Milo O'Shea or Michael Richards??? -- The Robert Newton Chatboard

[ Show ]

Support VoyForums

[ Shrink ]

VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, [3] ]

Subject:

Milo O'Shea or Michael Richards???

Author:
Cinephilia

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 20:43:50 12/14/01 Fri
In reply to: Susan 's message, "Coincidences" on 15:56:56 12/14/01 Fri

Robert Downey??? Alan Rickman??? I just can't imagine any of them portraying RN in a biopic...

I'd much rather see a good documentary about Mr. Newton.

Anyway, here's another suggestion: Gary Oldman. :-) And what about that rascal, Tim Curry?

Of course, if the biopic had been made in the Seventies, T�mas Milian would have been the perfect choice (he would have needed to add several pounds to his wiry body though).

Of course, you know perfectly well who *I* would have cast, French accent be damned! ARR! ;-)

Mmm... What about G�rard Depardieu or Jean Reno? Hee!

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

[> [> Subject: Re: Milo O'Shea or Michael Richards???

Author:
Susan
[ Edit | View ]

Date Posted: 23:17:10 12/14/01 Fri

Wow, you sure came up with a lot of suggestions! Now we have too many; there's only room for six on the ballot. Should I remove somebody?

Michael Richards was suggested by Jab, the person who first brought up the question. And I mentioned that Milo O'Shea reminded me a lot of RN in Franco Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet. Nobody argued with me then! But, if we're being realistic, he is too old for the role at this point, so I guess I could take him off the list.

I hadn't thought of Robert Downey, Jr., myself, but I hear if you watch him in Chaplin, you'll see a resemblance.

Gerard Depardieu? That's one I can't imagine at all.

Wish I could see Tomas Milian in a movie. (But does he have the right accent?)

Hard to imagine Gary Oldman in the role, but he's already convincingly portrayed real people like Sid Vicious and Lee Harvey Oswald, so maybe he could become RN as well. And Tim Curry ... He's a great ham! And he did play Long John Silver in the Muppets' Treasure Island! There's a possibility! Unfortunately, neither of them has the right look.

Ultimately, I have to agree with you, though. I think I'd be too critical of anyone who tried to play Robert Newton; he was one of a kind. I'd rather see a good documentary-type bio!

[ Post a Reply to This Message ]

[> [> Subject:

Re: Milo O'Shea or Michael Richards???

Author:
Cin�philia
[ Edit | View ]

Date Posted: 09:37:07 12/15/01 Sat

This is hard for me to think of any actor portraying RN without giggling. I usually don't find biopics very convincing or impressive. Downey Jr. was excellent in "Chaplin" (a movie that I didn't like much), but I didn't find him completely convincing in the role.

Of course, 20 years ago, Alan Bates or Albert Finney could have portrayed Newton convincingly enough. They had the talent required and the right looks.

A fact: getting their first big break starring in a biopic won't do much for the typical actor/actress if the character is too famous. Remember the guy who played John Lennon in the TV movie "John and Yoko" back in the early 1980s? You don't... :-) Well, I didn't see him again after that until he played one of the officers in "Titanic" (he's the one who screams "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" just before Murdoch shoots himself.

An anecdote: Back in 1982, director Claude Lelouch cast Patrick Dewaere as Marcel Cerdan in "Edith and Marcel", a film about the passionate love affair between the boxing champ and singer Edith Piaf. Unfortunately, a few weeks before filming was to begin, Dewaere committed suicide... In desperation, Lelouch then asked Marcel Cerdan Jr. to play his father. Marcel Jr. was a boxer too but he was no actor... Nonetheless, he gave a very good performance.

Alas! After "Edith and Marcel", Marcel Jr. was never heard of again.

[ Post a Reply to This Message ]

[> [> [> Subject: Biopics

Author:
Susan
[ Edit | View ]

Date Posted: 10:48:43 12/17/01 Mon

Alan Bates?? Hmm, *there's* a possibility! In that same vein, you just reminded me of another one (as long as we're including actors of the past)--what about Oliver Reed?

OK ... which one or two of all those choices should I put on the ballot?! (Quick, before somebody actually votes!) Or maybe it's just a bad question and I should remove it.

>Remember the guy who played John Lennon in the TV movie
>"John and Yoko" back in the early 1980s? You don't... :-)

You're right! But that's cuz I never saw that movie. I do remember the guy who played him in *two* biopics--the Hours and Times and Backbeat (Ian Hart). He's a very good actor (he's in Harry Potter, BTW), but it's hard not to associate him with that role because he did it so perfectly. (And it doesn't help that he looks just like Julian Lennon.) However, he's one of those chameleon-like actors who's so good at what he does, you don't recognize him from one film to the next!

>I usually don't find biopics very convincing or impressive.

Same here. From what I've seen on the commercials, it's hard to believe that they're talking about an Oscar for Will Smith in the Muhammed Ali movie! So far, the only biographical performance that's really impressed me to the point where I don't have to keep reminding myself who the actor is supposed to be is Martin Landau as Bela Lugosi in Ed Wood. I would never have thought it possible having mainly known him as Commander Koenig on Space: 1999, but that was a well deserved Oscar!

[ Post a Reply to This Message ]