Those Old Familiar Faces

One of the only things better than rewatching an old favorite movie after years and being able to enjoy the twists and turns because you don’t quite remember how everything is resolved, is watching an old favorite and realizing that unknown minor actors are suddenly replaced with familiar faces from shows you love.

Like, how did I not know Adam Baldwin was in Independence Day? He has an awesome role, too, in charge of Area 51 and he’s the first guy to kill one of the aliens. 
Or when you realize Christian Kane was in Secondhand Lions and you had no idea.

The film is unchanged, set in stone forever, but we keep experiencing new shows (Firefly, Chuck, Leverage) and discovering new actors. No matter how many times you watch a movie, you can never tell when a new surprise is going to drop in your lap because of your experiences outside of that film.

Like when you realized that you know most of the voice actors for Anastasia. Having seen Angela Lansbury, John Cusak, Meg Ryan, and Kelsey Grammar in half a dozen other shows, when you go back to this animated classic, you watch these characters with a new perspective. You see them as their actors, infusing inflections and mannerisms familiar to you from other roles, and suddenly their animated incarnations are in full bloom before your eyes.

I love this ever-changing affect on an immobile object. It’s a giant bonus in life. You grow up with a favorite book or movie. One night, you settle into this traditional comfort, prepare for the same old familiar –and there’s an unexpected prize waiting for you.

Or maybe that's just how I feel about it. ^_^