Looking to the upcoming Star Trek revamp, it strikes me that one of my ongoing arguments about changes in the general moviescape–that actors are comparatively less important in themselves than the characters they play–is really going to be put to the test here. Surely few parts are so identified with the actors who played them then the original Star Trek crew.
William Shatner is reportedly ‘sad’ that he won’t be doing a cameo as the older Kirk in the Abrams film. From Abrams standpoint, though, why would he want him to? He’s attempting to revamp the series for kids who never really had the original actors imprinted upon them, not the folks in their ’40s through ’70s who grew up associating those actors with those parts. For this audience, Shatner is the old fart in Boston Legal and those campy Priceline commercials. Abrams wants to cut the chord, and I can’t say he’s wrong.
Certain parts have traditionally been played by different actors, whether the Universal monsters (save Larry Talbot), Sherlock Holmes, James Bond (the critical point being the series’ survival after Sean Connery left), Batman and Dr. Who. Arguably even Godzilla was ‘different’ as the series progressed, since his look and mien changed from film to film.
The last decade or two, meanwhile, have seen the idea of ‘iconic’ actors increasingly swamped by truly iconic roles. When it gets down to it, Batman, Spider-Man, Superman et al can be played by any vaguely appropriate actor if the movie around them is solid enough.
Some modern parts, freshly brought to the movie screen, are currently associated with one actor (Tony Stark, Jason Bourne, Jack Sparrow). Yet if their franchises become popular enough to last, eventually they too will be revamped and played by different actors. We are seeing this now with the upcoming Nightmare on Elm Street redo, as the once unthinkable occurs and Robert Englund is replaced as Freddy Krueger.
In large part, this is again a generational thing. Star Trek fans are jealous creatures. The fact is, however, that they’ve succeeded in championing something that now has become successful enough to go beyond their control. Many of them won’t accept the new cast as the crew of the Enterprise (I might not myself, and I’m not particularly a Trekkie). Such concerns are irrelevant, however. Their beloved series has been culturally assimulated.
