Dreamcasting # 5 - Ex Machina (TV)

[ourchair]

The round is closed. Victor Von Doom wins by default!

 

[Joe Kalicki]

The round is closed. Victor Von Doom wins by default!

Oh no, I wasn't done yet!

I don't read Ex Machina, but here's my cast.

Mitchell Hundred - David Schwimmer

Rick Bradbury - Matt LeBlanc

Ivan "Kremlin" Tereshkov - Matthew Perry

Amy Angotti - Jennifer Aniston

Dave Wylie - Courtney Cox

Journal Moore - Lisa Kudrow

Candice Braving - . . . David Spade?


Did I win?

 

[Dr.Strangefate]

Ivan "Kremlin" Tereshkov - Matthew Perry

"Could I be any more Russian?"

 

[Victor Von Doom]

I gotta say...even though I am extremely proud of my cast, I wish I didn't win by default. I'll have the next round up by the end of today.................and it will be AWESOME-O!

 

[ourchair]

Okay, as usual, I put together a cast even though I wasn't eligible to get any votes. I would've posted this earlier, but I was having trouble polishing a writeup for Aida Turturro, who I cast as Candice Braving. Anyway, here it is:

Clockwise from upper left: Nathan Fillion, Michael Chiklis, Peter Stormare, Lorraine Bracco, Aida Turturro, Erin Daniel and Dule Hill.​

Mitchell Hundred - Mitchell Hundred is an odd bird. He has an eccentrically independent alignment evident in his ability to vary between conservative and liberal sides of an issue. He's asexual to the point of being construed by the press as gay. He deflects the skepticism of his staff with off-key humor and bewilders them with seemingly consistent self-contrarianism. Such 'leadership' would best be commanded by Nathan Fillion, who played an equally mind-bogglingly mystifying Malcolm Reynolds on Firefly, a smuggler captain who dourly refuses to ingratiate himself with others but is seriously protective of his crew, and surprises constantly by being both turns idealistic and cynical.

Rick Bradbury - This former Marine may have 'seen it all', but playing supportive best friend to an eccentric superhuman turned city official takes blue-collar resolve and a humorously dour disposition, as well as a pragmatic demeanor to the paternalistic Kremlin. While Michael Chiklis is best known for his role as the Machiavellian police thug Vic Mackey on FX's The Shield, it's his working man charm and humorous warmth on The Commish and Fantastic Four's Ben Grimm that makes him a good candidate for the role.

Ivan "Kremlin" Tereshkov - More than just a one-note Russian caricature, Kremlin's strained relationship with Mitchell Hundred has never compromised his unrelenting belief in the need for vigilantism. As a result, Kremlin is equal turns paternalistic and condescending. Peter Stormare's extensive resume of Eastern Europeans invites typecasting for sure, but it's his ability to play paternalistic condescension in films like Constantine and in TV's Prisonbreak that put him in a league above others to play Kremlin.

Amy Angotti - A true New Yorker, Lorraine Bracco was born and raised in Brooklyn and has earned long-standing respect in television for her portrayal of Dr. Jennifer Melfi, the bemusedly inquistive psychiatrist of Tony Soprano in The Sopranos. However, this Emmy Award winner is known to relish range, having originally turned down a role in the show that was too similar to her role in Goodfellas. As Amy Angotti, Bracco would find a new challenge as a brassy police commissioner with the gumption necessary to survive the strange term of Mayor Mitchell Hundred.

Dave Wylie - If you want a black actor with experience tackling socio-politically topical programming on TV, look no further than Dulé
Hill, from USA Network's Psych. Most people will recall his role as Presidential Aide Charlie Young on The West Wing, where he accumulated much experience being surrounded by over-educated white males with lots of liberal guilt. Playing Wylie would give Hill the opportunity to go on the other side of the fence --- from background-challenged aspirationally-motivated young man to a well-monied ex-councilor having trouble relating to the poor.

Journal Moore - While Erin Daniel is best remembered for her portrayal of the fearful and neurotic Dana Fairbanks on Showtime's The L Word, it's her charming know-it-all and exceeding sensibleness as Jenny on the short-lived Hollywood satire Action (opposite Jay Mohr and Illeana Douglas) that caught my attention as the perfect fit for Journal Moore, an over-educated underachiever with a surprising amount of perception.

Candice Braving - Aida Turturro yada yada yada I'm tired.

For Ex Machina, i wanted to play around with a cast of established television faces, with several headlining faces from top-rated programs. So there. Call it the 'TV All-Star' edition of Ourchair's Dreamcasts.

 

[Victor Von Doom]

Seriously...aside from Fillion and Bracco---I didn't even think about any of those choices.

