I'm having thinky thoughts again. Someone should really stop me.

[lirazel]

I want to have a discussion. About casting on TV. Really, really great casting, that is.

This discussion is inspired by my current affection for whoever it was who cast Benedict Cumberbatch on Sherlock, because he is so ridiculously, insanely right in that part that it sends me into spasms of delight whenever I think about him.

So what I'm talking about is those actors who are just married to the right material right off the bat: they come in and instantly they just work as the character, selling it immediately and becoming so one with the writing that they create someone real. Who make you sit back and want to write love letters to the casting director (if you're me, anyways, and I'm well aware I'm a bit crazy) thanking them for finding this perfect person for just this perfect role.

This isn't, though, just about good acting. For instance, neither Sarah Michelle Gellar nor James Marsters would be on my list, despite being really wonderful. Smidge wouldn't be there because even though I think she's fantastic in her role as Buffy, I don't think she's so ultimately, awesomely perfect that I can't hardly stand it right from the very beginning--it took me a while to feel that way about her. JM wouldn't be there because that role really grew up around him--he was supposed to be killed off rather quickly, and they just kept bringing him back and giving him more things to do, writing specifically for him, because he was great. But that, to me, is more the show lucking out getting someone so talented than the casting director finding someone indispensable for the role. The same might be said of Enver Gjokaj (whom you all know I adore), I can't decide: the nature of that role was to constantly change, so maybe he is a good example? I'm not really sure.

As another example, I wouldn't put Gillian Jacobs as Britta on Community on the list, either, because even though she's great and is becoming pretty iconic in my mind, I feel like the show floundered a bit trying to figure out who she was. Eventually it did, and it was a glorious thing to behold, but it was a bit wobbly at first. And any actor for whom a character was created isn't going to work either, like Rob Lowe on The West Wing. Or like Christina Hendricks on Mad Men--they changed the part to fit the actress, and thank goodness they did.

Anyways, this is obviously subjective and all based on who just pings for me as a viewer, and I'm not quite sure that I can concretely define what would earn someone a spot on my list. It's like pornography--I know it when I see it.

But here are the people who just popped into my head in the last ten minutes:

- Connie Britton as Tami on Friday Night Lights (a show with some really fabulous casting all-around)
- James Callis as Gaius Baltar on Battlestar Galactica
- Richard Schiff and Allison Janney as Toby and CJ on The West Wing (another show whose casting is so fabulous it seems a shame to single anybody out)
- Leighton Meester as Blair on Gossip Girl (yes, really. Whatever else can be said about that show--most of it bad--girlfriend is Blair Waldorf)
- Danny Pudi on as Abed Community (yeah, there's another one of those wonderfully well-cast shows)
- Hannah Murray and Nicholas Hoult as Cassie and Tony Skins (okay, I need to quit naming shows that just have really strong casting, okay?)
- Hugh Laurie as House on House

Anybody else want to play? Remember, we're talking TV--if we expand it to movies, too, the lists would be endless!

Comments

[angearia.livejournal.com]

Smidge wouldn't be there because even though I think she's fantastic in her role as Buffy, I don't think she's so ultimately, awesomely perfect that I can't hardly stand it.

Aw, see, she's "ultimately, awesomely perfect that I can't hardly stand it" for me, though. :)

I agree about JM and how the role grew up around him, but I think from the very first moment Smidge was on film, she was Buffy. I think it was more that the writing got better in order to best display what Smidge had going, but it was just always there for me. I dunno.

I'd have to agree above that Emily Proctor as Ainsley Hayes is sheer perfection. From the very first scene, I was so utterly delighted and in love with her. Ainsley's barely in the show, but her character is so clear and vibrant--and after seeing Proctor on CSI: Miami (who's so blah and meh and do they even require acting on that show?), it's just that she perfectly brought Ainsley to life.

I think Kristen Bell as Veronica Mars is a great example, too. Love her!

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

Aw, I wasn't clear! She definitely becomes that way for me as the show goes on, but she didn't just grab me by the throat at the very beginning. I thought she was very good, but I felt like she more grew into the role than anything. But I love her lots!

I think it was more that the writing got better in order to best display what Smidge had going, but it was just always there for me.

I can see that. It feels a bit different for me, though, perhaps because I didn't connect to her right away? It took me a while?

I LOVE AINSLEY. Don't you just love how she makes me burst into capslocks? Honestly, I could have had any number of TWW cast members on there. I've never seen her in anything else, but I'm sad she's blah on that show, which I understand isn't very good.

I think that Alona Tal tried out for Veronica? I like her fine, but can you imagine her in that role? NO NO NO. KBELL ALL THE WAY. Also: Keith Mars. Perfect.

[eilowyn.livejournal.com]

We have yet to gush over Papa Mars properly!! YES - perfect for the role, and when you see him (won't be attempting to spell his name here) in other stuff, you get how perfect he was when given a role like Keith.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

My problem with Smidge is that way before she was Buffy, she was Kendal Hart for me, and it took me quite some time to see Buffy instead of Kendal.

[eilowyn.livejournal.com]

Heh. First time my mom saw me watching Buffy, she said "so that's where Kendall went." And because of this, she's never shown much interest in Buffy.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

Heh. That's because Smidge's Kendal (as opposed to Alicia Minshew's) was hateful! :) SMG's Kendal was a lot like her Cruel Intentions character which was just an older version of her teen soap "Swan's Crossing" character. Her Kendal pretended to have been raped, left her tween sister with a known pedophile, and cried a lot. The primary reason I tuned into the BtVS premiere was out of curiosity of whether SMG could pull off playing something other than a villain. :)

[eilowyn.livejournal.com]

. . . and now I know why they originally had Sarah come in to read for Cordelia! Makes tons of sense now!

[eilowyn.livejournal.com]

The thing about Smidge is you didn't realize how perfect she was for the role until she dealt with the tough stuff - in Welcome to the Hellmouth and The Harvest, you could have given KBell's VMars (I like all these nickname things) a stake, and they would have done fine. It isn't until Prophecy Girl that you realize what sets the two apart: Veronica/KBell gets more snarky, more abrasive when pain comes, Buffy/Smidge wears the pain on her sleeve before picking up her stake and doing her duty/facing the Master. This is what makes iconic Buffy iconic - the fact that she shows pain, and it wasn't until the pain came that you realized how perfect the actress was for the part. THEN she became so "ultimately, awesomely perfect that I can't hardly stand it" for me, not from the get go.

[angearia.livejournal.com]

There's a vulnerability in the eyes, a way that Smidge lets her voice trail off, the rhythm of her banter and her joking that was there from the very first moment.

KBell plays hard in Vmars and while I love her to death, I don't think she displays as much range in her voice the way Smidge does. It's the tone.

And for me, that vulnerability was there the whole time. From the moment Buffy backed away from the Vampyr book in quiet horror. There are moments, the spaces in between the lines and the actiony drama, where Smidge fills it with the way she quietly acts in Season 7.

And that was there from the beginning. The potential fit was always there. And while Buffy's greatest pain hadn't been evident, from the moment Buffy arrives in Sunnydale, she is in pain and to convey that in a pilot while also being perky new girl and superpowered Slayer...

It's always been in the eyes for me and it's there in the beginning as I see it.

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

I'm with you on this. Also, I didn't really connect to Buffy the first time I watched the show, so I didn't pay attention to her acting and how good she was till...S5 or so. So that's why she wouldn't be on my list.