Casting for Phoenix

[juli17 at aol.com]

Tasha wrote:

Didnt JK describe Kingsly as a dark man so  to
prosumming he is black. I can imagine Stewart as a
white Kingsly  because hes bald.
U know some American actors/actress should be able  to
play in these movies, i know they are suppose to
English but some  actors are trained to talk in accents
of different languages. Like Mike Myers  though i dont
what he can play. Robin Williams I can see him as  Ludo
Bagman or someone dark after seeing him in that one
horror movie as a  photo developer stalking a family. I
see Liv Tyler as Tonks. Ok im not making  sense sorry i
been up since 5am dealing with a crazy whinning baby
and me  drinking 3 cans of Mountain Dew so im
crazzzzzy.
 
 
Julie says:
I'm with you on this, Tasha. It's a (very small) pet peeve of mine  
that JKR won't allow American actors in the HP films. If it  was
a matter of past prejudice against English actors getting good 
parts playing English characters (as with, say, Native  Americans
in American films) then I could see the reasoning. But  English
actors have always been a very large presence in American 
films, not only playing English characters, but often  *American*
characters also. They've won quite a few Oscars playing such
parts (Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter, for instance),  and
justly so. Actors like Anthony Hopkins, Emma Thompson, 
Patrick Stewart, Hugh Grant, Sean Connery (yeah, Scottish),
Richard Burton (yeah, Welsh), Ian McClellan, Helena Bonham
Carter--and on and on and on, you get the point--have made 
much of their living in American films. And I'm more than fine
with that. 
 

 
And we can certainly include Australian actors, BTW, like Mel
Gibson, Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, et al, who have also
been warmly welcomed into American cinema. (I especially
warmly welcome Hugh--er, anyway...;-)
 
Point is, I've always thought the English speaking world pretty
much as one giant family when it comes to the film industry
(thinking back to the great Olivier presence in American film),
and I've rarely seen restrictions put on roles based solely on 
nationality. JKR chose to do so, and she has every right, but
I'm still sorry she made that choice.
 
All IMO,
 
Julie 
(who would be totally against Mike Myers or Robin Williams 
in the HP movies as it smacks of stunt casting, but thinking 
that an actor the caliber of Kathy Bates not being eligible to 
play Umbridge, for instance, is a shame)
 







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