Bionic Woman

Today we continue the Will Anthros Wish List, a list of ten actors we wish had been cast as Will Anthros on Bionic Woman instead of Chris Bowers.  This is the eighth person on the list, whose previous members have included Michael Rosenbaum from Smallville, Blair Underwood from Dirty Sexy Money, and Bionic Woman’s own Will Yun Lee.

While previous entries have focused on people who have had notable television roles, today’s entry is a shoot-for-the-stars wish for an actor who has never taken a series role on television:  Matt Damon.

How You Know Him:  He’s an Academy Award winner, an A-List celebrity, a member of George Clooney’s new Rat Pack, the other half of Ben Affleck’s life-long bromance.  He rose to fame in Good Will Hunting, and has continued to find success with the Ocean’s Eleven and the Bourne trilogies among other movies.

Why He Would Have Been a Good Choice:  He’s cute, he’s talented, and he’s freaking Matt Damon.  We had to include one huge reach on the list, and we included Matt because he has an Academy Award for writing.  Given Bionic Woman’s script troubles, why not choose an A-lister who could have helped writers with the script problems?

Could He Have Played a Convincing Scientist?  Yep.

Could He Have Played a Convincing Boyfriend?  Yep.

Would He Have Taken the Part?  Not a chance in hell.  He’s rarely appeared on television, aside from a few guest appearances and the reality show he and Ben did about filmmaking (Project Greenlight).

Clip of Evidence:  We could have picked any number of Matt’s great performances, but it’s Matt’s real life comedy that often goes unnoticed when people talk about his work.  So check out this great moment from The Late Show With David Letterman, where Matt does a spot on impression of the frequently-shirtless Matthew McConaughey.

It’s Monday and we are back with the rest of our Will Anthros Wish List, a list of ten actors who we think would have been a better choice to play Will Anthros than Chris Bowers.  So far the list has included Michael Rosenbaum, Sean Maher, Ian Somerhalder, Will Yun Lee, and Blair Underwood.

We also included Jennifer Connelly, asking you guys to "imagine for a moment that "Will" was short for "Wilhemena" and Will Anthros on Bionic Woman was played by Jennifer Connelly … how hot would that be??"  We got great response from that, (although several folks reminded us that Jennifer has already played a scientist in The Hulk), so we changed our list a bit to add another fierce female: Gina Torres.

How You Know Her:  If you like science fiction, you have probably seen Gina.  She played bad ass Zoe on Firefly, and has played serious spy games on Alias, The Matrix movies, and Standoff, and last year she played Chris Rock’s wife in How I Met Your Wife.

Why She Would Have Been a Good Choice:  She’s a bad ass who can play the femme fatale or the noble soldier, who can handle both complicated dialogue and crazy stunts.  And she’s hot.  Why does this woman not get more parts??

Could She Have Played a Convincing Scientist?  Probably, she can play serious and she has a history of handling dialogue with a lot of syllables.

Could She Have Played a Convincing Girlfriend?  She seems to have chemistry with all of her costars, so there is no reason to think she can’t handle making out with Michelle Ryan.

Would She Have Taken the Part?  Possibly … she has done a lot of television, and a lot of scifi (did anyone see Cleopatra 2525? or remember her on Xena: Warrior Princess?), which indicates she is open to the possibility.  And we will see her on the small screen sometime soon: when Dirty Sexy Money comes back on the Gina will guest star as the ex-wife of Blair Underwood’s character, Simon Elder.

Clip of Evidence:  This passionate and pragmatic moment from The Matrix trilogy.

Today we present entry number six on our Will Anthros Wish List of ten actors who we wish had been cast as Will rather than Chris Bowers.  Chris did not work in the part and they had to kill off his character, and when they did most of the stories that had been planned for the season died with him.  If a different actor had been cast, the storylines could have been kept and the show would have been stronger as a result … thus, the Will Anthros Wish List.

Previous entries on the list have included Michael Rosenbaum, Sean Maher, Ian Somerhalder, Will Yun Lee, and Jennifer Connelly.

How You Know Him:  Blair’s currently playing mind games against Donald Sutherland on ABC’s Dirty Sexy Money, the latest in his long line of sexy roles going back to his days on L.A. Law.

Why He Would Have Been a Good Choice:  He’s smart, he’s hot, and he can (and has) played just about anything.  He’s old enough to convince us he is a world-famous surgeon but young enough to still look damn fine without his clothes on (as Dirty Sexy Money fans saw when he recently bedded Darling socialite Karen).

