Casting for Voyager

[Horta]

I enjoyed Voyager, almost as much as TNG. I thought many of the stories were very imaginative, I liked the ship and the whole premise of the show. However, I think the weak link of the show, which preveneted a good show from being great, was the casting. Janeway was okay, but I would have liked to see someone more like a "Vache" or a "Shelby" . Instead of Tuvoc, I would have liked to see someone more like "Vorik." Chakotay was okay, but he was too wooden, and had no emotion in his eyes. Hallodoc: perfect! Tom Paris, excellent! The Neelix character could have been a little deeper, not so much focus on food and spices. I would eliminate character of "Kes" becasue I'm usually not a big fan of the magical powers characters unless it is offset by other factors a la Wesley Crusher (I liked Wes). Despite all the tweeks I would make to casting, I love the show. Fixing the casting would turn the show from a "8.5" to a "10".

 

[Thomas Eugene]

It is interesting that you should say that. I actually like all the actors of the show and being an avid VOY fan I find it difficult to imagine the show with different actors.
Hell, we even saw on YouTube, didn't we, how horrible the first choice for Janeway would have been. I guess if we'd seen other actors filling in the position of our favourite characters, most of us would say a definite no to any actors different from the ones we have grown to like.

Oh, and I would have kept Kes and would have kept her in the show throughout. I remember one of the directors mentioning in a documentary that he had already had great plans for the Kes character for Season 4 only to find that she was suddenly out of the show ... Just like certain characters were fleshed out better in later seasons (Tom and B'Elanna for example), who knows what could have happened to Kes? Perhaps she would have turned into the most interesting character ultimately - we will never know. Just imagine keeping both Kes and the Borg guy from DRONE on VOY: I'm sure that neither the Borg or no one else would have stood a chance against Voyager and these two together with Seven and Janeway could have given us the most intriguing Borg story arcs in the history of Star Trek. Just an idea, of course, but I'm trying to show how you can never know what might have happened if certain things had been different.

At the same time I acknowledge that we could perhaps have grown to like other actors in these roles. We'll never know. But I don't think most of us can imagine VOY with different actors now.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

When consistent, Janeway was a fine Captain--especially when playing to her strength as a former Science Officer. Chakotay was dull. Kim was boring. Paris was inoffensive, though never very standout for me. The EMH was a hammy ego-tripping Mary Sue. Seven had potential but was overused. Neelix had his moments, especially when dealing with darker aspects of his past (far better than being the goofy comic relief). Torres was my favourite. Tuvok was a great mentor. Kes was a missed opportunity.

 

[STEPhon IT]

It is interesting that you should say that. I actually like all the actors of the show and being an avid VOY fan I find it difficult to imagine the show with different actors.

Ditto. I loved the cast of Voyager but also liked the performance from Genevieve Bujold. I thought it was a Janeway with a different tone; a tone I felt was much needed for the series. There were times I felt Kate Mulgrew didn't get her character was in the Delta Quadrant and her tone was more action know it all than contemplating she's responsible for her crew spending the rest of their natural lives in an alien universe. Prospects she may never get them home. Something Bujold got immediately, and I wish she didn't drop out of the role.

I also appreciated Bujold appeared more experience than a Katherine Hepburn inspired Mulgrew, Head Scout Master - Tom Boy - better than everyone on the ship. It would've been a different series if the producers decided to accept what Bujold was giving them, but my understanding was they wanted something different. I always felt Voyager had the wrong tone and directive for a series which was far away from their territory.

Less action and more diplomacy making more allies than generating the villain race of the week while the so-called small ship Voyager can handle tons of space battles from larger spacecrafts. Voyager's narrative just never fit the premise of what the series was suppose to entail and the personality and tone starts from the top -- Captain Janeway.

 

[Horta]

Ditto. I loved the cast of Voyager but also liked the performance from Genevieve Bujold (...) and I wish she didn't drop out of the role.
(...) Less action and more diplomacy making more allies than generating the villain race of the week while the so-called small ship Voyager can handle tons of space battles from larger spacecrafts.

I agree! I liked Genevieve Bujold! I think she would have quickly grown into the role. Mulgrew was a good Janeway, but at time I felt she seemed to move around the stage as if she was in a broadway musical...and I agree about the Hepburn reference. Don't get me wrong, Mulgrew is good....but others could have been better. I also agree with your comments that it would have been more interesting to see Voyager making more friends and encounter new technology and phenomena, a few less battle stories. I must say, there are so many good episodes as it is. I also like the fact that they did not abandon the federation ideals.

