I’ve written previously about the importance of actors in creating a character. One example of how recasting an actor can change our feelings about the other characters in the show is the recasting of Dr. Dave Woodard in TV’s Dark Shadows.
The character of Dr. Woodard was introduced in April 1967. Richard Woods portrayed Dr. Woodard for the character’s first two episodes, but Woods was quickly replaced by Robert Gerringer, who made Dr. Woodard his own. Gerringer filled the character with his persona, creating a Dr. Woodard that was intelligent, compassionate, empathetic to his patients, and sympathetic to viewers.
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| Robert Gerringer as Dr. Dave Woodard |
Five months later, Gerringer was replaced by Peter Turgeon. Turgeon’s persona differed markedly from that of Gerringer. Whereas Gerringer was a broad fellow with a gruff voice and full head of hair, Turgeon was thinner, with a higher pitched voice, thinning hair, and eyeglasses. Gerringer appeared strong and solid. Trugeon appeared geeky and prone to hysteria. That his eyes were difficult to see behind his eyeglasses made it that much harder for audiences to emotionally connect with him, to build rapport and empathy.
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| Peter Turgeon as Dr. Dave Woodard |
This would have significant ramifications when, less than two weeks later, Barnabas Collins and Dr. Julia Hoffman murder Dr. Woodard. Had they murdered Gerringer’s Woodard, viewers would have felt greater outrage and anger at Barnabas and Julia. But instead, though viewers knew Woodard had been murdered, they didn’t feel it. Turgeon’s geeky Woodard still felt like a stranger to them; he wasn’t the Woodard they had come to know and love.
Barnabas was still scripted as a villain, but he was becoming more beloved by audiences. Had he murdered Gerringer’s Woodard, the audience’s growing sympathy for Barnabas might have slowed, and perhaps never attained the degree it eventually reached.
This was not the reason Dr. Woodard was recast shortly before he was murdered. NABET was on strike and Gerringer refused to cross the picket line to tape Dark Shadows at the ABC network studio. Yet this was the result of the recasting.
I regret the recasting of Dr. Woodard. I think the murder of Gerringer’s Woodard would have made for an emotionally more powerful episode.
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For more about creating an effective horror story on film or video, see Horror Film Aesthetics: Creating the Visual Language of Fear. This blog represents a continuing discussion of my views on horror, picking up from where the book left off.