character reference: Shania

[nathalia]

 Lately, I have been making more character-related icons and I've come across a problem: While it's easy to find actors who look a lot like my characters in some cases, there are a few tricky ones that make me wonder if there even are people in real life who look like my characters.

Take Shania. Tall black woman with an athletic built but with curves, not flat-chested but also not consisting mostly of boobs. A woman who is taller than some of the men she meets. Not unnaturally tall 12 feet tall but about 6. The warrior-type who can hold herself against just about anyone in hand to hand combat but doesn't look like a female athlete from East Germany, on steroids, more male than female. I have looked everywhere because it's not just about looks for me, I also want to think that the actress could potentially pull off the part. I have found a few candidates by now but none of them is the perfect Shania (though one comes really close).

 

The first person I think of when I think tall, athletic, kickass is of course Gina Torres.

I don't think I need to get into the details. Gina Torres is awesome, fair and simple, but I don't see her as Shania. She's Zoe to me and Shania and Zoe are too similar in too many aspects and it would feel too much like stealing if that makes any sense. Alan Tudyk who plays Wash, Gina Torres' / Zoe's husband on Firefly, is not like Hobbie and in the other big thing I've seen him, as Alpha in Dollhouse, he's not like Hobbie either and that makes it work for me. I think he could pull it off based on those two performances and that's it. Peter Krause (Dennis) is the same.

 

While watching The Matrix Trilogy, I spotted Nona Gaye who plays Gina Torres' sister and she looks like a strong woman, beautiful in her own way but while she is better than Gina Torres because she's not that similar to Shania in the part, there's still something off. I don't know how to describe it but I decided that she would probably do.

 

But there's something not right about her.

 

And today I came across an episode of Doctor Who that starred Sophie Okonedo and she kicked ass in that episode and was sexy and a real warrior and just ... wow. And I've seen her in so many things but when I saw her on that episode of Doctor Who, I didn't make the connection. So, right now I'm wondering and thinking about it a lot. Have I found Shania?

 

 

 

I will do this again. Next time, I will write about an even more frustrating character, Wes Janson.
 

Comments

[kaitygirl88.livejournal.com]

Oh man, I know exactly how you feel! I'm doing a scrapbook sort of thing for the RaTs anniversary so I've been scouring the internet for people that might be able to play the Blazes. I had pictures all picked out whenever I first started writing, but when I look at them now I smack myself upside the head because the majority of them aren't right at all!

It's the worst when you find people that could be your character, but there's just something there that doesn't click. I really like Sophie Okonedo, she's one of those actresses that I can never remember but whenever I see her in something I know I'll like it. I hope she works out for you, and happy actor hunting!

[nathskywalker.livejournal.com]

I only start looking when the characters are fleshed out. Otherwise, it wouldn't work for me. You're right about the not clicking thing. That's how I feel about Gina Torres. There's just something wrong about her.

And when I saw Sophie Okonedo as Queen Elizabeth X. on Doctor Who (I'm catching up right now), I didn't realize who she was but she was wearing a cape and had two guns and was taking guys out left and right and I lost track of the plot thinking "Shania!". When I looked her up and saw that she had been in so much and that I love all of it, the decision was even easier to make :)

I'm looking forward to see your casting. I still think Tahmoh Penikett would make a good Paul. That's who I always picture. Tall, strong and I know the man's really good in hand-to-hand combat and he looks like a soldier ;)

http://blastr.com/assets_c/2011/02/TahmohPenikettBG-thumb-500x360-57508.jpeg

[theoryoferin.livejournal.com]

I've also gone through a lot of frustration, though, I tend to just scour the internet for models [usually on deviantArt, in all honesty] and stock photos for mine, rather than actors or anything -- with the obvious exception of nick and aaron, lol -- but it is definitely the most frustrating thing EVER.

i should really work on my LTA website and putting up my character profiles like this... now you've inspired me. ;]

[nathskywalker.livejournal.com]

Nick and Aaron are Backstreet Boys, right? :P

Since we all know that Misfits will one day, in say, 20 years, be a big TV show, I need to cast my characters with legitimate actors who will all be too old to star in my show XD lol j/k.

