Stunt Casting? For Real!

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OK I think that most of us are aware of the concept of Stunt Casting. Just in case you are unfamiliar with the concept, let me explain. In short, stunt casting is when you get a, usually, big star to guest on your show. Now many times Stunt Casting is done during sweeps with the idea being that more people will turn in to see said "star" on the show. Can't say that it doesn't work. But the flip side of stunt casting is when it is done to "save" the show. It also can mean that the show is thisclose to "jumping the shark". 

With that in mind it came as a shock to me that as show such as "GLEE" would be stunt casting, not just anyone, but an Academy Award Winning Actor, Javier Bardem. Now I would expect a singer on this show. One of my favorite stunt casting done on this show was Neil Patrick Harris, I mean he's an actor and a singer, in case you didn't see some of the awards shows this past season. Apparently Mr. Bardem watching the whole first season of Glee in one night and said, "Hey, I want to be on that show". So he contacted Ryan Murphy, the co-creator, and according to Entertainment Weekly, it's a done deal! Thankfully it seems that he is going to be helpful to Artie, the kid in the wheelchair, so we won't be seeing the scary bad haircut guy that won him the Oscar! Whew!

I cannot talk about stunt casting without mentioning the greatest stunt casting of all time. I'm talking about Elizabeth Taylor on General Hospital. She appeared as Helena Cassadine and came to put a curse on Luke and Laura at their wedding. It was a BIG DEAL back in those days to have a star of her caliber on a daytime soap. It even made the cover of major magazines.    

Of course since that time there has been a multitude of stunt casting, believe it or not many of them have been on Soap Opera's. Back in the day Carol Burnett played a decent roll on All My Children. And General Hospital as a major role for Ms. Taylor, but she also appeared on All My Children as a "scrubbing woman". One Life to Live used to be the king of stunt casting. Sammy Davis Jr. played a character that appeared many times over the years. One Life to live now boasts the majority of musical groups that appear on soaps. Now if you want to call One Tree Hill a nighttime soap then you can count Kevin Federline as a stunt casting, but then again he also appeared on CSI. This was of course back when he was relevant. His actor left alot to be desired, but of course all he was required to do was to be a "thug" and he seemed pretty good at acting life a self-centered thug, not sure if that was good acting or if he was being natural.


Normally the best stunt casting comes when the "star" has a character created FOR them, rather than them appearing as themselves. I'll give you an example of that later.


I have to mention 2 guest starring gigs, both Law and Order:SVU, that were amazing and made you forget that it was the "star" on the show. It was just great acting. The first was the "Fonz" Henry Winkler and the second was Robin Williams, whose character was totally playing psychological games with Christopher Meloni's character of Elliott. Robin William is really great at playing creepy. I remembered how good after watching that episode.


The best stunt casting recently was probably not intended to be a stunt casting. That was the pivotal role John Lithgow played in this past season's Dexter, on Showtime. His portrayal of the Trinity Killer was top notch as always. Left us with a hell of a cliffhanger as well. Great "casting" there.

 I have to say that 2 of my favorite stunt castings appeared on the same show, "Friends". They were masters of the Stunt Cast and none of these were jump the shark moments. I mean come on, we had Bruce Willis and Alec Baldwin! In a longer term arc we had Giovanni Ribisi and Tom Selleck! And two of the funniest stunt castings were Brooke Shields and Julia Roberts. Wait, I can't forget Jean-Claude Van Damme....oh yeah and wait what about the great casting of Reese Witherspoon as Rachel's sister. Looks like I could go on and on. 


As you can see the best stunt casting is the using of great actors playing good characters. Even if they're singers. One of THE BEST portrayals of recent times is one I NEVER expected to fly and it flew so well, they had the character back. Oh yes, I am talking about the surprise success of Britney Spears on "How I Met Your Mother"! Her character was crazy, not so hard to play I guess. In fact I would have thought it was fun to play, it certainly was fun to watch.

Now I have to get to the stunt casting of people pretending to be themselves. It's usually politicians, athletes, or singers that come in under this category. One of the best
examples of ridiculousness that results in some of this stunt casting is when you have someone like Snoop Dogg who is NOT an actor. Don't get me wrong, I love me some Snoop, I truly do. I think he is funny just being himself. But he, like many of his predecessors, is a fan of soaps which is why he has made repeat performance on "One Life To Live" where he plays himself and is a friend of a main character. I have a hard time with that one, it just looks silly. But, what can you do? When Snoop asks to be on your show, you say "when".


Now lately Snoop has become a fan of True Blood one of my most favorites shows. Now it would not do for him to be on this shows. Many have asked, including Lindsay Lohan, I know...ewwww.......Thankfully Alan Ball is a smart man and casts mostly unknown or little knowns for roles on the show. But Snoop has found a way to get in there! I present to you. "Sookie" Snoops ode to the show and his favorite human on it! See ya all later, I am thinking of stunt casting myself in my own life......save some Tru Blood for me!