For picspammy
Challenge entry for picspammy
I'm sure all of you have favorite movies, tv shows, plays etc, where an actor strikes you as so incredibly perfect, you just don't think anybody else could pull the character off so well. So I picked five of those actors/roles who I think are bound together by the same energy that radiates off them when in their most famous roles. In my mind, the following people were, quite simply, born to play these parts.
Joan Fontaine - Second Mrs DeWinter
Rebecca
No matter how you glam up Joan Fontaine, she always remains so utterly plain looking to me. Now, don't start giving me nasty looks if you like her, I don't mean it as an insult, because really, not everyone HAS to be a glammed-up breath-taking beauty and not everyone prefers galmour either, right? Because of this startled aura, no matter where I see her, Joan always gives me the vibe of a scared goat, which I'm sure she isn't or else she wouldn't have survived in Hollywood. But that aura was just PERFECT for Mrs DeWinter II because... well, look at the pictures. She was just born with that face that the part needed.
Johnny Depp - Captain Jack Sparrow
Pirates Of The Caribbean 1-4
Never before have I been so attracted to someone as headache inducing and as... well, dirty, as Jack Sparrow. But boy, if anyone needs any demonstration of what it means to watch an actor really, truly enjoying a character and putting every drop of love of acting into it, then you need to watch Johnny as Captain Jack. Yes, there was Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightly and a pretty good story, too. But I am convinced the franchise would have been nowhere near as successful without Johnny. Hey, it did put him back on the map for a reason and I remain bitter to this day that he never got an Oscar for it.
Clark Gable - Rhett Butler
Gone With The Wind
Having recently read the book (for the first time), even if I was biased, I can totally understand the reason behind the public outcry back then when they demanded him for the role. Frankly my dears, he WAS the part. He looked the part and he pulled it off PERFECTLY despite his own fears of failing to meet the public expectations. Maybe this wasn't his favorite role, but so what. I have loved him in everything else I have seen him in so far, but this role is legendary for a reason. Just think of all the actors who try their entire lives and fail to make a real impact. 70 years later, his name and character is still one of the most recognizable ones in movie history.
Vivien Leigh - Scarlett O'Hara
Gone With The Wind
And if we are at Gone With The Wind.... Vivien Leigh as Scarlett is the definition of 'perfect for the part'. Watching her I feel I am witnessing the ultimate wonder of a character, initially written on paper, coming alive as much as humanly possible. She gave one of the best cinematic performances to date - for me anyway. And that's something I hadn't even realized until I actually watched her in other roles or saw how different her own mannerism and accent was (kind of like Hugh Laurie, who deserves awards for his accent alone). Watching her as Scarlett I don't see acting but someone actually truly, body and soul, becoming someone else. Katharine Hepburn may have been called the best actress ever, and rightfully so, but as far as a single performance goes, in my mind nobody can beat Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara.
Julie Andrews - Mary Poppins
Mary Poppins
Arguably her most famous role but undoubtedly my favorite, I am convinced she was born for the sole reason to play Mary Poppins -- and nothing proves that better than the career that it launched. You know you are seeing something remarkable when the author of Mary Poppins, who otherwise loathed the movie with a passion, thought Julie was great for the part. In fact she was the one thing she liked about it. The only thing Miss Travers could pick on was that Julie was "far too pretty", but I can take that. It's downright eerie, really, how it all came together: she was 27 just like the character, she had the perfect nose, the right face shape and she was, of course, British. It was her first movie ever, yet she pulled it off like the consummate professional that she has always been. Julie Andrews is everything you think she is; sweet, lovely and warm with a big heart. But she's much more complex (and naughtier) than that and she's in fact nothing like Mary in real life which makes her flawless performance all the more admirable.
I'm sure all of you have favorite movies, tv shows, plays etc, where an actor strikes you as so incredibly perfect, you just don't think anybody else could pull the character off so well. So I picked five of those actors/roles who I think are bound together by the same energy that radiates off them when in their most famous roles. In my mind, the following people were, quite simply, born to play these parts.
Joan Fontaine - Second Mrs DeWinter
Rebecca
No matter how you glam up Joan Fontaine, she always remains so utterly plain looking to me. Now, don't start giving me nasty looks if you like her, I don't mean it as an insult, because really, not everyone HAS to be a glammed-up breath-taking beauty and not everyone prefers galmour either, right? Because of this startled aura, no matter where I see her, Joan always gives me the vibe of a scared goat, which I'm sure she isn't or else she wouldn't have survived in Hollywood. But that aura was just PERFECT for Mrs DeWinter II because... well, look at the pictures. She was just born with that face that the part needed.
Johnny Depp - Captain Jack Sparrow
Pirates Of The Caribbean 1-4
Never before have I been so attracted to someone as headache inducing and as... well, dirty, as Jack Sparrow. But boy, if anyone needs any demonstration of what it means to watch an actor really, truly enjoying a character and putting every drop of love of acting into it, then you need to watch Johnny as Captain Jack. Yes, there was Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightly and a pretty good story, too. But I am convinced the franchise would have been nowhere near as successful without Johnny. Hey, it did put him back on the map for a reason and I remain bitter to this day that he never got an Oscar for it.
Clark Gable - Rhett Butler
Gone With The Wind
Having recently read the book (for the first time), even if I was biased, I can totally understand the reason behind the public outcry back then when they demanded him for the role. Frankly my dears, he WAS the part. He looked the part and he pulled it off PERFECTLY despite his own fears of failing to meet the public expectations. Maybe this wasn't his favorite role, but so what. I have loved him in everything else I have seen him in so far, but this role is legendary for a reason. Just think of all the actors who try their entire lives and fail to make a real impact. 70 years later, his name and character is still one of the most recognizable ones in movie history.
Vivien Leigh - Scarlett O'Hara
Gone With The Wind
And if we are at Gone With The Wind.... Vivien Leigh as Scarlett is the definition of 'perfect for the part'. Watching her I feel I am witnessing the ultimate wonder of a character, initially written on paper, coming alive as much as humanly possible. She gave one of the best cinematic performances to date - for me anyway. And that's something I hadn't even realized until I actually watched her in other roles or saw how different her own mannerism and accent was (kind of like Hugh Laurie, who deserves awards for his accent alone). Watching her as Scarlett I don't see acting but someone actually truly, body and soul, becoming someone else. Katharine Hepburn may have been called the best actress ever, and rightfully so, but as far as a single performance goes, in my mind nobody can beat Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara.
Julie Andrews - Mary Poppins
Mary Poppins
Arguably her most famous role but undoubtedly my favorite, I am convinced she was born for the sole reason to play Mary Poppins -- and nothing proves that better than the career that it launched. You know you are seeing something remarkable when the author of Mary Poppins, who otherwise loathed the movie with a passion, thought Julie was great for the part. In fact she was the one thing she liked about it. The only thing Miss Travers could pick on was that Julie was "far too pretty", but I can take that. It's downright eerie, really, how it all came together: she was 27 just like the character, she had the perfect nose, the right face shape and she was, of course, British. It was her first movie ever, yet she pulled it off like the consummate professional that she has always been. Julie Andrews is everything you think she is; sweet, lovely and warm with a big heart. But she's much more complex (and naughtier) than that and she's in fact nothing like Mary in real life which makes her flawless performance all the more admirable.