David Anders (alias Sark) has been cast to play the ancient samurai warrior Kenzei on Heroes. (Article contains BSG spoilers toward the bottom.)
Yay! But also, wha...?
I remember when George Takei rallied a huge protest over Jonathan Pryce getting cast as the Vietnamese lead in Miss Saigon. Given his involvement in this show, I'm guessing that the fact that Anders is a white guy actually plays into the story somehow. I guess if Tom Cruise can be a samurai....
Link via Asking the Wrong Questions.
ETA: On a hunch, I looked up the word Kensei, which turns out to be not so much a name as "an honorary title given to a warrior of legendary skill in swordsmanship. The literal translation of "kensei" is "sword saint". Thus, the term is considered by some to imply a higher degree of perfection (possibly also encompassing a moral dimension)...." Interesting. I think that leaves room for inclusion of warriors of non-Japanese descent.
2 comments:
I'm guessing that makes him the David Carradine of Heros?
Kenzai Cane. It has a certain je ne sais quoi.
*Snerk*
I'm thinking surely he'll be playing a European that somehow ended up living in Japan, and won't actually be playing Japanese. Surely.
I hope.
But either way, I'm still mostly in the "Yay, Sark!" camp.
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