I do understand that it is hard for many to imagine other actors playing the roles...I feel that way about many characters too.

 

[marlboro]

90% of the things I dislike about Voyager stem from the writing. Some of the casting could have been better however. You don't always have to be a great actor to be perfect for a role.



Roxann Dawson - I like her a lot. Very good when she gets to be in the spotlight. The writers too often fell back on making her overly ... crabby... to put it polity. Instead of exploring her half human/half Klingon struggles they just took a short cut and made her catty and bad tempered in most episodes. I also wish she didn't get stuck with the prosthesis as I think it's restricting from an acting point of view. I think a character who looked completely human but struggled with her secret demons within would have been a lot more interesting.

Ethan Phillips - A good actor stuck in a thankless role. He does a lot of little subtle things that really make scenes work. Good comic timing. All of that talent is wasted on a type of character like Neelix.

Robert Picardo - Hammy, but likeable. It works for the character.

Tim Russ - Very good as Tuvok, but not given nearly enough to do.

Garrett Wang - Not a good actor. Not an interesting character. Just deadwood that the creators inexplicably kept. Instead of minimizing him like Enterprise did with Anthony Montgomery they kept giving him screentime.

Jennifer Lien - Green, but with potential. She usually did a pretty good job and seemed to be getting better as the series progressed. Kes was an interesting character, but the writers had no idea what to do with her apparently.

Robert Duncan McNeill - Not terrible, but not really good either. Too old looking for the part of a snarky hotshot, imo. If you have a character who makes a lot of quips it would help to have writers who know how to write quips that are actually amusing.

Robert Beltran - Not much charisma. Not a particularly interesting character. I really have no strong opinions about him one way or another. He was at his best in episodes when he was in conflict with Janeway and in episodes where he could show a little fire.

Jeri Ryan - I was skeptical about her character going in. I watched Enterprise before watching Voyager and I was afraid she would be exploited like poor Jolene Blalock was in so many episodes. happily I have to say Jeri was a pleasant surprise. The writers seemed to finally find a character they knew how to write for and it breathed a lot of life into the series. She may have been hired for her (considerable) sex appeal but she turned out to be a fine actress: she was great at both comedy and drama equally well, imo. And she is a heck of a singer, too. And then the writers ran the character unto the ground by simply using her too much.

Kate Mulgrew - Some actors have inborn charm and charisma. James Garner, Lucille ball, Paul Newman etc. You either have it or you don't. Mulgrew is just not likable to me. On top of that I think she (like many Trek leads) tends to overact - badly. The difference between Mulgrew and the hammier Trek actors is that she can't under act either. Even is small scenes she is making odd movements with her body and hands to draw attention to herself. The writers absolutely did her character no favors with the way she was written either.


Final thoughts: I think better writing would have helped most of these actors tremendously. If that wasn't an option, I wish some of the weaker actors and characters had been minimized to focus more on secondary characters like Suder, Seska or various minor crew members. Voyager seemed to be tailor made for a strong recurring cast of crewmen.

 

[Refuge]

Since I have the whole collection of Voayger the extras show Genevieve Bujold in scenes later played by Kate Mulgrew. There was no spark to her at all.

The casting was great, wouldn't change a thing.

 

[Prax]

Bujold, from those scenes seen, I think would basically have been like another Picard.

I have a hard time picturing a different people in those roles. Most of Voyager's cast were pretty high caliber actors(save maybe one or two). "Overacting" is basically inherent in a ST show, but not in a bad way. It's more classical, and dramatic, unlike say... A crime drama.

Almost all of Voyager's cast had a background in theatre. I don't know if this was something the producers were particularly looking for, but it's true of other Trek series as well.

Think of Sisko's many long winded(but short breathed) vocal tirades. I have heard people say Avery Brooks is overacting, or Picard's many over the top reactions "Not good enough, damnit! Not good enough!" No one will accuse Patrick Stewart of overacting, but he sure does on Trek.

I need not mention Shatner(even though I just did)
Mulgrew fits the territory.

Edit: I was about to add that I've only seen Bujold in one movie, and that there was something mysterious and frightening about her in this movie(in a good way), and I went on IMDB to make sure it was her... It was the villain in the movie "Silent Hill," and she was actually played by Alice Krige. ...Interesting. I was sure that was Bujold.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Only casting I would change is Chakotay and Kim, they are the ones that ended up majorly phoning it in.

Also would consider less attractive actress for Seven.

Seven was their best written character but marketing revolves around her breasts.

Agree with others who say Voyager’s problems mostly came from he writing.

