WB ORDERS FILMING OF NEW DS PILOT

Hair color is probably the most easily altered physical characteristic of all, in this day and age.

What I find much more significant is that she does NOT look 30 in that photo....so I'm not sure we're out of the "teenaged cast" woods yet.

Since they're mentioning all the coincidences of casting, Joan Allen who was Pat Nixon was also in Pleasantville!

Ooooooooooooooooooooh, Joan Allen... there's a name I hadn't thought of.  She'd be amazing for Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, wouldn't she?

Marley's an interesting choice - she looks very much like Nancy Barrett in some of her photos.  Visually she's closer to Alexandra Moltke than Joanna Going.  And yeah, I eagerly wait for the blonde/brunette debate to split fandom down the middle

But, of course, nothing stops her from dying her hair darker, or even from the show completely departing from DC's "dream" governess with long dark hair. (Though, if the latter is the case, I can already foresee the conniption fits some "purists" in fandom are going to have!  )

Ok, I'll try to deal with the hair, but, if she doesn't wear sleeveless dresses, they can count me out. 

30, she looks about l5 in that picture!

Birdie-who believes peanut M&M's are the perfect breakfast choice to go with her coffee.

30, she looks about l5 in that picture!
Birdie-who believes peanut M&M's are the perfect breakfast choice to go with her coffee.

Well, I've never had M & M's for breakfast....but I have had a Hershey Kiss...or 2! 

And regarding the casting of the new DS, I don't give a damn how old the performer is, so long as the CHARACTERS aren't made younger just to entice a younger audience. 

30, she looks about l5 in that picture!

Well, her bio says that she's been acting for quite a few years, so who knows how old that particular picture might be. 

As I said, I did see her in Valentine, and I don't really remember her character at all. But unless my mind is playing tricks on me (which I don't deny it does from time to time  ) all the women characters in the film were already college graduates working on careers or, in the case of one of them who was studying to be a doctor, going to Med school, and they all looked to be in their early-to-mid-20s. Valentine was shot in spring or summer 2000 (I forget exactly, but it was during Boreanaz' hiatus between his first and second seasons of Angel) and, what a surprise, released about 9 months later, about 2 weeks before Valentine's Day 2001 (after all, there's nothing like a movie featuring a homicidal maniac who, 13 years later, is murdering all the girls whom he feels treated him badly in junior high to get one in a romantic mood, right?  ) So, it was shot close to 4 years ago. Not that I want to be in the least bit ungallant, but I'd say she most probably looks to be in at least her mid-20s by now.

Unfortunately, I have quite a few other things that I have to work on for the rest of the day, so I won't have the opportunity to search for what we'll know for sure is a more recent photo. But if anyone would like to take on that task (hint, hint  ), please, by all means do so...

Birdie-who believes peanut M&M's are the perfect breakfast choice to go with her coffee.

An excellent example to set for your kids. 

This is the most recent picture I could find, from January 2003:

Maybe I just have DS on the brain but she bears a resemblance to Lara Parker. I hope she colors her hair brown. Trying to keep an open mind until I see the new show.

Oh look!  Brunette roots...  There may be hope for the Victoria as brunette purists.

In her IMDB entry, there is a picture of her with a "Victoria" vunerable "I Don't Know" kinda look.  Let's see who else they get in the next few days.  It will interesting also to see if these actors will be around for the fall shows. 

The "new" Victoria can be blonde, brunette or a Titian red-head for all of me.....what I want to know is, is she going to be "innocent and vulnerable", or terminally stupid like the original Victoria was reduced to being?  THAT'S a characteristic they do NOT want to replicate.

In reply #71 of this thread, Cassandra provided a link (thanks!) that has a multitude of photo's of Marley Shelton, the most recent being taken at a premiere (of Uptown Girls) in August of 2003. She's wearing a white dress with an over-one-shoulder strap. It is the second link offered in the reply. Click on more photo's once you get there.

The purist side of me is somewhat disappointed with the choice. The other side (don't know what to call it) of me is quite happy that a choice has been made and that she is credited with being a very good actress, which I think is a very, very good thing. I'll take good acting over hair color any day.

I find this all very exciting! It's a lot of fun being in on the developements as they unfold as opposed to finding out a week in advance of the series premiere and being totally unprepared and ultimately disappointed, as was the case for me personally with the 91 series. I'm finding, that it's much better for me to have the time to get over any personal prejudices and disapprovals that would ultimately get in the way as I know they would if I had to deal with them while viewing the show at the same time.

Thanks to all who've provided links and quotes,
dom

In reply #71 of this thread, Cassandra provided a link (thanks!) that has a multitude of photo's of Marley Shelton

Cassandra - my sincere apology. In all the excitement I neglected to check out the links you provided. Dom isn't kidding when he says the Yahoo site has a multitude of photos. You did such a great job with Marley Shelton that I definitely think we're going to draft you as the forum's official WB DS cast member photo finder. Get your searching abilities ready to go full throttle again as soon as the next actor is announced. 

This is the most recent picture I could find, from January 2003:

A great photo, Stuart. Thanks so much for finding and posting it. 

It will interesting also to see if these actors will be around for the fall shows.

Unless I'm greatly mistaken, I don't believe that the shows on the WB routinely make it a habit to recast between pilot and series. Yes, Willow was recast between the original Buffy pilot and the series. But it's my understanding that the need to recast was made by Joss Whedon and the casting director Marcia Shulman because they decided Willow actually needed to be a bit more hip, more vulnerable, less frumpy, and less of a classic outcast.

After looking at the photos of Marley Shelton on Yahoo, frumpy is definitely not the word that comes to mind. 

I really thought that they would have hired a younger actress to play Victoria who has that natural innocent and vulnerable look. Who knows how Shelton will look in five years from now( we can only hope it lasts that long). I believe Joanna Going was 27 at the time the pilot was filmed but she appeared to look much younger in my opinion. Time will tell what the producers saw in Shelton's audition.