Remember the "Recast Buffy" challenge from Buzz Sugar? - BtVS

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January 24 2008

Remember the "Recast Buffy" challenge from Buzz Sugar? The results are in, and the choices for Willow, Spike and Giles are very interesting. Angel, though, not so much.

impalergeneral | BtVS | 14:42 CET | 63 comments total | tags: slayer, vampire, the, buffy, buzz sugar

*laughs* Who wants to point out the mistake? ;)

gossi | January 24, 14:48 CET

I'm confused as to what you guys are talking about. What mistake? Who's not recast? Are you referring to Spike being recast by James Marsden (currently starring in 27 Dresses), as opposed to James Marsters?

I'm now crossing my fingers that the answer isn't glaringly obvious.

[ edited by karosurly on 2008-01-24 20:57 ]

karosurly | January 24, 14:56 CET

Can't get past those creepy smiles. (And I don't mean the Gentlemen.)

[ edited by Love's Bitch on 2008-01-25 00:57 ]

Love's Bitch | January 24, 14:59 CET

James Marsden? How lazy a recast is that? Not that he'd be in any way appropriate for the role, but it's easy to remember.

Who's Leighton Meester?

[ edited by redeem147 on 2008-01-24 21:07 ]

redeem147 | January 24, 15:06 CET

Who is Kirsten Bell?

IrrationaliTV | January 24, 15:16 CET

it looks like there's one character no one thought should be recast.

Which character? I went back and looked at everyone's choices and I thought I saw every major character represented.

[ edited by menomegirl on 2008-01-24 21:27 ]

menomegirl | January 24, 15:18 CET

Also confused about the not recast and the mistake (it's not the Kirsten Bell typo, is it?).

redeem147, Leighton Meester is on Gossip Girl. (All due respect, she wouldn't stand a chance with the Buffy role, unlike the voiceover actress for the title character of her show, Kristen Bell. =)

jam2 | January 24, 15:34 CET

Sorry, I should have taken a closer look at the list. On the other hand, the person who wrote this article should know how to spell "Kristen".
Also, anyone think Jason Dohring could have made a better Angel than Josh Duhamel?

[ edited by impalergeneral on 2008-01-24 21:54 ]

impalergeneral | January 24, 15:52 CET

I...don't like this list. At. All. I like Kelsey Grammar, but think he would make a terrible Giles. Horrifying actually. What about Sean Bean? Ooh! Or Alan Rickman!

I like the Jason Dohring idea. In fact, let's have a Veronica Mars reunion, and have Kristen Bell as Buffy, Jason Dohring as Angel, and Tina Majorino as Faith. With car ~~salesman~~* rental clerk Joss as the big bad!

Amber Tamblyn would be a great choice for Willow.

Tonks from Harry Potter would make a good Drusilla.

And I'd love to see Franka Potente as someone...not sure who as she's just a bit too old to play Buffy.

I can't imagine anybody other than James Marsters playing Spike, no matter how hard I try.

*d'oh!

[ edited by ladygrey on 2008-01-24 22:43 ]

ladygrey | January 24, 16:15 CET

You mean Joss the car rental clerk as the Big Bad, right? That sounds even more scary than the Mayor of Sunnydale as the Big Bad.

impalergeneral | January 24, 16:23 CET

Giles — Kelsey Grammer

HAhahahHahaha...
I needed a good laugh today.

kerfuffle | January 24, 16:34 CET

You mean Joss the car rental clerk as the Big Bad, right? That sounds even more scary than the Mayor of Sunnydale as the Big Bad.

Yes, exactly! He'd be a combination of Car-Rental-Clerk Joss and River-Tam-Interrogating-Doctor Joss, with Mayor-like qualities and occasional Dances of Shame for good measure. Give him an apple peeler and a very fine hat, and you have one scary villian.

ladygrey | January 24, 16:36 CET

I can actually see Leighton Meester doing a decent job as Buffy! She'd also be a fantastic Cordelia, as anyone who watches Gossip Girl can probably attest.

spidermansays | January 24, 16:43 CET

Those photos are the scariest things.

Simon | January 24, 16:49 CET

Am I the only one who feels it's a little too soon for something like this? Most of the original actors could step back into the roles with only a moderate suspension of disbelief.

marpocky | January 24, 16:54 CET

Angelina Jolie as Dru? Seriously?

