Season 5 Feeling / Reuse of Actors

[Librarian83]

FEELING:

I recently finished another re-watch of Buffy and Angel in a suggested watch order. When I finished Season 7 of Buffy and moved into Season 5 of Angel, I didn't realize until this time how... "odd" it feels. Knowing Buffy is finished and having one more season of Angel to watch straight through without going back and forth between the shows - maybe that's why it feels odd. Odd really isn't the proper word that I want to use, but I haven't had enough coffee to fully express thought. It just seems empty at first, don't you think? Or no? Maybe it's just me because of how I watched it.

ACTORS:

I'd like your opinion on the reusing of actors to play multiple characters. I know this happens several times throughout the shows but does it bother you? Sometimes, depending on the character, it bugs me a little bit.

 

[Taake]

I actually kind of like the reuse of actors on supporting roles, although maybe mostly when they’re demons and you can’t necessarily see that it is Andy Umberger or whomever.

It can be a bit jarring when you go with Holden on Buffy s7 and jump into Angel and there’s Knox…

I wouldn’t say it bothers me, but it is noticeable in a way that takes you out of it for a moment

 

[AlphaFoxtrot]

There's a finite supply of actors in the world.

 

[Stake fodder]

I had that same vague feeling when I did an in-order watch of Buffy and Angel, like something was missing or slightly unbalanced. The shows had different vibes, so they worked well in complement, and once one was gone, it was noticeable.

I also dislike reusing actors, if they are recognizable. I thought they shouldn't have reused Jonathan Woodward so quickly as Knox after playing Holden just the previous season on BtVS. It's fine if they're covered in makeup, so you don't recognize them!

 

[hoponlilmama]

I actually kind of like the reuse of actors on supporting roles, although maybe mostly when they’re demons and you can’t necessarily see that it is Andy Umberger or whomever.

It can be a bit jarring when you go with Holden on Buffy s7 and jump into Angel and there’s Knox…

I wouldn’t say it bothers me, but it is noticeable in a way that takes you out of it for a moment

You wonder if casting/Joss/showrunners are in on the joke, like, 'hey, I wonder if the fans will spot the fact we've re-used an actor!'

Holden/Knox and Minion/Andrew always stands out.
Perhaps the Holden/Knox wouldn't be as obvious if people didn't watch both AtS and BTVS..

 

[AlphaFoxtrot]

P.S. Star Trek did this a lot, Jeffrey Combs played multiple recurring characters just on DS9, Mark Alaimo as well. Tim Russ played three separate characters. Robert Duncan McNeil played the same character, but with a different name to avoid paying royalties. It's a common enough practice.

 

[NotASlayer]

Of course, with Jeffrey Combs, he was almost unrecognisable between appearances.

 

[Kendar]

There's a lot of that in shows.

Ed Wasser, who played Morden in Babylon 5 was also a Babylon crew member in the pilot episode The gathering.