Is Paul Mescal A Movie Star?

[just444]

just watched gladiator ii. the difference between an actor and a movie star has never been more apparent lmao
- feral (@ncrmalpeople) November 19, 2024

Gladiator 2 is getting...fine reviews, but a few people noted that lead Paul Mescal was maybe not the right casting for a big action blockbuster role

denzel on the other hand ……………. an actor AND

Comments

[ginainabottle]

Can’t help but think a woman would not be afforded the same kindness towards failing (seemingly that spectacularly) in a movie this big. People sure love making excuses for white men.

[musicnkisses]

It doesn’t sound like he failed at all. Some people aren’t a movie star, the way that some movie stars aren’t good actors. Jeremy Strong ain’t a movie star but that doesn’t mean he’s a bad actor. Ryan Reynolds is a movie star but idk if you want him doing an introspective drama. That’s why Denzel was mentioned as someone who can do both.

[ginainabottle]

And I never said he’s a bad actor, but he obviously failed if he didn’t deliver the character he was hired to play. An actress would likely not be given the same benefit of not delivering in a movie this big, especially an action film. It’s okay to just say he sucked and is completely devoid of screen presence and charisma to pull this character off, without adding all the addendums.

[musicnkisses]

Saying he’s devoid of presence and he sucks is basically saying he can’t act tho.

I disagree tbh. We have a bunch of actresses rn who don’t have movie star quality yet are still being allowed to lead movies. ATJ, Daisy Edgar Jones, Jenna Ortega, I might even add Zendaya in there. The problem is the fact the young millennial/Gen-z cohort of actors don’t have that quality.

[merel_93]

Add Alicia Vikander on that list. She can act, but she couldn´t lead when she had the opportunity

[lone_concertina]

idk normally I'd agree but just a few comments up people are talking about how ATJ completely flopped in the role of Furiosa. She's still getting chances, though.

[ginainabottle]

ATJ was already pretty big before Furiosa, but I don’t recall people coddling to her feelings when the movie flopped, they simply pointed the flaws with the casting. Meanwhile debatably attractive white boy here gets a flood of BUT REMEMBER HE’S REALLY GOOD OK? And nope, he simply played characters similar to his energy so it worked, but he’s not really a great actor. Idt he lacks charisma nor talent, he lacks real versatility, and the jig was up the minute he had to get all of his comfort zone.

[sillyskinny]

Women are absolutely being afforded less grace, but Glad II doing well at the box office helps Paul.
He's not the lead in a flop. He's simply somewhat underwhelming in an overall "okay" sequel.
And being outshone by Denf*ckingzel is not an uncommon occurence.

[thebopqueen]

I feel like White women are absolutely given the grace to not have a Movie Star aura even though they try to sell them like one. Like, there’s a literal pipeline of young White women who do a “big” ingenue role in a movie and then all of sudden they are selling perfumes, designer bags, getting interviewed by Vogue, etc. even though they are terrible actresses.

Anyone who isn’t white though… yes, Hollywood is ruthless.

[ginainabottle]

While I agree bc race will always play a part, white men are afforded benefits from many women, but women are way quicker to judge other women. Socialization did its job and a lot of us still see each other as enemies whereas praising men is a “comfortable” place to be. The privileges of white women are undeniable but they still deal with a certain myriad of pressures white men will never experience.