Samantha | January 24, 17:05 CET

Really coulda done without the photoshopped images.

Sunfire | January 24, 17:12 CET

I'd recast the season's Big Bad as ... those photos. Honestly, forget Caleb or The Mayor, those photos scare the bejeesus out of me. I think Photoshop should have some kind of licence which can be revoked under the right provocation.

Don't know a lot of those names but of the ones I do know they wouldn't be my choice (which is super-cool, as usual, it's all just opinion anyway).

Saje | January 24, 17:23 CET

Um...KBell as Faith? America Fererra as Willow?

Um. No.

And James Marsden as Spike is just LAZY. C'mon, at least Johnathan Rhys Meyers or someone like that.

CloudyVisions | January 24, 17:23 CET

Sunfire - those images look more photoPLOPPED than photoshopped. They were not done well at all.

ruthless1 | January 24, 17:44 CET

Slayage...no pun intended.

MySerenity | January 24, 17:53 CET

Can I say "hackchokegagbarf" about this? No? Damn.

Rowan Hawthorn | January 24, 18:28 CET

The only choice I can really get behind is Justin Long as Xander, who I think would do a pretty good job of pulling it off. The rest I just don't see at all.

deepgirl187 | January 24, 18:31 CET

I can see Ellen Page as Willow and Justin Long as Xander. The only people I could ever see doing Spike, besides James Marsters, would be Johnny Depp or Heath Ledger (tragic loss - I feel terrible for his family).

Kristen Bell seems like an obvious choice, to me, for Buffy.

Honestly, the hardest recast? Anya.

Knuckleball | January 24, 18:45 CET

Why not do a truly fantasy recasting... imagine the cast twenty or thirty years in the future. THAT would be fun.

[ edited by Love's Bitch on 2008-01-25 01:02 ]

Love's Bitch | January 24, 19:01 CET

I was actually going to photoshop Simon's face onto Giles, but then I remembered he can ban me.

gossi | January 24, 19:08 CET

I seriously, can not for one single second believe how utterly craptastic those choices are.
America as a Jewish, skin-flaying, lesbian witch? Ummmkay.
Angelina as a crazy, night dwelling creature who gets off on blood? Well, that one's not such a stretch, actually.

Combined with the incredibly woeful photoshop job (aaahhh- my eyes!) I have a teensy feeling that someone is peeing on my leg and blithely insisting that it's not raining.

Still, am somewhat glad that Kristen 'Come on a million people picked me at least take the time to spell my name right' Bell and Hayden 'Let's just cast the blonde cheerleader OMG LOL' Panty-Tear didn't get picked for this fake casting thing.

missb | January 24, 19:28 CET

I was watching 3rd Rock from the Sun the other day and for a second I could see John Lithgow as Giles. And then, perhaps not.

Caroline | January 24, 20:39 CET

Well, they could change her name to Willow Marquez; and yeah I can see AMerica making out with AMber Benson in my mind's eye, altho at my age it's not healthy to picture such things too clearly.

DaddyCatALSO | January 24, 20:45 CET

I don't see Justin Long as Xander at all. I think Shia Labeuf(the guy from Transformers) would be the perfect Xander. As for Leighton Meester as Buffy, that would be interesting, but one thing is for sure she's darn hot.

jjay | January 24, 21:00 CET

Ummm What about OZ?? why wasn't he mentioned??

rebaroz | January 24, 21:16 CET

rebaroz: Oz was mentioned by several people who responded to the challenge.

I can see John Lithgow as Giles very easily.

menomegirl | January 24, 21:28 CET

I can take a joke, that all this was for a lark. Okay, okay, but the thought of Kelsey Grammer playing Giles makes me want to stick two Sporks in my eyeballs. "This is Rupert Giles saying, 'Goodnight Sunnydale' and good, clean slaying." ... Whimper

Tonya J | January 24, 21:56 CET

Actually I love John Lithgow, he could play Giles. I'd rather have ASH but Lithgow could do it.
Also love Justin Long, so that would work for me too.
Hayden Panatierre could be Buffy, Ellen Page, Willow.

But Spike?
Cillian Murphy is pretty, and can do evil psycho, but can he do snarky bad ass?
Not seeing it. I can't really see anyone else who could do all facets of Spike properly.

