Some interesting choices there. I don't know about Matthew Fox as Saren though, but I agree with your point on Hugo Weaving.
Don't sell Fox short. He can do cold and detatched with a touch of arrogance (which is what you'll need for Saren prior to Virmire). He can also pull off bat **** crazy (which would be perfect for the council chambers scene, especially if they use Saren's [blackout]suicide[/blackout]).
Not just any actress can play Tali-- her testosterone brigade will be none too pleased if the actress does not live up to their fantasies of how beautiful she is under the mask.
That said, Pinto is actually a pretty good choice.
I like Pinto and for some reason I see the Quarians as Middle Eastern (no doubt due to the game's very subtle metaphors regarding them
).
Matriarch Benezia needs to be more attractive than Sigourney Weaver, who, let's face it, is another cliche. But I can't really think of anyone other than the cliche Salma Hayek or Monica Bellucci right now.
Weaver looks good for her age, but you're right, it is cliche. I didn't want to go with Hayek or Bellucci because as a matriarch, I thought that an older actress was more appropriate. Here's an idea:
Susan Sarandon. You would be hard pressed to find a more attractive 65 year old woman. Portraying a villain in a sci-fi movie would be playing against type for her, but I'm sure she could nail the role.
If you really want to get the fanboys squealing, Summer Glau would be a pretty obvious choice for Tali. Perhaps it's a bit too obvious since saying "Summer Glau should play this cute but slightly awkward girl with odd characteristics in Sci-fi property X" is kind of like saying "Penut butter would be great on a sandwich with jelly," but even so I think it would be pretty novel. She can even fake an Eastern-European accent. ^_^
Only downside is she'd be wearing a mask for about 95% of her screen time, but even that 5% would be enough. (As you may have figured out, I'm a bit of a Summer Glau fanboy and a bit of a Tali fanboy.
)
Ah, its cliche, but some times the cliches are are cliches for a reason. I struggled with Tali, but Glau makes a lot of sense. My ony hesitation is, that everything Glau touches fails. She may be cursed.
I have to say, John Goodman as Wrex is probably the best casting choice i've ever heard.
If the actor's physical form isn't even going to be utilized, I don't see why they can't just go with the original voice actor(s). You're not going to improve over the person who actually created the performance.
Because a studio isn't going to give a 200 million dollar budget to a director who is looking to cast several major supporting roles with video game voice actors. Voice acting (in large part due to Pixar) has become a credible art form in Hollywood. Mainstream actors are lining up to do it, so finding big name actors willing to do the roles won't be hard. Warner Bros isn't going to let a potential tentpole franchise be filled up by video game actors, when you can have a marketable guy like John Goodman on Leno and Letterman promoting the film as one of its actors. So I was trying to be realistical when casting the roles, and I am highly skeptical if Warners is going to be willing to cast the original voice actors in the CGI roles.
Plus, it is becoming common place to use a real actor in the motion captures rather than a stunt man. They incorporate the actors body motions, responses, and even facial expressions into the CGI creation. Acting is more than verbal expression and I'd rather have a real actor doing that kind of stuff than a voice actor who has their motion captures done by a stunt man.
Yeah, that's kind of how I feel too. The Krogans, Turians, and Salarians are almost definitely going to be CG, and unless the actor is on the set doing motion capture / reference footage, the acting side of things will probably all be done in a sound booth. If the character is going to be CG they might as well stick with the original voice actor methinks.
I agree that the Krogans and Salarians will be CGI, but I could see the Turians being a mixture of make up (especially in the facial area) and CGI tweaks. Though a large part of that will depend on who is hired to direct and their preference.
BTW, I made two manips of Summer Glau as Tali, 'cause I'm
weird cool like that.
Not bad.
Well maybe we can get a good director.
