CASTING - Lupin

[frantyck <frantyck@yahoo.com>]

Moonstruck <myphilosophy2001 at y...> wrote
(about Jeremy Irons as Lupin)
> > He's also far, far too old. 

"GulPlum <plumeski at y...>" <plumeski at y...> wrote:
> How can you possibly say that about him, yet accept Rickman as 
Snape, considering Irons is a full 3 1/2 years younger?
<snip>
> The insistence of some fans to give these parts to 30-something 
actors actually makes me angry. I can understand kids insisting on 
it, but surely adults can be just a LITTLE more objective? I really, 
sincerely, would suggest that people take this matter on board when 
imagining who might be cast. Start with Rickman and work around him, 
NOT the (scant) age indications in the books.



Don't be angry.

Fine -- perhaps Irons can very well play a 'quiet' character. And 
perhaps the actor who plays Lupin *should* look like a contemporary 
of Rickman. And that what's in the book shouldn't be the ultimate 
arbiter of what's in the films. Reasonable points, these.

At the same time, agewise, Rickman playing Snape does not actually 
look older than 40. He could in fact very well be in his thirties 
(this is what I thought, at any rate). There *are* very strong 
indications in the books that Snape is around the age of Harry's 
parents. To have a doddering 'contemporary' of Harry's parents 
really is going to look weird -- how old could his parents possibly 
be? Look at the actors they used for Harry's parents in the first 
film. They must be in their thirties. They certainly don't look as 
if they come from a whole different generation than Rickman. The 
filmmakers cannot mess too much with the book's timelines, because 
they are fairly complex and interrelated. The storyline itself 
depends so much on these established chronologies.

So -- the age of the actors chosen to play Lupin or Sirius (given 
that the casting people stay away from extremes of youth or age) 
does not seem as important as their apparent fittingness for the 
parts. The makeup people can age them up or down a few years.

Jeremy Irons is not, of course, doddering. But does he strike me as 
a believable Lupin? Now that I've had the chance to think about it, 
and you say that he's played 'quiet' before, I guess it's possible 
that he could play the part. In _Lolita_, Irons was admittedly good 
as a man with a secret, guilt, etc. But -- and this is opinion -- 
it's hard to see Irons in a film, even in a subdued part and not 
expect him to burst into explosive action at some point. It's not 
just that the actor who plays Lupin should be able play a 'quiet' 
person, the audience should be able to accept this and dismiss him 
as such, to accentuate the surprise of Lupin's revealed nature later 
in the story (unlike _Lolita_). And if this is a relatively unusual 
role for Irons to play, why get such a recognisable (in more than 
one respect) actor to play this role at all? I say you need someone 
more lowkey.

This is not to say that already-famous actors shouldn't be in the 
Potter films at all. None of the established actors in either film 
plays a role fundamentally unlike others they are famous for. Dame 
Maggie has always seened a bit headmistress-ish. Rickman has always 
looked a little brittle. Branagh is often grand. Etc., etc.

That said, you've intrigued me. I'd like to see some unusual choices 
for the cast, and Irons would surely be one.

Rrishi