Topic: Ok lets get it all down straight who should play Graff....
Blayne Bradley
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posted
Patrick Stewart. There can be noone else who can better do that job, he has the *look* he can so do the stressed tired look, even look good with weight put on and is used to a science fiction / morallity issue setting.
And should be good with his military Jargon. Seriosuly he'ld make a great Graff, he has the voice, the look, the stance, he looks like has has authority and has always been the man in the ST universe to do as he sees is right for the benefit of all. But is willing to make the sacrifices needed and not lose his humanity doing so, he can IMHO play the role as a saddened officer doing what is nessasary for the benefit of the human race yet take on the responsibility of making Ender and to a lesser extent Bean suffer and yet show how much its hurting him inside knowing what hes doing and WILL do to him.
That is my case and I stand by it. Mazer is debatable, I was thinking Sean Connery but I don't think we cfould make him Maori enough, but Card's choice seems doable.
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Haven't read the book in a while, but wasn't Graff overweight? And when I picture Mazer I picture a tall, skinny lanky sort of dude. Around 40... not old like Sean Connery, but that's just me... How about using some complete unknowns? They never make enough movies with complete unknowns. Maybe Emily Watson could be Ender's mom. I just like her so much I'd love to just throw her into the movie because she's cool.
Posts: 9942 | Registered: Mar 2003
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Hmmm, I can't picture Patrick Stewart as Graff. Stewart is always perfectly composed. He just has that aura of being in control. Graff is not very emotionally in control. He stresses and worries a great deal and this is reflected in his shifting weight.
Posts: 1947 | Registered: Aug 2002
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1) Graff's an American. 2) Yeah, he's overweight - significantly overweight by the time the series is done. 3) I get the distinct impression that Mazer is much older than 40 by the time Ender meets him - closer to his late 50s, possibly even early 60s. I could be wrong, though. 4) Emily Watson is way, way too old to be Ender's mom.
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Blayne Bradley
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Most Army Colonels (with the possible exception of AD colonels) are actually in and around the same age bracket as Patrick Stewart is now. Wieght can be added on via makeup department, and Stewarts an actor he can stress out a little if need be.
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1) I bet Stewart could do an American accent. If Hugh Laurie can do it... 2) This is a movie, not an exact on-screen replica of the book. I doubt anyone casting this movie is going to care if the character in the novel is described as over weight. I imagine all the kids will be cast as beautiful, except for the comic relief. Who will be cute.
Posts: 1528 | Registered: Nov 2004
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quote:2) This is a movie, not an exact on-screen replica of the book. I doubt anyone casting this movie is going to care if the character in the novel is described as over weight. I imagine all the kids will be cast as beautiful, except for the comic relief. Who will be cute.
True - my objections are probably just a manifestation of my innate dissatisfaction with the idea of Patrick Stewart playing Graff.
(That was way, way too wordy a sentence)
Posts: 4313 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Oops. Sorry. Well, based on IMDB, she's in her late 30's... hardly too old to be the mother of three school aged children.
Posts: 2069 | Registered: May 2001
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Blayne Bradley
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OKAY for one thing, Stewart played Jean-Luc Picard, someone who is supposed to be from... FRANCE! And yet he has that accent?
Think logically people! We can all say that its just a Fleet Accent, gained from studying at wherever he was and then from years of service in the fleet.
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quote:Oops. Sorry. Well, based on IMDB, she's in her late 30's... hardly too old to be the mother of three school aged children.
I'm thinking more in terms of the Enderverse. If I'm approximating correctly, Ender's parents aren't even 30 when he's taken.
quote:OKAY for one thing, Stewart played Jean-Luc Picard, someone who is supposed to be from... FRANCE! And yet he has that accent?
Think logically people! We can all say that its just a Fleet Accent, gained from studying at wherever he was and then from years of service in the fleet.
Why bother, when they could just pick someone much better suited to the role in the first place, thereby dodging the entire issue?
Patrick Stewart is also way, way too old to play Graff.
Posts: 4313 | Registered: Sep 2004
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I don't know why, but Brandon Gleeson popped into my head for Graff. Just for looks, I'd say Temuera Morrison for Mazer. Age him up a good bit, of course But he ain't that great an actor, I'm afraid. Well, maybe he is. I suppose having to be a clone in a certain Star Wars movie just made his weaknesses more horrendous.
Posts: 3003 | Registered: Oct 2004
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I will boycott any movie that requires Patrick Stewart to have an American accent. Even if it is "Ender's Game." Besides, he needs to leave the genre at some point... right?
Posts: 3932 | Registered: Sep 1999
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I don't think Patrick Stewart does accents. Even his Professor Xavier is obviously an Englishman.