Xane | January 24, 22:47 CET

Eh, I thought Grammer's take on Beast was one of the (few) bright spots in X3--Ellen Page being another notable one. Both he and John Lithgow could certainly do commendable jobs as Giles--although each would give a quite different take on it than ASH, obviously.

As far as Tina Majorino goes, I could see her more as Willow than Faith. Vulnerability+Computer Geek adds up very much to S1-2 Willow. VM had a great cast, really. That actress who played Kendall Casablancas would make a great Cordelia, too, I bet...

jclemens | January 24, 23:15 CET

I was watching 3rd Rock from the Sun the other day and for a second I could see John Lithgow as Giles. And then, perhaps not.

Between Lithgow's role as John Whorfin in Buckaroo Banzai and out-Shatnering Shatner in the Twilight Zone movie...I think I'm getting a very different mental image of our favorite watcher re-envisioned than you are. And while it's not pretty...I somehow can't turn away.

Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner | January 25, 00:11 CET

Absolutely horrid list. Why would "Kirsten Bell" play Faith? Kristen Bell would be too busy being Buffy! ;]

Also... why America for Willow? Just why? "Why" is the question you'll be asking yourself when reading through the majority of this... scratch that, the entirety of this list.

patxshand | January 25, 00:57 CET

I agree with marpocky. This is disgusting - an insult to Joss and the actors who played their roles. I can't imagine anyone playing their roles except them. I certainly could not accept anyone else as Angel except David Boreanaz. Way to go guys - we will never get a Buffy or Angel movie while presenting this kind of shallow fandom.

angelbones2 | January 25, 04:21 CET

"disgusting" "an insult"

Blimey, it was a bit of fun, that's all.

moley75 | January 25, 05:16 CET

I agree with marpocky. This is disgusting - an insult to Joss and the actors who played their roles.

It's a bit of harmless fun.

Simon | January 25, 05:17 CET

And lots of harmless fun is disgusting. Take throwing faeces at random passersby for instance.

...

I'll get me coat.

Saje | January 25, 05:25 CET

I kind of agree that this is an insult to Joss and all the actors who inhabited their roles to perfection and became those characters as well as the entire ME team who contributed to making it happen.
Even David Boreanaz, who is my least favorite actor on either BtS or AtS, simply is Angel. This is the kind of thing that belongs twenty years down the line, not a mere five years since the series ended.

SMG isn't my favorite actress in general (although I think she'd be a lot better if she chose better roles) but the idea of anyone else playing Buffy is simply not acceptable. She owned the role to a degree seldom seen on screen.

And the idea of anyone other than James Marsters as Spike is just ludicrous.
It's not a matter of talent of lack of same (I don't know half the choices, you wont find me watching something called Gossip Girls). But even on this thread, where Alan Rickman, one of my favorite actors on the planet, gets a mention for Giles, it misses the point. No offense to the marvelous Tony Head, but Rickman would clearly have stolen every scene he appeared in. Which was James Marsters' job. ;-)

Shey | January 25, 05:29 CET

I can't say I can get too upset about naming actors, seriously or otherwise, who could take on the roles already played by others. It could be argued that SMG is not the real Buffy, because she took over an already existing role.

I must admit, I know next to nothing about 'The Gossip Girls', but deciding never to watch it based on the title alone is surely like those people who refused to watch a show called 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' because of the title.

alien lanes | January 25, 05:41 CET

It's just a game. Pretty sure neither Joss nor the actors would be insulted by a bunch of fans shooting the shit about who else could hypothetically play the characters.

We all know that nameless internet fans don't actually have the power to cast any future Buffy movie, right ? It's a pub conversation basically, and should be treated with exactly the same seriousness IMO.

Saje | January 25, 05:55 CET

We all know that nameless internet fans don't actually have the power to cast any future Buffy movie, right?

Bang goes my hopes of Steven Seagal taking on the role of Giles!

alien lanes | January 25, 05:58 CET

"I'm just a librarian" [/sinister whisper]

Saje | January 25, 05:59 CET

I can´t find Harmony on any of the "recasting" lists... or Amy. But I´ll go with Harmony as the one "missing".

Annoou | January 25, 06:09 CET

I know next to nothing about 'The Gossip Girls', but deciding never to watch it based on the title alone is surely like those people who refused to watch a show called 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' because of the title.

