Half-Blood Prince

[zanooda2]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "dumbledore11214"
<dumbledore11214 at ...> wrote:

> You do not think he significantly improved in OOP (starting from
> the end of GoF)?

zanooda:

Oh, yes, Alla, of course, no doubt that he improved a lot :-). He
still doesn't act the way I would want a Harry actor to act :-), but 
certainly his acting is so much better now than in the first movies,
where some scenes were just painful to watch ;-(. Experience means a
great deal, I guess :-).

I kind of blame the directors too, you know :-). Sure, I would prefer
if they cast some really talented boy, with a lot of screen presence,
but they also need to know how to work with the actors that they for
some reason chose. 

Not every kid actor is some - I don't know - Haley Joel Osment or
Dakota Fanning, but a part of a director's job is to be aware of an
actor's fortes and limitations and to show him on the screen in the
most favorable light.

For instance, take Chris Columbus's movies - there are way too many
scenes that consist of very long close-ups of Harry's face, which is
supposed to show some kind of emotion, without any lines to say. Don't
the director understand that he cast not the most brilliant actor, who
just can't hold such a scene? Cut it short, Chris, cut it short before
viewers become embarrassed for the the poor kid. I know I did, many
times, just looking at his expressionless (although incredibly cute)
face :-)).

Another thing - why are they all determined to make Harry cry? I
suppose it's not easy to cry even for a very talented male actor (it's
much easier for us women :-)), so what's the need to make cry someone
who obviously can't do it? It's not even from the book! Every time my
son watches PoA on TV, and I happen to see the scene where Harry
"cries", I just avert my eyes - that's how embarrassed I feel.

I also want to say that I didn't intend to start a discussion about
Dan's acting abilities :-). I know he has a lot of very passionate
fans, and I really don't want to upset anybody. All I said is just my
personal opinion, and I don't even insist that it is a correct one
:-). Besides, as I said, I like Dan's personality and I find him, to
use DD's words, "an engaging child", LOL.