Star Trek

[hnpcc]

I haven't seen the new movie. However, the person in my office who has was discussing it, and mentioned in passing that Winona Ryder plays Spock's mother.

"Winona Ryder?!? But she's my age! How old is Spock?"
"Oh, it's OK - they aged her with makeup."

Actually I'm still wondering how old Spock is meant to be when Winona's his mother. If it's the age the publicity photos show him at, then no, actually it's not OK.

Winona Ryder was born in 1971. The actor playing Spock was born in 1977. Are you seriously trying to tell me they couldn't find an actress of the appropriate age to play Spock's mother?

At least when Angelina Jolie (born 1975) played Grendel's mother (played by Crispin Glover, born 1967) she was playing a supernatural character who could conceivably be aging backwards or staying forever young or something. Spock (and his mum) are not supernatural. They're Vulcans. They age forwards (at least I'm fairly certain they do, not being fully up on ST canon.)

It just bugs me, this whole deal. And yes, it is partly because I'm nearly the same age as Winona and no, I don't want to be put into the "invisible old lady" basket just yet, thanks.

But you just know that you're never going to see Zac Efron (born 1987) playing Miley Cyrus' (born 1992) father though, don't you.

Even if they can age him with makeup.

Comments

[ang-grrr.livejournal.com]

Spock's Mum is human.

I was thinking about this and I suspect that the plan is to use her over a number of years and do some backstory. It will be easier to youth her than age her if she starts off young.

[epideme.livejournal.com]

It get's worse:

Spock's mum is human and ages faster than the half-Vulcan Spock. Spock would appear to be only about 3 years older that Kirk (25).

[hnpcc]

Oh yeah I'd forgotten the half-human thing (told you I wasn't up on ST Canon!)

Hmm... I remain unconvinced. :-)

[valamelmeo.livejournal.com]

Actually, in the movie there was a series of scenes from various points in Spock's childhood, starting when he was around 7 or 8 years old. For these she needed to look like her actual age, and for the scenes when he is older, she was aged.

Much easier to age a young actress for the later scenes than youthify an older actress (or use a different one altogether) for flashbacks. Spock's father was also involved in these, but, being Vulcan, he didn't appear to age much between the two times.

[tabouli.livejournal.com]

Speaking as someone else about the same age as Winona, this irks me mightily too. Honestly. Mind you, I'm also irked by the feeble pretences Hollywood makes at ageing its expensive stars. Their efforts with Jennifer Connelly in A Beautiful Mind were *woeful*. She looked more or less the same for a good *forty years*, except for tasteful touches of grey at the temples. Where was the thickening waist? The jowls?? The wrinkles??? Grey hair is the first thing to turn up and the easiest to hide! Is it that actors' agents object to them looking old and No Longer Hot? Is it that male film execs don't want to remind themselves that women over 40 exist? Feh. One thing about The Curious Case of Benjamin Button taught me was that they *can* do ageing properly, if they try. They just don't try.

[hnpcc]

For bad aging in movies I think "The Aviator" was the worst. Leonardo did not age. Or scar from burning. It was really sloppy work.

[jamaisneutral.livejournal.com]

You're right. it's pretty disgusting really. You see actresses in their early twenties playing mums in their thirties all the time. It's insulting.

[undergroundsea.livejournal.com]

I imagine they couldn't find a British actress of 50 odd who wanted to play the part. Judi Dench and Maggie Smith and Vanessa Redgrave are too old now to play anyone's mother.

I guess they also get to say that Winona is the film for people who are curious and women who may still be pulled by her star power.

[valamelmeo.livejournal.com]

I haven't actually seen many examples of this where the mother in question wasn't either supernatural, or had to also play the man's mother during flashbacks or early sequences where he is a small child. Continuity is helped a great deal in the latter cases by using a young actress who can play the character-as-small-boy's 30-ish mother and also be aged to play the character-as-grown-man's 50-ish mother. Using a 30-ish actress at the beginning of the movie and a 50-ish actress at the end (plus possibly others in between) would also be more expensive.

[hnpcc]

True. There is at least one notorious one though where an actress played the male lead's love interest in one film and then, five years later, his mother. They were similar ages. If I could remember the name of either the actor or actress that would help immensely!

I notice though that they never seem to have a 30-year old playing the father of a 20 year old, even when flashback scenes are required. Obviously men just don't age, or a grey hair at the temple will cover it.

[hnpcc]

I imagine they couldn't find a British actress of 50 odd who wanted to play the part.

That? I doubt. For some reason I have the strong impression they didn't ask any.

I guess they also get to say that Winona is the film for people who are curious

And now I'm thinking Sex Trek.

and women who may still be pulled by her star power.

Hm, maybe. I'm thinking fanboys myself.

[valamelmeo.livejournal.com]

Happened to Tom Hanks and Sally Field, for one. Though the film in which she was his mother was Forrest Gump, which starts when his character is about 5 years old, and her actual age was quite appropriate for that. They also did a decent job of incrementally aging her as his character got older.

Another weird thing is that the aging of actors only seems to happen when there is a main character who is a child at some point (and characters that are still present when the child is an adult are there). It seems that even if a long span of years is included, if the major characters are primarily adults the whole time the aging just doesn't seem to happen (like in A Beautiful Mind, like you said).

[hnpcc]

That's probably the one I was trying to think of. For some reason I was thinking Glenn Close, who knows.

[valamelmeo.livejournal.com]

Maybe Glenn Close and Mel Gibson, too, but I'd say that version of Hamlet was a weird case. Mainly because it was horrible.

[ataxophile.blogspot.com (from livejournal.com)]

We're all feeling old. Was watching ABC2 last night and there was a promo for Red Dwarf. Line was "Find out what made your parents laugh in the 80s." Parents???? 80s???? With that thinking, Winona is clearly a geriatric.

[hnpcc]

I think they're assuming that teenagers now had parents who were at home and therefore couldn't go out in the 80s. Which is stupid, because RD started here in 1988, at 4pm on a Sunday (after the Sunday arts show. I only know this because Dean watched it from day 1), and teenagers now were born later than that!! If they'd said the 90s, when most of the series was on and today's teenagers were keeping their parents up all night then I'd agree.

Even then though, the show was only on at 10pmish. So.. no. It's a very stupid promo.

Oh and welcome back.