ACTORS mismatched to roles

[Jo Zebedee]

Oops I quite liked Paul, but I was, shall we say, of a certain age when it came out Now, I'd have to agree.

Oh and Perp, the Hoff, made me giggle.

 

[Boneman]

Mickey Rourke in Angel Heart: the book (Falling Angel) was brilliant, could have been written by Riever 33, and as the PI Harry Angel, Mickey gives a bumbling performance - think Marlon Brando shambleisms - and in the book, he's a clear thinker and a smart man...

 

[Connavar]

Robert Downey Jr is the worst Holmes in film, tv history. Even if the new films was classical faithful take RDJ is so wrong for the role. He plays him like he is Bond or Iron Man.

Its impossible to believe RDJ Holmes is a man of the Victorian age. Brilliant mind no no no.

 

[Moonbat]

Johnny Depp playing Ichabod Crane in Sleepy hollow. I've not read the book but apparantly Crane was supposed to be ghastly in appearance, too such an extent that Depp wanted to don prosthetics to play the part, but they wouldn't let him.

The film I'm not here depicting the life of Bob Dylan has Cate Blanchett playing him in his Like a rolling stone phase, and although she really looked the part, she was the wrong sex. What is odd about that film is the range of people playing him, from Heath Ledger to Richard Gere, but it doesn't really detract from the film as it isn't meant to be a straight biopic.

Surely there must be plenty of Biopic actors that haven't been physically accurate versions of the people they are playing.

Domino - Kiera Knightly playing Domino Harvey
Beyond the Sea - Kevin Spacey playing Bobby Darin

 

[Jeffbert]

When Marvel recreated some of it's titles for the modern age a few years ago (The Ultimate titles), one of the strongest was The Ultimates, written by Mark Millar art by Brian Hitch. This was in all but the name, The Avengers.

This had a much more cinematic feel to it, stunning visuals with massive, breathtaking story arcs; and one of the things that was said from the word go, was that Fury was going to be a driving force behind it.

Both Millar and Hitch spoke about one thing concerning the character and that was how Samuel L Jackson was who they both thought of immediately and wrote/drew the character with that in mind.

When the movie franchise(s) started, almost from the word go there was a fan movement to have Jackson play the character if he were to appear.

And I guess that is why Jackson is playing Fury in the movies!

Fury as he appeared in The Ultimates a loooong time before he appeared on the big screen

I was once a comic collector, but realized I was addicted to it & stopped reading comic books altogether. If Marvel has forgotten about the HOWLERS, & made a new version of Fury, then o.k., my bad.

Jackson has quite a wide range of roles, from badass Fury to voicing the ass-kisser in AFROSAMURAI.

Of comics, I now read only manga.


too few smilies from which to choose.

 

[Interference]

Ian Fleming had originally wanted Roger Moore to play Bond - he didn't like Connery's portrayal at all, at least to begin with. Which is understandable, given that Fleming gave many of his own characteristics to that character and presumably felt that Moore had a better chance of pulling them off.

However, I'm pretty sure he'd have been vastly disappointed had he lived to see what happened when Moore finally did get his hands on the role. I suspect he'd have been a great deal happier with Brosnan.

 

[Metryq]

I suspect he'd have been a great deal happier with Brosnan.

Talk about a mismatch! I know there are a lot of fans who liked "Remington Steele" in the role, but I thought he was the absolute worst.

Connery's Bond was largely the creation of director Terence Young.

 

[Interference]

You haven't seen OHMSS yet, then

 

[J-Sun]

And speaking of physical mismatches, everyone was pissed at Craig because he had light hair but he was fine in Casino Royale.

As far as Brosnan, it's hard for me to say - I disliked all the flicks he was in except Tomorrow Never Dies but I don't think any Bond could have saved those. At least he wasn't another Lazenby.

-- It took me awhile at wikipedia trying to look up the name of the Brosnan flick I liked so I missed Interference's post so my Lazenby reference looks redundant but you can never say Lazenby/OHMSS sucked too many times.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

another Brosnan to make you smile: Mamma Mia, has anyone heard his singing?

 

[The Spurring Platty]

another Brosnan to make you smile: Mamma Mia, has anyone heard his singing?

I loves me some Abba, but that made me cringe.

I'll see your Brosnan in Mama Mia and raise you one Roger Moore in Boat Trip.

