Although it seems that Rynelf in the movie will essentially just be a named extra (based on his resume, the casting call, and a few other things) i am quite pleased with that, since as you say, he is a very minor character in the book, and i would rather he stayed that way, than be expanded in all sorts of crazy directions as it appears they have done with Rhince.

I would be very certain that they are going to keep his speech in the movie, firstly due to the pivotal role it plays in the mutiny, and secondly because (as with the Werewolfs speech in Prince Caspian) its one of the memorable pieces of dialogue, which im sure they wouldnt just totally abandon. That said, i'm just not too sure it will be spoken by Rynelf.

Not because Tony Nixon isn't a main actor (the Werewolfs speech in PC was brilliant, and that was done by an uncredited cameo from a sound department guy who didnt even seem to work on the movie - Tim Hands apparently, in case anyone was wondering) but because i believe the dynamic of the mutiny will be significantly altered in the movie, and it may thus be necessary for a different character to deliver the critical speech.

Firstly, since their are now creatures on board, i believe the mutiny will probably come down to a Narnians vs Telmarines quarrel, and in order for such a set-up to work it may require someone unlikely (say a minotaur, reepicheep or lucy) to deliver the speech which brings them back from the brink of full on mutiny, rather than just a regular crew member (though Rynelf was one of the few crew members specifically cast as a Telmarine, so maybe they could play on that angle as a reason for him being the one to bring peace between the two sides).

Secondly, i believe the mutiny will involve a fair bit of "action" since it is one of the few scenes in the book which has even the slightest hint of conflict, and based on previous experience, im not sure they can resist the temptation to scale-up the sense of conflict in that scene. Such a thing would perhaps require the nature of the speech to be significantly altered, and again, for it to be delivered from a more unlikely source.

As for pictures, im not sure - there are two people i've seen who could possibly be him, but i cant be too sure, as i have yet to really get a good sense of what Tony Nixon looks like (only a handful of photos of him) and most of the Dawn Treader extras are sporting extra long hair and beards.

Do you think his character will be changed the way Rhince's appears to be?

I hope not.

Do you think they'll keep his cool speech in? (If you don't know what speech I'm talking about, check out his character profile, it's under Quotes.)

This is such a good and effective speech that it would be a mistake to leave it out.(IMHO) It starts to open the door for King Caspian to play his card regarding the journey of the Dawn Treader past the beginning of the world's end and who will be allowed to continue on it. And I do hope that it is his character that delivers it, as in the book.

Tony Nixon's IMDB Profile now has a picture of him in costume as Rynelf.

I'm not sure how to post the picture directly, so here's the link:
http://www.imdb.com/media/rm2149681408/nm1992643

His character looks very good in my opinion.

Oh wow, that's cool. Thanks bkey Yeah, now that I've seen both Rhince and Rynelf in costume, I like them a lot more!

LOL. When i said before that there were two possible extras in the photos that i thought might be Tony Nixon.... well that guy wasn't either of them! Hahahaha. I had been assuming he would a lot more like his regular photos then that.

He does look pretty good really. Though in a way, he looks a much better match for Rhince in my opinion - a big gruff looking first mate sort of character.

Still, definitely very good.

Well, Rynelf is now the First Mate of the Dawn Treader. Thoughts?

I think its ironic, Icarus, how you said you felt like Rynelf looks more like a first mate than Rhince did, in light of the recent news.

I personally don't mind the change. It doesn't really make sense at this point, but nothing to get upset over.

I think its ironic, Icarus, how you said you felt like Rynelf looks more like a first mate than Rhince did, in light of the recent news.

Lol. You are right. And that kind of makes it all the more frustrating - not only does Tony Nixon's character look more like the Rhince of my imagination (admittedly heavilly influenced by the BBC Rhince and general cliches about First Mate's appearence) but he now possesses the only defining characteristic of Rhince from the book (i.e. that he is the first mate). Essentially, Tony Nixon's character is Rhince in everything but name.

I honestly don't see what possible characteristics or actions Arthur Angel's character could possibly have that would make him more of a Rhince than Tony Nixon's character?

Since it was apparently decided that the Rhince/Gael subplot is essential to the film, it would almost seem more practical to just keep Rhince as First Mate and make Rynelf Gael's father instead of switching the characters around.

Unless there are still some pieces missing to the puzzle that we've yet to figure out.

So Rynelf is now Rhince in the movie and Rhince is a different Rhince but not Rynelf. It will be interesting to see this play out next December. Rynelf does have a bigger role now but Rhince in turn gets a wife and daughter.

At least both characters are in the movie and will be aboard the Dawn Treader together at some point. Though I would really like to hear the explanation for the character switcheroos and the additional changes that were made.

Another way to look at it: Rynelf gets promoted to First Mate and Rhince demoted to passenger or just another crew member.