Could He Have Played a Convincing Scientist?  Sure, he’s played everything else … including another doctor who mixed business with pleasure, when he romanced Cynthia Nixon’s Miranda Hobbs on Sex and the City.

Could He Have Played a Convincing Boyfriend?  Definitely, see the love scenes referenced above and the many others on his resume.  The man has moves.

Would He Have Taken the Part?  A better than average chance of yes, as his role on Dirty Sexy Money indicates he was entertaining roles during last year’s pilot process.  Back then Bionic Woman was a hot property, although from today’s perspective he made a wiser choice.

Clip of Evidence:  Watch Blair stay cool during a poker game so high stakes that money becomes meaningless and the players wager Manhattan real estate.  Dirty Sexy Money, indeed.

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Imagine for a moment that "Will" was short for "Wilhemena" and Will Anthros on Bionic Woman was played by Jennifer Connelly … how hot would that be??

Today we present entry number five on our Will Anthros Wish List of ten actors who we wish had been cast as Will rather than Chris Bowers.  Chris did not work in the part and they had to kill off his character, and when they did most of the stories that had been planned for the season died with him.  If a different actor had been cast, the storylines could have been kept and the show would have been stronger as a result … thus, the Will Anthros Wish List.

Previous entries on the list have included Michael Rosenbaum, Sean Maher, Ian Somerhalder, and Will Yun Lee.  To get to Jennifer, take a step back and think about the role which was centered around love, manipulations, and a potentially overwhelming need to break out from the long shadow of a genius father.  Jennifer could definitely handle that type of complexity, and by making Jaime Sommers a lesbian the show could have played to the gay audience that still adores the original series.

How You Know Her:  Jennifer’s been acting in films and on television since the 1980s, with roles that included Russell Crowe’s wife in A Beautiful Mind, a journalist attracted to Leonardo DiCaprio in Blood Diamond, and a young girl pursued by David Bowie in Labrynth.

Why She Would Have Been a Good Choice:  She’s got more acting awards and nominations than you can shake a stick at, she’s smart, she’s hot, and she would make a damn fine love interest for Michelle Ryan’s Jaime Sommers.

Could He Have Played a Convincing Scientist?  Yep.  See the "more acting awards and nominations than you can shake a stick at" part. 

Could She Have Played a Convincing Girlfriend?  If she can create chemistry with Bowie, she can create chemistry with anybody.

Would She Have Taken the Part?  The changes are about as good as NBC allowing Bionic Woman to write the Will Anthros role for a woman.  So … probably not.  Jennifer has a couple more good movies coming out this year, plus she has a kid who is starting school so we don’t see her moving to Vancouver.  Still, this is a "wish list" so we can dare to dream.

Clip of Evidence:  A scene from the money-obsessed show The $treet, where Jennifer puts a subordinate in his place.

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Today we have part four of our list of ten actors who we think would have been a better choice to play Will Anthros, Jaime Sommers’ scientist boyfriend. 

We have been vocal about our thesis that casting Chris Bowers as Jaime’s boyfriend, Will Anthros, is a big part of what went wrong with Bionic Woman’s first season.  He was not a convincing scientist, he was not a convincing boyfriend, and he was not a good package overall.  

When the show was forced to kill Will because his character was not working, they also had to scrap most of the plotlines they had planned for season one.  Gone were the plot lines about Will’s true motives for making Jaime bionic, his ongoing troubles with his mad scientist father, the connections between Michelle Ryan’s Jaime Sommers and Katee Sackhoff’s Sarah Corvus, the whole season … wiped away, because of one actor’s onscreen death.

So for ten days we plan to present, in no particular order, ten actors we think would have been a better choice for Jaime’s boyfriend.  Previous candidates have been Michael Rosenbaum, who played Lex Luthor on Smallville, Sean Maher, who played Dr. Simon Tam on Firefly, and Ian Somerhalder from Lost.  Today we suggest another Will who is already familiar to Bionic Woman viewers: Will Yun Lee.

How You Know Him: He currently plays Jaime Sommer’s trainer and Sarah Corvus’ former lover, Jae Kim, on Bionic Woman.

Why He Would Have Been a Good Choice:  Have you seen the show?  There is no question that Sarah Corvus not only gets the better lines, she got the better guy as well.  Will Yun Lee’s calmly seductive performance has won rave reviews from critics and won Will many new fans.

Could He Have Played a Convincing Scientist?  Definitely.  Will has already convinced us that his character has a grasp of the bionic technologies pulsating around the Berkut group, and it’s not hard to see his steady and serious hands performing surgery.

