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#1 |
Ghost Prince of Cardolan
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 903
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Brian Blessed would be terrific as either Thorin or Beorn. After thinking about it, I would much rather see him as Thorin due to the much larger part and he can really do some serious acting - providing the Dwarves will be allowed to be serious and not buffoons.
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#2 |
Spectre of Capitalism
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Battling evil bureaucrats at Zeta Aquilae
Posts: 987
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I'll have to admit, Alan Rickman as the voice of Smaug could work very nicely, but like James Earl Jones, I hear his voice in my head already for too many characters, from Severus Snape to Marvin the Paranoid Android. Ian McDiarmid (Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious, in case you've been living in a cave for the last 30 years) is a classically-trained stage actor, and as long as he doesn't go into that "Sidious croak" I think he could pull off a similar quality of sneering disdain, as he did playing the doctor in Sleepy Hollow.
Just my two cents worth.
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The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane. ~~ Marcus Aurelius |
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#3 |
Shade with a Blade
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"Tennis balls, my liege."
Christian Bale would be good as Bard, too, but I think we should try to stick with obscure British actors and avoid the really popular fellows, though I have a great deal of respect for Christian Bale (who was also good in Henry V).
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#4 | |
Corpus Cacophonous
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: A green and pleasant land
Posts: 8,390
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My main recollection of Brian Blessed, I am afraid, is as King of the Hawkmen in Flash, the King in Blackadder the First, and in other similar roles involving him being hale and hearty and shouting a lot. More recently, I have only seen him in occasional television appearances (as himself), involving him being an outrageous luvvie and, er, shouting a lot. I see Beorn as being a more subtle character than I am used to from Blessed. While he has his moments of merriment, he is first encountered as a grim and dour man whom Gandalf paints as rather fearsome. I could never find jolly old shouty Brian Blessed fearsome. ![]() Added to that, he is something like 70 years old now and, while make-up and SFX can do wonders, that may be a bit of a stretch for Beorn. Don't get me wrong. I have a great soft spot for Brian Blessed. But, as far as LotR is concerned, he will always be the Bombadil that never was to me. ![]()
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Do you mind? I'm busy doing the fishstick. It's a very delicate state of mind! |
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#5 |
Ghost Prince of Cardolan
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 903
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Saucepan ... Blessed is a mountain climber who is in great physical shape. But his age is a fact that cannot be denied. Perhaps that makes him a stronger candidate for Thorin Oakenshield rather than Beorn.
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#6 | |
A Mere Boggart
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: under the bed
Posts: 4,737
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Quote:
Blessed is ace, but he's just TOO obvious. It would be like casting Sean Connery as Gandalf in my mind. He looks and sounds the part but his Brian Blessed-ness would overwhelm the role. Beorn is too serious a character for Blessed who is more suited to Tom. However I also think Alan Rickman is too obvious for Smaug, having been typecast in such roles just as Brian Blessed has, and I'm gunning all out for Richard Wilson. If Ricky Gervais rears his ugly smug face again I'm doing a boycott.
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#7 | |
Wight
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: In front of my PC
Posts: 164
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I'm tired of hearing this 'typecast' nonsense. How the public percieves an actor doesn't affect his performance. I repeat, A good actor's strength is in being able to handle different types of roles. And in my opinion anybody who sees an ctor in a film who's previously played a memorable role and sees ONLY those earlier roles throughout the film isn't really paying attention to the film at all. |
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#8 |
Ghost Prince of Cardolan
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 903
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zxcvbn does have a very good point in reminding us that a good actor should be able to handle different roles. I do think that there are some actors who are so completely identified with a role or a sound (of their voice) that it would be quite a handicap to cast them in HOBBIT. Imagine James Earl Jones as the voice of Smaug. What is the first observation that is going to me made by a good percentage of the film audience? "That is the voice of Darth Vader".
I do not think Blessed has that type of liability. First of all, and sad for me to admit, he has almost no visibility at all in the States. So there is no stereotype at all for him to live up to or live down. But Blessed is so amazingly perfect for either a Dwarve - Thorin I would hope - or Beorn that it would be a great tragedy if he were not offered on of those roles. |
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#9 | ||
Wight
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: In front of my PC
Posts: 164
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#10 | |
A Mere Boggart
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: under the bed
Posts: 4,737
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Quote:
![]() And typecasting is important in this context as it will be an ensemble cast in an ensemble piece. Someone like Alan Rickman could play any role very similar to those he has already notably played and get away with it were he to have the whole film in which to develop that role. But he wouldn't in The Hobbit so it would stick out like a sore thumb. And besides, Richard Wilson would be the better Smaug anyway. ![]() And the endless "I don't belieeeeve it!" jokes that would follow would be good fodder for Crazy Captions...
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Gordon's alive!
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#11 |
Alive without breath
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: On A Cold Wind To Valhalla
Posts: 5,912
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If I had my way, the Film poster would look something like this...
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I think that if you want facts, then The Downer Newspaper is probably the place to go. I know! I read it once. THE PHANTOM AND ALIEN: The Legend of the Golden Bus Ticket... |
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#12 |
Loremaster of Annúminas
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 2,330
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"...that if requiring fail, he will compel.
So much his claim, his threatening, and my message. Unless the Dolphin be herein? Dau: The Dauphin- I stand for him. What to him from England? Exe: Scorn, contempt, slight regard, and aught else that might not misbecome the mighty sender: That doth he prise you at. [from memory, so I don't vouch for every word. But a great scene greatly played, esp. by the redoubtable Paul Scofield. And Blessed.] _____________________________________________ Whoooooaa! Just had a lightbulb moment: what about Sir Derek Jacobi as Bilbo? Christ, he'd be brilliant! Of course, I can't see him taking that much time away from the stage.
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The entire plot of The Lord of the Rings could be said to turn on what Sauron didn’t know, and when he didn’t know it. Last edited by William Cloud Hicklin; 01-03-2008 at 07:24 PM. |
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#13 |
Shade with a Blade
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Those are pretty nearly the lines, and Brian Blessed is REALLY scary when he delivers them.
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Stories and songs. |
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#14 | |
Ghost Prince of Cardolan
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 903
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Some cold water for the Del Toro lobby from IGN Entertainment news
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