I think we're adverse to the idea of THESE characters and performers being younger. We were children when we met these characters, and now we're grown-ups. That requires a complete change of perspective and perhaps we resent that.
There might be some truth in that. But I honestly thought that once casting of the WB DS got underway and fans began to see which actors were being cast in each role, most would have put aside their fears that it was going to be comprised of a much younger group of characters than the original had been. Honestly, the only character who would appear to have been made younger is Julia (though at 36 Kelly Hu isn't all that much younger than Grayson Hall was (or should I say how old she claimed to be
) when she was first cast), and Hu's casting may have more to do with Alec Newman's casting as Barnabas than anything else. As hard as it is to believe (or to be swallowed
) the original DS indicated that Barnabas had been born in 1770, which would have meant that he was supposedly only 25(!) when he was cursed in 1795. Newman is 29, so truthfully his casting will be a more accurate depiction of the character than Frid's casting had been. And who knows, very little background was ever provided about Julia, so for all we know she, too, was supposed to have been much younger than she appeared. (I have a feeling Grayson might have liked that idea
)
When it comes to mostly all of the other characters, they seem to fall into the same basic age range as the originals. (Well, maybe Willie is another example of a character who's been made younger. But personally speaking I was shocked when I first learned that John Karlen had been well into his thirties when he played the part because to me Willie just seemed to be about the same age as characters like Joe, Maggie, etc. Though, again, for all we know, it might have been a case that Willie was supposed to be younger than the actor portraying him.) If anything, it appears that once again Vicki will actually be older than her original couterpart had been...