Harris as Dumbledore

[serenadust]

--- In HPFGU-Movie at yahoogroups.com, "Theresa" <anmsmom333 at ...> wrote:
>
> Hey all - I was chatting with a co-worker while heating my lunch 
> today in our break-room. He is a fellow HP fan but only reads TLC 
and 
> doesn't participate in forums. Anyway, I mentioned that most of 
> fandom seems to prefer Harris' portrayal of DD and he said he 
prefers 
> Gambon. I told him I like both in different ways but Gambon hasn't 
> read the books. To which he said "Neither did Richard Harris." Is 
> that true? I thought he read them with his granddaughter, the one 
who 
> said she would not speak to him if he turned down the role. Does 
> anyone know if that is true? 


I very rarely post on this list anymore but I was active in 2001 
when the first film came out and have been amused at the recent 
railing against Gambon's portrayal of Dumbledore.  While it's 
obviously not required for posters to read all the past posts on a 
topic, it can be very enlightening and provide some perspective to 
those who've come to the Potter film world in recent years.

If you begin with this post:
http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/HPFGU-Movie/message/216 

and follow the discussion thread, you will get a good overview of 
everyone's reactions to Richard Harris' portrayal without the 
sentimental hindsight that his untimely death has inspired.

Personally, I think it's a bit naive to expect seasoned actors to 
study the books in order to play their parts in a movie.  They are 
hired to play the character as presented in the script and if there 
is any conflict between book canon and the film script, the script 
(and director's vision) gets priority.  It's nice if they care to 
read the books on their own of course, but it really shouldn't have 
much (if any) affect on their performance since the director's 
interpretation that they have to deliver.

Jo S., who's always thought that Peter O'Toole was the only actor 
who should have ever been allowed near Dumbledore ::sigh::