Picspam: The West Wing Race!Swap Casting

[lirazel]

Aaron Sorkin is a ridiculously talented man. The West Wing is a ridiculously awesome show. But one way in which they both fail is in portrayals of people of color. Charlie Young was written into the show specifically because they didn't have any characters of color--the epitome of tokenism. But our world isn't whitewashed, and neither is the White House, and this is what it might look like if the characters from The West Wing had their races swapped.

Thanks to gingerwall for helping me find a Leo! You're the best!

Note: I haven't made it past Season 5 of the show yet because I am a bad person. So think of this as a race!swap for the first four seasons.


The West Wing: A Race!Swap Casting





Avery Brooks as President Josiah "Jed" Bartlet





Robert Guillaume as Leo McGarry





Tamara Taylor as CJ Cregg





Alexander Siddig as Toby Ziegler





Daniel Dae Kim as Josh Lyman






Enrique Murciano as Sam Seaborn





Dichen Lachman as Donna Moss





Shohreh Aghdashloo as Abbey Bartlet





Anton Yelchin as Charlie Young





Jay Hernandez as Will Bailey






Jasika Nicole as Mandy Hampton






Cicely Tyson as Mrs. Landingham





Irrfan Khan as Danny Concannon






Jessica Sula as Zoey Bartlet






Maggie Q as Amy Gardner






Kerry Washington as Ainsley Hayes






Archie Panjabi as Andrea Wyatt

Comments

[magisterequitum.livejournal.com]

OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. That's about all I have.

Archie Panjabi holy shit, yes.

TAMARA TAYLOR. FUCK YES.

MAGGIE Q.

OMG. FOUR FOR YOU. ALL THE AWARDS FOR YOU.

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

I AM SO INCREDIBLY PLEASED THAT YOU LIKE IT.

And they're all really attractive, aren't they? Gorgeous people.

[angearia.livejournal.com]

OMG YES YES YES

Archie Panjabi and Maggie Q (oh god I love her so much you should watch Nikita!) and okay, you picked the very best quotes ever ever ever.

This is wonderful, truly, indeed. Although there's a part of me that feels that the casting for the West Wing was such absolute perfection that I can't bear to see anyone else playing the roles. I know, what? It defeats the purpose of race!swap casting which is bad. OH, SELF.

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

OMG YAY YAY YAY!

ARCHIE IS MY FAVORITE PERSON. I want to cast her in everything ever.

I tried watching Nikita and didn't get into it? But if it's that lovely, I'll give it another chance.

Seriously, picking the quotes was the most fun thing ever.

I know what you mean! It was flawlessly, flawlessly cast.

this is a flail coming right at ya

[angearia.livejournal.com]

I think Nikita starts off really slow. And it's now suddenly become brilliant. Like how did that happen? And sometimes the lines are a bit really, really now oh come on really? But some of the recent episodes have been like the best television I've seen in a while. It's crazy. And okay, I'm never not gonna love watching women kick ass. I remember you saying once how it seemed unrealistic for women to beat up men, but Slayer works 'cause superstrength, and for me it's like if they have martial training, it's on. Because training teaches you how to use your opponent's strength and weight and size against them. Plus as a woman you have this edge of them underestimating you. And ngl, Maggie Q does the most amazing stunts I've ever seen. It's like she's dancing, then flipping, then suddenly she's flipping around your body and taking you down while breaking your leg and I have to rewind to watch it and I'm like I DON'T KNOW WHAT JUST HAPPENED BUT IT WAS AWESOME AND SHE SHOULD DO IT AGAIN 10 MORE TIMES.

*flaily*

Plus, this show is very much about the ladies. Nikita has a protege on the inside who's she's mentoring and their relationship is wonderful. All the love. All the trust. It's like they're sisters with really different hair who go around killing bad guys and being bamf spies.

Re: this is a flail coming right at ya

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

That...sounds really awesome! I will definitely have to give it another try! YAY MORE TV ABOUT AWESOME LADIES!

Re: this is a flail coming right at ya

[angearia.livejournal.com]

Nikita was infiltrating this bad guy's compound last night and she'd fought against him before and he legit said he hated her because she cut his face last time she beat his ass and he called her WONDER WOMAN.

True story.

Re: this is a flail coming right at ya

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

I bet you flailed so much!

Re: this is a flail coming right at ya

[angearia.livejournal.com]

I did! Especially because of the news about how David E. Kelley is ruining Wonder Woman, ugh. So it was like THIS THIS IS THE REAL WONDER WOMAN, YOU ASSHOLE.

I'm now reblogging nikita-ness on tumblr. Love it.

[pennydrdful.livejournal.com]

You know, all these quotes really make me want to watch the West Wing, now. They seem like such good lines.

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

Oh, you should! I adore (almost) all of the main characters, and the dialogue will make you die of happiness--it's flawless!

[snickfic]

I LOVE MRS LANDINGHAM. JUST IN GENERAL.

And when I think about actors being cast as Mrs. Landingham, all I can think of is what a fab job that woman did playing young Mrs. Landingham. She had the tics and the voice down cold.

That is all.

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

SHE IS LOVELY.

And yes--the younger actress was one of the best people I've seen portraying an already-established character.

[gingerwall.livejournal.com]

YES!!! I love Tamara Taylor as CJ, Daniel Dae Kim as Josh. And Dichen Lachman & Jasika Nicole as anyone. :)

Holy crap, Charlie looks so young in that picture. I forgot he was a baby when he started.

Also, P.S. your quotes are magical.

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

YAY!

I KNOW. He really was a baby! I adore Charlie and Dule Hill in general too much for words.

Hard to go wrong with quotes from this show!

[ever-neutral.livejournal.com]

DANIEL DAE KIM AS JOSH???

AWESOME. \o/

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

I was unsure of how people would feel about that one! So yay for you liking him!

[pocochina.livejournal.com]

lovely as ever! DDK as Josh! Tamara Taylor as CJ! Dichen Lachman!

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

Thank you! :D

[next_to_normal]

Things that are perfect:

1. Robert Guillaume as Leo. He basically played the Leo character on Sports Night, so it makes perfect sense.

2. Tamara Taylor as CJ Cregg. She is fabulous and possibly the ONLY thing I miss about Bones.

3. Enrique Murciano as Sam. OMG YOU FOUND AN ACTUAL LATINO ROB LOWE.

4. Irrfan Khan as Danny. When I ever get around to casting people to play my family, he's totally going to be my uncle.

5. Toby and Ainsley. I don't even know those actors, but they look perfect.

I also don't know the guy you cast as Bartlet, and that's kind of a crucial role, lol, but the ones that I do seem right on.

(Sidebar: You totally make me want to race and/or genderswap things! But I need ideas! lol)

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

OMG YOU FOUND AN ACTUAL LATINO ROB LOWE.

IT WAS HARD LET ME TELL YOU.

YAY FOR EVERYONE YOU LOVE!

Avery Brooks was the captain on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and he was glorious, so he has the gravitas for it, and I think from seeing him in other things that he'd have the humor to pull off Bartlet, too.

(It's such fun! I highly recommend it!)

[shamoogity.livejournal.com]

I love this! I would also love to see a West Wing genderswap. There are so many instances of problematic depictions of gender and race on that show that I never noticed before starting my rewatch. Still a fantastic show, but it's nice to see this sort of critical thought about it.

Have you seen this site btw? Live action genderswap!