Could He Have Played a Convincing Boyfriend?  Probably, if his scenes with Sarah Corvus are any indication.  And Will certainly had chemistry with Michelle Ryan as well, although the show has not taken their roles in that direction (yet).

Would He Have Taken the Part?  Probably … he is playing Jae already, and based on the pre-show publicity Will Anthros was originally written as a larger and more challenging role.

Clip of Evidence:  .Since most of the readers of this blog are already familiar with Will, we offer up this tribute video from YouTube set to the song "Secret Agent Man."

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This is the next part of our list of ten actors who we think would have been a better choice to play Will Anthros, Jaime Sommers’ scientist boyfriend.  

Earlier candidates have included Michael Rosenbaum, who played Lex Luthor on Smallville, and Sean Maher of Firefly fame.  Today we suggest yet another scifi alum: Ian Somerhalder.

How You Know Him:  Ian played doomed plane passenger Boone on ABC’s scifi juggernaut Lost.

Why He Would Have Been a Good Choice:  If they were intent on having Will Anthros be smirky and stubbled, Ian would have been a good choice … and much better eye candy.

Could He Have Played a Convincing Scientist?  Perhaps.  Ian has certainly had his share of serious moments on Lost and in his other roles, but whether he could talk confidently and passionate about bionics is still a mystery. 

Could He Have Played a Convincing Boyfriend?  Probably, because anyone who could create chemistry with a cross-dressing Katherine Moennig on Young Americans and still make it feel wholesome has a gift.  Although Ian can also play creepy very well, as he showed on Lost and in Smallville’s third season.  Now that we think about it, Ian has a strong run playing characters who come back from the dead so perhaps he would make a good bionic partner for Jaime Sommers someday.

Would He Have Taken the Part?  Ian is currently playing Nick on HBO’s nudity-filled romp Tell Me You Love Me, which has a ton of sex and is probably a lot more fun to shoot than Bionic Woman.  We’ll go with "probably not," but you never know.

Clip of Evidence:  This mega creepy clip from Lost’s third season.  The boy looks hot and scary, a good combination for a scifi show.

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Today we have part two of our list of ten actors who we think would have been a better choice to play Will Anthros, Jaime Sommers’ scientist boyfriend. 

We have been vocal about our thesis that casting Chris Bowers as Jaime’s boyfriend, Will Anthros, is a big part of what went wrong with Bionic Woman’s first season.  He was not a convincing scientist, he was not a convincing boyfriend, and he was not a good package overall. 

So for ten days we plan to present, in no particular order, ten actors we think would have been a better choice for Jaime’s boyfriend.  Yesterday we suggested Michael Rosenbaum, who played Lex Luthor on Smallville.  Today we suggest another scifi alum: Sean Maher.

How You Know Him:  Sean played another brilliant scifi doctor, the gifted Dr. Simon Tam on Joss Whedon’s Firefly.

Why He Would Have Been a Good Choice:  We know from Firefly that Sean can handle the science part of playing Will, and we also know he is willing to tackle some of the crazy stuff that scifi actors have to do.  He has already walked the ethical line of science and strange implants with Summer Glau, who played his sister River Tam, and … he’s just so darn cute.

Could He Have Played a Convincing Scientist?  Definitely.  Sean rattled off medical terms with ease on Firefly, no reason he could not convey the type of serious ambition that was needed with Will Anthros.  We are a bit worried about his ability to play a potential devious manipulator, but Simon lied plenty of times to protect River so we feel he could probably pull it off.

Could He Have Played a Convincing Boyfriend?  Yep.  He already locked lips with hottie Jewel Staite in Serenity, and if we could have had a third of that chemistry between Will and Jaime in the premiere we would have had a better Bionic Woman.

Would He Have Taken the Part?  Maybe … Sean has unfortunately been without a big part since Firefly ended, and it would have been nice to see him on our screens again in another potential hit show.

Clip of Evidence:  This chilly scene from Firefly, where Simon Tam confronts his frenemy Jayne Cobb about his previous betrayals and lets him know who is the better man.

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How You Know Him:  He played billionaire patron of the sciences Lex Luthor on the WB’s Smallville.

Why He Would Have Been a Good Choice:  Michael has a proven ability to play complicated characters with shady motives.  He made it possible for the audience to actually care about Lex, a character who was often Clark Kent’s greatest ally and his greatest enemy - at the same time.  The ability to be both charming and manipulative would have been a huge asset to any actor playing Will Anthros.  And as a bonus, he also has experience playing someone with severe daddy issues.

Could He Have Played a Convincing Scientist?  Probably.  Michael has played smart before, and he managed many a scientific sentence while playing Lex.  He certainly would have been more convincing with his interest in bionics than Bowers’ bored playboy of a surgeon.

