't hit me) Warner Caslet, or better, Sam Webster. Hmm - He might do for Judah Yanakov, or the Hertzog.

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