one topic. five videos.
(
0 votes)
Winners of the Whedonverse: Award-winning actors on "Buffy," "Firefly," and "Angel"
Everyone's entitled to their opinion. You may not be the hardcore fan of Joss Whedon's holy triumverate of TV shows Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly that we here at TDR are. (If this is the case, you may also be dead inside. But no judgments.) But one thing is fact: a look at the guest cast of the three over the years reveals an impressive array of talent. I had so many examples to choose from on this topic that I actually had to rule out an Emmy winner (John Ritter) and an Academy Award winner (Joel Grey) in favor of a Teen Choice Award winner, just based on the quality of the clips available. Hey, if you think the Whedonverse is a cutthroat place, try spending some time on YouTube.
|
1
Teen Choice Award Winner Zac Efron
Sure, now he's got the girls swooning over his performances in Hairspray and what may very well end up being an endless string of High School Musicals. But before he was teen/tween yumminess personified, Efron was just a darling slip of a boy playing a Young Simon Tam in a flashback segment of the Firefly episode "Safe." Aw ... look how little! |
|
2
Independent Spirit Award Winner Amy Adams
She first started getting real attention (including an Oscar nom) for her stunning performance in the indie hit Junebug. But Amy Adams also took a spin through Sunnydale, appearing on Buffy as Tara's cousin Beth in the fifth season episode "Family." See, Tara's family has shown up to take her back home, supposedly in anticipation of the demon ascension that happens to all Maclay women when they hit 20. But Buffy and Co. smell a rat. The real powerhouse performance here belongs to Amber Benson as Tara, but Adams gets the most out of her brief screen time as a girl who always walks the family line. |
|
3
Screen Actors Guild Award Winner David Denman
Nowadays, most people know David Denman as Roy, Pam's ill-fated fiance on The Office. And even though he's destined not to get the girl, he did get a lovely Actor statuette for his part in the show's ensemble. Angel fans, however, remember Denman as Skip, the affable demon guide who could chat you up about The Matrix one day and kick your ass for his evil boss the next. This promo for the episode "That Vision Thing" shows a little of both sides. |
|
4
Three Time Tony Award Winner Hinton Battle
Here's how awesome Hinton Battle is: Already a Tony winner for Sophisticated Ladies, Battle was asked to audition for The Tap Dance Kid. Now, while he had tremendous amount of dance experience in general, Battle had never tap danced a day in his life. Did he let that stop him? Did he burden the show's producers with that tiny bit of information? No -- he auditioned, was cast, and won his second frickin' Tony for his performance. So when Joss Whedon needed a singing, tap-dancing demon for the landmark Buffy episode "Once More With Feeling," well, was anyone anywhere ever going to be a better choice? I think not. |
|
5
Annie Award Winner Joss Whedon
How, how, how, if I were doing a piece about notable guest appearances in the Whedonverse, could I ever omit the man himself and his turn as Lorne's brother Numfar, the legendary performer of the Dance of Joy in the Angel episode "Through the Looking Glass?" If Whedon, both an Emmy and Oscar nominee, hadn't already been a legitimate award winner, I might have had to make up my own award and give it to him, just to wedge him into this story. Fortunately, he won an Annie Award as one of the writers of Toy Story, so it all works out, and the world is whole. |
