the awesome/terrifying freedom

i'm really starting to get into 'true blood.' the characters are deepening, and unlike other HBO shows (carnivale, deadwood, john from cincinatti..) 'true blood' shares the strength of 'six feet under' in that it's able to tell its story with genuine humor. one of my favorite characters is tara, who could easily come off as a complete bitch in her first couple scenes. it's a huge actor trap, and here's the original actress, brooke kerr, playing tara's first scene:



it feels like a scene from a 'bring it on,' straight to dvd sequel. now watch rutina wesley do the same scene, with the same scene partners, even:



it reminds me of sitting through auditions, listening to the same sides over and over again, and then suddenly someone walks in who just nails the thing because they're being completely themselves while they do it. it's like night and day.

god it must suck to recast, though. lots of people have to admit they were wrong, great expense is taken to reshoot, and an actor counting on a steady paycheck is suddenly out of a job. john august showed us some realities of this in 'the nines.'