Since Mother bought me the absolute most wonderful birthday gift anyone could receive, Star Trek, I’ve basically been watching the J.J. Abrams masterpiece continuously every night after work.
I think much of the new Star Trek movie’s success is owed to the excellent casting of the classic characters.
Chris Pine’s take on James T. Kirk is rather remarkable. Granted, he is a totally different actor than the great William Shatner, Pine still manages to capture Kirk’s bold adventurous “cowboy” tendencies, tempered with his equal capacity for leadership.
I thought Bruce Greenwood’s portrayal of Capt. Christopher Pike was perhaps the most underrated success of this film’s casting director. He managed to turn a character with rather limited and forgotten status in the Star Trek universe into a vital and heroic figure in the latest film. I’m sure Jeffrey Hunter would have been proud.
McCoy, Spock, Sarek — there were so many great casting choices in this movie.
However, the film also has me pondering the same question any dedicated Trekkie has been asking himself or herself — who would play the key characters if Abrams ever decides to reboot the Next Generation franchise?
Let’s deal with Capt. Jean-Luc Picard first. Stoic, brave, thoughtful, massively intelligent — who could possibly do justice to this role, perfected by Patrick Stewart? It would have to be an actor who can pull off the modest-yet-overwhelming presence of The Picard.
One might think it difficult to imagine an actor suited to the iconic lead role in the TNG reboot. The obvious choice is Sir Ben Kingsley. However, the man who played Gandhi is only three years younger than Stewart and it wouldn’t make sense to reboot a franchise without choosing from a younger stock of actors.
So what current Hollywood star could portray Picard as a vibrant 40-something, taking command of the Enterprise on its re-imagined mission to Farpoint? Personally, I think the role should go to someone who can play Picard with a French accent. It always bothered me that the Parisian was such a Brit.
Therefore, I decided character actor Vincent Cassel (with a shaved head of course) would make a lovely Picard. It’s a role to launch Cassel into superstardom.
Cmndr. William T. Riker would have to be a fairly big and lumbering sort with bold eyes and suave well-groomed facial hair. Jonathan Frakes is a certain type of handsome that few big-headed men can pull off.
However, I think there is a perfect actor for the role. Granted he is a bit pretty, Gerard Butler (presuming he can do the American accent flawlessly) would make a grand Number One.
Klingons must be fairly hard to cast, but I think Michael Dorn’s Lt. Worf character could be re-imagined with a more comical actor. Imagine Dwayne Johnson as Star Trek’s most conflicted character. I think The Rock was meant to have giant Klingon ridges on his forehead, yelling, “Can you smeeeell what The Worf is cooking!?!”
Filling LeVar Burton visor is a tad more difficult. Basically, this role requires someone who can really play a nerd and who is also respectable and possessing leadership qualities. However, I know my pick.
Lt. Cmndr. Geordi La Forge would be none other than Steve Urkel himself, Jaleel Ahmad White. It’s the comeback role he has been waiting for.
Counsellor Deanna Troi (originally played by Marina Sirtis) deserves a sensitive and vulnerable actress. I sense Marlee Matlin would possess the right sensibility for the role. However, similar to the issue with Kingsley, she’s too close in age to the person who originally played the character.
Troi is a fairly unique and exotic individual. In my opinion, it makes sense to cast her with an actress possessing a spark of Asian beauty and mystery.
Therefore, my ideal pick for everyone’s favourite half-Betazoid empath is Indian sensation Aishwarya Rai. Presuming she can breakdown in sobs because some anomaly possesses anger but no consciousness, she’s perfect.
As for the lovely Dr. Beverly Crusher, whoever plays her must be as equally nurturing and sultry as Gates McFadden.
I know it will cost a bit of money to hire her for the role, but I’m convinced the TNG reboot must have Scarlett Johansson.
Sorry, but I’m ignoring Wesley Crusher for the time being. We can cast him in the sequel.
Finally, I save the best for last. If only we could clone Brent Spiner or make an actual robot in his likeness to play Lt. Cmndr. Data. But we can’t, thus I’m burdened with the impossible task of casting the key TNG character.
Rather than find someone who must use acting skill to portray Starfleet’s only android, I’ve decided to take the easy route and hire an actor who basically already plays a bit on an artificial life form in many of his films.
Can anyone argue that the perfect Data would be none other than Keanu Reeves?
Truly, Reeves would make the TNG reboot an awesome adventure, or possibly even a bogus journey.
