what was deciding factor in who got to play josette

[denise]

Originally posted by denise on the Dark Shadows: General Discussion Forum on January 20, 2002 at 15:50:18:

was there any back room politicking in the series as to who got to play josette in later episodes i got the
feeling that alexandra was to play the part then kathryn finally wound up playing her is there any back
story to relate on this circumstance

[VAM]

Posted by VAM on January 21, 2002 at 03:08:03:
In Reply to: what was deciding factor in who got to play josette posted by denise on January 20, 2002 at 15:50:18:

TLATKLS played the ghost of Josette guring the earlier episodes and I think this had a bearing on the decision by Dan Curtis.

[Gerard]

Posted by Gerard on January 21, 2002 at 09:01:42:
In Reply to: Re: what was deciding factor in who got to play josette posted by VAM on January 21, 2002 at 05:22:17:

It would seem logical that TLATKLS would've been the choice from the moment they decided to do the flashback, as Barnabas thought that Maggie was the initial reincarnation of Josette. I would think that using Alexandra Moltke as the character was never a consideration, but then who knows?

I know that in the early '90's prime-time remake, Dan Curtis did make Victoria and Josette the same (I absolutely loathed how he changed Maggie's character from a sweet diner waitress into a bartending, well, you-know-what), but I think the circumstances for the remake were completely different from the original.

Gerard

[Stuart]

Posted by Stuart Manning on January 22, 2002 at 17:56:10:
In Reply to: Re: what was deciding factor in who got to play josette posted by Gerard on January 21, 2002 at 09:01:42:

It's something that seems obvious with the benefit of hindsight, that Vicki should be the Josette reincarnation, which is largely why it happened that way in 1991.

Remember that Barnabas was originally meant to have been disposed of by November 1967, before the 1795 flashback. The episodes seen at the moment were the result of a short-term sotryline stretched out drastically with little pre-planning to satiate audience demand -- Maggie was a secondary character, and in the eyes of the producers far more expendable as a victim for this storyline than the central figure of Victoria. Of course the irony is that it was this decision that ultimately led to the drastic downsizing of Victoria's role that would follow.

[Miss_Winthrop]

Posted by Miss Winthrop on January 24, 2002 at 03:33:25:
In Reply to: Re: what was deciding factor in who got to play josette posted by Gerard on January 21, 2002 at 09:01:42:

I totally agree that changing Maggie into a bartender was a mistake. Unfortunately and although I have access to the entire 1991 series remake, I've only been able to get through Vol. 4. I don't like what they did to Dr. Woodard and felt that they could have done a better job for Barbara Steele's portrayal of Julia. She's a good actress but her talents were wasted. The whole thing seemed so 'Hollywoodized' so I'm disappointed in the remake.

It would seem logical that TLATKLS would've been the choice from the moment they decided to do the flashback, as Barnabas thought that Maggie was the initial reincarnation of Josette. I would think that using Alexandra Moltke as the character was never a consideration, but then who knows?