Casting From the Earth To the Moon

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Casting the HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon provided unique challenges to the producers. As the main characters were primarily historical figures, actors with physical resemblances to their characters were necessary.

At left, actors Tony Goldwyn, Cary Elwes and Bryan Cranston emulate the real life NASA photograph of Neil A. Armstrong, Michael Collins and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin. While details of uniform are inconsistent between the two photos, the resemblance of the actors to their historical counterparts (down to the expression on their faces in this photo) is easily discerned.

Contents 1 Jim Lovell 2 Emmett Seaborn 3 Other casting information 4 Cameos 5 Cast members 6 References

[edit] Jim Lovell

Astronaut Jim Lovell has stated in several venues that he felt Kevin Costner looked the most like him, as he appeared in 1970. However, he was not disappointed that Tom Hanks played him in Apollo 13 as he described Hanks as a "closet astronaut." Actor Timothy Daly was cast to play Lovell in this miniseries.[1] At right, James Lovell as he appeared in 1970, and Kevin Costner at the time the miniseries was filmed. Tim Daly was aided in his role by Hanks' intense research into the same part from the Apollo 13 film; when curious as to whether or not Lovell wore his Annapolis ring in space, Hanks provided the instant answer "all four missions!"[2]

[edit] Emmett Seaborn

The character of Emmett Seaborn, played by veteran character actor Lane Smith, was added to provide a sense of continuity to the series. The use of a fictional character also allows for dramatic conflict to be created more easily in the episode We Interrupt This Program, with another fictional reporter Brett Hutchings.^[3]

[edit] Other casting information

• Astronaut Pete Conrad was portrayed by two different actors in the series. Peter Scolari (a friend of Hanks' from the days of Bosom Buddies) played Conrad in the first episode, and Paul McCrane, better known as Dr. Robert 'Rocket' Romano on ER portrays him in That's All There Is. (In the final "all hands meeting" scene of Episode One, however, McCrane is playing Conrad; he is only seen from above, but the head is clearly McCrane's, not Scolari's.)
• Despite the number of actors involved in both Apollo 13 and this series, only one actor portrayed the same character in each production. Clint Howard, the brother of Ron Howard, played EECOM Sy Liebergot in the former, and "Paul Lucas" in the latter.
• One American astronaut, Michael Collins was portrayed by an Englishman. Cary Elwes has played other Americans, notably a US infantry officer in Glory.
• American astronaut Alan Bean was portrayed by a Canadian. Dave Foley is best known for his comedic movie and television roles as well as improvisational comedy.
• Tom Hanks made his motion picture directorial debut with That Thing You Do!, featuring a band called The Wonders. Actor Steve Zahn, who played the guitarist Lenny Haise with The Wonders, portrayed astronaut Elliott See in the miniseries. The character of Lenny Haise had been named after Apollo 13 astronaut Fred Haise.
• Hanks introduces every episode, wrote one, and directed another. He also appears as a character in the final episode, playing Jean-Luc Despont, assistant to the filmmaker George Melies.
• Several cast members would have been excluded from the real Apollo missions for being too tall (the limit was 6 feet, as depicted in the episode Is That All There Is. Among the actors over 6 feet are Adam Baldwin (Fred Haise) and Tim Daly (James Lovell) both depicting characters from the crew of Apollo 13.
• Actor Bryan Cranston (Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin), also played "Gus" Grissom in That Thing You Do!
• David Andrews (Frank Borman) had played Pete Conrad in Apollo 13; Ben Marley (Roger Chaffee) played John Young in Apollo 13 and Brett Cullen (Dave Scott) had played Jack Lousma (a CAPCOM scheduled to fly on Apollo 19) in Apollo 13.

[edit] Cameos

• Andrew Chaikin (whose book A Man on the Moon inspired the miniseries) makes a brief appearance in pseudo-documentary footage during episode 1 as the commentator of Meet the Press.
• Winona Ryder is briefly glimpsed in an uncredited cameo during the luncheon for Susan Borman in The Original Wives Club.