 

[MacLeod]

Only casting I would change is Chakotay and Kim, they are the ones that ended up majorly phoning it in.

Also would consider less attractive actress for Seven.

Seven was their best written character but marketing revolves around her breasts.

Agree with others who say Voyager’s problems mostly came from he writing.

Attractiveness should not be a determining trait for any position, surely the aim should be to get the best person available for the role.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

It’s a trait that affects perception of the character, no different from height, weight or hair color.

 

[Agony_Boothb]

Kate Mulgrew did a decent job with Janeway. I can't imagine anyone else in the role. In the earlier seasons it's really apparent that Mulgrew is having a good time and it shows in her performance. Then season 4 happens, Janeway becomes a bossy school marm, is written really inconsistently and Mulgrew seems to not be having such a great time and it shows.

Robert Beltran was good when he was given something to do. But he was often just a glorified background extra on the bridge and i can understand why beltran would have been frustrated and phoning it in all the time.-

Roxann Dawson was really good, and I think Torres was the character that had the most satisfying character arc.

Robert Duncan McNeill, having seen him in Masters of the Universe, TNG and Voyager, he tends to just play himself. He wasn't bad, but didn't really stand out.

Robert Picardo, needed to tone it the f*ck down. He started playing the Doctor as an over the top, egotistical, spoiled brat in later seasons and it made him the most irritating and near unlikeable character on the show.

Ethan Phillips did tone it the f'ck down and once he started playing neelix as more of a wise old bartender/everyman the character became more bearable.

Tim Russ was overall pretty good, I think Meld, Worst case scenario and Gravity are probably his stand out episodes. Gravity in particular is probably one of my favourite Voyager episodes, because of Tim Russ's performance. He really sells Tuvok's struggle with his emotions towards Naas. Russ also had pretty good comedic timing as well.

Jeri Ryan, was the strongest actor on the show. Infinite Regress and Body and Soul showed how much range she had and a chameleon like ability to jump into different characters.

Garret Wang was ok when he was allowed to stop being the wide-eyed Ensign for five minutes. I thought Wang gave very solid performances in The Chute and Timeless. The mistake they made was keeping the character stagnant. Kim should have been promoted to Lieutenant pretty early in the series and allowed to grow, but the writers didn't seem to care about him. As a result i don't think Wang cared about the character much either, hence why he gave a shitty performance.

 

[STEPhon IT]

Roxann Dawson - I like her a lot. Very good when she gets to be in the spotlight. The writers too often fell back on making her overly ... crabby... to put it polity. Instead of exploring her half human/half Klingon struggles they just took a short cut and made her catty and bad tempered in most episodes. I also wish she didn't get stuck with the prosthesis as I think it's restricting from an acting point of view. I think a character who looked completely human but struggled with her secret demons within would have been a lot more interesting.

Sorry about the thread drift sorry sorry sorry. It's the one thing I've hated about some of the writers who tackled the facets of the Torres character. There's a bigoted reaction to the alien side of the character, but I'd asked myself why? Why does the alien side of a half breed has to be the negative side??? As if the human race didn't spawn a King James, or an Adolf Hitler?

 

[Lynx]

Since I have the whole collection of Voayger the extras show Genevieve Bujold in scenes later played by Kate Mulgrew. There was no spark to her at all.

The casting was great, wouldn't change a thing.

Nicole Janeway, who can be found on some Youtube clips instead of Kathryn Janeway is actually Kathryn Janeway's aunt. A sister to Kathryn's father Edward Janeway.

Contrary to most members of the Janeway family, Nicole Janeway weren't interested at all in Starfleet and space exploring. She always considered her brother Edward a crazy fool who should have chosen another career instead of Starfleet.

"Man doesn't belong into space", she often said. "It's utter foolishness to travel around in those metal boxes in such dangerous environment".

When Edwards daughter Kathryn decided to join Starfleet, Nicole was furious. "You are a hopeless, reckless fool", she told Edward Janeway. "But worse is that you have raised your daughter to become one hopeless, reckless fool too", she said. And added, "This will end up in a disaster, believe me!"

Nicole Janeway often expressed her compassion for Kathryn's mother Gretchen. "I really feel sorry for her, marrying my stupid brother" but expressed sympathy for Kathryn's sister Phoebe who had chosen to become an artist instead.

When tragedy actually struck and Edward Janeway was killed during an exploring mission, together with Kathryn's fiancée Justin Tighe while Kathryn survived the accident, Nicole Janeway pestered everybody who wanted to listen with comments about "well, what did I say". Finally Phoebe Janeway got tired of hearing her aunt's complaints, lost her temper and told Nicole Janeway where to go.

