Richard Hatch

 Posted on 8/26/1996 by J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com> to CIS


(blocked) asks:
> Were these people you were just "considering" in your head, or
> had they actually read for the part? Wasn't John Rhys Davies on
> Sliders at this time or was this just prior to that? You say Bruce
> looked like how you pictured Sheridan but just how well defined
> was the character at this stage? Is there any chance A Martinez
> might guest star in the future?

Many of the names we were considering don't audition; you know
their work or you don't. Some did. (It's bad form to indicate which
did what.)

While I had a certain idea of the look for Sheridan in my head,
the one thing you learn as a producer is to keep an open mind when it
comes to casting, because sometimes something will happen that you
hadn't anticipated and you go with it.

While I had the name Sheridan, I hadn't locked down his ethnic
background yet, and instructed our casting director accordingly. I
wanted to see a range of people. So we saw not just Caucasian actors,
but hispanics, african american, asian...I felt strongly after the
first season that we didn't have enough ethnic diversity, which is one
of the reasons we changed casting directors to one that had a wider
background in this area. As it turned out Bruce was the best person for
the role, but we went into the process open to whoever walked in the
door.

jms