Casting director Mike Fenton introduces two screen tests of actresses that were considered for the roles of Rachael (Rosen) and Pris (Statton): Nina Axelrod & Stacey Nelkin respectively. He also explains that the reason these two particular screen tests were picked is because for all the others the audio has been misplaced over time. On a side note - in the original novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, Rachael and Pris are identical synthetic androids.
From the looks of this, Axelrod would have played a more vulnerable and whispering version of Rachael. We see her doing two scenes opposite actor Morgan Paull wearing one of Greta Garbo's old fur-coats. As it is her who is being tested, he is treated like a piece of meat and is only seen from the back. But they're nonetheless really going at as far as the kissing is concerned. In the extensive documentary on disc 2 of the ultimate Blade Runner boxed set, 'Dangerous Days' Paull explains that when he was asked to pick the best Rachael out of all the girls who screen-tested, he picked Nina. However, Ridley Scott decided that Sean Young had the right look, if not the experience. All during filming, Ridley gave Sean extra attention and direction, leaving Harrison Ford to his own devices, being convinced that he would know what to do. This in resulted in Harrison Ford feeling neglected and grumpy on set, only coming out of his trailer when needed. And in effect, this works for the character of Deckard, so it worked out alright for Scott after all.
In the Nelkin screen test, Paull plays JF Sebastian. Again, Dangeorus Days sheds more light on the how and why: Stacey Nelkin was visibly having trouble coping with all the smoke on set. Obviously if she couldn't handle it on a partial set for the screen test, she wouldn't be able to survive on the actual set at all. The second thing working against her was her tiny physique. It would have been a tough sell having her convincingly beat up Harrison Ford during the final act of the movie. Dustin Hoffman maybe, but not Harrison. According to Darryll Hannah in the longer documentary, all the actresses up for the part were allowed to come up with their own look for the character. While most of the girls vying for Pris arrived on set looking all made up gorgeous and cute, Darryll went for a run down freak-show Goth look - and panicked. But in her case, Morgan Paull and Ridley Scott agreed that she was the best choice.
Both Nina and Stacey appear in new interviews in this short documentary. Axelrod looks totally unrecognizable in the present. Maybe this is why she wasn't included in Dangerous Days, while Stacey Nelkin was. On the other hand, there was simply more to tell about the Nelkin case, since she was actually cast in the film as Marie, the elusive fifth Replicant (don't call them Androids - that word was taboo on set). Unlike Pris or Zhora, Marie was not a pleasure model but a younger looking 'Skin-job' build for babysit purposes. Unfortunately for Stacey, budget and time worked against her and Marie was scrapped before any of her scenes were shot.
Out of the three of them, only Morgan Paull made it into the opening scene of Blade Runner playing Deckard's colleague (Dave) Holden (and also two more scenes that were shot but deleted). Furthermore, he was also asked to imitate Ford's deep brown voice on some of the trailers when the real deal was unavailable. In a way this is not unlike what happened to Harrison on Star Wars, where he famously helped out during the auditions process in basically the same capacity as Paull and ended up as the breakout star without doing a formal screen test himself. But Paull wasn't that lucky. Not everybody can have a carpenter's luck I suppose.
8 out of 10
From the looks of this, Axelrod would have played a more vulnerable and whispering version of Rachael. We see her doing two scenes opposite actor Morgan Paull wearing one of Greta Garbo's old fur-coats. As it is her who is being tested, he is treated like a piece of meat and is only seen from the back. But they're nonetheless really going at as far as the kissing is concerned. In the extensive documentary on disc 2 of the ultimate Blade Runner boxed set, 'Dangerous Days' Paull explains that when he was asked to pick the best Rachael out of all the girls who screen-tested, he picked Nina. However, Ridley Scott decided that Sean Young had the right look, if not the experience. All during filming, Ridley gave Sean extra attention and direction, leaving Harrison Ford to his own devices, being convinced that he would know what to do. This in resulted in Harrison Ford feeling neglected and grumpy on set, only coming out of his trailer when needed. And in effect, this works for the character of Deckard, so it worked out alright for Scott after all.
In the Nelkin screen test, Paull plays JF Sebastian. Again, Dangeorus Days sheds more light on the how and why: Stacey Nelkin was visibly having trouble coping with all the smoke on set. Obviously if she couldn't handle it on a partial set for the screen test, she wouldn't be able to survive on the actual set at all. The second thing working against her was her tiny physique. It would have been a tough sell having her convincingly beat up Harrison Ford during the final act of the movie. Dustin Hoffman maybe, but not Harrison. According to Darryll Hannah in the longer documentary, all the actresses up for the part were allowed to come up with their own look for the character. While most of the girls vying for Pris arrived on set looking all made up gorgeous and cute, Darryll went for a run down freak-show Goth look - and panicked. But in her case, Morgan Paull and Ridley Scott agreed that she was the best choice.
Both Nina and Stacey appear in new interviews in this short documentary. Axelrod looks totally unrecognizable in the present. Maybe this is why she wasn't included in Dangerous Days, while Stacey Nelkin was. On the other hand, there was simply more to tell about the Nelkin case, since she was actually cast in the film as Marie, the elusive fifth Replicant (don't call them Androids - that word was taboo on set). Unlike Pris or Zhora, Marie was not a pleasure model but a younger looking 'Skin-job' build for babysit purposes. Unfortunately for Stacey, budget and time worked against her and Marie was scrapped before any of her scenes were shot.
Out of the three of them, only Morgan Paull made it into the opening scene of Blade Runner playing Deckard's colleague (Dave) Holden (and also two more scenes that were shot but deleted). Furthermore, he was also asked to imitate Ford's deep brown voice on some of the trailers when the real deal was unavailable. In a way this is not unlike what happened to Harrison on Star Wars, where he famously helped out during the auditions process in basically the same capacity as Paull and ended up as the breakout star without doing a formal screen test himself. But Paull wasn't that lucky. Not everybody can have a carpenter's luck I suppose.
8 out of 10
