Casting trivia

[serai]

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Trekmovie.com is reporting that at a convention this weekend, Patrick Stewart mentioned that PJ had wanted him to play Gandalf in LOTR, but Stewart had lobbied for a different role. He didn't end up in the movie, he believes, because he had some criticisms about the script, and says he doesn't think he'll be contacted for The Hobbit, either.

Stewart wouldn't say which role he wanted, but I can hazard a pretty confident guess: Denethor. That part is aboslute steak for an actor from the RSC. I can just see him in it, too. The first role I saw him perform that was memorable for me was the part of Henry Grey, the 3rd Marqess of Dorset, who was Lady Jane Grey's father, in the film Lady Jane. It was not as complex a role as Denethor, but there was some of the same awful unhappiness in that family, and I can easily imagine him hectoring Faramir nearly to the grave. He has those hawk eyes that can pin you down like a mouse.

Comments

[txvoodoo.livejournal.com]

The first thing I *remember* seeing Stewart in was Excalibur, when he played Guieniviere's father :D

[serai1.livejournal.com]

I saw him in that when it opened, but didn't remember him. It wasn't a part that made him stand out much, whereas his role in Lady Jane really thrust him into the audience's faces. It's that role that made me raise an eyebrow when I heard they got him for ST:NG. That guy was gonna play the heir to Captain Kirk? It's one of the things that taught me about how actors are hired to, um, act.

[txvoodoo.livejournal.com]

I didn't see Lady Jane until it was on cable tv years later, so that didn't make an impression on me.

And yes! Hee! Funny thing about actors ACTING! :D Ahhhh Picard.