Re: new cast members...it wasn't only females that were replaced,
remember...there was also Dr. Kyle. But to the point of your question: all of
our performers were great. The question becomes how do they work and come off
as a *unit*? In the best of all possible worlds, the whole is greater than
the sum of its parts. Here, we felt that there wasn't a strong synergy
between the characters. We felt we had to strengthen that.
And that's really all there is or was to it. Is that the best possible role
for this actor, and is this the best possible combination?
And that was the reason behind adjusting the roles otherwise occupied by
Caroline, Laurel and Ben Kyle. That's 2 and 1. We were just as amazed as
anyone else when word came back from Pat's rep that she was passing on the
role of Lyta in order to pursue other opportunities, and we wish her nothing
but luck in the future; it's my personal hope to find some project down the
road where I can work with her again. And I'm sure that this will happen.
That is the whole of the story.
Now for an aside.
Let us all go back in time, for a moment, and consider the description by
Jeff Jarvis and a few others of the B5 pilot's CGI effects as being "cheesy."
(Jarvis as in TV Guide's Jeff Jarvis.) Well, guess what?
We got a phone call today. Foundation Imaging, Ron's company, which did
the CGI EFX for the pilot, was notified today that they have received an Emmy
Award from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for their work on the
B5 pilot. We are now an "Emmy Award Winning Show for Best Special Effects in
a Television Movie."
And that ain't *nothing* compared to what's going to be in the series.
jms |
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