Glad to see old Roy Dotrice getting lots of work still!

Fun factoid: The little girl in Mary Poppins (Karen Dotrice) is his daughter.

Being that my favorite movie ever is Amadeus, I was one of the few probably yipping for joy when actors like Vincent Schiavelli and Roy Dotrice showed up.

It cracks me up that his Roger Wyndam-Pryce has so much in common with his portrayal of Leopold Mozart (overbearing fathers who haunt their genius sons' lives and the sons come face-to-face with a masked messenger/glamour image that is father-related).

Not to mention the reference to Vienna. LMAO. A little wink and a nod for sure.

I seriously am still wondering if the Roger Wyndam-Pryce role was written with Roy Dotrice already cast or in mind, because those elements are pretty blatant to one of his previous roles.

He and fellow-Whedon alumnus, Doug Jones (the lead Gentleman), appear to be favorites of Guillermo del Toro lately (both also in Hellboy).

[ edited by NileQT87 on 2009-05-28 23:09 ]

NileQT87 | May 28, 22:58 CET

NileQT87; I never saw AMadeus but I still was happy to see V. Schiavelli in "Surprise."

When I first heard they got another veteran character actor to play Wesley's father instead of Roger Moore I was disappointed but from what I've heard (haven't seen S-5 yet) the episode required an actual actor so it's for the best.

DaddyCatALSO | May 29, 16:31 CET

Well, I only mentioned Vincent because there are two Amadeus people in the Jossverse. Or more correctly, Vincent was constantly used by Miloš Forman ever since One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest and thus got cameos in most of his films. But yeah, Ghost is probably Vincent Schiavelli's most famous role (and a much bigger part). Vincent Schiavelli, IMO, is probably the biggest legend they ever got for the Jossverse. R.I.P.

It was also exciting for me to see Mark Metcalf as the Master, because I was very familiar with his portrayal of Neidermeyer in Animal House. His famous role was specifically mentioned in the DVD commentary, so it was also obviously on the minds of the writers. There's a few line deliveries of Mark that are very Neidermeyer-esque (usually insults).

But all the connections between Roy's performances of Leopold and Roger are so alike, it's hard not to compare. And I'd argue that Roy's Leopold Mozart probably is his most recognizable role.

I didn't hear about the idea of casting Roger Moore (which would also make sense)...

Instead they basically took Roy Dotrice's casting and wrote in a big Amadeus in-joke about really unlikable, vindictive father figures with a genius son (and Lineage even makes Wesley into a child prodigy figure and has the father be disapproving of the adult life choices of the son). Amadeus is a huge source of inspiration for Lineage, right down to the imposter image of the father used as an emotional trigger for the insidious plan of another.

Here's a Roy Dotrice truncated video that probably should point out a few comparisons: The disapproving father who is a suck-up to officialdom / The imposter's visit

[ edited by NileQT87 on 2009-05-30 00:43 ]

NileQT87 | May 30, 00:20 CET