Movie Cast Ideas

I want it to be Maggie, for obvious reasons (because I've always been madly in love with her as portrayed by TLATKLS).  I'm infatuated with Maggie.  I adore Maggie.  I still want her to be my governess.  For those who like Vicki, I'd let her have a part in the film.  She can be an upstairs maid, working under the watchful eye of Mrs. Johnson the head housekeeper.  When Mrs. Johnson tells her to starch the bedsheets, Vicki can look at the spray can and say "I don't understand."  On to the next scene.

Gerard

I'd prefer to have Maggicki already working at Collinwood to "Oh, here's the new governess, and the new vampire at the same time!"

I posted my own imaginary plot outline on another board a couple of months ago where I outlined the reverse scenario.  Barnabas is already ensconced at the Collinwood estate (we later see his release in flashbacks through Willie's traumatic recurring nightmares) and living comfortably as a respected member of the family when the movie beings; then Vicki arrives.

Opening scene: Maggie, in her tattered rags, is frantically trying to count the bricks and escape through the dark tunnels.  She looks terrified and constantly glances backward.  The audience only sees a dark silhouette of a tall man pursuing her.  (This dramatic opening scene will immediately draw the audience's attention and get them curious about who the girl is and who her captor is).  Finally Maggie makes her way to the beach and is rescued.

Cut to Victoria Winters arriving at Collinwood for her assignment as David's caretaker/keeper/whatever.  She meets the Collins family, including Barnabas, the mysterious English cousin.  He is very charming and takes an interest in Vicki.  When he returns home, he ponders an old portrait of a woman named "Josette" who looks strikingly like Vicki.

Meanwhile, a crazed Maggie is at Windcliff babbling about the undead and the Collins family.  Her psychiatrist, Dr. Julia Hoffman, eventually decides to go to Collinsport to investigate.  In the process, she (and the audience) discovers Barnabas's secret--that he is a vampire, he is Maggie's kidnapper, and he is now fixated on Vicki.

ProfStokes 

I want it to be Maggie, for obvious reasons (because I've always been madly in love with her as portrayed by TLATKLS).  I'm infatuated with Maggie.  I adore Maggie.  I still want her to be my governess.  For those who like Vicki, I'd let her have a part in the film.  She can be an upstairs maid, working under the watchful eye of Mrs. Johnson the head housekeeper.  When Mrs. Johnson tells her to starch the bedsheets, Vicki can look at the spray can and say "I don't understand."  On to the next scene.

I am sure the VICTORIA on the movie will be more along the lines of Joanna Going's Victoria.  She was  NOT was dumb like the original Victoria. Loved Joanna. She was perfect Victoria. I recall Maggie saying "I DON'T UNDERSTAND ALOT" after Victoria went bye bye. 

I like that plot idea. It could easily consolidate all of the main points of the original Barnabas arc into a feature film, even eliminating the need to cut Maggie out or transform her into Magtoria Wintrevans.

Sorry for the double post, but I wanted to add that, had the movie been done around ten years ago when she could have passed for the right age, I think Laura Harris could have been a good Carolyn.

am i the only one who thinks it's kind of funny that gerard and i are both gay men infatuated with collinwood's high-hemmed ingenue governesses?

anywho,i much prefer vicki and maggie as separate characters with separate storylines.

i never really go for the "magtoria wintevens" composite character.maggie was never intended to be collinwood governess.she was brought over because alexandra moltke very abruptly left the show in the middle of her contract.it was just happenstance.

but by the time of HODS kathryn leigh scott was ensconsed as the resident damsel-in-distress so there was no need to get into the backstory of either character.thus we get the "magtoria" compromise.

that said i hope that there's a role for both pivotal characters in the film.

am i the only one who thinks it's kind of funny that gerard and i are both gay men infatuated with collinwood's high-hemmed ingenue governesses?

I can't figure it out myself, Msbryk.  I've always been totally obsessed with TLATKLS (especially as Maggie, but also whatever character she played; when she left the show I was inconsolable).  I have a down-to-the-nitty-gritty crush on her even as we speak.  At the one and only festival I ever attended (2003), when I first glimpsed her tears poured down my cheeks.  As I waited in line to speak with her (and get a few things autographed) I was shaking as if I was going to go into convulsions.  I still have my picture taken with her sitting on top of my computer screen.  Maybe we've got a future research project here for people in human development:  Why Are Gay Men Head Over Heels In Love With TLATKLS?

Gerard

Well I am a gay man as well and I am totally in LOVE with Rose McGowan.  GO FIGURE!  On DS it would be Grayson Hall.  And on the 1991DS it would be Joanna Going who still looks gorgeous today.  Has anyone saw her?  I thought it was cool to find out she was married to DYLAN WALSH one of the surgeons on NIP TUCK. I tried to put a picture of JOANNA up but I can't figure this posting picture stuff out.   

There are two ways to post pictures, Taeylor - as attachments to a post, or inline. Check out "Posting - Additional Options - Attachments" and "Posting - Standard Posting Options - Bulletin Board Code" in the forum's Help section, which can be accessed via the "help" button in the main menu at the top op every forum page. Or check out the Testing board because there are loads of examples of how to post pictures there. For example:

Re: regarding pictures

Posting Attachments

(Though with attachments, things have changed a bit since that explanation. Members still need to scroll down below the text box, but now they also need to click on the "Additional Options..." link. The forum is no longer using YaBB SE. You may have noticed that at the bottom of every forum page it says "Powered by SMF 1.1.5 ".  )


But until you master things, here's a photo of Joanna that I've yet to post from her appearance on Journeyman back in December '07:

(Check out this topic

Joanna Going Alert!

for one other one.)

Thanks.  And I loved that show.  WHY does NBC cancel everything good??  GRRR....she looks beautiful!! I apparently didn't catch that ep.  I would have KNOWN that was Joanna.

