Did they change it for her or did they change it first -- DUNE Novels Discussion Board

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04/25/24 01:09:22 [ Login ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, [3], 4 ]

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Date Posted: 11:51:44 05/02/03 Fri
Author: IDAHO
Subject: Did they change it for her or did they change it first
In reply to: theButterfly 's message, "I will agree that her acting wasn't the problem." on 02:39:04 05/02/03 Fri

Well, the only thing I could say to respond to your complaints is that I'm not sure they changed the role just so they could have a known actress star in the mini. I'm not saying that they didn't or that it wouldn't happen, but what if the breakdown of the role of Wensicia was for the mini originally was that of a woman in her 40's to 50's to play the elder sister of Irulan Corrino?
In that case Susan Sarandon wouldn't necessarily be a bad choice because she really did fit the qualifications.

I can see a few reasons why they would change the role in this way without any consideration of who would play her. One reason is that they wanted someone who could play opposite Jessica Atreides. In a way, Wensicia was made out to be sort of the "evil" version of Jessica. They might have wanted an actress of similar age and bearing. Also, they needed an actress who could believably be the mother of someone who was in his 20's. Those are good reasons to cast an older actress in the role. Notice in the mini's they never really focus on Spice consumption leading to a youthful appearance. They only mention that it extends life, and only very briefly at that.

Now, as for casting a name actress...They similarly went with William Hurt in the first mini, though the role of the Duke is clearly that of a dark haired greek man (same goes for Paul too in fact). Big names attract audiences in many cases and add credibility to projects. Susan Sarandon is an academy award winning actress. If she wanted to be in some project I was putting together, I certainly wouldn't mind someone with that kind of clout being a part of the project. Also, if the character required that I make small changes in order to cast that actor, I would probably do it as long as it didn't harm the integrity of the story or take something vital away.

In COD I didn't think the changing of Wensicia harmed the overall story. And it seems from your post that you didn't think that either. It seems to me that your beef is simply that they changed it at all. Again, I think it made perfect sense in the parameters that they used to redefine the character and didn't detract from the story.
It seems like your only real problem is that she was older than Irulan and looked quite a bit older. That didn't really bother me at all for the same reasons mentioned above.
And if you want to point to the Spice as being a factor that would have made them look closer in age, I could point to the fact that Irulan's Bene gesserit training kept her young and attractive while Wensicia looked more her age.

thoughts?

-IDAHO-

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Replies:

All good points... -- theButterfly, 15:32:55 05/02/03 Fri
- I knew you were the same B-Fly -- IDAHO, 16:33:40 05/02/03 Fri
  - Again well... -- G-Lock, 18:47:24 05/02/03 Fri
    - Yet another view on the tired subjects of Sarandon and future mini's -- Irulan Corrino-Atreides, 21:46:11 05/02/03 Fri
      - Oh you PRUDE! -- IDAHO, 23:59:42 05/02/03 Fri
        Whatever... -- G-Lock, 03:14:34 05/03/03 Sat
        Alright, Alright.... -- Irulan Corrino-Atreides, 20:23:09 05/10/03 Sat
      - The new minies -- DriftMaker, 22:34:14 05/03/03 Sat
        Myth of the Messiah -- IDAHO, 01:26:25 05/04/03 Sun
        Confusion -- DriftMaker, 09:58:09 05/04/03 Sun