Casting From the Earth to the Moon

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.

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. [Commentary on "Apollo 13" DVD.]

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!" [DVD commentary, "From the Earth to the Moon". Hanks had lived with the Lovells during his preparation for filming "Apollo 13".]

Emmett Seaborn

The fictional character of Emmett Seaborn, played by veteran character actor Lane Smith, was added to provide a sense of continuity to the series, often serving as a Greek chorus. Seaborn's personality is similar in some respects to Walter Cronkite, though the real Cronkite is mentioned at times and seen in archive footage. 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 (Jay Mohr). [cite web
url= http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120570/trivia
title= Trivia for "From the Earth to the Moon"
publisher= IMDb
accessdate= 2008-08-03 ]

Casting information

*A number of actors who appeared in the movies "Apollo 13" (Tom Hanks, Chris Ellis, Brett Cullen, Clint Howard, David Andrews, Ben Marley, Joe Spano) and "The Right Stuff" (David Clennon) appear in this series, but as different characters. Some of the NASA flight controllers are also played by actors who played similar roles in "Apollo 13". It's notable that astronauts (Cullen, Andrews, Marley) in the film played astronauts in the movie, flight controllers (Howard) played flight controllers and NASA managers (Spano) played NASA managers.
*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" and USAF Lieutenant Colonel James Burton in "The Pentagon Wars."
*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. Dave Foley is also known for starring on the TV series "NewsRadio", which also stars Stephen Root who also appears as Chris Kraft.
*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 (except the final one), 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.
*The episode "For Miles and Miles" features three actors who portrayed Superman: Tim Daly in the animated series that aired at the time, George Newbern in Justice League, and Adam Baldwin in .
*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".

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 and Kyra Sedgwick are briefly glimpsed in uncredited cameos during the luncheon for Susan Borman in the episode titled "The Original Wives Club".
*Apollo Pad Leader Guenter Wendt is seen in the background of one scene of "We Have Cleared the Tower" when Mark Harmon (as Wally Schirra) goes over the flight plan with Nick Searcy (as Deke Slayton).

Cast members

Astronauts

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Other

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References

*cite web
url= http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120570/fullcredits
title= Full cast and crew for "From the Earth to the Moon"
date= |year= |month= |format= |work= | publisher= IMDb
accessdate= 2008-08-03