This is a fun little exercise for the imagination!

Truth to tell, I once for fun worked out a reimagining of DS of my own, complete with casting suggestions!  I fell back on the entire DS canon, picking and choosing as I went (drawing upon 1840s Gabriel for certain elements with Roger, for instance).  Part of this was casting Ellen Page as Daphne, Roger's autistic daughter (replacing David)!

Well, we know Johnny Depp is Barnabas.  And the odds are pretty great that Helena Bonham Carter will be used, but given her age and general attractiveness she'd be more my choice for Elizabeth.  For one thing, she just did the whole "unrequited love" thing with Depp in Sweeney Todd and methinks she'd rather do something else.

If he is still alive--and my own hope is that he will be--Christopher Lee is a fairly obvious choice for Joshua Collins, presumably in flashback.  Again, he's something of a Burton regular.

An actress I'd like to see used is Rachel Hurd Wood, who was so memorable in Peter Pan and Perfume: The Story of a Murderer.  IMHO she's hasn't really had that many chances to show her acting chops, but what she has done shows real ability.  And she knows her way around a costume drama!  But maybe for that reason I'd rather she play either Vicki, Carolyn or (maybe) Angelique.

Frankly, Angelique should be black.  Given the back story, one has to wonder while Josette would have a white maid.  Frankly, Gina Torres of Serenity fame would be my first choice.  Or Rosario Dawson.

Along those same lines, I would rather like to see Summer Gau as Josette or maybe Carolyn.  Apart from being beautiful and talented, she has this strange, almost fragile quality.  For those of you who don't know her, Summer Gau starred in both Serenity and in The Sarah Connor Chronicles.  Then again, depending on how Burton goes with things, she might also make a wonderfully eerie Angelique.

The single biggest improvement, IMHO, between the original DS and the 1991 remake was the casting of Joanna Going as Victoria Winters.  She was simply superb, not least because she came across as someone with a brain and a backbone.  That is precisely the direction methinks Burton should take with that character.  She is, after all, supposed to be a teacher and that really does require some toughness as well as people skills.  As you can probably tell by now, I'm a fan of Joss Whedon so my hope to see Amber Benson from Buffy as Victoria should shock no one (she also played a "good vampire" on Supernatural).  Not that she's the only choice by any means!  Since I'm trying to restrict my choices to actors who are not superstars (lest the whole thing become an overblown epic) other choices for Vicky that come to mind include Zoey Deschanel, Elizabeth Harnois and Eliza Dushku.

I'm not at all sure Julia Hoffman belongs in a feature film of DS.  Seems to me the story of Barnabas has rather a lot of romantic triangles in which he is one of the points--Josette/Angelique, Maggie/Vicky, Julia/Vicky, Carolyn/Vicky, etc.  Needs some kind of trimming to fit into two hours.  Given that, Dr. Hoffman is certainly a viable character to remain--especially if either Maggie or Vicky are dropped.  But methinks Julia works best as someone to whom Barnabas is not attracted.  But that comes back to who ends up cast as Josette et al, because that shows what his tastes might be.  Given that--and the evident scientific accomplishments of Julia--I would suggest a woman not quite as attractive and/or rather formidable in her own right.  MIchelle Forbes (BSG and Kalifornia) comes to mind, as does Lori Petty (Tank Girl).  Or Molly Parker because she can play ANYTHING.

Different people see Roger Collins different ways.  At  heart we have a younger brother in a wealthy family, eclipsed by his sister and something of a failure in his personal life.  Is he an alcoholic or just a hard drinker?  A cold, hard man or a merely a weak one?  Whatever those choices, he almost certainly needs to be in his forties or so, or at least come across that way.  William Peterson is leaving CSI.  John Heard might be available.  Although he kinda violates my "no superstar" rule, methink Ben Affleck would make a very interesting younger brother to Elizabeth.

Mind you, if there is another STAR a la Johnny Depp in the film, it would most likely be his love interest--be that person Maggie, Victoria, Josette, Carolyn or some combination therein.  So here are some fun possibilities, none of whom have worked with Depp before as far as I know...

Scarlett Johanson
Keira Knightly
Jessica Alba (who seems to want to stretch herself as an actress)
Reese Witherspoon
Anne Hathaway

Frankly, Angelique should be black.  Given the back story, one has to wonder while Josette would have a white maid.  Frankly, Gina Torres of Serenity fame would be my first choice..

I can definitely see that.

Along those same lines, I would rather like to see Summer Gau as Josette ... Apart from being beautiful and talented, she has this strange, almost fragile quality.

Oh, I like that.

I do like the idea of Angelique being an Afirician-American actress.   The only person I don't agree with is AMBER BENSON as Victoria.  I am huge Buffy fan, however I feel that Amber doesn't look the part nor does she have the range (as an actress) to be in a major motion picture.  DON'T get me wrong.  I thought Amber's acting grew by leaps and bounds on Buffy but she isn't on the level of Joanna Going or Alexandra or even Marley Shelton. Though I have never seen the pilot I love Marley in PLANET TERROR she really sold this far out crazy world and played the part great. 

Tae

Random fact: On a crime show (Cold Case, I think), Amber Benson played a doctor named Julia Hoffman.

I like the idea of Benson as Victoria. I also like Gina Torres as Angelique and Summer Glau as Josette. Then again, maybe I'm just biased for Whedon alumni.

Maybe you are since you want Sarah Michelle to be Angelique!     I LOOOVE GINA too I don't think she would be right for Angelique either especially considering she will be 40 her next bday. Maybe one day we will agree on something GOOBER!  It's kind of funny though I am huge Whedon Buffy fan, but no of them sound appealing to for DS except for James Marsters as Roger!