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Angela Cartwright, who appears in Lost in Space as "Reporter No. 2," played the role of Penny Robinson in the original TV series, while Mark Goddard, the original Major Don West, plays the General in the movie adaptation. June Lockhart, the original Maureen Robinson, plays Will Robinson's principal. Originally, all surviving cast members of the TV show were meant to have cameo appearances. Ironically, Bill Mumy and Jonathan Harris, the two actors most supportive of the idea of a new movie (as well as the two most popular characters on the show), did not appear in it. Harris was to have played the man who hired, then betrayed Dr. Smith. Mumy, who would have played the adult Will Robinson, was unable to appear due to contractual obligations elsewhere. However, director Stephen Hopkins maintained that Harris was upset that someone else was playing his signature role.
Perhaps the most important original series cast member who takes part in Lost in Space is Dick Tufeld, who reprises his role from the TV series as the voice of the Robot. It was Tufeld who made the phrase, "Danger, Will Robinson, Danger!" a common household exclamation during the run of the TV series for little space cadets everywhere. Ironically, while working on the TV show, neither Tufeld nor Bob May, the man inside the robot suit, were ever listed in the credits. Executive producer Irwin Allen, says Tufeld, "wanted the audience to think this was a real mechanical man. He actually thought people would believe that."
Casting the film was rather tricky for the producers, since the actors had to be willing to sign up for at least two sequels. Gary Oldman was first to climb aboard. "I wanted to do a movie my son could see," he says. Originally Sean Patrick Flanery was picked for Major Don West, but he was dropped during rehearsals when it became clear he was too small to act against William Hurt, a "towering figure," explained Akiva Goldsman. Matt LeBlanc took his place, initially shuttling every week between Los Angeles and England. LeBlanc would fly to London Saturday morning after shooting Friends on Friday night, work the on the film Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. LeBlanc would then hop on the Concorde to New York and the red-eye to L.A. to shoot Friends. On Saturday, he would do it all over again.
As for William Hurt, he had his own reasons for joining the Robinson clan, which he makes clear: "As far as I'm concerned, this is as serious a character as any I've ever doneżI thought the TV show was really ahead of its time. I remember watching it as a kid, and the whole social structure was completely interesting to me."
Gary Oldman later made a hilarious appearance in the 2000-2001 season finale of Friends on NBC with Lost in Space cast member Matt LeBlanc. LeBlanc's character, Joey, lands a gig acting in a movie with Oldman, playing himself in parody.
Heather Graham, who later appeared in Bowfinger as an actress who falls for B-movie director Steve Martin, fell for Lost in Space director Stephen Hopkins. She told an interviewer, "It's supposed to be a big mistake for an actress to go out with the director, but, you know, life's too short." In an amazing coincidence, another actress named Heather Graham played the part of Marie Robinson in the TV series Swiss Family Robinson (1972) which is often attributed as the basis of Lost in Space. In another curious coincidence, the TV series took place in the future of 1997, the year this movie was shot and produced.
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