Are actors the essence of a film, or does it not matter who the stars are?
I recently watched the film RocknRolla, directed by Guy Ritchie, which had an all-star cast as its line-up.
The film was full of action and crime, and follows a group of London’s delinquents – The Wild Bunch – as they try to steal millions up for grabs during a real-estate scam whilst a Russian mobster and London’s notorious gangster, Lenny Cole, try to come out on top.
The film was great with some humour added to break up the action, but I don’t think it would’ve been as good if the characters were played by different actors.
The main line-up for RocknRolla is:
Gerard Butler – One Two
Idris Elba – Mumbles
Tom Hardy – Handsome Bob
Mark Strong – Archy
Tom Wilkinson – Lenny Cole
Thandie Newton – Stella
These actors, in my opinion, made the film.
If, for instance, the characters were portrayed by the actors from the Harry Potter franchise, it wouldn’t have had the same effect.
So, do actors really define films?
There are other films, which work so well because of the cast. For example, the Fast and Furious franchise would not be as enjoyable to watch if Vin Diesel wasn’t the lead. And the same for Harry Potter; if the cast of RocknRolla switched with the cast of the wizarding world, having Gerard Butler as Harry Potter wouldn’t be quite the same.
I feel this way about Mamma Mia too; the only actress to play Donna Sheridan, for me, is Meryl Streep. I think she owns the character and brings her to life, much like Julie Walters does to her character Rosie.
Now, directors, producers and writers may have absolutely no idea on who they want to play certain characters, so they end up going through hundreds of auditions to find the perfect actor. However, sometimes they do know who they’d like and if they can get their preferred actor, then no other actor could do that character justice.
I recently watched the Friends Reunion, and in that the writers had said that when they wrote the infamous character Ross Geller, they actually had David Schwimmers’ voice in mind. If you haven’t seen friends – let’s face it, who hasn’t? – Ross is one of the main six characters, and there is no one else who could play the paleontologist. Absolutely no one!
So for me, I know that the greatness of a movie or a TV show does definitely depend on who is in the cast - as well as the script too.
What do you think? Does the cast of a show affect its likability?
Let me know in the comments of any examples and if you agree with me.
Until next time…
So true. The cast definitely impacts the atmosphere of the entire film and each actor has something unique to bring to the table that is different from anybody else. The right actors--even if they're not big names--add so much to the characters they portray. :)
I think you’re right. Most characters are defined the actors that play them and wouldn’t be right if others actors did!
With the Friends Reunion the actors were exactly the same as the characters even tho it’s been 17 or whatever years!!!
So true, and definitely a good game to be played by cast switching! RocknRolla was a great film and definitely made by how we ourselves believe the actors to be - they pretty much acted as themselves which proved to be perfect. I guess many writers of movies, TV shows and even novels, have someone in mind when portraying a character but perhaps if a cast member is an unknown then it moulds that actor around the character traits needed. If it works then may be most stick to the mannerisms, etc. For instance, some actors seem to always play a baddie - perhaps it's because that's how they started their career and it just worked well. Vinnie Jones (he…
I completely agree! As you said with Friends, the actors make the characters and even watching the actors be themselves in the reunion you can tell that they are the characters and if it had been anyone else it wouldn’t have been the same!