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.
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
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.
Posted by Amanecer (Member # 4068) on :
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.
Posted by erosomniac (Member # 6834) on :
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.
Posted by Blayne Bradley (Member # 8565) on :
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.
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
4) They could make her an older woman anyway because she's just soooooooooo cool....
But it's too small a role. She's like my favourite actress How about.. Laura Linney? I like her too.
Posted by maui babe (Member # 1894) on :
Emma Watson = Hermione Granger = too OLD to be Ender's Mom?????
Perhaps you mean a different actress? Emma Thompson perhaps?
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
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.
Posted by erosomniac (Member # 6834) on :
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)
Posted by maui babe (Member # 1894) on :
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.
Posted by Blayne Bradley (Member # 8565) on :
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.
Posted by erosomniac (Member # 6834) on :
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.
Posted by Boris (Member # 6935) on :
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.
Posted by Carrie (Member # 394) on :
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?
Posted by Eaquae Legit (Member # 3063) on :
I'd prefer Ben Kingsley as Mazer, personally.
Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :
I like Patrick Stewart a lot, but I don't see him as even remotely a good fit for that role.
Christopher Walken, however, would be great in it.
Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :
I would enjoy Edward James Olmos as Mazer.
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
My mental images of Graff and Mazer: Bob Hoskins and Ben Kingsley.
Posted by Verily the Younger (Member # 6705) on :
I don't think Patrick Stewart does accents. Even his Professor Xavier is obviously an Englishman.
Posted by Eaquae Legit (Member # 3063) on :
Wow, Tom. No one's ever agreed with me on this before. Ben Kingsley is so perfect for it.
Posted by Boris (Member # 6935) on :
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.
Posted by Sterling (Member # 8096) on :
Yeah, Ben Kingsley would be a great choice for Mazer.
Michael Ironside might be an interesting choice for Graff, if people could forget him in Starship Troopers. Which they probably couldn't.
Let's see.
Ben Affleck? (Just kidding! Just kidding! Don't hit me!)
Anthony Hopkins can do a good American accent and has a broad range.
Geoffery Rush has an intensity that might make for an interesting interpretation.
Posted by Blayne Bradley (Member # 8565) on :
Wait where does it say in EG that he's American? They're making Anderson a woman so you can have creative liscnese.
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
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. Posted by El JT de Spang (Member # 7742) on :
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.
Posted by Juxtapose (Member # 8837) on :
Tom Hanks for Graff? I think he'd put on weight really grotesquely, which is actually part of his appeal to me for this part.
Pricey though.
Posted by Alex Johansen (Member # 9090) on :
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.
Posted by Sterling (Member # 8096) on :
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.
Posted by Alex Johansen (Member # 9090) on :
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.
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
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! "
FG
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
No. When I think of Graff I think James Earl Jones.
He has the weight, and the fatherly commanding voice. Darth Vader's voice can be command my ruthless streak any day.
The only difference between him and the book's Graff is his color, which I don't think was mentioned one way or the other.
He is a bit older that Graff was supposed to be, but I'd swallow it anyway.
Posted by Uprooted (Member # 8353) on :
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.
Posted by El JT de Spang (Member # 7742) on :
I don't think Hanks would take a supporting role, even if he were perfect for it. Which I don't think he is.
Posted by Zamphyr (Member # 6213) on :
I like the Bob Hoskins suggestion.....and after reading this thread and thinking : Graff - military, overweight...hmm, how 'bout an aging action hero.....
Sylvester Stallone Posted by Megan (Member # 5290) on :
What about James Cromwell? He doesn't have the weight, but I like his face for it.
Posted by Reagin (Member # 9095) on :
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 )
Posted by Blayne Bradley (Member # 8565) on :
Personally I think Shatner doesnt have a deep / strong enough voice for the job.
Posted by Scythrop (Member # 5731) on :
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.
Posted by Sterling (Member # 8096) on :
James Earl Jones is an interesting choice. I could see that.
Posted by Epictetus (Member # 6235) on :
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.
Posted by The Pixiest (Member # 1863) on :
Tom Arnold as Graff.
I was originally gonna post that as a joke, but the more I think about it....
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
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.
![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
)