[edit] Cast members

Actor		Role
Krista Adair		Jo Schirra
Mason Adams		Clinton P. Anderson, U.S. Senator
Tom Amandes		Harrison 'Jack' Schmitt, Astronaut
Brandon Ambrose		Edwin Borman
Jo Anderson		Pat White
Sam Anderson		Thomas O. Paine
David Andrews		Frank Borman, Astronaut
Katie Austin		Susan Lovell
Dylan Baker		Bruce McCoy
Adam Baldwin		Fred Haise, Astronaut
George Bartenieff		Hugh L. Dryden, NASA Deputy Administrator
Jay T. Becker		Jim Lewis
Barry Bell		Rocco Petrone, Apollo Program Director
Janis Benson		Margaret Chase Smith, U.S. Senator
Reed Birney		John Houbolt
Rus Blackwell		Joel Kruger
Betsy Brantley		Jan Armstrong
Bart Braverman		Sahjid
David Brisbin		Allyn B. Hazard
Tom Brooks		Jack Garman
Jimmy Buffett		journalist (fictional character)
Robert John Burke		William 'Bill' Anders, Astronaut
Dan Butler		Eugene Kranz, Flight Director
David Clyde Carr		Gerry Griffin, Flight Director
Andrew Chaikin		Meet the Press host (fictional character)
David Clennon		Lee Silver, geologist
George Colangelo		'Buck' Willoughby
Gary Cole		Edgar Mitchell, Astronaut
Ronny Cox		Lee Atwood, CEO North American Aviation
Bryan Cranston		Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin, Astronaut
Matt Craven		Tom Kelly, LM Engineer
Wendy Crewson		Faye Stafford
Brett Cullen		David Scott, Astronaut
Robert Curtis-Brown		Gavin O'Rourke
Ann Cusack		Jan Armstrong
Timothy Daly		James Lovell, Astronaut
Blythe Danner		Narrator (Episode 12)
J. Downing		Charles Duke, Astronaut
Chris Ellis		Bob Parker, Apollo 17 CAPCOM
Cary Elwes		Michael Collins, Astronaut
Joe Farago		Dr. Fred Kelly
Lowell Fenner		Russ Lawrence
J. Don Ferguson		Stephen M. Young, U.S. Senator
Sally Field		Trudy Cooper
Keith Flippen		Ken Jason
Dann Florek		Robert Seamans
Dave Foley		Alan Bean, Astronaut
Don Fowler		Harrison Storms Jr.
Al Franken		Jerome Weisner, Presidential Science Advisor
Tracy Frenkel		Rocco Petrone, Apollo Program Director
Joanna Garcia		Julie Shepard
Jack Gilpin		Theodore Sorensen, Deputy Counsel to the President
Tony Goldwyn		Neil Armstrong, Astronaut
Keith Graham		Skip Chauvin
Rhoda Griffis		Martha Chaffee
Dan Hagen		Jay Honeycutt
Tom Hanks		Jean-Luc Despont; Host/Narrator
Mike Harding		Dick Thorson
Jerry Hardin		Ben Taylor
Mark Harmon		Walter Schirra, Astronaut
Steve Hofvendahl		Tom Stafford, Astronaut
Chris Hogan		Don Eyles
Gwen Hollander		Laura Shepard
Kristie Horton		Barbara Lovell
Peter Horton		Frank Burns
John Hostetter		Ralph Cooper
Clint Howard		Paul Lucas
Jim Howard		William Schneider
Joe Inscoe		Chester Lee
Chris Isaak		Edward White II, Astronaut
Zeljko Ivanek		Ken Mattingly, Astronaut
John M. Jackson		Hal Deacon
Elliot Kachnycz		Jay Lovell
George Kapetan		Ed Fendell
Tchéky Karyo		George Melies
David Kaufman		Dave Gibson
Daniel Hugh Kelly		Eugene Cernan, Astronaut
