TIFF '23: Kate Winslet elevates "Lee"

by Matt St Clair

Kate Winslet as "Lee"

After winning an Emmy for Mare of Easttown, I wondered how Kate Winslet would follow up her career-best work on the acclaimed HBO miniseries. Her latest starring vehicle, Lee, looked like a worthy follow-up project on paper. Winslet collaborates with cinematographer-turned-director Ellen Kuras, who lensed Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which featured Winslet’s other greatest performance. Sadly, only Winslet’s performance lives up to the promise of the reunion...

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2022 Emmy Category Analysis: Drama Guest Acting Categories

by Christopher James

"Succession" added an Emmy winner and an Oscar winner to its cast this year. Will it pay off with a Guest Actor Emmy win?

It’s no secret that the Guest Acting categories often reward big names and buzzy actors, rather than actual performances. The awards can often go to beloved actors, even if they only appear in one or two moments of their submission. Take for example wins for Margo Martindale (The Americans) and Ron Cephas Jones (This Is Us) for seasons and episodes that are far from their best work. While past years have trended towards the biggest names possible, this year’s crop doesn’t necessarily skew towards major celebrities. Instead, it’s more consolidated around a small number of shows. Only five shows make up all twelve slots (the same number as in the Comedy Guest Acting races).

Succession fever has swept the guest acting drama categories. The HBO drama makes up seven of the twelve possible guest acting slots, or nearly 60% of the honors. Does this mean the show is unbeatable or could this pave the way for an underdog prevailing?

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On Alexander Skarsgard, devilishly handsome character actor

by Matt St Clair

One factor as to what kind of roles an actor receives, or whether they’re cast as lead or supporting players, is their looks. Consequently, that’s why you often see the likes of Tom Cruise headlining an action movie rather than someone like, say, John Malkovich. The practice of traditional glamour leading to positioning for movie stardom has essentially been around since the birth of cinema.

Then again, sex appeal can also trap actors into a narrow box. This happens to beautiful stars ike Alexander Skarsgård. He said in a recent Sunday Times interview while promoting The Northman, that his sex symbol label has led to him not getting the kind of serious acting opportunities he’s craved...

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Hit Me With Your Best Shot: Alexander Skarsgård Special

by Nathaniel R

Alexander Skarsgård in his first movie role in 1984

Alexander Skarsgárd is nothing if not committed to his nearly feral manchild in The Northman. He embraces the movie's mythological brutality and reminds us of both his indisputable screen charisma and the too little acknowledged fact that its unusually flexible in terms of tone and genre and auteurial vision. This may be another northman (you can't change your ancestry) but it's definitely not Eric Northman of True Blood fame! And speaking of the Nordic vampire that made him internationally famous, this is a good time to look back to his breakthrough season from the summer of 2008 to the summer of 2009. Not that he was a "new" actor in 2008, mind you...

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Cláudio's Best Shot Pick: 'True Blood' & 'Paparazzi'

The next episode of our series, 'Hit Me With Your Best Shot,' arrives tomorrow. It's focused on Alexander Skarsgård's Hollywood breakthrough. Specifically, we're looking at his first True Blood episode in 2008 and the following year's Lady Gaga music video Paparazzi. Here's Cláudio's entry.

Prince Amleth of Hrafnsey is far from the first Northman in Alexander Skarsgård's resume. From 2008 to 2014, the Swedish actor played another heir to a 10th-century Viking King in the HBO hit series True Blood. But of course, Eric Northman has long left his motherland when we meet him in the show's fourth episode, "Escape from Dragon House." Deep in the Louisiana backwoods, the former prince turned vampire has found himself playing the part of Sheriff in the region's undead community. Instead of an ancient castle, his domain's a seedy nightclub that goes by the name Fangtasia. Oh, how the mighty have fallen, from noble northern warrior to lowly vice peddler…

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