Pirate College Graduate
08-10-2009, 05:40 PM
As a group, I am aware of the fact that we plan on sending to letters to different organizations and actors. I fully expect the organizations to give us a response, and hopefully it will be a positive. I also expect (and hope) that some of the actors will help us in some form or fashion, or simply offer us feedback.
I understand that we plan on sending letters to some of the big name actors from the film, including Chris and Zach. We also plan on addressing letters to TOS actors and actors that support homosexual representation in big-budget films. I have no doubt that we can harbor at least some support from actors such as George Tekai, who is a homosexual, and those who support gay rights.
My question is, what sort of response do we expect from the main actors of the film, including Chris and Zach? I as much as anyone would love for them to support our cause openly, but the reality is that this will probably never occur.
Hollywood actors are under heavy contracts. In most cases, when they film a movie, they say their lines, and act their parts, and let the director do his/her job. They rarely have any say in the direction a film is going unless they happento be a producer, director, writer, or highly influential and experienced actor in the business. The material they are given to work with is generally set in stone, with the exception of minor changes that are made as filming goes along. Most of the time, however, the plot story and main details will not change.
Actors are also heavily influenced by their agents, who are meant to have the actor's best interest at heart. They are heavily coached in what they are to say in interviews and public venues (like conventions). Agents also have a large voice in which parts the actor takes, and certain aspects of the character that the actor plays.
Here is an example of an agent's influence: I recently was discussing Sylar and his love interests with fans of the show, as I have never watched Heroes. They informed me that originally, the writers planned on making Sylar gay. Zachary's agent immediately objected, worried that Zachary would be typecast as a homosexual in future roles. The writers respected the agent's wishes, as they wanted ZQ to remain part of the cast. Sylar has since shown interest in female characters, including Elle and possibly Claire.
A possible example of actors having their words monitored presented itself to me last night. According to a girl on livejournal who attended the Star Trek convention in Las Vegas:
I got to ask him [Zachary Quinto] a question, I sure as hell don't remember what it was but we had a back and forth culminating with him stating that HE AND UHURA HAVE RELATIONS LOL! (He's a total Spock/Uhura shipper, kept talking about it all day.
The quote isn't very specific, but it got me thinking. If someone asks Zachary who he ships, he may very well be honest in his support of a Spock/Uhura relationship. However, his support of the pairing got me thinking about the gay Sylar issue, and it occurred to me that Zach may very well be coached to verbally support the heterosexual couple. If Zach voiced his support of a homosexual relationship in Star Trek-particularly one between his character and another male charcter-there would be immediate speculation by the public into his personal affairs and the possibly the personal affairs of Chris Pine. This, in turn, could create a huge mess for Zachary himself, as his sexual orientation could immediately be thrown into the limelight. From the way Zach has remained so quiet on his personal life, it is obvious that he means to avoid as much speculation as possible. A more obvious reason for his support could be that the relationship was already established as canon in the reboot, and him not showing support for canon would cause a stir among the film-makers and fans.
I am in no way, shape, or form, saying that his support of Spock and Uhura is wrong, and is only fueled by his desire to keep the peace. Should he truly support the couple, I completely understand and support him. However, I am a speculative creature, and could not help but analyze the situation with my previous knowledge.
Back to my main point; as much as I would love for the main actors to openly support our cause, I'm not sure this will be completely plausible. After learning of an agent's influence on an actor, as well as other outside factors, I'm not sure what to expect from these actors. I'm not discouraging us from writing them. On the contrary, I am beyond thrilled that we are willing to put our cause out there and attempt to revolutionize Hollywood and mainstream Sci-fi films. I'm just saying that I will be pleasantly surprised if we hear back from these mainstream actors whose support would help our cause immensely.
But perhaps I'm wrong. I'm not completely cynical. Just trying to be as realistic about our goals as possible. But I'm curious to see what you guys think about all this, any of this. This has been on my mind all day, and I look forward to future discussions on the matter.
Lindsay
I understand that we plan on sending letters to some of the big name actors from the film, including Chris and Zach. We also plan on addressing letters to TOS actors and actors that support homosexual representation in big-budget films. I have no doubt that we can harbor at least some support from actors such as George Tekai, who is a homosexual, and those who support gay rights.
My question is, what sort of response do we expect from the main actors of the film, including Chris and Zach? I as much as anyone would love for them to support our cause openly, but the reality is that this will probably never occur.
Hollywood actors are under heavy contracts. In most cases, when they film a movie, they say their lines, and act their parts, and let the director do his/her job. They rarely have any say in the direction a film is going unless they happento be a producer, director, writer, or highly influential and experienced actor in the business. The material they are given to work with is generally set in stone, with the exception of minor changes that are made as filming goes along. Most of the time, however, the plot story and main details will not change.
Actors are also heavily influenced by their agents, who are meant to have the actor's best interest at heart. They are heavily coached in what they are to say in interviews and public venues (like conventions). Agents also have a large voice in which parts the actor takes, and certain aspects of the character that the actor plays.
Here is an example of an agent's influence: I recently was discussing Sylar and his love interests with fans of the show, as I have never watched Heroes. They informed me that originally, the writers planned on making Sylar gay. Zachary's agent immediately objected, worried that Zachary would be typecast as a homosexual in future roles. The writers respected the agent's wishes, as they wanted ZQ to remain part of the cast. Sylar has since shown interest in female characters, including Elle and possibly Claire.
A possible example of actors having their words monitored presented itself to me last night. According to a girl on livejournal who attended the Star Trek convention in Las Vegas:
I got to ask him [Zachary Quinto] a question, I sure as hell don't remember what it was but we had a back and forth culminating with him stating that HE AND UHURA HAVE RELATIONS LOL! (He's a total Spock/Uhura shipper, kept talking about it all day.
The quote isn't very specific, but it got me thinking. If someone asks Zachary who he ships, he may very well be honest in his support of a Spock/Uhura relationship. However, his support of the pairing got me thinking about the gay Sylar issue, and it occurred to me that Zach may very well be coached to verbally support the heterosexual couple. If Zach voiced his support of a homosexual relationship in Star Trek-particularly one between his character and another male charcter-there would be immediate speculation by the public into his personal affairs and the possibly the personal affairs of Chris Pine. This, in turn, could create a huge mess for Zachary himself, as his sexual orientation could immediately be thrown into the limelight. From the way Zach has remained so quiet on his personal life, it is obvious that he means to avoid as much speculation as possible. A more obvious reason for his support could be that the relationship was already established as canon in the reboot, and him not showing support for canon would cause a stir among the film-makers and fans.
I am in no way, shape, or form, saying that his support of Spock and Uhura is wrong, and is only fueled by his desire to keep the peace. Should he truly support the couple, I completely understand and support him. However, I am a speculative creature, and could not help but analyze the situation with my previous knowledge.
Back to my main point; as much as I would love for the main actors to openly support our cause, I'm not sure this will be completely plausible. After learning of an agent's influence on an actor, as well as other outside factors, I'm not sure what to expect from these actors. I'm not discouraging us from writing them. On the contrary, I am beyond thrilled that we are willing to put our cause out there and attempt to revolutionize Hollywood and mainstream Sci-fi films. I'm just saying that I will be pleasantly surprised if we hear back from these mainstream actors whose support would help our cause immensely.
But perhaps I'm wrong. I'm not completely cynical. Just trying to be as realistic about our goals as possible. But I'm curious to see what you guys think about all this, any of this. This has been on my mind all day, and I look forward to future discussions on the matter.
Lindsay