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Alternative casting?
17-04-2012, 03:45 PM
Post: #1
Alternative casting?
Just wondered if anyone had any ideas about actors or actress they would have rather seen cast as characters in Spooks? For example i'd have loved to have seen someone like Freema Agyeman cast as Sam. Not that i don't love the actors in spooks anyway Smile

Hope that makes sense and i apologise if there is already another thread like this somewhere on here Smile

Malcolm: "No-one sees us; we go through walls."
Tom: "Malcolm could you just pop through the wall and make us a cup of tea" Big Grin
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18-04-2012, 03:08 PM
Post: #2
RE: Alternative casting?
(17-04-2012 03:45 PM)jh1892 Wrote:  Just wondered if anyone had any ideas about actors or actress they would have rather seen cast as characters in Spooks?

Not really. Probably due to naive blind trust that the casting department was doing the best job possible; being particularly brilliant in the casting of the guest artists across the 10 series. I had a director friend who once told me that casting was 95% of his job. If you get that right, the rest is cake. Spooks' casting department consistently provided a lot of cake so it seemed moot to look for some pie! Wink Besides, there are so many actors out there I know nothing about. For any one role, 100's of actors are perused, scores are auditioned and easily 3 or 4 are seriously considered for the role.

While I was initially drawn in by actors I knew (PF, RA, KH, Anna Chancellor, Robert Glenister, Hugh Laurie, Tim Piggott-Smith, to name a few), I stayed for the actors I didn't know prior to seeing them on Spooks. I liked that Spooks seemed to cast actors with enough professional experience to be recognizable but not too high a personal profile that they would dominate the programme. (RA being the exception for me but that is a different discussion.)

Might be a different story for someone in the UK, though. Some of the actors cast had a higher profile in the UK going into it. Case in point: as "A Cousin," I had no point of reference for Lisa Faulkner (Helen Flynn). Didn't ruin her story for me. I just didn't have that additional level of cultural understanding and assumptions about the actress and the role.

Now cracks a noble heart. Good-night, sweet [Spooks];
And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.

~Wm. Shakespeare, Hamlet
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18-04-2012, 03:15 PM
Post: #3
RE: Alternative casting?
(18-04-2012 03:08 PM)A Cousin Wrote:  
(17-04-2012 03:45 PM)jh1892 Wrote:  Just wondered if anyone had any ideas about actors or actress they would have rather seen cast as characters in Spooks?

I had a director friend who once told me that casting was 95% of his job. If you get that right, the rest is cake. Spooks' casting department consistently provided a lot of cake so it seemed moot to look for some pie! Wink Besides, there are so many actors out there I know nothing about. For any one role, 100's of actors are perused, scores are auditioned and easily 3 or 4 are seriously considered for the role.

That is very interesting and i agree but there are some characters i would have rather seen portrayed by more charismatic actors, for example Ben. I also would have loved to have seen Philip Glenister as the HS or some other government official at some point, not that his brother didn't do a great job Smile

Malcolm: "No-one sees us; we go through walls."
Tom: "Malcolm could you just pop through the wall and make us a cup of tea" Big Grin
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18-04-2012, 03:39 PM
Post: #4
RE: Alternative casting?
Like A Cousin, I'm on the other side of the pond but I didn't know any of the actors. For me it was the premise of show and its being set in Britain that was enough to reel me in, but it was the actors that made me stick with the show.

As we got into the later series I had started watching other things from the UK so I recognized a few of the guest stars as well as Sophia Miles from her US series Moonlight.

I tend to feel that if I can't picture anyone else in the role then the actor must have done a good job of making it their own and convincing me that they were that character. The other part of that is the chemistry that two people have and bring to the show. Imagine if someone other than NW had played Ruth. Would there still have been that dynamic between her and PF that would have led to the 'relationship' between Harry and Ruth? Maybe, maybe not.

I agree with AC that the guest stars for Series 10 were among the best the show had. Alice Krige as Elena was simply magnificent.

Zaf: "Shouldn't you be in prison or something?"
Ros: "This is the something."
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19-04-2012, 03:26 PM
Post: #5
RE: Alternative casting?
(18-04-2012 03:39 PM)SweetTea Wrote:  For me it was the premise of show and its being set in Britain that was enough to reel me in, but it was the actors that made me stick with the show.

I started watching spooks because i am a huge Keeley Hawes (Zoe Reynolds) fan, so ive always taken a particular interest in the casting and generally i love it! i agree with what you said about not being able to imagine other people in the role and with the majority of the characters i really can't there is just the occasional character and actor that i find really difficult to invest in.

I also agree with what you said about the actors, such as PF and NW, having such great chemistry and it is that that really develops the characters. They are fantastic! Big Grin

Malcolm: "No-one sees us; we go through walls."
Tom: "Malcolm could you just pop through the wall and make us a cup of tea" Big Grin
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19-04-2012, 04:57 PM
Post: #6
RE: Alternative casting?
Well, you certainly do bring up a really good point with the role of Ben. Must have blocked him out. Wink

Although I haven't thought about who could have been more dynamic in that role. They must exist. I am not sure a more dynamic actor would have helped. Sometimes, it's not the portrayal of the role by the actor that failed, its the development of the character by the writers that failed. AL wouldn't have been cast if there weren't something about his style/demeanor/type as an actor that they wanted for Ben. So I wonder if that was as much a failure in conceptual development of the character itself? But it's true (for me) - the character of Ben just didn't mesh. For whatever reason. Kind of think poor AL didn't have a chance with it.

Now cracks a noble heart. Good-night, sweet [Spooks];
And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.

~Wm. Shakespeare, Hamlet
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19-04-2012, 06:46 PM
Post: #7
RE: Alternative casting?
That's a very good point A Cousin; i always felt like there were some deleted scenes that developed Ben's character a bit more, but apparently not. I agree that the whole concept of Ben kind of failed, not entirely AL's portrayal of the character. I always thought his death scene was his best, which kind of says it all. Smile

Malcolm: "No-one sees us; we go through walls."
Tom: "Malcolm could you just pop through the wall and make us a cup of tea" Big Grin
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