With internet rumor mongers so obsessed with debating the merits of casting Isaiah Washington on
Bionic Woman, the news that
Michelle Ryan's on-screen sister has both been recast and completely re-written has slipped by practically unnoticed. The character was originally conceived, and filmed, to be a rebellious deaf Goth-chick. The new version of the
Bionic Woman's younger sibling is something a little more along the line of post modern science fiction cliché.
Bionic Woman's writing staff will be trading the emotional irony of a deaf girl trying to fit in against a mutilated woman restored without her consent for a hot teen hacker chick, the one requisite for any modern sci-fi show.
The part of Becca Sommers will now be played by a raven haired
Lucy Hale. Aside from guest spots on teen fare
Drake & Josh,
The O.C., and a recent turn on
How I Met Your Mother, the young Hale is pretty much an untested commodity as far as resume length is concerned.
Bionic Woman producers have moved quickly to dispel any notion that they are trading interesting character motivation for a potential Hayden Panettiere. Producer Jason Smilovic explains the original character's deafness as simply a device to legitimatize Jamie Sommers' ability to speak to monkeys. “…the chimpanzees were going to Dr. Anthros (
Chris Bowers), who was using them for experimentation. He would come down to get the chimpanzees and they sort of fell in love during that time. We were looking for an organic way for her to be talking to the chimpanzees in sign language.”
So, get the idea out of your mind that Jamie's deaf sister would have symbolized the unfairness of the bionic technology being used for warfare, all the while providing the new
Bionic Woman with a secret self-loathing that would play out at the very sight of her sister's struggles to fit into the world.
- Jon Lachonis, BuddyTV Senior Writer
Source: Canmag
(Image Courtesy of IMDB)