Azkaban Casting Rumors

[myphilosophy2001 <myphilosophy2001@yahoo.com>]

--- In HPFGU-Movie at yahoogroups.com, "c_voth312 <divaclv at a...>" 
<divaclv at a...> wrote:
> Besides, look at the case histories of these three men.  Sirius has 
> endured twelve years of isolation and psychological torture.  Lupin 
> undergoes a very painful and stressful transformation once a month, 
> and is carrying around the emotional aftershocks of *that* for the 
> other twenty-seven days. <snip> If anyone in the Potterverse has 
>   the excuse to look a little older than they actually are, it's 
>   these three.


While I agree with this assessment of Sirius and Remus, I still 
believe it's vital that viewers are as much aware of their youth as 
they are their wear-and-tear -- especially with Lupin (who JKR 
specifically characterizes in PoA as looking "very young"). Whoever 
plays Lupin SHOULD NOT look like they're old enough to believably be 
going gray, otherwise the fact that he's graying PREMATURELY is lost -
- and that's a huge character trait of Lupin. We need to understand 
that, while Lupin is young, the life that he's led has been so 
traumatic that it's taking a major physical toll on him. If the actor 
who plays Lupin is too old, it merely appears as if he's aging 
naturally. Perhaps I'm picking nits, but it's a detail that strikes 
me as very important.

I think the same can be said of Sirius. There needs to be a clear and 
marked difference between mad, guilt-wracked, escaped-con Sirius, and 
free, clear-conscience, god-father Sirius. Being falsely jailed in 
Azkaban and bearing the deaths of his best friends has wreaked havoc 
on Sirius -- physically and emotionally -- but we have to understand 
his relatively young age and his lighthearted, joking nature as a 
youth at Hogwarts to feel the full impact of his subsequent darkness. 
He SEEMS old, but he's not -- it's an important distinction for the 
audience to make.

In that respect, Jeremy Irons and Richard O'Brian are far too old to 
fill these parts suitably. I'm in the McGregor/Bale camp (as far as 
Lupin's concerned), but I think Jeremy Northam and Colin Firth are 
excellent compromises.

-Jessica