The next round is called Vogon Poetry and features Richard Vranch at the piano...

[spatch]

Because I want to be your source of Hitch-Hiker's Guide movie news, here's the latest casting scoop. Pictures of each are included under each cut.

Ford Prefect will be played by Mos Def, shown here (second from right)


Trillian will be played by Zooey Deschanel, shown here in "Almost Famous" (and really, the 70s stewardess look is almost quasi-futuristic, don't you think?)


Well, wow.

And just in case I hadn't been enough of a dork today, the suggestion of "Ryan Stiles as Ford" on the SA Forums brought me and E. to discuss WHOSE GUIDE IS IT ANYWAY?

Starring Paul Merton as Arthur, Ryan Stiles as Ford, Chip Esten and Brad Sherwood as Zaphod (Chip acting as Brad's arms, "Helping Hands" style), Josie Lawrence as Trillian, Tony Slattery and Mike McShane as Majikthise and Vroomfondel, Colin Mochrie as Slartibartfast, Greg Proops and Sandi Toksvig as Benjy and Frankie Mouse, Steve Frost as both Deep Thought and Marvin, and Clive Anderson as the The Book saying goodnight: goodnight.

Oh, and Wayne Brady as far from this project as possible.

Comments

[aussie-nyc.livejournal.com]

I like those choices.

[dustytm.livejournal.com]

Ford Prefect played by Mos Def?

I can't decide if that is incredibly awful casting or genius casting. I'm on the fence here. (And who's playing Zaphod Beeblebrox?)

Re:

[sarcasma.livejournal.com]

I always pictured Ford played by some kind of young Brent Spiner clone, because the description of his skin tone as being a little too smooth and slightly green... well, you know.

Re:

[spatch]

I'm leaning on the genius side here, myself.

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[coffeebeanben.livejournal.com]

The real test will be how well he can refrain from blinking.

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[marphod.livejournal.com]

THat's hardly a problem. They can digital edit out blinking.

Here's hoping they actually DO.

[coffeebeanben.livejournal.com]

Cheater.

Re:

[spatch]

They could just give him the ol' Ludovico Technique and keep his eyes open the entire time!

(I'm sure they'll work out something, though)

[dskasak.livejournal.com]

That's actually pretty sharp, and Zooey would make for a good Trillian looking just like that. It would be even better if Trillian could support multiple languages and skin types, just like her software program can.

[tansu.livejournal.com]

Mos Def looks good for Ford. Right kind of "blokey, yet could be more to him than meets the eye" kinda guy. Deschanel looks too bland for Trillian, but it's hard to form an opinion as I don't think I've seen ANYTHING she's been in.

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[dustytm.livejournal.com]

Well, I must confess that I hadn't ever considered that Ford could be played by an African-American (er, African-Brit? Black person?), but when I think about it, well, why the heck not? He DOES sort of have that "blokey" feel to him. The more I think about it, the more I like it.

But y'all know that hardcore Adams fanboys are going to scream bloody murder about it.

BUK BUK BUK!

[(Anonymous)]

African-American (er, African-Brit? Black person?)

Had it right the first time.

BROOKLYN, WHAT!

[misslynn.livejournal.com]

hello, i wandered over from the friends-of-friends page.

i love HHGG. yay douglas adams!

i also have a random tidbit about Mos Def, who I transcribed an interview with and therefore got to listen to for hours on end: he is very intelligent and well spoken. however, his favorite word seems to be "motherf----r" (only he says it with an "a" sound on the end)... i kid you not, if you'd taken the swearing out it would have sounded brilliant but every third or fourth word rhymed with monstertrucker. :)

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[spatch]

Greetings! Pleased to meet you.

It sounds like Mos Def has a personal case of word whiskers something fierce -- where you feel compelled to say something rather than feel like you're not saying anything. Most people usually stick to "um", "er" or "like", but some folks do take the profane route.

It's also constantly interesting to see the actors and actresses who can come across as erudite and glib in-character, but when given an interview as themselves, break back down into word whisker central (or, in the case of the fellow who played Chris Stevens on Northern Exposure, reveal themselves to be completely ignorant of the literate references their character makes!)

[thufir-hawat.livejournal.com]

I'm with you, man. Genius casting. I thought about it for maybe half a second before my mental Ford Prefect's skin forever changed color.

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[spatch]

There's an "Illustrated Hitch-Hiker's Guide" book that uses photo collages and (at the time) real funky fractal computer graphics and stuff, and Zaphod was a black space hippy if memory serves. And really, once I got my mind around that, I thought well you know? Race (or, in alien terms, skin color) was never really an issue in Douglas Adams' work, was it? Perhaps we just assumed everybody in this galaxy -- everybody humanoid-looking, at least -- was of Caucasian-esque hues. I'm all for the "hey, whatever" idea.