When Voyager dissapeared in the Badlands, Nicole Janeway continued to tell everyone (except Gretchen and Phoebe Janeway who had broken all contacts with her) that Kathryn only had herself to blame for being as foolish as her father. Due to her not too diplomatic comments about certain family members, Nicole Janeway became rather isolated from the rest of the family. She continued to live on her ostrich farm in Colorado while keeping her negative opinion about space exploring.

The scene with Nicole Janeway as captain on Voyager was actually a nightmare Kathryn Janeway had two nights after Voyager left Ocampa, heading for the distant home. Only in a nightmare could Kathryn Janeway imagine her aunt as the captain on her ship.

More revealing details about Kathryns cousin Lucy Janeway (who we saw in the TNG episode "Man Of The People") and other Voyager events can be found at the Kes Website under the link "Voyager's Mysteries-and how to solve them".

 

[Dashiell Mirai]

Th-th-th thread drift alert!

Only casting I would change is Chakotay and Kim, they are the ones that ended up majorly phoning it in.

Well, I can't speak for Wang, but I can understand why Beltran gave up on the role. I don't personally know if this actually happened, but I've heard multiple times that they had an adviser for Native American culture and cultural sensitivity and all that jazz. Problem was, he was an Armenian conman who didn't know the first thing beyond stereotypes about Native Americans and their culture. By the time he was found out, he took the money and ran. I know this sounds too outrageous to be true, but I've heard barely differing stories like this from all over. Plus, to me, this sounds just outrageous enough to be true. It would sure explain a lot of the blatant stereotyping and "muh spirit guides" bull-honkey that was engaged in. I personally don't think any well-meaning professional would have gone and done that. And as a result, Beltran got so fed up with this, he demanded unrealistic sums and contract changes, phoned in performances, acted like a total diva on purpose, and practically begged to be fired. Like I've said, I can't really corroborate this, but it sure would explain a lot.

 

[Prax]

Th-th-th thread drift alert!



Well, I can't speak for Wang, but I can understand why Beltran gave up on the role. I don't personally know if this actually happened, but I've heard multiple times that they had an adviser for Native American culture and cultural sensitivity and all that jazz. Problem was, he was an Armenian conman who didn't know the first thing beyond stereotypes about Native Americans and their culture. By the time he was found out, he took the money and ran. I know this sounds too outrageous to be true, but I've heard barely differing stories like this from all over. Plus, to me, this sounds just outrageous enough to be true. It would sure explain a lot of the blatant stereotyping and "muh spirit guides" bull-honkey that was engaged in. I personally don't think any well-meaning professional would have gone and done that. And as a result, Beltran got so fed up with this, he demanded unrealistic sums and contract changes, phoned in performances, acted like a total diva on purpose, and practically begged to be fired. Like I've said, I can't really corroborate this, but it sure would explain a lot.

There was a recent discussion about this. It turns out that if the guy was even consulted, it was in 1993 and no later. He may have been consulted for the TNG episode "Journey's End," but we really don't know, as he's no where credited on any TNG or Voyager episode.

 

[Dashiell Mirai]

Huh. Thanks. I was wondering about the whole thing, but I've been too busy binge-rewatching Voyager to investigate

 

[Thomas Eugene]

So, Americans (or anyone else) ... since I live a long way away from your country, could someone throw some light on what the problem was the way Native Americans were portrayed on Voyager? Didn't they have animal guides ... or didn't they make spiritual journeys ... or what else was wrong?

 

[Horta]

Only casting I would change is Chakotay and Kim, they are the ones that ended up majorly phoning it in.

Also would consider less attractive actress for Seven.

Seven was their best written character but marketing revolves around her breasts.

Agree with others who say Voyager’s problems mostly came from he writing.

Seven wasFAntastic. the producers did try to use her as a sex object, which is unfortunate, but certainly not Seven's fault. They should have kept her body mostly borg so it was not so sexualized, or they could have put her into a standard Starfleet uniform. Bela Torres had an attractive body, but she look professional and non sexual in her uniform. It's the fault of the producers.

 

[Refuge]

Seven wasFAntastic. the producers did try to use her as a sex object, which is unfortunate, but certainly not Seven's fault. They should have kept her body mostly borg so it was not so sexualized, or they could have put her into a standard Starfleet uniform. Bela Torres had an attractive body, but she look professional and non sexual in her uniform. It's the fault of the producers.

I remember being 'hit in the face' with Seven's overtly sexual image. Who wasn't? Yet either I've grown up or become desensitised but now I see Seven as a character.