The Links with the Feuding Stars, Too
Tuesday, March 14, 2017 at 3:24PM Baby Jane Mania
EW Ryan Murphy talks about the first season of Feud. He's already casting the second and hints that a lot of people want to be Prince Charles and Princess Diana. Hmmm. Didn't anyone see Diana with Naomi Watts. That's dangerous ground!
Boy Culture searches for any living actors from Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?
Get Out
AV Club Jordan Peele (Get Out) has made history with the first $100 million grossing debut from a black filmmaker...
Vanity Fair Did you hear that Samuel L Jackson criticized the movie for casting a British actor in the lead? More on this and a great quote from the British star Daniel Kaluuya after the jump...
GQ Get Out's star Daniel Kaluuya responds to Samuel L Jackson's comments and all these needless divisions.
Here's the thing about that critique, though. I'm dark-skinned, bro. When I'm around black people I'm made to feel "other" because I'm dark-skinned. I've had to wrestle with that, with people going "You're too black." Then I come to America and they say, "You're not black enough." I go to Uganda, I can't speak the language. In India, I'm black. In the black community, I'm dark-skinned. In America, I'm British. Bro!
Miscellania
THR MTV Movie Awards going the Globe route and will now include TV awards as well starting this May.
Towleroad Ewan McGregor is annoyed by the "gay" controversy about Beauty & The Beast
IndieWire Anne Thompson makes early Oscar predictions (I don't read any of these around the web before I do my own but some of you will want to!)
Film Stage Natalie Portman in talks to lead Ridley Scott's 70s kidnapping drama All the Money in the World (but he always has so much projects lined up and many get abandoned)
The Playlist the english language Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is finally getting a sequel but without David Fincher or its Best Actress nominated star Rooney Mara...
/Film and supposedly the studio wants Natalie Portman or Scarlett Johansson. Wait... I thought the reason for dumping Mara was too expensive. Surely Scarjo and Nat are way pricier
Pajiba Celebrity redheads are faking it
World of Reel hmmm nearly identical shots from trailers 10 years apart
i09 meet the Norwegian actress who donned Princess Leia's buns for Rogue One
Coming Soon Edward James Olmos confirms his return for Blade Runner 2049
Off Cinema
Lambda Literary Awards finalists from LGBT authors. If you've read any of these care to recommend one in the comments? I need some books to read. One of the graphic novels nominated is about Alan Turing, the subject of Imitation Game of course
Reader Comments (27)
I think Sam Jackson just meant that it seems British/Australian actors seem to get an easier entrance in the business than American actors. It's something that many American actors complain about. If it is true or not I don't know. But i have heard it before. They think having those accents gets you ahead of American actors who are just as or even more talented. Like it's an impressive trick to read sides in an American accent and then talk to the casting people in your real accent.
It s a 100 million grossing film with an unknown black lead and black debut director,it's something to be celebrated and it has more wit and layers than most blockbusters could hope for.
Samuel L Jackson is cool and all, but he also seems like a bit of a Charisma Uniqueness Nerve and Talent.
Ty -- i think, Americans don't like to hear this, but it also has to do with British actors generally being way more trained in their profession. America has so many actors who never studied.
MorganB -- and i mean him complaining about actors not getting work is kind of rich. LOL. I don't actually think you're allowed to have an American franchise without casting him in some role or another.
I wish they'd let Fincher, Mara, and Craig keep going. That is one of my favorite films in the last decade.
The actresses interested in playing Diana shouldn't get their hopes up. Ryan Murphy will just cast Sarah Paulson or Jessica Lange.
I was just going to say what Nat just said in the comments. Samuel L Jackson of all people shouldn't be criticising an actor for taking a role when who knows how many have missed out because of him when he often doesn't even look like he wants to be there.
What Belongs to You is AMAZING, from the Lambda list. The only one I've read, though.
Yeah, British/Australian actors generally are better trained than American actors - also, and more specifically, they have background/experience in theatre, which impresses casting directors. Doing theatre really stretches your acting muscles and leads to greater flexibility in the range of roles you can play.
I also think so many American actors still view film acting as the PINNACLE of the profession and rarely try to branch out. I think this worldview is changing, but it's just not in the case with British actors, who seamlessly move from theatre, television, and film work constantly. There's a versatility in acting styles that develop from that movement that many American actors just don't have.
Devin D: Me too: I'd love to see Craig and Mara play those roles again. Alas, it seems as though it's not going to happen.
