James--Biggerstaff as Wood

[Cindy C.]

Luke wrote:

> So my question is: For all the other people who thought Biggerstaff 
> did a particularly good job--is this specifically referring to his 
> general merit as an actor, or did he really capture Wood's 
character 
> for you?
> 

Hmmm.  Well, I'm struggling with this, Luke, because I don't have an 
iron-clad vision of Oliver Wood in my head.  Consequently, I was open 
to pretty much anything.

That said, I was initially a bit critical of the choice of 
Biggerstaff based on the still photos, as Biggerstaff is far 
from "burly."  But once I saw his excellent acting, I was sold.  So 
he isn't quite the same as the Wood in the book (who really isn't 
fleshed out much anyway, BTW), but I was more than happy once I saw 
his talent.

Oh, and whoever said he is hunky is correct, although I am normally 
not permitted to say things like that about youngsters.

Now that you mention it, however, I have been surprised that some of 
us have *very* fixed ideas about how characters are supposed to 
appear in the movie.  I never really cared whether Harry or Ron was 
taller.  Whether Draco's eyes were grey.  Whether Harry's hair was 
messy.  Whether Percy has glasses.  Whether Filch was dirty.  I'm 
just kind of looking for the overall feel of things, and on that 
score, the movie was spot on with every single casting decision 
except Harry's father (and really, who cares about what man is waving 
at us from the inside of a mirror).  If a casting decision is a bit 
off the mark (e.g., Wood not being burly) and not lock-step with the 
book, all is forgiven if the person *can act*.  To me, the farther 
they are away from the physical characteristics of the character, I 
suppose, the better they must be at acting.

So I guess what I'm saying is that (1) I didn't have much of a fixed  
impression of a minor character like Wood; (2) the actor won me over 
in the end with the quality of his performance; and (3) I can't 
readily separate "his general merit as an actor," from whether 
he "really capture[d] Wood's character." 

I don't know if I answered your question, but it was a great 
question, so thanks for posting it.

Cindy