I think for me is that I need more than a picture. I need to see if their mannerisms, the way they carry themselves etc. would work for me. I'm strange like that.

[smoothiegarten.livejournal.com]

Sophie Okonedo is awesome and would probably be a really kickass Shania. :D That's a nice headshot of her that you found.

Good luck with Wes :P

[nathskywalker.livejournal.com]

From everything I've seen her in, she's such a strong woman and she is pretty but she's more than just that and she looks natural and I think I'm really happy with the result :D

Wes is impossible! You will see.

[hi-falootin.livejournal.com]

Maybe it's the look she's giving us in her picture, but I can see Sophie Okonedo as Shania! I find that a lot of the time I'll come across a picture that reminds me of a character even if the actor doesn't always. And hey, that works for icons!

I'd also like to see who's in the running for Wes. I'd love to get a better idea of how you envision him :)

And: there are a few tricky ones that make me wonder if there even are people in real life who look like my characters.

this is how I feel about almost all my characters!! >/ idk if it's cause I draw them so I already have a pretty distinct image in my mind (both cartoony and more realistic...I've attempted both with at least the major MCs). I don't think I have any characters that I could point to an actor to and be like "s/he looks just like this!" Though this Lily Allen icon reminds me of Levee.
and tbh I get a kick out of thinking Rayn looks a little like 80s era Keanu Reeves:

[nathskywalker.livejournal.com]

I think I'm worse. For me it's not enough to see a picture. I want them to be able to pull it off or at the very least be talented. You know, for when Misfits is turned into a TV show and I can cast all those actors to star in it ;)

I started out thinking that there were no people who looked like my characters or could capture the essence of them but after many years of thinking and looking around, I've pinned down quite a few :)

You have the advantage that you can visualize your characters with your art! I need to rely on existing people because my characters would all look like stick figures. There are two characters where I can now go, "That's exactly him / her!". Hobbie (Alan Tudyk), Stella (Sonya Walger) and Bishop (Timothy Dalton).

With Timothy Dalton, it was kind of funny because for some reason, I never realized that he was old before I saw him in Chuck. The most recent work of his I had seen before his appearances on Chuck was "License to Kill" which is twenty-two years old. And I kept staring at the 65 year old Dalton in Chuck going, "man, that guy hasn't aged well since License to Kill" XD I changed my mind when I realized that License to Kill wasn't anywhere near recent XD

Keanu Reeves looks Raynish in that picture but I don't think he would really have the range to play Rayn. I think of him as an actor who's not all that great ;) I can see the similarity though.

[hi-falootin.livejournal.com]

ah yes, if you're trying to find actual potential actors, that is a lot more tricky! I usually look for photos of people who look like my characters just to use as references more than anything else.

I like Alan Tudyk as Hobbie but I don't think I've ever seen him do anything ~darker. Has he?

All I will say about Keanu is...his best and most appropriate role ever was Ted of Bill and Ted. And I will maintain that position indefinitely :3

[nathskywalker.livejournal.com]

Alan Tudyk was great in Firefly but I only made the Hobbie connection when I saw him in Dollhouse. He plays a "doll" called Alpha, basically a blank slate that has personalities and skill sets uploaded into him for different jobs and goes a little crazy in the process with all the fifty personalities that were uploaded while he worked at the Dollhouse being activated at once. He escapes the Dollhouse after killing a few other dolls and slashing them. He is really scary and impressive and there is one episode where I feel like he's channeling Heath Ledger's Joker. He was in four episodes but so incredibly memorable. Can't find youtube videos of his performance that aren't weird fanmade video clips though :(

ETA: Omega (http://www.zshare.net/video/597796443e9a54c6/) should give you an idea. The recap has one or two nice bits and the car scene about two minutes is weird and it's not the best example I can find for him being really dark and psychotic (and Eliza Dushku is really annoying in that scene) but it might give you an idea.

