If you're going to pick someone to play you in a movie based on a book you wrote about yourself, why would you pick Mario Lopez? If I had my choice on people to play me, I'd pick someone better than Mario Lopez. Of course, I am a girl, so let's just say I'd pick someone better than Tori Spelling.
That rug really tied the room together, did it not?
gotta remember, this is a made for TV movie. It's not like Brad Pitt was going to jump onto this ship! Mario Lopez is a DECENT TV actor. Obviously not good, but, no one good would take this part, lets face it.
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Duo I want to see in a movie together... Toni Collette and Jim Carrey
I thought Mario look very much like the real Greg Louganis.
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He lifts me clear to the sky, you know he taught me to fly.
This film is not an abomination at all. I thought it was quite beautifully done. Mario Lopez was just right for the part. I do hope by "abomination" you mean something other than homophobia, a concept that has no place in the modern world.
shareJust a guess, but I think the OP meant it was an abomination that a bigger name wasn't attracted to the part. Don't forget this was 1997. I remember 1997 and it was not a particularly gay friendly time...now I think it would be more likely to get a big(ger) name interested, but at the time it would have been much more difficult to get a more established actor to take the "risk."
shareMario Lopez was perfect for the part. It was almost typecasting, although no doubt his management and publicists would disagree.
shareI agree with gllyflower - I don't think OP was using "abomination" in a homophobic sense. It seems pretty clear that she was referring to the quality of the movie - and how Mario Lopez (in her opinion) detracted from the movie's quality.
No, OP was using "abomination" in the same sense that some people think of the movie "Showgirls" as an abomination.
Did Greg Louganis "pick" Mario Lopez? Perhaps I'm wrong, but I don't think Greg played such a proactive role in the casting. I think the responsibility of casting Lopez lies more with the behind-the-scenes professionals who worked on this movie (i.e. casting director, etc.).
From what I've seen, I think Louganis approved of the choice of having Lopez play him - and Greg has had nothing but positive things to say about Lopez's performance. My opinion? Well, it's pretty obvious why Mario was such a tempting, appropriate choice - they are so similar physically. His performance wasn't awful - but I think he seemed a little too stiff and reserved during some of the scenes with his (future) romantic partners. It seems that he was uncomfortable with "letting go" and "being gay" throughout the film.