I hope that Barney is okay and nothing severe happened in his personal life. I have no problem with this recast yet. Donel has the looks, but of course it comes down to acting skills.

 

This reminds me of the Spartacus TV-series. First I didn't like the new actor (Liam McIntyre) for the titular character Spartacus but he grew on me. Still was never as good as Andy Whitfield, may he rest in peace.

 

Edit. Changed link to DM article

Edited September 21, 20213 yr by DaddyFinn

Ouch. 

LOL I have yet to see one and I have to prepare for another.

 

That said swaps aren't always a bad thing.

 

Dumbledore.

 

Sometimes they are... but just sayin ?

I think this might actually be a truly unique situation.

 

A main role recast before they've even really done the media tour for season 1, I imagine it wasn't supposed to be announced until after season 1 finished airing.

 

Reflecting on it I think if there was a main role to be recast this was probably the best one to do it for. As long as they kept Mat in season 1 mostly the same as he was in EotW it should be fine.

Edited September 21, 20213 yr by AusLeviathan

Well the process of healing Mat from the dagger now presents an interesting opportunity….

 

Not unlike the insertion of the Hoth ice cave scene to explain Mark Hamill’s facial scarring from the car accident. 

Edited September 21, 20213 yr by Beidomon

39 minutes ago, CaddySedai said:

LOL I have yet to see one and I have to prepare for another.

 

That said swaps aren't always a bad thing.

 

Dumbledore.

 

Sometimes they are... but just sayin ?

I’d forgotten Dumbledore. That turned out okay. 

25 minutes ago, Elder_Haman said:

I’d forgotten Dumbledore. That turned out okay.

I mean he brought us "HARRY! DIDJA PUTYA NAME IN DA GOBLA DEH FIYA!" Dumbledore asked calmly, but he did manage to be more Dumbledore like in the last few movies at least.

Edited September 21, 20213 yr by AusLeviathan

A very unfortunate circumstance, and we can only hope that it's not due to any kind of serious health issues, physical, mental, or otherwise. As other posters have observed, given the nature of EotW Mat vs. later Mat, this is probably the best major character to recast after season 1 if you had to do one, but it certainly still is rather distressing to see happen. We'll just have to hope that the show is well-made enough that it can take this hit and keep on moving, as if it can, people will get past this very quickly.

 

  

1 hour ago, AusLeviathan said:

I think this might actually be a truly unique situation.

 

A main role recast before they've even really done the media tour for season 1, I imagine it wasn't supposed to be announced until after season 1 finished airing.

 

Reflecting on it I think if there was a main role to be recast this was probably the best one to do it for. As long as they kept Mat in season 1 mostly the same as he was in EotW it should be fine.

I can't imagine that there's any way Mat's actor would have been included on the media tour, so people probably would have tumbled to the fact that something was going on pretty quickly regardless.

Edited September 21, 20213 yr by TheTuna450

https://mcutimes.com/time-of-wheel-season-2-reworks-major-role-with-witcher-actor-donal-finn/

 

This article hurts my eyes. Should have spellchecked one more time

Never heard of either actor before this show, so don't care which one plays Mat.  They both 'look' the part to me.

I have to take the opposite approach and callously hope that it it actually is some healt problem or similar.

Because otherwise the alternative is that there are disgruntlements in the show, and it would be a major red flag if actors are running away from it.

so, ultimately i hope it's some outside factor, not a red flag for the show, but not too serious either.

 

2 minutes ago, king of nowhere said:

I have to take the opposite approach and callously hope that it it actually is some healt problem or similar.

Because otherwise the alternative is that there are disgruntlements in the show, and it would be a major red flag if actors are running away from it.

so, ultimately i hope it's some outside factor, not a red flag for the show, but not too serious either.

 

Surely there are more possible reasons than just those two

Barney has been cast as the next James Bond and just signed a huge contract 

10 minutes ago, DojoToad said:

Barney has been cast as the next James Bond and just signed a huge contract 

that would be great, too.

as long as the actor change is not a sign of a toxic working environment.

57 minutes ago, DaddyFinn said:

Surely there are more possible reasons than just those two

There are plenty of reasons that various parties may want a recast of a main role but very few that would actually cause it to happen.

 

Disagreements over direction of the show/character happen all the time with actors but any unknown actor in a situation like that would back down when threatened with a lawsuit that would bankrupt them and wreck their career.

 

Poor performance will sometimes cause a recast in minor roles but almost never in main roles at this point in time. Main roles that are cast with performance issues will recast early on as the problem will be quickly apparent.

 

Personality clashes with other cast members is possible and has certainly caused recasting before but again usually in minor roles. There have been long running series where main cast members flat out didn't like each other, they don't need to, that's why they're actors.

 

Health issues are a possibility, he would've had a health check back in 2019 when he signed but serious medical issues can appear suddenly. It's an action series so there's also always the possibility of a stunt going wrong and causing a long term injury.

 

Mental health can be an issue when making a series like this. Sometimes young actors don't realize just how tough the commitment is until they're doing the long hours away from home and friends and the stress starts to weigh on them.

 

Misconduct seems unlikely, there would probably be more rumors.

 

Rafe was talking him up as someone people would want to see up to at least last year after filming had paused. So he seems to have done well in the first six episodes at least.

 

The question is did he return for the last two episodes filmed earlier this year and if he did then what caused him to pull out in the two months between the end of that filming and the beginning of filming season 2. Unless he did film early on in season 2 and was then recast?

Edited September 21, 20213 yr by AusLeviathan

31 minutes ago, AusLeviathan said:

Mental health can be an issue when making a series like this. Sometimes young actors don't realize just how tough the commitment is until they're doing the long hours away from home and friends and the stress starts to weigh on them.

Combine this with his film Starboy, and then Mat as be gets corrupted by the dagger.

 

Getting in that headspace, working those hours, combined with the Pandemic?

I wouldn't fault him for leaving to protect his mental health.

Prolly not a hot take since no one seems to have an opinion one way or another, but I actually like the new guy better. I think he's more handsome, roguish, and has a less preppy, punchable face. 

Maybe he left due to disagreements over being a social justice warrior version of Matt

1 minute ago, Pandemonium said:

a social justice warrior version of Matt

What does that even look like?

11 minutes ago, Elder_Haman said:

What does that even look like?

Donal Finn.  LOL

@swollymammothbut sometimes Matt needs a punchable face.

I think Donal looks more like what I pictured as Mat. As to acting prowess...guess we'll get to make direct comparisons if the show releases a season 2. 

My first thought when I heard this news was  "GREAT!  Maybe they'll recast Moiraine next!" 

*cough* Claire Foy as Moiraine *cough* 

19 hours ago, swollymammoth said:

Prolly not a hot take since no one seems to have an opinion one way or another, but I actually like the new guy better. I think he's more handsome, roguish, and has a less preppy, punchable face. 

Well if we get a more handsome Mat, we need a more beautiful Egwene as well.

38 minutes ago, DojoToad said:

more beautiful Egwene

Madeleine is quite beautiful