American Actors

[juli17ptf]

>
> Julie replied to my notes about the practical issues of American 
actors 
> appearing in HP:
> 
> >Your practical issue though is  really not an issue. After all, a 
great 
> >variety of British actors relocate to the  US periodically to film 
> >American movies. As do Australians. Actors of  all three 
nationalities 
> >have relocated for long periods of time to many  other countries--
New 
> >Zealand for the Lord of the Rings movies being a prime example. 
Given the 
> >ease of air travel, it's not always even a  question of relocating 
for 
> >long periods of time.

Richard:
> The point I was trying to make is that unlike, say, most of the 
LOTR guys, 
> who decamped to New Zealand for 18 months' fairly solid work 
(within the 
> movie-making definition of "solid", of course), :-) most adults 
involved in 
> an HP movie would be required to make several *short* appearances 
over a 
> period of 9 or 10 months. Gambon mentioned somewhere along the line 
that he 
> was present for several periods of no more than 2-3 days at a time 
over the 
> whole schedule (while appearing on stage in London for some of it). 
> Clemence Poesy came to the UK on six different occasions over that 
time 
> (while making another film in France).
> 
> I don't know if you've ever flown across the Atlantic, but it's not 
quite 
> as easy as you make out;  sure, the *flying* bit is easy, but the 
rest 
> isn't. So my comment remains: why *bother* having an actor flying 
halfway 
> around the world for 2-3 days when someone who could do the job 
just as 
> well (if not better) lives an hour's car journey away? (Or, in 
Clemence's 
> case, 3 hours by train, pretty much door-to-door.)
> 
> --
> Richard, 45 minutes from Leavesden
>

Julie:
Actually I have flown across the Atlantic, over half a dozen times. 
>From Los Angeles. That's about 11 1/2 hours to London direct. (New 
York is much easier, at a bit less than 7 hours.) I personally find 
it quite tedious, though if I could fly first class, as I'm sure most 
actors do, I'd probably find it more enjoyable! And there is that jet 
lag factor, true. So no, it's not just an easy hop, skip and jump. 

But the point I was making is that this wouldn't be a really major 
issue against hiring an American actor. If said actor was deemed 
perfect for the part (say Kathy Bates as Umbridge--just as an 
example, not a statement on her suitability), then it could easily be 
worked around. Though agreed there might not be that many American 
actors who'd *want* to play a character who's in all seven movies 
(like Dumbledore) if it meant traveling back and forth so often over 
a ten? year period. 

OTOH, Johnny Depp lives in France. He did a credible J.M. Barrie. How 
about him as Bill Weasley, with his hair dyed red ;-)

Julie
(still not advocating American actors in Harry Potter roles, only 
noting that nationality shouldn't be the be-all and end-all of 
casting any movie role. Or where would Hannibal Lector be--er, who 
would be Hannibal Lector, that is!)