Actually I've seen a trailer, enough to justify my comment, IMO. And Steven Seagal as Giles? We are all doomed ;-)

Shey | January 25, 06:16 CET

Ew. Of all the list they were posted, i can't believe that's what they chose. It's awful. and i really,really, could've lived without those photos.there were so much better lists in the comments.Hmm. maybe they should've been posted there. I,personally, was too lazy to register for yet another site and just for a free tee.

I'm gonna get some brain bleach now.

okelay | January 25, 08:18 CET

I agree that re-casting discussions can be fun, but the choices on that site mostly miss the mark. I would suggest Adrianne Palicki for Buffy, Adam Brody for Xander, and David Tennant for Giles. Maybe Alia Shawkat for Anya.

If he could do a decent British accent, Jensen Ackles could easily pull off the menace, humor, pathos, and shirtlessness of Spike.

ShimShamSam | January 25, 09:09 CET

It is harmless fun for sure, but it really does seem bizarre while the current cast is stil capable of taking on their roles believably and most of the suggestions are barely younger..

I still stick by my belief that if this show is ever recast for real I hope said future cast is in diapers or younger now.

KS | January 25, 09:52 CET

I don't think it's an insult to Joss, considering the fact that he replaced Kristy Swanson with Sarah Michelle Geller as Buffy when casting for the series.

That being said, all fun aside, I can't really imagine any other actors in these roles.

On the other hand, there's this thing that happens every time I watch the movie Blade. When there's a scene with Deacon Frost in it, my brain does this whole thing where I'm not even seeing Stephen Dorff on the screen. I'm seeing Christian Kane as Lindsey McDonald.

How's that for weird?

menomegirl | January 25, 10:16 CET

You know I gave some real thought to this, when the challenge first went up. And I realized that there are no current young actors that I could see in these roles. So I recast the show with babies.

Buffy: Shiloh Jolie-Pitt (Angelina Jolie x Brad Pitt)
Xander: Kingston Rossdale (Gwen Stefani x Gavin Rossdale)
Willow: Ramona Sarsgaard (Maggie Gyllenhaal x Peter Sarsgaard)
Cordelia: Suri Cruise (Katie Holmes x Xenu)
Giles: Orlando Bloom (cause he'll be about the right age in 18 or so years)

And... Angel: Jayden Boreanaz

I'm stuck on a few... Spike, Faith, etc. I guess it's hard to imagine babies gone bad.

ailiel | January 25, 13:08 CET

So if Kelsey Grammer is Giles, does that mean David Hyde Pierce would play Wesley?

kmb99 | January 25, 14:27 CET

Bwah ha ha ha ha! Can Hyde-Pierce dance? He must be able to do the goofy dances.

Tonya J | January 25, 14:57 CET

Also, martial arts. "Karaté !".

Saje | January 25, 15:03 CET

I think it was mostly a case of, "hey who's the last person I saw in a TV show or movie, let's cast them" super lazy choices for most part.

New idea for Giles, since my Joss Whedon pitch didn't take. How about Bruce Campbell, how cool would that make the chainsaw scene from "Fear Itself" look!

| January 25, 15:10 CET

I like Justin Long, but also can't see him as Xander. Xander is dorky in dress and manner, but don't forget he's portrayed by Nicholas Brendon--a classic tall dark and handsome actor. This isn't quite the same as the cute, boyish, cuddly puppy dog looks of Justin Long.

maggiecat | January 25, 17:14 CET

Addendum to previous post:

Remember Nicholas Brendon as evil Xander in "The Wish"?
Can you picture Justin Long as evil Xander? Not quite the same effect there.

maggiecat | January 25, 17:17 CET

Lewis Black as Spike. Jarvis Cocker as Giles.

Simon | January 25, 17:18 CET

I'll have whatever Simon's been ingesting. Lewis Black as Spike gives apoplectic monologue of rage over some injustice or other and promptly strokes out...

[ edited by Tonya J on 2008-01-25 23:54 ]

Tonya J | January 25, 17:54 CET

Kristen Bell as Faith? What? Would people stop lumping her name in with the Whedonverse?

zohrael | January 25, 18:27 CET

Oh my gosh! I didn't realize the faces on those photos had been changed so I was lazily scanning past them and then it suddenly hit me. That was extremely frightening.

ProphecyGirl16 | January 25, 21:53 CET

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