Thursday, April 29, 2010

Linda Jean Córdoba Carter (Samuels/Altman)

While not the first actress to play Wonder Woman, Lynda Carter is certainly the best-known.
A former Miss USA with several minor tv acting credits, Lynda stepped into the star-spangled ensemble after a previous pilot with a miscast Cathy Lee Crosby in a "modernized" version failed to sell.
The nostalgically World War II-set New, Original, Wonder Woman made Lynda a poster-selling sex symbol to rival Farrah Fawcett-Majors!
However, ABC decided not to renew the series, so CBS picked it up, updating it to the present.
The show, retitled New Adventures of Wonder Woman postulated that Princess Diana returned to Paradise Island after WWII, and that new threats to world peace brought her back to the US!
The series ran two more years.
Then Lynda did a number of tv-movies including a biopic of Rita Hayworth and was a regular on two series (Partners in Crime and HawkEye)
Recently, she's done a number of guest-shots on tv series including Smallville and a two-parter on Law & Order and Law & Order: SVU, and supporting roles in several feature films including The Dukes of Hazzard and Sky High, as well as currently touring the country on a caberet singing tour!
If and when they finally make a Wonder Woman feature film, there's only one choice to play the immortal Queen Hippolyta--and that's the greatest Wonder Woman of all--Lynda Carter!
Genre credits include
Slayer(Colonel Jessica Weaver)
Law & Order / Law & Order: SVU (Lorraine Dillion)
Tempbot (Mary Alice)
Smallville (Moira Sullivan)
Sky High (Principal Powers)
Creature of the Sunny Side Up Trailer Park aka BloodHead (Lynette)
Terror Peak (Dr. Janet Fraser)
Mike Hammer: Murder Takes All (Helen Durant)
Partners in Crime (Carole Stanwyck)
New, Original, Wonder Woman/New Adventures of Wonder Woman (Wonder Woman aka Diana Prince)
Matt Helm "Panic" (Bobbi Dee)
Starsky & Hutch "Las Vegas Strangler" (Vicki)

Check out...
Lynda Carter Sings!
WonderLand
Other Wonder Women include...
Wonder Woman (unsold pilot 1966) Linda Harrison (Wonder Woman) Ellie May Wood (Diana Prince)
Wonder Woman (1973) Cathy Lee Crosby
Super Friends/The All-New Super Friends Hour/Challenge of the Super Friends(1973-83) Shanon Farnon
SuperFriends: the Legendary Super Powers Show(1984) Constance Crawford
The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians(1985) / Superman (1985) "Sorceress of Time" "Birthday Party" BJ Ward
Justice League / Justice League Unlimited(2002-06) Superman/Batman: Apocalypse (different continuity from JL / JLU) Susan Eisenberg, Dakota Fanning (WW as child in "Kid's Stuff")
Justice League: New Frontier(2008) Lucy Lawless
Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths Vanessa Marshall

Wonder Woman(2009) Keri Russell
Movie 43 [Spoof] Leslie Bibb
DC Universe OnLine Gina Torres
Video Game performers: Tara Platt, Courtenay Taylor

Friday, April 23, 2010

Jennifer Lynn Lopez (Noa / Judd / Anthony)

Your first thought is "Jennifer Lopez's done action / sci-fi / fantasy?"
While most of her films (including the newest one The Back-Up Plan) are, indeed, fantasies, they're romance fantasies.
But, JLo's done some true genre work (and done it well)!
And, truth to tell, I miss the sassy hot-body dancer of her In Living Color "Fly Girl" days...
Bus, she'll soon be back on Fox as a judge on American Idol!

