Really interesting casting news for the fourth season of Torchwood, airing this summer on the BBC and Starz. Mekhi Phifer (whose name I always have a terrible time spelling) has been cast as FBI agent Rex Matheson. And Bill Pullman has been cast as Oswald Jones, a convicted murderer and pedophile. They'll be joining original series stars John Barrowman and Eve Myles.
I'm okay with Mekhi. He's a dynamic actor who can handle difficult stuff, although I have a hard time seeing him as something other than a doctor or a cop. (So I guess it's good that he's playing a cop; it's just the sci-fi venue that's new, so he gets to arrest aliens now.) I was a bit put out, though, because I'd heard a rumor that Enver Gjokaj (whose name I also have a terrible time spelling), the guy who did such amazing work as Victor in Dollhouse, was up for the role.
And I'm oddly weirded out by the casting of Bill Pullman, and I'm not sure why. He can definitely act, and I know he can do heavy; he's certainly done a lot more than romantic leads, goofballs, and the test pilot president in Independence Day. Maybe the description of the character is a turnoff. It's hard to picture the star of Spaceballs playing a homicidal pedophile. And maybe it's just weird to see a British show acquiring American cast members.
Casting weirdness aside, I am SO looking forward to the return of Torchwood this summer. And yes, I'm definitely reviewing it.
More about it on The Sci-Fi Wire That Isn't The Sci-Fi Wire Any More.
My Torchwood reviews are archived here.
18 comments:
Interestingly, Enver Gjokaj was just cast in a new USA show called Eden. http://www.deadline.com/2010/12/usa-pilot-eden-finds-its-leads/
Is it wrong that I actually wished it had been Enver cast as Rex instead of Mekhi?
Bill Pullman is intriguing though.
I hated Eve Myles' character Gwen on the UK Torchwood. And now they are bringing her to US Torchwood. That's bad.
I loved Eve Myles' character Gwen on the UK Torchwood, and I'm very happy that they're bringing her to US Torchwood. That's good.
Zob, I'm starting to suspect that you just don't like *anything.*
Hey I liked Torchwood I even got DVDs. It was one of those rare shows broadcasted here and I watched it on tv and thats a rarer thing for me. Usually I prefer dvds or web. I liked the characters apart from Gwen, found stories above average. I liked Torchwood as a whole, I just didn't like Gwen. I even liked her grand-grandmother (Eve Myles' character on Doctor who).
More often than not I prefer not to write good things about shows, because they are already mentioned in the review. (i.e I liked Death in supernatural, he is my favorite character in the series so far and I was glad that he was back but you already wrote it so I just mentioned that they toned down his fearfulness)
I am spending time to watch something, to think about it alone, to think about it as a whole series, sometimes cross-reference it to similar media. That should usually mean I like a series to a point that I invest that much, don't you think :)
note: I thought "fearfulness" was a made up word got surprised when spell-checker ok'd it.
I'm bothered a little by the absence of any women besides Gwen. And how suddenly the team looks so much older. Really missing Tosh, Owen and Ianto now :[
Aww. I wish I'd never heard Enver was in the running, I'd much rather have him cast in Torchwood, as well as every other show I watch.
The premiere of Torchwood: A New Earth has been set for July 1, 2011. And Dichen Lachman of Dollhouse will guest star.
Cheers for the update, Billie. I’ve already started clearing my schedule. But isn’t the series 4 title Torchwood: The New World?
The last article I saw that announced the premiere date gave the title as Torchwood: A New Earth. Maybe they got it wrong.
BBC Marketing are now saying that this date is incorrect and at the moment there is no premiere date set for Torchwood.
According to Jane Espenson, the first read through only happened yesterday. So they haven't even started filming yet
More likely inaccurate Torchwood news here
Whoops, I mean HERE
Hmmm, I'm not sure about the new title, the old one was better, but the story sounds interesting.
Great news, everyone! Lauren Ambrose has joined the cast.
Just saw this too, and how cool is that? Although I'm starting to worry that Torchwood season four can't possibly live up to the level of anticipation I'm feeling, with all of this great casting news and interesting press.
Same here, as much as I'm looking forward to the new season Children of Earth was so good I’m worried they’ll be unable to match it. Considering how inconsistent Russell T. Davies can be there’s a good chance Miracle Day could turn out to be either brilliant, rubbish or somewhere squarely in-between.
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