There is no such thing as a "named extra". In another post someone mentioned another actor as an "extra with a few lines"... again no such thing.
Extras have non speaking roles .... however I think it's important to point out that the extras in this film played a significant role and worked darn hard for 12 to 14 hours per day in often uncomfortable conditions. To refer to them as "Only" extras or "Merel"y extras is unkind and demeaning .... Without this bunch of very hard working (and talented) people the Dawn Treader would have no crew! As for Tony Nixons resume .... I happen to know Tony ... and although his film credits may be few ... he has worked for over 20 years as an actor in film TV and mostly live performance ... this has taken him all over the world and he is much sought after, and has excellent reviews. Any actor in this film (with one line or 50) had to audition ... each of the minor roles was contested for nationally in Australia .... Each actor was selected by Michael Apted personally for the role. I think Mr Nixon would be quite offended by your remarks. I know for a fact that many of the cast members found posts on this site to be unhelpful in the process of making the film. The little girl playing Gael had to be protected from reading some of the stuff written about her. By all means speculate away on the plot lines ... but please don't make ill informed comment about the individuals (Actors) that you know little or nothing about. YES they do read this!! ....come on folks .... what would Aslan do .. (WWAD?)
Please lighten up guys ... and remember you are talking about real people with real feelings. Not one person on this film .... cast, crew and extras gave less than 200% of all they had.... and what they had was great!

I find myself using "only" in the sense of working as an extra in a production. When used in reference to my coworkers, I get sensitive about the word "only" being used to minimize his or her critical role in the Emergency Services. It is most often not intentional, but it can seem otherwise.

I can't say I've seen Tony Nixon yet. (I don't get out much) I suspect that will change in a serious way for him this coming December. Looking forward to it.

As for internet community forums, they can be rough to read. Can't imagine how it would be reading about myself at one.

The correct term for actors in a film who have smaller roles is "Support Actors" or "Supporting cast" .... these people may have fewer lines, but they support the lead cast. Often out of frame giving an eye line to the leads and still acting so that the person in frame has something to work off of.

It's a huge credit to the leads in this film that they returned this favor. Ben, Skandar and Georgie were ALWAYS there for the supporting actors to give them an eye line and an Actor to work too. However on some occasions in a film of this nature special effects require actors to work to a small mark on the side of the camera or on the green screen.

The extras these days are usually called "background artists", and make up crowd scenes and the like.

The Dawn Treader crew (Sailors) are featured extras ... they have no lines but are required to act ... these guys are in the film so much that they are recognizable. Hope thats a little clearer ... although terms may differ from country to country I suppose

Sailor, greatest apologies if anything I or anyone else has said that offended you, i can assure you that absolutely nothing of the sort was intended, and i feel you may have misinterpreted many of our comments as being negative, when that is definitely not the case.

Few, if any, of us here are lucky enough to be movie industry insiders, and as such the phrases and terminology we use are only ever intended to be used in general terms to establish a quick and convenient level of shared understanding within the fan community, and not to conform to any strict technical definitions. For example, when we say "Named Extra", we are referring to those characters, such as seen in previous films, that have no lines and very little screen time, but were for various reasons assigned a specific character name (for example in Prince Caspian: Suncloud, Ironhoof , Rainstorm, Lightning Bolt, Mentius, and several of the Telmarine Lords who did not speak).

As for "Extras with a few lines", i was also not aware this was such a fundamental contradiction in terms. However i again use this term loosely to refer to those background people in previous films who have a few lines of dialogue, but would not generally be considered to be a "character" in the movie (for example, the Home Guard Soldier in Prince Caspian who's only line is to shout "Stop Fighting" at the beginning whilst breaking up the fight at the train station). If there are better ways of referring to such roles, then we will be more than happy to endeavour to use them in future.

I can appreciate it must be frustrating for you to observe our idle chit chat on such subject matters, and seeing numerous errors, whilst yourself knowing the full details of such things. However you should not confuse our lack of information with ignorance, nor our idle speculation with rudeness. It is all just harmless debate amongst fans of the books about the nature of potential changes in character roles for the movie.

In the case of Tony Nixon, i can appreciate your desire to defend your friend if we have been guilty of underestimating his role in the film, again apologies. However, this thread was only ever intended to be idle speculation about the nature of the character (who in the book is a very minor character indeed, most notable for fetching a cup of spiced wine in Chapter 1 and then not reappearing till near the very end of the book) and not a critique of the actor. I do not see the harm in us as fans analysing the available evidence to try and make an educated guess about the nature and scope of various roles within the movie.

With Rynelf, the original casting call for him was on a casting call for various Extras, and when the casting was first revealed to us, it was through an IMDB submission which listed him as "uncredited". There was no official announcement as there was with other characters. Furthermore his IMDB resume (the only resume we have to go off) only lists two other roles, one of which is also "uncredited". I therefore think it was more than a reasonable enough assumption for us to make that Rynelf may be an extra in the movie, and that like the book, his role would be minor. Admittedly we have since then learnt a fair few more details about Rynelf's character (i.e. that he may be taking on some of Rhince's role) but that is the nature of progressive debate here amongst the fan community.

Never did anyone intend to offend Mr Nixon by suggesting his was "only" an Extra. Neither did anyone intend the use the term "just an extra" to be dismissive or rude about anyone. In fact i don't think you could find many more fan communities on the internet that are as interested in, and fascinated by, hearing the stories of every single extra, stand-in, body double, stunt double and crew member as we are here at NarniaWeb. We would be more than willing to be corrected on any information or speculation you feel is incorrect. Once again, sincerest apologies.

I look forward to Tony Nixon's performance in VDT. This character has a small but important role in the book and it looks to be an even larger role in the movie. Go Rynelf! Go Tony Nixon!