So...that interview...

[euraylie]

QUICK SNEAKY POST FROM WORK...

So is everyone in uproar/all tingly over the new Colin + Johnny Capps interview1. I LOVE JOHNNY! I think at lot of my fears for the future of Merlin have been alleviated

Comments

[mellacita]

I posted very long (locked) meta inspired by that interview, actually. I wouldn't call it an uproar, because I don't really care either way, but the overall picture starting to come out is so much different than I first perceived and it is making me reflect more.

[euraylie]

Oooh I gotta go read your post later. I think it was bound to happen that our image of the actors change. After all, we hardly had any information to go on in the beginning.
Still, I think Colin was a bit like a deer caught in headlights situation with this interview.

[luisadeza]

For some reason the only thing it evoked in me was a desire for a cracky fic in which Bradley tries to make Colin go online (for some reason, not necessarily to have a look at fandom) and Colin's all 'Nooooo, mummyyyy!' XD

I still don't believe he's all that conservative.
It's one of those interviews that don't quote fully what the person said, I'm always a bit wary about missing context.

[euraylie]

Cracky fic? See, that's the response I like :D But I still don't believe Colin is all that innocent. Shy maybe, pure? No.

Yeah the interview was a bit strange, and like I said above, I think Colin was a bit like a poor little deer caught in the headlights.
And even if he's conservative, I'm sure Bradley will change that ;)

[luisadeza]

Yeah, I don't think so either. And I don't think he really referred to the internet as a whole, but just that part of fandom and the effect it could have on his work.
In another interview he talked about how he doesn't drink while he's in a play because it gets to his head, so I really think it's something like that. See the reponse and what fans make of it, would surely influence him and he seems to be conscious about it.

I mean how would you feel if people you never even talked to, that you don't know, wrote NC-17 fic about you, or a character you created?

[euraylie]

Yes, this exactly. He seems to take his craft really seriously and really delves into his roles.

I think as an actor you would drive yourself crazy if you would follow fans' opinions on the internet.

Even we who are so familiar with fandom would be creeped out if some unknown person wrote filthy porn about us. I think it's a natural reaction.

[accordingtomel]

Not sure how I feel about it exactly. I don't blame Colin for being a little put off by it. Especially since the fandom world is so vastly different from the world of the people who just casually watch or watch regularly but don't get involved in online fandom.

I appreciate Johnny's reponse though. None of us actually believe they'd go the slash route. But I think it'd be doing the show a huge disservice to start considering that element. It'd ruin the great relationship that Arthur and Merlin have. Besides...you can't kill chemistry like that anyway. I do think he had a brilliant answer though.

Colin is lucky that he is so darn loved by the fans that he kind of (unintentionally?) insulted, though ;).

[euraylie]

Sometimes I really hate when questions like this are put to the actors, sometimes it's better not to know. You can never really know the context he made these statements in, or what his expression or voice was like.
I think he was really kinda floundering with the question.

I felt a teeny bit insulted initially, but then you have consider his position. What we think is totally normal, is really weird for the "uninitiated".

And I think he doesn't realise how we hang on his every word. Poor boy.

[accordingtomel]

So I've had more time to think about it and I've decided that I'm slightly insulted by it too. However, I do love Colin and I do think he sounded very much like he was being put on the spot. Which is not really fair

[osolone]

However, I do think that Colin kind of needs to learn to think a little more about what he says before he says it. I get that totally comes from inexperience. But Bradley handles interviews so much better; and particularly the slash topic. Colin certainly does not have to like or agree with it...but if he's being directly asked - knowing that clearly there are people out there who very much hold to those things - I think he needs to try and come up with a way to word his response in a way that's not totally insulting all the people who are going to read it. (Because I'd imagine it's most of the slash fans who will read the article in the first place...)I thought that too. Bradley handles the whole thing so much better, with his "well I take it as a compliment if it works for some people". He's more diplomatic and generally much more articulate than Colin. When I met them (albeit briefly) I noticed how much more comfortable Bradley seemed to be about being "accosted" by a fangirl than Colin was (lol). I mean, Santiago seems pretty

[bunglegirl]

1. I love Johnny's comments and hope he stays true to the 'friendship'

2. Yes, poor Colin! But he has to grow up and get his eyes opened at some point, right? Every once in a while I get so engrossed in fandom that I say something to a 'normal' person (like a friend or relative) and its kind of embarrassing. But even my non-fandom friends saw the slash in Smallville and I think they would see the same in Merlin because its way worse better

[euraylie]

2. That happens to me as well. My boyfriend sometimes give me shifty looks. lol.

3. Yeah he has no idea just how many slashers there are...poor baby would be even more scared. And yeah I think he had a difficult time answering the question, probably never realised how he phrased it or how it could be interpreted.

4. He was definitely flirting with Bradley, even if it was just mock flirting.
And it could well be that he thinks it's innocent awe that he's portraying. Probably doesn't realise how much chemistry comes across on screen.
And he seemed kinda bashful talking about it on the Moment of Truth commentary.

5. I'm dying to know what Bradley meant with noticing Colin's Catholicness in his behaviour. And no, I don't think he can be that conservative either, especially if he was part of the theatre crowd.

[osolone]

5. I'm dying to know what Bradley meant with noticing Colin's Catholicness in his behaviour. And no, I don't think he can be that conservative either, especially if he was part of the theatre crowd.Like I said before, being a Catholic is Northern Ireland is as much a political thing as a religious thing. Being a Catholic usually means being brought up a Nationalist who wants the Six Counties of the north to be untied with Eire and resents British rule. The most extreme Nationalists are supporters of the IRA. I'm certainly not saying Colin would be anything like this, but his Catholic background could mean that he has certain political views or perhaps was brought up to mistrust/resent people like Bradley (who is very English and bombastic lol) and perhaps their relationship got off to a shaky start because of this. Colin didn't wear a poppy on Something for the Weekend (poppies are worn in honour of the dead of Remembrance Day, and Most Catholics/Nationalists in NI won't wear them as they see the British Army as "The Enemy", its

[euraylie]

My boyfriend, who is Scottish, keeps teasing me that by supporting Merlin I support terrorism. He means it purely in jest of course and has been teasing me about it ever since seeing the poppy-less Colin.
He said in Scotland it's become rather a new thing for Catholics andCatholic supporters not to wear them./

[me_and_thee]

1. I LOVE JOHNNY! I think at lot of my fears for the future of Merlin have been alleviated.

DITTO!

The only thing that bothers me about the interview is the fact that he apparently referred to slashers as some strange fans (also, SOME?! If only you knew just how many, Colin!), but I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt that he didn't mean it in a pejorative way...

The icing on my personal cake was the Clark/Lex mention, though. =D

[euraylie]

Yes! Our beloved CLex. Now let's just hope that Merlin takes a different path than that ill-fated couple. It was criminal how the writers of SV tried to take away the slashy subtext.