Period Dramas and Sci-fi - Not That Different

As I have stated before, I love period dramas. I'm not sure about the idea of people 300 years ago dealing with the same problems that we deal with now, the language or the costumes but I love it, have for years. Earlier this week, I had the idea that the line between period dramas and sci-fi movie and shows aren't that clear. I'm not saying that they're practially siblings, more like cousins. Here's the reasons why I feel this way:

1. Costumes.

Granted, the different between a 1840s dress and the Starfleet uniform are pretty vast but bear with me. They give us an idea of the times in which they lived, stark contrast between our lives and gives a feeling of another world, even if it is on Earth. It not only affect the audience but the actors as well. For example, Richard Armitage said that a darned button on his costume in the miniseries North & South helped him get into character by creating a backstory for it; Tom Hiddleston said the the hat he wore during Thor was uncomfortable and channeled his discomfort through out the movie and when Anthony Hopkins and Chris Hemworth saw each in their full armor onthe set of Thor, Hopkins said "God, there's no acting required here, is there?"
Sure, people might be able to talk the talk and walk the walk but can you do both in someone else's clothes? Very hard.

2. Same ole crap, different day.

 Once you take out the spaceships, alien planets and phasers, Star Trek is about ship full of explorers who depend on each to survive their expeditions to strange lands, Star Wars becomes a movie about a group of people who believe that they can change the world by one movement. Once you take away the horses and all the fanciful language, Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility becomes a coming of age tale for Elinor and Marianne, Wuthering Heights is now a simple story of the darker side of love, and A Midsummer Night's Dream is the last house party that 50% of the people there really can't remember. A genre is like a medium: no matter if it's animation, live action or victorian as long as the story is still preserved.

3. "Is that guy just in everything?!"
Mark Sheppard, Patrick Stewart, Harrison Ford, Clancy Brown, Hugh Jackman. One of the things that links these actors together is that they all have down at least 5 different sci-fi movies/tv show appearances about 15 different franchises (Warning: I merely glanced at their IMBD pages so please excuse me if I'm wrong). These aren't all the actor who could be called "Sci-Fi Actors"! There's tons more. On the other side, we've got Period Drama Actors: Alun Armstrong, Francesca Annis, Hayley Atwell, Helena Botham Carter. Between these 5, I counted about 35 different movies but I'm pretty sure that my math is off by a lot. After a while, it does kinda seem like they're recycling the same old actors for everything but they're really good actors.

So for those who just skimmed this whole thing and just want to the vague idea of it, here it is: Cool clothes,  plot lines that matters, great actors that are well known in the genres are not exclusive to only one genre and you should shouldn't look down on one if you prefer the other.