ETA 2: I continued watching that episode and there is a flashback 4.5 minutes in where Alan Tudyk interrogates someone with a tiny bit of threatened torture. I had completely forgotten about it (only bits and pieces of the show are truly memorable). It ends shortly after the 7 minute mark but I think that's the perfect scene to show dark Alan Tudyk. I think the episode before that made me go "hey, he's Hobbie" but that scene probably helped a lot.

[writer-me.livejournal.com]

I agree with the others I think Sophie would be good for Shania too.

I think a lot of us have that problem. We envisage how our characters look like to ourselves but when we come across questions like I've seen on the NaNoWriMo website where people ask "If you were to make a film version of your book/story who would play your characters?" most of us would be pretty stumped. Because the idea we have in our heads isn't necessarily meant to fit a specific actor/living person.

I tried that exercise and found that it doesn't help that as I get to know my characters better the person I imagine playing them often changes.

[nathskywalker.livejournal.com]

I have worked out a lot of my character but then again it has taken me ages to do so and lots of my choices are in the TV actor field. I have no idea why. By now, I would be able to make a rudimentary list if need be with part of it being "Wes: ?????" XD

I've written most of my characters for seven or eight years now, so I think I know them pretty well at this point to find the right actor. If they exist.

I'm convinced that Sophie is the one by now :D

[writer-me.livejournal.com]

lots of my choices are in the TV actor field. I have no idea why

As you said to theoryoferin above you need to see how they react to a certain situation, their mannerisms etc. To my mind T.V. actors tend to be a better choice because we have more of an idea of their range, as a lot of them are seen in a wide variety of roles.

The problem with singers, t.v. personalities (presenters) and models is that they appear to have a limited range to them. Models and t.v. personalities you don't really get to see how they react in different situations as they really only have one "mode": posing/speaking in front of a camera (Ok a few models will walk down a catwalk but that doesn't prove they can act either).

Film actors have more of a range but, I think, tend to be typecast a lot more easily.

And singers only have three "modes": Interview, Live Performance and Music Video - notable exceptions being those involved in musical theatre (and possibly opera singers) who have to be able to sing, dance and act all at the same time.

Sophie is an excellent choice :D

My main problem at the moment is that I keep mentally casting Ben Barnes and Henry Cavill - or variations of their images at least - in practically everything I write (I have three separate stories so far that I've realised I've cast them in. Two of those stories as the main characters *headdesk*). So I need to figure out which story, if any, they would be suited for, keep them there and figure out who could be cast in the other parts.

[nathskywalker.livejournal.com]

Models, TV personalities and singers aren't options for me. A lot of the popular singers today can't even sing, how could I possibly believe that they can act? And with them it's all about being a persona and eww. no. no way.

Henry Cavill is the Tudors guy who was recently cast as Superman / Clark Kent in the new Superman movie "Man of Steel" directed by Zac Snyder, right? I have a problem with him. I've never seen him act but I've only ever heard good things but he can't be Superman. I have a very exact mental image of Superman and Henry Cavill is handsome and attractive and sexy but he can't ever be my Superman. I have too strong an attachment to Christopher Reeve and I didn't even see the Superman films until I was pretty old already but even before I had ever even seen a picture of Christopher Reeve, I knew that Superman looked like him because I grew up thinking that my dad is Superman. He's been mistaken for Christopher Reeve several times (he looks more like Reeve as Clark Kent than Superman) but to me, if the guy playing Superman doesn't remind me of my father, then he's not the right guy for the part. Fair and simple. As bad as Superman Returns was, Brandon Routh at least looked a lot like Christopher Reeve / my dad. And Henry Cavill is sexy and that alone makes it impossible for me to think of him as Superman. Superman can't be sexy because he looks like my dad!



Anyway, I don't ever have the problem as casting the same actor as more than one character because all my stories take place in the same universe. There are 250 or so characters and several self-contained stories but they all live in the same universe. I have sort of the opposite problem though. I'm dying to find a character who I picture in my mind as looking like either Tahmoh Penikett or Adam Baldwin. I want those two actors to be the visual representation of any of my characters but there isn't anybody who makes me think of them. I have an unhealthy obsession with both Adam Baldwin and Tahmoh Penikett though it's worse with Baldwin XD