Is that the guy who is going to play Garth, if they can get this made? No offense to Alec Peters, but I hope they can cast someone else. Steve Ihnat did a great job of playing Garth the madman, while also showing glimpses of Garth's genius and charisma. Frankly, and I don't mean to be unkind, but the guy in this is in no way inspiring.
I really would love to see this get made.
You might be right, I've not seen the actor or role you're referring to.
But I didn't see anything wrong with the Garth actor in this Prelude. Seemed cool, calm, collected, and had not too many words to say while documenting the events in the film.
He had a cameo role in another fan-film in which his performance was quiet stiff and left a lot to be desired. The "interview" scenes were okay, I guess, and maybe he'd be okay as a supporting role, but I just don't see him being able to pull off the lead role to carry the entire story.
Everyone else in Prelude were paid professional actors with years of experience. Alec Peters had one bit-part in one amateur production. He lack of experience was self-evident.
Alec Peters is the project's Executive Producer, and one of the writers. He is not an actor. However, I liked his performance as "Garth." I think the character qualities you describe as weaknesses, make him even more intriguing. When the war began, "Garth" was just a typical commanding officer, of a typical, smaller, destroyer-class vessel. Something happened during the final stages of the war, to completely transform and elevate him, to make him so revered, and also drive him to eventual insanity. That is a story in and of itself...and worthy of being told.
That doesn't match with "known canon". Captain Garth was an experienced, well respected explorer who had discovered more new worlds than anyone of his time or even Kirk's time. When the war started, he became a warrior and was one of the best. As to his insanity, that was explicitly spelled on in Whom Gods Destroy, in that he was severely injured and the techniques for cellular regeneration (which gave him shape-shifting ability) cause him to go mad. Alec Peters has re-written canon to say that Captain Garth suffered from undiagnosed PTSD and thus went crazy.
sharePerhaps that "known canon" is more legend than truth. (Personally, I think the concept of "canon" - especially in Trek - to be the STUPIDEST concept ever devised.) "Whom Gods Destroy" did not spell out squat "explicitly." Mr. Peters has not suggested anything of the sort - with regards to what you claim. Perhaps it was his experiences in the war, which LED to Garth later screwing around with cellular regeneration.
shareAgreed, Trek canon is rather inconsistent at times.
Just re-read the Whom Gods Destroy transcript. Perhaps not "explicit", but it's pretty clear that he was somehow injured / wounded and the people of Antos Four taught him how to heal himself. Kirk asks him to "Think back to what you were before the accident that sent you to Antos Four." If not the cellular regeneration, then the accident made him crazy. Could his wartime experiences and PTSD contributed to that? Yeah, sure. Maybe he was already going nuts and the accident / cure put him over the top.
But, yes, Mr. Peters said in one of the many pod-casts that he wanted to explore PTSD as Trek and sci-fi in general never did. Sorry, but Trek did use PTSD as a plot a few times. One could say Commodore Decker suffered from PTSD, even if the term hadn't been coined back in the 60s. And there was an episode or two in DS9 with Ensign Nog dealing with the loss of his leg.
I was rather annoyed with Mr. Peters and his description of his planned story line because I know a few people who suffer from PTSD and felt he insulted them. PTSD can be rather tragic, but I have never heard of it turning someone into a megalomaniac as Mr. Peters implied.