MovieChat Forums > Young Hercules (1998) Discussion > The Better Young Hercules

The Better Young Hercules


I was just wondering who everybody thought was the better actor to portray young Hercules, Ryan Gosling of the tv series or Ian Bohen from the direct to video movie and the Hercules episodes. I liked both, but prefer Ian Bohen, he just fit the part better for me.

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I think Bohen better resembled a younger Kevin Sorbo than Gosling did.

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That what I always thought about Bohen's portrayal of Herc from the movie and the Journeys' episodes, that and his outfit is more reminiscent of the adult Herc's outfit from the first TV movie Hercules and the Amazon Women. I do know that Netflix has the Young Hercules pilot movie available, not sure about local video rental stores; I had to buy the film from Walmart.com for around 10 bucks for dvd.

Trivia Note: Ian Bohen is one of the few actors from the the HerculesVerse that only appeared as one character and not reused for other parts. There's probably more one character parts, but I've only recently been able revisit the series.



P.S. Ted Raimi- there could be no better Joxer the Mighty, the wannabe warrior.

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[deleted]

Without rewatching the episodes (which I can't do since I don't have the dvds with me), I'm not sure which actor I think portrayed young Hercules better. I know that I liked Ian Bohen, but always thought it was strange that young Herc had very dark brown hair and it was lighter with Kevin Sorbo. I also like Ryan Gosling (Young Hercules being the first thing I saw him in, and I've continued to watch his movies). When I was younger I liked Ryan Gosling better because I thought he was cute. Now, I'd have to say that Ian Bohen fit the role on Hercules, while Ryan Gosling fit his role on Young Hercules. There's a different feel to the Young Hercules episodes than the Legendary Journeys. Ryan Gosling plays a much lighter version of Hercules. Which for me is more fun to watch. Ahh! I like them both, I can't choose!

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"I know that I liked Ian Bohen, but always thought it was strange that young Herc had very dark brown hair and it was lighter with Kevin Sorbo."

I always thought that their hair looked the same with maybe a few subtle differences.

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I prefer Gosling because he showed Hercules's fun side before Hercules got older.

I agree Ian looked more like Kevin Sorbo but Gosling had more personality.

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ok, my two cents worth, I loved both Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Young Hercules, and one thing that always bugged me was on Young Hercules where was Ian Bohen, to me there was no one better suited for the role, although Ryan did good, for what I still consider the substitute, but to me Ian was by far much better. Anyone know why Ian wasn't cast as Young Herc to begin with for the series?

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Who knows, I've heard that it was because he didn't want to live in New Zealand for an extended period of time. Or maybe he found out what direction they were going to take the Young Herc series with it being on Fox Kids.

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Ian Bohen. I thought he looked a lot more like Kevin Sorbo.

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I'd say Ryan Gosling. It was more fun with him :P
I liked that his "Young Hercules" wasn't dead serious all the time x)

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I think its moot when you realize that Seann William Scott almost got Gosling's role. hmmm

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Ian Bohen. He's a much better actor.

I've seen evil and I've changed my ways

- Joxer

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I like Ryan Gosling more. When I first saw him as young Hercules, I thought that he looks wrong, because he doesn't resemble Kevin Sorbo at all. But through the series I liked his acting. And he had a great chemistry with Kevin Smith as Ares. I could watch the series just to see those two together.

Ian Bohen looks more like Sorbo, but for some reason I didn't like him. He was boring. I don't mean to insult him as an actor, because I'm sure that there is something to see in him. But that's the only role of his that saw, so I can't really say anything about him. It's just in this praticular role he was boring to me. While Gosling was more fun.

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at first i did not like gosling, but he is very cute. also, both on the show and the work he has done since, gosling has proved that he is a good actor.

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Ian Bohen was by far the better Hercules, but honestly he wasn't right for a comedy version which showed Herc working through pridefulness while still being light enough for young kids. My daughter loves this show. If you can't find a dvd, find it on Hulu.

Joxer, we love you in this house!

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