 

[Interference]

.... but you can never say Lazenby/OHMSS sucked too many times.

Slightly amusing poiint about that film is that George Baker's voice played Bond for half of it, as well Makes one wonder if the producers didn't end up thinking it would be easier to dub a good actor on a walking tree than to try and get Lazenby to act.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Slightly amusing poiint about that film is that George Baker's voice played Bond for half of it, as well Makes one wonder if the producers didn't end up thinking it would be easier to dub a good actor on a walking tree than to try and get Lazenby to act.

Lazenbury acted? In which scene?

 

[Interference]

The scene with Diana Rigg, right at the end, when he cries -- Ms Rigg had been eating onions, though

The annoying thing is that OHMSS is a key story in the Bond mythos and to have it made so, as is generally accepted, deplorably means it's ripe for re-making, I think.

Oh, and it had the best title song of the entire series (We Have All The Time In The World).

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Duranie here; view to a kill was my fav (when I was 16, I've moved on since)

 

[Interference]

One thing I am very glad about is that though John Barry stopped doing them, and has since died, hiring David Arnold was the perfect alternative. There's respect for the genre in his soundtracks where a lesser composer might have been tempted to lampoon it.

Apparently Barry and Duran (or possibly Duran, not sure which of them it was ) did a lot of fighting, as Le Bon later said, "over black notes"

 

[Ray Pullar]

I've just thought of another: Rutger Hauer as Roy Baty in Blade Runner. A fine performance by an actor physically miscast according to the character description present in the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. It says of Roy when he first appears in the story that he was:

"...larger, with intelligent eyes but flat, Mongolian features which gave him a brutal look." (end of Chapter 13)

Hauer: Larger, yes, intelligent eyes, yes, brutal, yes, Mongolian features, er...

Another problem comes with the casting of Pris (Stratton) and Rachael Rosen. In the novel both of these women androids are the same model and therefore physically identical in appearance (although they wear their hair differently). The movie has two completely dissimilar actresses play the pair. It actually forms an important part of the story as well since it causes Deckard discomfort to retire an andy who resembles one for whom he has developed feelings:

'The last goddamn Nexus-6 type,' Rachael said, enunciating with effort, 'is the same type as I am. She stared down at the bedspread, found a thread, and began rolling it into a pellet. 'Didn't you notice the description? It's of me, too. She may wear her hair differently and dress differently - she may even have bought a wig. But when you see her you'll know what I mean.' She laughed sardonically. 'It's a good thing the association admitted I'm an andy; otherwise you'd probably have gone mad when you caught sight of Pris Stratton. Or thought she was me.' (Chapter 16)

 

[Perpetual Man]

I was once a comic collector, but realized I was addicted to it & stopped reading comic books altogether. If Marvel has forgotten about the HOWLERS, & made a new version of Fury, then o.k., my bad.

Jackson has quite a wide range of roles, from badass Fury to voicing the ass-kisser in AFROSAMURAI.

Of comics, I now read only manga.


too few smilies from which to choose.

There are two universes running concurrently so we can have either the classic or ultimate Fury. Obviously the film makers liked the idea of the Samuel L Jackson Fury - he fit the role!

I hope it was not to hard when you gave up comics - I've just done the same thing for similar reasons, and am not missing them. Yet.

 

[Metryq]

You haven't seen OHMSS yet, then

Not to be confused with Ohm's Law or OMS engines!

Actually, I have seen OHMSS, again just recently, too. While the script was terribly dry and Lazenby's acting hardly stellar, Brosnan is still worse. He delivers half his lines as though he were sitting on a broom handle. (I dunno, maybe that's his "tough guy" voice.) Maybe we should give the much-maligned Keanu a shot at playing Bond?

There are many actors who only "play themselves." This doesn't stop them from being popular in Hollywood and doing lots of films, but in each role, they are exactly the same. A really good actor delivers a character so well that one might not recognize him, even when he is not wearing extensive makeup and appliances. Such metamorphs are never mis-matched because they can act.

 

[Abernovo]

There are many actors who only "play themselves." This doesn't stop them from being popular in Hollywood and doing lots of films, but in each role, they are exactly the same.

Oh dear, you just gave me an image of John Wayne as a Roman centurion in The Greatest Story Ever Told. I try not to mock Biblical films as the content is held literally sacred by many people, but that was a truly awful film and Mr Wayne's brief performance?

I have no words.