Mitchell Hundred - Mitchell Hundred is an odd bird. He has an eccentrically independent alignment evident in his ability to vary between conservative and liberal sides of an issue. He's asexual to the point of being construed by the press as gay. He deflects the skepticism of his staff with off-key humor and bewilders them with seemingly consistent self-contrarianism. Such 'leadership' would best be commanded by Nathan Fillion, who played an equally mind-bogglingly mystifying Malcolm Reynolds on Firefly, a smuggler captain who dourly refuses to ingratiate himself with others but is seriously protective of his crew, and surprises constantly by being both turns idealistic and cynical.

I think every single one of us when doing these games instinctively wanna cast Fillion into every male lead. I know I did. Stupid sexy charisma.

And to be quite honest---while he'd be damn near perfect for this role....much like Clive Owen, he can't hide his accent for ****. And that just kills it for me.

Rick Bradbury - This former Marine may have 'seen it all', but playing supportive best friend to an eccentric superhuman turned city official takes blue-collar resolve and a humorously dour disposition, as well as a pragmatic demeanor to the paternalistic Kremlin. While Michael Chiklis is best known for his role as the Machiavellian police thug Vic Mackey on FX's The Shield, it's his working man charm and humorous warmth on The Commish and Fantastic Four's Ben Grimm that makes him a good candidate for the role.

Still love my choice. :wink:

Ivan "Kremlin" Tereshkov - More than just a one-note Russian caricature, Kremlin's strained relationship with Mitchell Hundred has never compromised his unrelenting belief in the need for vigilantism. As a result, Kremlin is equal turns paternalistic and condescending. Peter Stormare's extensive resume of Eastern Europeans invites typecasting for sure, but it's his ability to play paternalistic condescension in films like Constantine and in TV's Prisonbreak that put him in a league above others to play Kremlin.

BY THE HAMMER OF THOR!

God why didn't I think of this before!?!?!?! The same way you felt about me casting Lemonhead for the role of Bradbury is the way I feel about this choice. Well played good sir.

Amy Angotti - A true New Yorker, Lorraine Bracco was born and raised in Brooklyn and has earned long-standing respect in television for her portrayal of Dr. Jennifer Melfi, the bemusedly inquistive psychiatrist of Tony Soprano in The Sopranos. However, this Emmy Award winner is known to relish range, having originally turned down a role in the show that was too similar to her role in Goodfellas. As Amy Angotti, Bracco would find a new challenge as a brassy police commissioner with the gumption necessary to survive the strange term of Mayor Mitchell Hundred.

Another great choice. Seriously. With the recent return of The Sopranos, I too thought of Bracco for this role. The only reason I didn't go for it is because in the show I wanted there to be some sort of low latent sexual tension between Angotti and Hundred. And considering my choice for Hundred....I don't think the obvious age difference bewteen Olyphant and Bracco would've worked.

Plus, with the nature of the show, I wanted it to be low-key and keep a lot of the BIG TV names out of it and give some other people a chance.

Dave Wylie - If you want a black actor with experience tackling socio-politically topical programming on TV, look no further than Dulé
Hill, from USA Network's Psych. Most people will recall his role as Presidential Aide Charlie Young on The West Wing, where he accumulated much experience being surrounded by over-educated white males with lots of liberal guilt. Playing Wylie would give Hill the opportunity to go on the other side of the fence --- from background-challenged aspirationally-motivated young man to a well-monied ex-councilor having trouble relating to the poor.

Having never seen the "West Wing", I couldn't vouch for Hill's serious cred. But I did recognize the apparent talent on USA's "Psych".

Journal Moore - While Erin Daniel is best remembered for her portrayal of the fearful and neurotic Dana Fairbanks on Showtime's The L Word, it's her charming know-it-all and exceeding sensibleness as Jenny on the short-lived Hollywood satire Action (opposite Jay Mohr and Illeana Douglas) that caught my attention as the perfect fit for Journal Moore, an over-educated underachiever with a surprising amount of perception.

Again....not too familiar with her work.

Candice Braving - Aida Turturro yada yada yada I'm tired.

Probably the only choice I don't approve of. Not that she's a bad actress......I just can't stand the look of her. She annoys me so much that...........that I can't be bothered finishing this thought because it involves me having to picture her.







Still....all in all a great cast.

 

[ourchair]

Seriously...aside from Fillion and Bracco---I didn't even think about any of those choices.

And to be quite honest---while he'd be damn near perfect for this role....much like Clive Owen, he can't hide his accent for ****. And that just kills it for me.

Accent? Fillion has an accent? I thought he was just exaggerating it for Firefly. I haven't seen his performance on Drive, but I assumed that his Firefly accent was just really good acting, as he exaggerated that accent even further to play Vigilante in Justice League Unlimited.

Regardless, I've always felt that to most non-Americans, the dozens of different city and state-based accents are fairly indistinguishable and as such, the only accents that 'officially exist' on the big and small screen are the ones that act as broad character stereotypes --- 'Joisey' wiseguys, aw shucks Southerners, Jim Varney type hicks, and the 'neutrals' of New York and Los Angeles.

