First Equus review!!!!!!! - Casting Dan

[Steve]

---  artsylynda at ... wrote:
>
> >> Peter Schaffer (sp?) was involved in this,  so you
> >> never know.<<

> 
> I read an article recently (sorry, can't think  where)
> that said "a trembling Dan Radcliffe auditioned for 
> Peter Schaffer at the  Old Vic two years ago," 
> so yeah, he's involved in the revival.  ...
> 
> Lynda AKA "Abraxan"


bboyminn:

Yes, absolutely; I read that too, but it went one step
farther than that. Peter Schaffer wasn't to eager to 
have the play revived. I had been turning down 
production offers for decades. Finally he was convinced
to allow the play to be produced again, but on one
condition, he got first approval for the actor playing
Alan Strang.

What that means is that Dan did not get this role 
because he was friends with other actors or because
he was Harry Potter. Dan auditioned for the author of
the play, an author who had denied many other attempts
at producing the play, and he was chosen by the author
as being capable of pulling it off. 

The author wasn't just present during the audition, he
had full and exclusive approval of the actor. Keep in 
mind this was TWO years ago. Dan has certainly grown
as an actor and as a person during that time, so that
must have been one amazing audition.

A lot of people complain that Dan and the other actors
are a bit 'wooden' in the HP preformances. I am quick
to point out to them that the actors can never be
better than what they are given to work with. 

Once again, I rant on that Warner is completely short 
sighted in producing these books. JKR has written 
deep and rich, and the movie makers are determined to
do no more than scratch the surface. In another thread
I complained that the addtional scenes in one of the 
movies was only 10 to 15 minutes. If they had left it
in, the whole story would have made more sense, 
characters and plotline would have been developed, but
2.5 hours meant more to Warner than a movie that made
sense. That is a clear indication of screwed up 
priorities.

What I really hope for is that some TV-movie production
company will make a mini-series out of these books, say
one hour a day for a week with a two hour climax. Six 
hours that might do justice to the depth of character,
the emotional impact, the sly humor of each story. I
think the TV watching world would be riveted to the
screens. 

As to Warner, concentrate on making a good movie, and
the length won't matter. I once again paraphrase Roger
Ebert; no good movie can ever be too long, and no bad
movie can ever be too short. 

Just ranting and raving.

Steve/bboyminn