William Larson		Seymour Rosen
Michael Laskin		Larry Thompson
Mitchell Laurance		Mahurin
Dan Lauria		James E. Webb, NASA Administrator
Jim Leavy		Clifton 'C.C.' Williams, Astronaut
Fredric Lehne		Walt Cunningham, Astronaut
Ted Levine		Alan Shepard, Astronaut
Matthew Lussier		Arnold Whitaker
John Carroll Lynch		Bob Gilruth, head of NASA's Manned Spacecraft Center
Marc Macaulay		Karl Heinze
Ann Magnuson		Dee O'Hara, nurse
Joshua Malina		Tim Messick
Ben Marley		Roger Chaffee, Astronaut
Phillip Martinez		John Coursen
Andrew Masset		Dr. William House
DeLane Matthews		Pat McDivitt
Deborah May		Ann Hedges
Paul McCrane		Pete Conrad, Astronaut (Episode 7: "That's All There Is")
Doug McKeon		Joe Allen
John Mese		Donn Eisele, Astronaut
Andy Milder		Steve Bales
Jay Mohr		Brett Hutchins, reporter (fictional character)
Elizabeth Morehead		Tracy Cernan
John Mountford		Christopher Conrad
Kieran Mulroney		Russell 'Rusty' Schweickart, Astronaut
Geoffrey Nauffts		Ed Gibson
George Newbern		Stu Roosa, Astronaut
Tom Nowicki		David Bell
Deirdre O'Connell		Barbara Young
Robin O'Dell		Gaye Alford
Conor O'Farrell		James McDivitt, Astronaut
Holmes Osborne		George Low, NASA Deputy Administrator
Kim Ostrenko		Louise Shepard
Elizabeth Perkins		Marilyn Lovell
Ethan Phillips		Stanley Craig
Kevin Pollak		Joe Shea, Apollo Program Manager
John Posey		John W. Young, Astronaut
Robby Preddy		Phyllis Storms
Steve Purnick		Clyde Teague
Michael Raynor		Al Worden, Astronaut
James Rebhorn		Harrison Storms, VP North American Aviation
Ruth Reid		Betty Grissom
Brett Rice		Sam Langfitt
Mark Rolston		Gus Grissom, Astronaut
Stephen Root		Chris Kraft, Flight Director
John Rothman		Warren Moburg
Andrew Rubin		Jules Bergman, ABC Science Editor
Alan Ruck		Tom Dolan
Debra Jo Rupp		Marilyn See
Mikki Scanlon		Pat Collins
Diana Scarwid		Joan Aldrin
Peter Scolari		Pete Conrad, Astronaut (Episode 1: "Can We Do This?")
Nick Searcy		Donald 'Deke' Slayton, Astronaut
Grant Shaud		Bob Carbee
Brian Shields		Fred Borman
John Slattery		Walter Mondale, U.S. Senator
Brandon Smith		John Healey
Lane Smith		Emmett Seaborn, TV reporter (fictional character)
Joe Spano		George Mueller, NASA Deputy Administrator
Cynthia Stevenson		Jane Conrad
Arthur Taxier		Robert Van Dolah
Lesa Thurman		Joan Roosa
Isa Totah		Farouk El-Baz, Geologist
John Travis		John Aaron
Robert C. Treveiler		Gordon Cooper, Astronaut
Kristian Truelsen		Kurt Debus
Tom Verica		Dick Gordon, Astronaut
Rick Warner		Julian Bowman
Russell Warner		John Rigsby
Norbert Weisser		Wernher von Braun
Gareth Williams		James Irwin, Astronaut
JoBeth Williams		Marge Slayton
Rita Wilson		Susan Borman
Ashleigh Ann Wood		Alice Shepard
Max Wright		Guenter Wendt
Steve Zahn		Elliott See, Astronaut
Steve Zurk		George Hage

[edit] References