Posts: 1814 | Registered: Jul 2004
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Actually, now that I've looked at it, Ben Kingsley looks a lot like what I pictured Mazer looking...like (Wow. that was an awkward sentence.) But for Graff...Bob Hoskins? Smee from Hook? I can't see it. Sorry.
Posts: 3003 | Registered: Oct 2004
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See, I NEVER see Graff as a particularly military guy, and certainly not a guy with a military bearing and/or competency. He strikes me -- and has ALWAYS struck me -- as kind of a desperate schlub. Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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I thought Mazer was supposed to be way younger than one would expect, what with all the travelling. I thought he would be late thirties, early forties.
Ben Kingsley is leathery enough to be a good Mazer, but I think Graff needs to be someone who can play quiet desperation.
Posts: 5462 | Registered: Apr 2005
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Hmm, I actually like the idea of Sean Connery as Mazer, he just seems a bit too.... uhh "spry" for the role. Even though Rackham is spry, he supposively "doesn't look it" at first.
Emily Watson would be a good mom too, she can be made to look younger anyways.
Graff needs to be someone like Dan Akroid, he was at least partially serious in Ghost Busters.
Posts: 141 | Registered: Jan 2006
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I always remember Graff as the guy whose "reverse drill sargeant" routine isolated Ender from the other launchies, and set Dragon up to fight two teams at once.
He may be desperate, but there's a ruthless streak there. And while I love Hanks, I don't see that in him. Even when he played a hitman in "Road to Perdition", it was like the violence was somehow disassociated from the character.
Posts: 3826 | Registered: May 2005
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Yeah, Hanks is a bit too... I don't know. I was about to say he's passionae, yet no hardcore o military at all. Except in Saving Pivate Ryan, he doesn't strike me as a military man at all, in fact in that movie wasn't he a detective or something? I only saw part of it, wa movies don'tintrigue me if they go too much into plot, not every war has to have a bunch of hidden easons that make it start.
Anyways, I'm talking abot subjects I don't know much about, much like my "king of men" thread, so I should just be quiet.
Graff should be more than a little overweight, with a noncaring facing, lazy, and other qualities, just... not Tom Hanks.
He's too Polar Express for me.
Posts: 141 | Registered: Jan 2006
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I would rather them pick an "unknown" to play Mazar. That would keep my mind from saying "There's Captain Picard" or "There's James Bond" or whatever. Because actors usually get stuck in my mind as the first role I saw them in - or whatever role I saw them in the most.
Just like I can never see John de Lancie in any role of any show without thinking "There's Q! "
posted
Hmm. I haven't known some of the actors mentioned here, so can't weigh in on them. But definitely not Patrick Stewart for Graff. I think James Earl Jones clicks for me better than anyone else mentioned. Hanks might be able to pull it off, but he's just so danged sympathetic most of the time . . . not sure if I can see him pulling off making Ender believe he's an uncaring SOB. But I really do love Hanks as an actor, so the idea is growing on me as I think about it. Okay, shutting up now.
Posts: 3149 | Registered: Jul 2005
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I don't think Hanks would take a supporting role, even if he were perfect for it. Which I don't think he is.
Posts: 5462 | Registered: Apr 2005
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I like the Bob Hoskins suggestion.....and after reading this thread and thinking : Graff - military, overweight...hmm, how 'bout an aging action hero.....
posted
I think the captain of the Enterprise would make a great Graff... just not Stewart. For an overweight, intelligent commander I would have to say:
Bill Shatner would make for a good Graff.
Minus the Denny Crane Mad Cow problems, I think his voice and physical appearance fit well. He would need a good director to squeeze the performance out of him though.
(First post from a long time lurker )
Posts: 1 | Registered: Jan 2006
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Blayne Bradley
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Personally I think Shatner doesnt have a deep / strong enough voice for the job.
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I'd like to second Icarus' suggestion of Edward James Olmos for Mazer.
What about Adam Baldwin for Graff? (I'm thinking of him more as his role in 'Angel' than as Jayne...) A very capable actor, reasonably close to the age requirement, big enough build that he could be bulked up or down according to the director's needs.
Posts: 466 | Registered: Sep 2003
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I agree that Graff should be an unknown, and definatly not Shatner or Stewart. I'm sorry, but I can't see them in shows now without thinking "there's Captain Kirk/Picard!"
I like Ben Kingsley for Mazer, though I was thinking maybe Bill Nighy. Of course, I just saw Underworld 2, so I may just be suffering from an Underworld high right now.
Posts: 681 | Registered: Feb 2004
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But he ain't that great an actor, I'm afraid. Well, maybe he is. I suppose having to be a clone in a certain Star Wars movie just made his weaknesses more horrendous.
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