For those of you who watch the Canadian SF show Sanctuary, have you ever noticed that the actor who plays Nikola Tesla (Jonathon Young) looks nothing like Tesla himself?… This is not unusual in television portrayals of historical figures. HOWEVER, the really odd thing is that the man who plays James Watson on the SAME SHOW (Peter Wingfield) looks ALMOST IDENTICAL to the historical Nikola Tesla.
Here is an image of Sanctuary’s Nikola Tesla character (played by Jonathon Young):
From Sanctuary Network Wikia: http://sanctuary.wikia.com/wiki/Nikola_Tesla
Here is an image of the historical Nikola Tesla:
From Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikola_Tesla
AND here is an image of Sanctuary’s James Watson (played by Peter Wingfield):
From Sanctuary Network Wikia http://sanctuary.wikia.com/wiki/James_Watson
This boggles my mind. Why not have Peter Wingfield play Nikola Tesla? The resemblance is remarkable.
I probably wouldn’t have noticed the similarity if it weren’t for my weird obsession with Nikola Tesla. And since Sanctuary had a vampiric Nikola Tesla, it certainly caught my attention!
If you are not familiar with the Canadian television series Sanctuary, you can find out more at http://sanctuaryforall.com/ . Sanctuary is about a group that creates a safe space for the supernatural races, a monster reserve if you will.
Speculating Canada: Canadian Horror, Science Fiction, and Fantasy 
So I am guessing that you will have read “The Prestige” by Christopher Priest? Tesla is a minor (but crucial) character in that book. Excellent book, btw. The movie comes close, but doesn’t quite capture the book.
I haven’t seen it yet. I will definitely have to check it out! Thanks for letting me know.
Loved The Sanctuary series! I had no idea what the real Tessla looked like until I saw this post. You’re right, though. Why would they cast someone, who looks so much like him, in a completely different role? Maybe because Jonathon Young makes a better vampire? Just a guess. 🙂
Good point. You are right that Jonathon Young makes a much better vampire. He has that look that naturally suggests moral ambiguity, and can really play the arrogant vampire role well!
He had some work done. You got to do that every few decades or else people might see something’s up.
Great point!! You have to change it up every once and a while: keep things looking new and exciting.