Genre appearances include...
The Cell(Katherine Deane)
Money Train(Grace Santiago)
U Turn(Grace McKenna)
Anaconda(Terri Flores)
Out of Sight(Karen Sisco)
Antz(Azteca)
Angel Eyes(Sharon Pogue)

Check out...
JLOBronx (FanSite)

Other actresses to play Karen Sisco include...
Carla Gugino in Karen Sisco

Monday, April 19, 2010

Zoe Yadira Zaldaña Nazario

Extensive dance training from childhood thru her teen years led Zoe Yadira Zaldaña Nazario to her first movie role--as a talented but headstrong teen-age dancer in Center Stage.
Since then, she's done little dancing, but a lot of acting in a variety of films in roles ranging from cameos and minor parts to co-starring roles, almost (but not quite) achieving stardom.
With high-profile roles in several franchises, beginning with the "Kelvin Universe" Star Trek, plus Avatar and the Guardians of the Galaxy (which links into the main Marvel Cinematic Universe), it looks like Zoe's career is going at (dare I say it?) warp speed...
Trivia: Her character in the movie The Terminal is a serious Trekkie!
Genre appearances include...
Guardians of the Galaxy / 
Guardians of the Galaxy / Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 Avengers: Infinity War / Avengers: Endgame (Gamora)
Columbiana (Cataleya Restrepo)
Takers (Rachel Jansen)
The Losers (Aisha al-Fadhil)
Skeptic (Cassie)
BlackOut (Claudine)
Avatar (Neytiri Dis'kahan Mo'at'itey)
Star Trek / Star Trek Into Darkness / Star Trek Beyond (Nyota Uhura)
Haven (Andrea)
Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl (AnaMaria)
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit "Criminal"
Law & Order "Merger"

Check out...
Zoe's Instagram
Zoe's X/Twitter

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Kristin Laura Kreuk

Kirsten has a good acting range, and handled the action sequences in the Street Fighter: the Legend of Chun-Li adquately.
I didn't expect Michelle Yeoh-level stuntwork.
Kirsten looked convincing in the medium shots and closeups.
At least she wasn't worse than Ming-Na in the 1994 flick! (Cute, but terrible fighting skills!)

Currently, she's starring on the CW in the remake of the 1990s series Beauty and the Beast.
While I'm hoping it'll last, making the so-called "beast" a handsome guy with a scar and a temper instead of a creature who Catherine helps tame his beastly tendencies with her love indicates a serious lack of faith in the audience to accept a physically-unattractive, but intelligent and emotionally-open, man as a romantic lead the way fans of the original series did.

Trivia: Kristen as Lana Lang, played opposite Annette O'Toole (who had played Lana in Superman III) as Martha Kent in Smallville, marking one of the few times two people who played the same non-costumed character appeared together onscreen. (Yes, there have been episodes of series where, for example, Adam West or Buster Crabbe appeared opposite newer versions of Batman or Buck Rogers, but how often did actors playing the two generations of supporting characters appear together?)
Genre appearances include:
Beauty and the Beast (Catherine Chandler)
Chuck (Hannah)
Ben Hur (Tizrah)
Street Fighter: the Legend of Chun-Li(Chun-Li Huang)
Legend of EarthSea(Tenar / Arha)
Smallville(Lana Lang-Luthor)
Snow White: Fairest of Them All(Snow White)
Other actresses to play Catherine Chandler include:
Linda Hamilton in Beauty and the Beast (1987-1990)

Other actresses to play Chun-Li include:
Ming-Na Wen as Chun-Li Xang in Street Fighter(1994)
Chingmy Yau as Chun May in Future Cops

Other actresses to play Lana Lang include:
Annette O'Toole in Superman III
Diane Sherry in Superman: the Movie
Emily Procter in Lois & Clark: the New Adventures of Superman
Stacey Hadiuk in Superboy(1988-92)
Bunny Henning in The Adventures of Superboy (1961) [UnSold Pilot]

Other actresses to play Tizrah:
Cathy O'Donnell in Ben-Hur(1959)
Kathleen Kay in Ben-Hur(1925)

Other actress to play Tenar / Arha:
Mariska Hargitay in Tales of EarthSea