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The alleged reason why Billy Zane didn’t come back?



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WaltK

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This TV Tropes page claims that there was a reason Billy Zane didn’t reprise his role as Ansem in future games.

To sum it up, he starred in this really controversial movie that was blasted as being “anti-American propaganda” or something, with all the actors who appeared in said film, including Zane, being heavily criticised for it.

I’m personally not entirely sold on this theory due to one thing that doesn’t add up; the fact that the movie was only released one month before KH2’s American release (by which point surely all the voice recording would have been finished).

Thoughts?
 

AdrianXXII

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Hm first I've heard of it. When it comes to these kinds of things I'd always take it with a grain of salt.

Your point is also pretty good. Like unless the movie was already known to be considered "Anti-American" way in advance I have a hard time believing it'd factor in, seeing voice acting and casting would have long since been wrapped up, by the time the reviews came in. I imagine that voice acting usually ends months before the game releases.
 

Raz

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It is quite possible. Folks were getting cancelled left and right during the early 2000s for doing anything remotely unpatriotic. Whether this is the reason, or he just didn't want to do it, it is a shame. His Ansem is so well done. Subtle terror. Not the screeching about darkness we got later.
 

kirabook

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I heard it was because he was getting type-casted as a villain and was trying to expand his horizons, so he stopped taking villain roles.
 

Perkilator

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This TV Tropes page claims that there was a reason Billy Zane didn’t reprise his role as Ansem in future games.

To sum it up, he starred in this really controversial movie that was blasted as being “anti-American propaganda” or something, with all the actors who appeared in said film, including Zane, being heavily criticised for it.

I’m personally not entirely sold on this theory due to one thing that doesn’t add up; the fact that the movie was only released one month before KH2’s American release (by which point surely all the voice recording would have been finished).

Thoughts?
HMK figures it was because it would be too costly to keep hiring Zane for every appearance for Ansem, so they went with Richard Epcar for KH2 and beyond.
 

kirabook

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And how did it go for him? XD

Welllllll, not great I guess. Which I guess sucks for him. I think that happens to actors a lot. They start getting put in a box they can't escape from and when they try, they lose any support.

Not sure if that's what ACTUALLY happened with him and his career. But it happens.
 

Oracle Spockanort

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I absolutely believe that he was blacklisted at the time. The 2000s was a wild time with the start of the war, and a lot of people got blacklisted for saying things that criticized America's role in the conflict until later on when it was abundantly clear to the masses that we were only there for the oil.

Most of what he would have done would have been filmed long before it released, so there was plenty of time for Hollywood to phase him out of roles behind the scenes.
 

Idreamaboutcats

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I absolutely believe that he was blacklisted at the time. The 2000s was a wild time with the start of the war, and a lot of people got blacklisted for saying things that criticized America's role in the conflict until later on when it was abundantly clear to the masses that we were only there for the oil.

Most of what he would have done would have been filmed long before it released, so there was plenty of time for Hollywood to phase him out of roles behind the scenes.
Yeah. You know, the only blessing that came out of this tragedy and bullshit was that the oil was of terrible quality. Sour crude. It was like a slap in the face, an irony they (the ones who wanted the oil and caused this mess) so richly deserved.

Before I go off on some political tangent, I think it's a pity they replaced him for such a stupid reason. Richard Epcar's okay, but really, originals are iconic for a reason. In b4 sum1 speaks about the Hayden-Allyson thing, take it to another thread. That one's controversial on its own.
 
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