Could He Have Played a Convincing Boyfriend?  Definitely.  On Smallville Michael had convincing chemistry with everyone from Chloe to Mrs. Kent.  And, he’s hot.  He beat out Battlestar Galactica’s Tricia Helfer for the TV Guide title of "Sexiest Villian" and was one of People’s Sexiest Men Alive in 2006.

Would He Have Taken the Part?  Sadly, probably not.  Michael was still shooting Smallville when they filmed the Bionic Woman pilot, and has been clear that the next chapter of his Hollywood life will be focused more on directing than acting.  Ah well, dare to dream.

Clip of Evidence:  Check out this clip from Smallville, where Michael’s ability to be cruelly condescending is on vivid display.

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We have been vocal about our thesis that casting Chris Bowers as Jaime’s boyfriend, Will Anthros, is a big part of what went wrong with Bionic Woman’s first season.  Will Anthros was the reason Jaime was made bionic in the first place, when the supposedly brilliant scientist was forced by an unfortunate accident to perform surgery on the woman he supposedly loved.  But in the Bionic Woman premiere Chris Bowers had little enthusiasm for science, and even less enthusiasm for Michelle Ryan.  As a result the premise of the series seemed flat and forced, and the bad casting combined with some other questionable choices to mean the series got off to a shaky start.

If Jaime would have had a better boyfriend, then the writers could have kept the whole story arc involving Will Anthros, his mad scientist dad played by Mark Sheppard, and mystery surrounding Will’s real motivations for implanting Jaime with her bionics.  The series would have had more purpose for its characters, the Berkut Group, Sarah Corvus, and the bionics that draw them all together.  And most importantly, Jaime would have had more to do then beat people up and worry about her sister.

Alas, none of that happened.  Chris Bowers was cast and then mercifully killed off, but when the character of Will Anthros died almost everything else that was intended as a Season One story arc died with him.

Thus the Will Anthros Wish List, a wistful look at ten actors who would have been better choices to play Will Anthros than Chris Bowers.  We will be listing one actor every day for the next ten days, in no particular order, for your comments and contemplation.  If it goes well we may even extend the project, so if you think of an actor who would have made a Winning Will let us know.

So without further ado, let’s get started.

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Did anybody watch the show Life is Wild? Apparently Chris Bowers, who played the scientist/boyfriend who gave Jaime her bionic parts in the Bionic Woman pilot, has a guest role on the show in late November.

The episode was called “The Heart Wants What It Wants,” and one of the plots for the episode involved a romance between an elephant and a giraffe on the African game preserve where the stories take place.

The other major plot of the episode centered around a wedding that was about to take place, and Chris played the bad boy ex-boyfriend named Russ who showed up at the last minute to whisk the bride away. Chris arrives in the clip above at about the fifth minute, riding up and telling the bride he came to save her from making the biggest mistake of her life. There is a bit more of Chris at minute eight, when he looks much more comfortable playing a guy camping by a river than he ever looked playing a guy who was a diabolical surgeon.

Earlier in the season, when it seemed like Will Anthros might come back from the dead, I prepped a post called “Will Anthros is a Bionic Bastard.” Not only did he plot to implant Jaime, presumably woo her under false pretenses, and then essentially kill her twice by ensuring her bionic parts would end her life in a few years … but the man seemed to be willing to sell her body, molecule by molecule, to the highest bidder. Not to mention the fact that Chris Bowers seemed much more comfortable with the dark and creepy side of Will than the idea that he was playing a doting boyfriend.

Bottom line: the loss of Will was a positive for the show, but that does not mean I do not wish Chris Bowers well in his post Bionic Woman endeavors.

Liz at Glowybox raised an interesting proposition in her review of the Bionic Woman pilot - is there going to be enough “eye candy” on BW?  Sure, Michelle Ryan and Katee Sackhoff are beautiful women, but what about the men? 

After watching the pilot, the only visual “taste” of possible eye candy is Chris Bowers  shirtless for about 60 seconds.  He’s got a nice body and looks decently in shape, but he’s not gonna cut for the whole series.  Since we didn’t see Jae Kim shirtless, the verdict is still out on him.

I’ve said before that BW has a natural built in audience with the gay and lesbian community and one of the ways to cultivate gay men is to add more men with sex appeal.  Bowers and Kim didn’t show any potential in this department from the pilot.

And Isaiah Washington will never cut it visually or mentally with the gay community.

What do you think? Does a shirtless Will offer enough sex appeal to carry the series, or is he a little limp in the sex appeal department?