Wouldn't it be nice if Mirren played the queen one more time in Feud? She would win the triple crown of acting for the same part!
Samuel L Jackson owes us all an interesting interested performance at this point.
Sam Jackson, playing the same loud dude so long that he's now doing it for Capital One, shouldn't hate on the Brit/Aussie actors who can turn accents on so easily you're shocked when their real voice shows up on a talk show.
Wait, that article said Portman was Finchers first choice for Lisbeth back in the day? Does anyone know that story?!
Regardless, Mara owned that role IMO. Anyone is gonna suffer in comparison
@devin D - same here, severly underrated. Also one of my favourite movies of the last decade; completely seamless, from first frame to last.
You guys are missing the point. SLJ was criticizing the fact Black Brits are getting roles so specifically about the Black American experience because they're seen as more trained, more talented, classier and whatever compared to Black American actors. I mean the fact some of you are upholding the stereotype that American actors aren't trained while Brits are and that somehow makes Brits better is just...look at Andre Holland. A Black AMERICAN actor who is trained, along with countless others. There's absolutely no reason MLK Jr. couldn't have been played by an American.
Also lol @ some acting like SLJ is not a great actor when he wants to be. I guess everyone wants to ignore his recent towering performance in a The Hateful Eight.
Regardless, Mara owned that role IMO. Anyone is gonna suffer in comparison
@Wait: Rooney Mara owned Lisbeth Salander? Has anyone informed Noomi Rapace?
Oh, she definitely knows. It's undeniable. Mara >>>> Rapace in that role. Rapace is still excellent though.
Wait -- hmmm. I don't remember reading that in that particular article. But from my understanding Fincher fought like tooth and nail to get Rooney Mara (the studios wanted a more famous actress like Portman herself)
?! -- he is a great actor when he wants to be, yes. But pretending he doesn't phone it in fairly often is crazy. He's in so many movies and everytime i see him I'm like "will he phone it in or actually act?" and i'm usually stuck with the former but when he's on he's really great -- totally deserved the Oscar nomination for Django Unchained that Waltz got.
Nat - I do wish he'd challenge himself more because it's clear when he actually tries he's one of the greatest actors of his generation. He totally should've won the Oscar Waltz got for Django Unchained. People watching that movie decades from now are gonna be like WTF when they discover he wasn't even nominated for it.
I hope this isn't geo-blocked. It's a great 30 min doco on editor Jill Billcock which premiered on Aussie TV last night: http://iview.abc.net.au/programs/jill-bilcock-the-art-of-film-editing/AC1529H001S00
Nathaniel: that is what the slash film article you link to says
It says, "Portman was supposedly David Fincher's first choice for Lisbeth Salander and Scarlett Johansson was among those who were considered for the part..."
I had never heard this before so was interested in the story; did Portman have scheduling conflicts? Did she turn it down? Who knows...
I'm torn. I absolutely would not have said it the way Sam said it (Brits don't understand the human condition as well as Americans? Really? Not the best way to make your point) but I totally understand what he's trying to say, and I've thought the same myself. It drove me a bit crazy when everyone celebrated this year with "look, no more Oscarssowhite! Look at all those black people!" when half of them were not American. It just makes it all really binary (it's no longer African American vs. Caucasian, now it's just Black vs. White, which eliminates any celebration of differences in cultural background and just turns it into a color battle.) BUT on the other hand I'd really like to hear anyone's argument for how Chiwetel in "12 Years a Slave" was not THE performance of the year, or how anyone (American, Martian, whatever) would've done better than Oyelowo in "Selma". So this whole argument does seem a bit misplaced.
Aarkan is right. What Belongs to You is very good.
I do not have the energy for this black Briti discussion....
@ cal roth
Mirren would more likely get an Emmy for playing the queen in the later seasons of The Crown. I've been wondering if she and Sheen would reprise their roles, given that it's Peter Morgan writing again. (But it would be weird for Alex Jennings to show up as Prince Charles since he's already playing the Duke of Windsor.)
Ugh. Casting directors and movie executives have no imagination and no faith in moviegoers to see anyone but the most obvious stars (when, hello, Get Out is an example sitting right there for them). Portman and Johansson are both talented but there ARE other women out there.
Nat, for the Lambda Literary Awards, there's a mystery that stars Walt Whitman (!) as the Sherlock-type protagonist and even gives him a boyfriend. I had never heard of it before but it sounds fun and fascinating.