Next up in the Hunger Games fan site series Campaigning For Coin is Katey Sagal. Every Tuesday and Thursday the fan sites will be sharing opinions on different actresses we think may (or may not) be right for the role of President Alma Coin in Mockingjay Parts 1 & 2. As always, be warned: Spoilers ahead!
Katey Sagal is best known for her portrayal of wacky Peg Bundy on the long running sitcom Married With Children. In 2011 she won a Golden Globe for her role as Gemma Teller Morrow in the acclaimed FX series Sons Of Anarchy.
Savanna: Unfortunately, I haven't seen Katey Sagal in anything other than Married With Children and Lost, so I don't have a very wide range of projects to pull from as I assess her "Coin potential." That being said, just knowing that she once portrayed the hilariously outrageous Peg Bundy and then went on to give such a nuanced performance as Helen Norwood makes me feel like she can probably handle anything! Although Helen's role on Lost wasn't large, Sagal made the character memorable. While I would never have thought of her as a possible Coin on my own, the more I think about it, the more I love it. It would definitely be an unexpected casting choice, which makes the idea even more appealing to me. Acting skills aside, I feel that Sagal has a wonderful look for the part as well. She has such a strong, almost regal-looking face which I can easily envision going from cool and authoritative to absolutely menacing in a heartbeat.
Lindsay: For many, Katey Sagal will only ever be Peg Bundy from Married With Children. However, she is quite a talented singer and comedic AND dramatic actress, and is often looked over for a role like this. She is not someone I'd have thought of for Coin, so I really had to consider her once she was mentioned. She's the right age and has a fantastic look for Coin. My biggest issue with her, though it seems kind of small, is her very slow speaking style. Not that she can't speak quickly. But the way her speech comes across to me is very casual and laid back. I tend to think of Coin as being quick and curt. Again, that's not something that's a dealbreaker for me, but strangely is the main reason I think it'd be an odd bit of casting.
Crystal: Sadly, I haven't seen Katey Sagal in much lately except for a few episodes of LOST, which was years ago. I've always wanted to watch Sons of Anarchy since I hear so much about her performance, but have never seen the show. I will say that I think she has a hardened look that could work well for Coin. I used to watch Married with Children and Futurama, so while it can be hard to look at her and not see ditzy Peg Bundy or one-eyed Leela, I think I could still detach her from those roles if she did a good enough job. And if she's in Sons of Anarchy, I'd say she's had lots of practice in being tough!
Kristen: Katey Sagal plays a Grade-A manipulator while simultaneously maintaining a caring, fiercely protective character archetype on the TV show Sons of Anarchy. That really surprised me, considering all I've ever seen her do prior to SOA was comedy. Don't be fooled by her stint on the sitcom Married...With Children; this woman is remarkably capable of playing a tough girl. However, if Sagal were to be cast as Coin, I worry that her acting history may lead audiences to see Alma Coin as a much less societally-threatening character than she was created to be. Sagal undoubtedly has acting chops, I just don’t want to be sitting in the movie theater watching Alma Coin on screen, but hearing Peggy Bundy in my head.
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Molly: Most of you probably aren't old enough to remember Katey Sagal as the bouffant-sporting shopaholic housewife Peg Bundy in the sitcom Married With Children. And that’s GOOD because Katey Sagal is so much more than Peg Bundy, She's a remarkable woman. She's an actress and singer with a gorgeous, soulful voice who's been working in the industry forever, mostly on TV with some stage work sprinkled in. She's done a lot of comedy in the past, but her Golden Globe-winning turn as Gemma in Sons of Anarchy proves she knows how to play tough. She's the right age. She may not have been my immediate pick for Coin, but I like Katey Sagal and she’s got the talent to play the role. The biggest problem I see with casting Katey Sagal as Coin is that it doesn’t have that ""wow"" factor that they should be seeking for this role. Remember when we found out Donald Sutherland was cast as President Snow - “wow!” We're going to need a President Coin of equal caliber, and I’m not sure Katey fits the bill.
Rebekah: I know for some people Katey Sagal being fan-cast as Alma Coin is kind of out of left field, but if you really think about it, it's not. Katey Sagal to the laymen is best known for her work on the long running '90s sit-com, Married With Children, but I screamingly implore people to get past the image you have of her as Peggy Bundy, with her teased red hair (which was a wig), to her gum chewing, lip smacking, feminine crossed legs that never stopped moving, to her loud low-cut tops, and her leggings-- Katey Sagal is so much more than Peggy Bundy. Katey Sagal has been in the entertainment business for over 40 years, starting out as a back up singer for famous musicians like Bob Dylan, and Bette Midler. She has an on going solo music career herself, and she's even been interviewed and promoted on such highly respected shows like Fresh Air on NPR. Music is one of her main passions, but she is an actress who hasn't stopped working seemingly for the last 30 years. She has 14 recurring roles to her name, three of which are roles she's still in the midst of doing, or is contracted to reprise eventually. Those roles are Gemma Teller Morrow on the critically acclaimed FX series Sons of Anarchy, where she plays the matriarch to a chapter of a fictionalized motor cycle club that's meant to resemble The Hells Angels. Gemma is a force to be reckoned with, and the role has let Katey do things that many actresses would simply be afraid to take on in realistic, and painfully honest ways. Gemma's no angel, for lack of a better word, but she's someone who you can relate to, love, and hate all at the same time, so in that sense I just described Alma Coin. Other roles she's still contracted to portray, Nancy Abrams on Glee, aka Artie's mom, and then of course there's Turanga Leela on the long running, and much-loved animated series Futurerama. Katey's also recognizable from her work on the ABC sit-com 8 Simple Rules, which co-starred the late John Ritter, and the now beloved Kaley Cuoco from The Big Bang Theory. And then there's her work on the ABC drama/thriller, Lost--where she played John Locke's love interest. The only thing that puts Katey Sagal out of the realistic category where it comes to being cast as Coin is this, she's freakin' busy all the time, and it would simply be amazing if she were cast, because it means she's has the best scheduling skills on the face of the Earth.