DD or Gangalf - who is greater?

[Steve]

---  Janette <jnferr at ...> wrote:
>
> >
> > bboyminn:
> >
> > As a second best, I think Patrick Stewart would have 
> > certainly been better than Gambon. ... In a few interviews,
> > he has made some very insensitive remarks regarding fans 
> and the franchise. ...
> >

> Janette: 
> 
> not to be defending Gambon too much, as I don't like his 
> character in the movies either, but he is a very good actor, 
> ...  Also, as to not reading the books, given the scripts 
> they are working with, he is probably right.  The scripts
> differ so much from the books, how would it help having read
> them?

bboyminn:

Keep in mind that I said I didn't blame Gambon completely. It
is really up to the Director to make sure the actors portray
the characters accurately, or at least consistent with the
Directors vision of the character.

And it is common for actor NOT to read the book the script is
based on. In most cases, the actor wants to capture the movie
version of the character and doesn't want his vision clouded
by the books.

Even Tom Felton (Draco) did this at first. In interviews he
said he didn't read the books because, as I've already said,
he wanted to portray the script writer and director's vision
of the character. Again, this is very common.

But there comes a time, when that doesn't work. When you are
trying very hard to capture the spirit and essence of the
books and accompanying characters, you have to know your 
character inside and out. Consequently Tom/Draco realized that
he did needed to read the books to capture Draco.

The same is true of Lord of the Rings, these characters are
so well known and so loved that you can't just accept the 
script version. It doesn't give you the depth you need to 
really understand the character. Many actors on the LotR set 
actually  brought books onto the set with them to make sure they 
completely understood the motivations and emotions of the
characters in a given scene.

You mentioned the movie-Trio not being able to do anything 
other than recite the script they are given, but I'm not sure
that's true. By reading the books, they have a deeper 
understanding of their character; a greater understanding of
underlying subtext and character motivation.  This is similar
to actors who research a role before they play it. If they are
playing a cop, for example, they hang around with cops to 
understand the stresses they are under and how that affects
their lives and personalities. 

In a franchise this big, with books this well known, I think it
is lazy acting to not try to understand your character on a
deeper level. If Gambon made the effort to understand Dumbledore,
I think he could do a much better job. But it seems clear that
he DOESN'T understand Dumbledore, he does see his underlying
motivations and emotion, nor understand his personality.

Yes, Gambon is a great actor. The problem is, he doesn't realize
he is playing a great role. A role that can, somewhat, make him
or break him. Many of the secondary Potter actors are now 
household names. Many fans will go to see Alan Rickman in any 
movie he is in, simply because he does such a great job of
portraying Snape. But, if you screw up a character or don't 
take it seriously, that can also alienate millions of people
against you as an actor, and discourage them from viewing
your future work. 

Great an actor as he is, I think Gambon is playing his cards
very poorly. But again, I don't dump all the blame on him, it
is up to the Director to get the right performance out of him,
but that would be an easier process if Gambon understood his
character.

Just one man's opinion.

Steve/bboyminn