I need some help for a TL I'm thinking of writing

It's a pop-culture-centric TL, with a POD in 1974 of George Lucas deciding to take a break from writing Star Wars so he can take up Francis Ford Coppola's offer of directing Apocalypse Now.

What I need is a black American actor who would have been about 17 years old in the year 1975 (or could pass for that age), to play the role of "Mr Clean". In OTL the role was played by none other than Laurence Fishburne, who lied about his age and was actually 14 years old when filming began in 1976 -- but in TTL filming would begin about a year earlier. They should be somebody who actually was an actor at the time.

I could cheat and say "Mr Clean was played by an unknown actor who sank back into obscurity immediately after and never acted again" but I want to see if I can do better than that. So, does anyone have any ideas?
 
Levar Burton could fit the bill.
Now that's interesting. He was raised in Sacramento and graduated high school right around the time of the POD, and in OTL he went into theatre studies at the University of Southern California afterwards -- prime placement to attend an audition, I'd say. He even has the right look (minus the glasses, of course). Thanks!

...If anyone else has any other suggestions I'll gladly listen to them of course.
 
If you need any help for your timeline in general, me and probably Brainbin would be glad to help!
 
If you need any help for your timeline in general, me and probably Brainbin would be glad to help!
By all means. The more pop culture TLs, the merrier! I'm especially intrigued by the possibility of Lucas being driven insane by an Apocalypse Now shoot, and the effects that would have on *Star Wars as a result.

I like vultan's suggestion of Burton, for a number of reasons. He's young, he's talented, and his casting will have tremendous butterfly effects. Roots is the obvious target, but what about *Star Trek: The Next Generation? Yes, arguably Burton was the biggest name in the cast IOTL (to American audiences, at least), but his career trajectory could take a completely different path. And when the story of Ike and Tina Turner is told in *What's Love Got To Do With It, I doubt that we'll be seeing Fishburne essay the role of Ike.

I look forward to seeing your timeline taking shape :)
 
Hmm...what if Lucas decides he still wants to see Star Wars produced, but is not interested in directing? So, he looks for a director he can finish the script with, and get in greenlighted. He did this in OTL with the last two films in the trilogy, and if he's working on Apocalypse Now, he may decide to just be the brains behind Star Wars.

Two directors Lucas originally approached to direct the Empire Strikes Back were David Lynch and David Cronenberg. Let's say he picks Lynch, because he enjoyed Eraserhead. The result would be... cerebral.

Also, what's Coppola doing? In OTL, he was one of the high-profile directors approached to make Star Trek: The Motion Picture...
(then again, if Star Wars is substantially delayed and/or different, we probably won't see a Star Trek movie, at least not one like TMP. More likely, Phase II gets a series order.)

Also, if we kill the butterflies for a moment and say TNG is more-or-less like OTL (implausible, I know, but role with me for a moment), and say Burton doesn't accept the role of Geordi LaForge to focus on in his film career, another person who was offered the role was Wesley Snipes...

Just thinkin'.
 

Tovarich

Banned
Does the actor have to be American?
If not, then Rudolph Walker was capable of appearing younger than his years in the early '70s.
 
And when the story of Ike and Tina Turner is told in *What's Love Got To Do With It, I doubt that we'll be seeing Fishburne essay the role of Ike.
Oddly enough, it appears that after Laurence Fishburne co-starred in Apocalypse Now (credited as "Larry Fishburne") he sank right back into obscurity. It doesn't seem to have helped his career at all.
Hmm...what if Lucas decides he still wants to see Star Wars produced, but is not interested in directing? So, he looks for a director he can finish the script with, and get in greenlighted. He did this in OTL with the last two films in the trilogy, and if he's working on Apocalypse Now, he may decide to just be the brains behind Star Wars.

Two directors Lucas originally approached to direct the Empire Strikes Back were David Lynch and David Cronenberg. Let's say he picks Lynch, because he enjoyed Eraserhead. The result would be... cerebral.

Also, what's Coppola doing? In OTL, he was one of the high-profile directors approached to make Star Trek: The Motion Picture...
(then again, if Star Wars is substantially delayed and/or different, we probably won't see a Star Trek movie, at least not one like TMP. More likely, Phase II gets a series order.)

Also, if we kill the butterflies for a moment and say TNG is more-or-less like OTL (implausible, I know, but role with me for a moment), and say Burton doesn't accept the role of Geordi LaForge to focus on in his film career, another person who was offered the role was Wesley Snipes...

Just thinkin'.
I've already thought of the answers for a lot of this stuff. Let's just say that the butterflies go further than you think. (But regarding Coppola, he would've been the producer on Apocalypse Now even if he hadn't ended up directing as well.)
 
ColeMercury said:
Oddly enough, it appears that after Laurence Fishburne co-starred in Apocalypse Now he sank right back into obscurity.
Really? "Cotton Club", "Color Purple", "Rumble Fish", & "Death Wish 2" hurt him? How much of it was the roles he chose?
 
Really? "Cotton Club", "Color Purple", "Rumble Fish", & "Death Wish 2" hurt him? How much of it was the roles he chose?
No, those movies didn't hurt him. He had already faded back into obscurity, immediately after Apocalypse Now, to the point where in the early 1980s he had a job as a bouncer for a nightclub. It's worth noting that in each of those movies you listed he only had minor roles.

(Yes, I know this is a minor case of necromancy, but hey, so was phx1138's post. :p )
 
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