As such, it's fairly obvious that Fillion has an accent, but not one that can really pigeonhole him as not being believably from New York. (And that only matters if Hundred lived in New York all his life, which by most indications he did, but still...)

As for Chiklis, I cast him as Bradbury long before I posted this round (along with Fillion and Stormare), so it's not a case of mimicking your Shield love so much as my love of his comic side. As I suggested via PM, I had my cast in mind for awhile.

BY THE HAMMER OF THOR!

God why didn't I think of this before!?!?!?! The same way you felt about me casting Lemonhead for the role of Bradbury is the way I feel about this choice. Well played good sir.

I'm glad you approve. I was worried people would think that it was too 'obvious' to cast Stormare as another Eastern European, but like I said it's his skill at 'paternalistic condescension' that clinched the deal for me. I lurve Peter Stormare so much.

Another great choice. Seriously. With the recent return of The Sopranos, I too thought of Bracco for this role. The only reason I didn't go for it is because in the show I wanted there to be some sort of low latent sexual tension between Angotti and Hundred.

I ALMOST cast Michelle Forbes as Angotti, but changed my mind as she has a hoarse voice that really affects her presence, and I wanted a performer who was more New Yorkish and less like the power-dressing type that Forbes is.

In any case, Angotti is a police commish and in my version would need to be a little older, only because I would sincerely doubt the experience a mid-thirties woman --- Mitch is 34 when he is elected --- would have to be a commissioner.

Plus, with the nature of the show, I wanted it to be low-key and keep a lot of the BIG TV names out of it and give some other people a chance.

Oh, I wouldn't really consider Bracco a big name. When I say 'TV' all-stars, I mean the guys with broad memorable performances, not the seriously studious and low-key excellence of people like Bracco (or anyone who doesn't get first-billing on cable-based shows like The Shield and Carnivale).

The names and faces of TV actors may come easy to you and me who are big ****ing Hollywood nerds, but for the general public that merely watches the shows without going online to nerd out these names and faces don't exactly have the instant recall of big screen marquee names in the moviehouses, unless they're on ****ing Friends or something.

Having never seen the "West Wing", I couldn't vouch for Hill's serious cred. But I did recognize the apparent talent on USA's "Psych".

I think the problem with Dule Hill as Wylie is that a) in spite of being 31 years old, Hill has a VERY young face that might strain belief and b) his role on The West Wing was basically an 'eager beaver' young guy.

But I think spending six years around people like Bradley Whitford, Richard Schiff and Rob Lowe would probably have schooled him on how to play the over-educated economically-privileged idealist types that populated that show and transplant that onto himself to play Wylie.

Incidentally, my choice of Fillion came from the following conversation with Compound last year:

Ourchair: Who do you think should play Mitchell Hundred in an Ex Machina HBO series?

Compound: Jason Bateman of Arrested Development.

Ourchair: Ugh.

Compound: Well, that's what BKV said.

Ourchair: Oh come on. What I've learned from listening to hundreds of daft DVD commentaries is that you can't reliably count on creative types --- writers, actors, directors --- to perfectly understand their own brilliance and creativity. Similarly, just because BKV created Ex Machina, doesn't mean he's THE authority on all genius aspects of it.

Compound: But I love Arrested Development. It's a great show.

Ourchair: Yeah, but it's great because Jason Bateman is the straight man among a bunch of crazies. Mitchell Hundred is the crazy one among his straight-arrowed staff.

Compound: Then who would you pick?

Ourchair: Nathan Fillion. Only Malcolm Reynolds would be loony enough of a dickhead to use women to deflect rumors about his possible homosexuality and then grant marriage to a gay firefighter in the same week.

 

[SSJmole]

I gotta say...even though I am extremely proud of my cast, I wish I didn't win by default

Why?

De-fault = The two sweetest words in the English language

 

[Joe Kalicki]

First, I got ripped off again.

Second, there's nothing "neutral" about New York and Los Angeles accents.

I have a neutral accent.

 

[ProjectX2]

Peter Stormare for Kremlin is perfect. That's an excellent pick.

 

[Gideon Stargrave]

Every time I think I have a good cast together, Ourchair posts and I'm too ashamed to post mine. Damn Asians...always undermining my self esteem.

 

[ourchair]

First, I got ripped off again.

Second, there's nothing "neutral" about New York and Los Angeles accents.

I meant New York and LA accents... that are neutral. Not "New York and LA accents 'are' neutral".

I have a neutral accent.

I took the accent quiz. I have a 'Western' accent apparently. Whatever that means.

Every time I think I have a good cast together, Ourchair posts and I'm too ashamed to post mine. Damn Asians...always undermining my self esteem.

Don't talk like that. POST! (And ideally, do it before the round ends, as I have a tendency to post towards the end of the round, unless I'm moderating in which case I post AFTER I declare a winner)

And if you're worried about us Asians, you must not have noticed the Indians who are stealing all your medical jobs.