One of the perks of being an 83-year-old screen legend (who’s appeared in five of the top-grossing movies of the last five years): People have to listen respectfully to you. So it is with Christopher Lee, who is blasting Hollywood for casting young, lightweight stars in lead roles they’re not mature or experienced enough to play. As a result, he says, audiences tire of these disposable actors before they’ve had a chance to ripen. ”So many of these good-looking — sometimes even pretty — boys and girls are getting these good roles and it’s not fair on them,” London’s Evening Standard quotes Lee as saying. ”At some point it’s going to catch up.”
Call me a crank, but I think Lee has a point. Exhibit A: Orlando Bloom, who, as per our discussion a couple weeks ago, seems like he’s being pushed into carrying movies before he has the chops to shoulder them. But it’s true even in non-lead roles. Exhibit B: Brokeback Mountain, an otherwise excellent movie handicapped by the story’s requirement that its dewy young actors age 20 years over the course of the film. Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams manage to pull it off, but not so much Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway. They’re fine as the younger versions of their characters (shown), but when Jake pastes on a mustache and sideburns and Hathaway puts on a frosty blond wig to convey that their characters are middle-aged, they just seem like two kids playing dress-up; they only hint at the gravitas and world-weariness their characters are supposed to have acquired.
Now, I wouldn’t go so far as to say that Gyllenhaal and Hathaway aren’t going to be given a chance to age into suitable roles. On the other hand, when you look at how boyish or girlish some of our top stars remain well into their 40s and beyond (thanks in part to face-smoothing medical procedures), you wonder if even those stars who don’t get used up when they’re young will ever actually mature into roles that fit their calendar ages.
Am I wrong?
Comments (1-30) of 42 Add your comment
Why does everyone get to bent out of shape about Anne Hathaway’s charater’s aging. I’m from Texas, and I think it was pretty spot-on. When it comes to true Texas matriarchs, the older they get, the bigger the hair and the heavier the make-up. She was like Sue Ellen Ewing… ahhh…
Are you kidding me? First EW praises ‘Brokeback’ as something wonderful (plus commenting several times about how Gyllenhaal was left out of the Golden Globes) and now he and Anne Hathaway aren’t good enough… make up your mind EW… I thought they were fantastic (and hathaway was probably better than Michelle Williams given how subtle and layered her performance was). Old people need to stop complaining!
What the hell, EW. You just today decided Gyllenhaal and Hathaway couldn’t pull off the forty something look? You would have preferred a couple of fortyish actors playing twenty for 60% of the movie. You’ve been gushing over Jake for weeks. You pointed out his cuteness, named Jake and Heath best screen couple, and best hankie moment and considered him a lock for an Oscar. This is where I go for all things Jake.
I have to agree with my fellow posters and speak out against EW (a first!!!). I also happened to be one of those people who was very impressed with Anne Hathaway and actually preferred her perfomance over Michelle Williams’. Also, Michelle doesn’t look a day older than she did on Dawson’s Creek (though obvioulsy her performance is better). She still looks exactly how she did when she played 16! Either way, I think both Jake and Anne were amazing in the film.
Yeah, I think you’re wrong and had it backwards. By the end of the movie, Heath looked pretty much the same with Jake and Anne looking realistic for their ages and time periods. It was the 70s/80s and Jake had to have a salt and pepper mustache that looked crappy. Where was Heath’s?
In the previous item, Anne Hathaway’s performance was one to not be forgotten. Then in this one, she and Jake were too pretty to pull off aging. Don’t quote bitter 83yr. old actors. By the way, since the globes, Brokeback has been the #1 movie both Tuesday and Wednesday. It is still playing in only 683 theaters compared other movies playing in four or five times as many screens.
I agree with this statement completely. The stars are young and lightweight. Thank your lucky stars Russell Crowe is still around and he didn’t really break until The Insider and Gladiator, where he was already around 30.
Me again. You currently have a role call about Jake. I think he been give a chance to age into suitable roles. From Lovely and Amazing to Brokeback and Jarhead in seven years is amazing. You should read your own site.
You are right about Orlando Bloom, but dead wrong about Gyllenhaal and Hathaway in Brokeback Mountain. They did a tremendous job.
You are right about Orlando Bloom, but dead wrong about Gyllenhaal and Hathaway. They did a tremendous job in Brokeback Mountain.
I agree with my fellow posters. I thought both Jake and Anne did a fantastic and believable job in Brokebback. Your magazine has not only praised Jake’s performance, but in the review specifically stated that it was a GOOD idea to cast young actors in the movie. How about some consistency?
just wanted to add that I think it’s stupid to criticize young actors in lead parts because unless they cut their teeth on some lead roles, how can they grow to become BETTER actors… it’s hard to improve your acting by playing the son/daughter or best friend over and over again… p.s. at some point in time I’m sure Christopher Lee played a lead role someone thought he wasn’t qualified for…
Jake Gyllenhall (and/or his makeup artist) did a good job, but I do agree about Anne Hathaway not conveying the age. There should have been a bit more aging makeup done. Acting-wise, she did a fine job of conveying a more brittle and business-y demeanor as she got older.
Anne Hathaway was AWESOME in Brokeback, I thought her character at the end offered much more of an emotional punch than Michelle Williams character ever did. Sorry, EW, but you’re way wrong on this one.
I believe Anne Hathaway’s performance was amazing and convincing in Brokeback. I can understand where you are coming from though… Angelina Jolie as Colin Farrell’s mom in Alexander… YEAH RIIIGHHHTTT!
Your examples suck, you refer to a bad wig and a mustache and saying it efffected their performance. Sure they didn’t look very natural, but man you can’t chalk up that too a bad performance! When Anne Hathaway is on the phone with Heath Ledger telling him about the death of Jake Gyllenhaal, she is amazing, that scene alone warrants her an Oscar nomination, the movie was made on a limited budget! Come on now, Just cause they might not have looked 20 years older, doesn’t mean you should take that away from their performance.
Gary Susman got pwned!!!
To me, it’s obvious Lee was referring to Hayden Christensen performance as Anakin Skywalker. I completely agree with his assumptions. As far as Mr. Susman’s comments are concerned, I was also completely unimpressed with Anne Hathaway’s performance in “Brokeback Mountain.” Jake Gyllenhaal gave a great in performance in “Jarhead,” but “Brokeback” belonged to Heath Ledger’s Ennis Del Mar. It was his film and his story. Gyllenhaal and Hathaway’s roles were much less complex and ingratiating than Ledger and Williams.
Bad examples…of course Heath Ledger owned that movie, but both Gyllenhaal and Hathaway were wonderful and were pitch perfect for the roles that were written. The fault, if any, belongs to the make up people. That mustache took some getting used to.
This tired queen should call it a career and stop complaining. What he really needs to beef about is why there isn’t enough nude scenes between Jake and Heath. The fact is, ask a gay (male) to take off his cloths and most likely he will ; )
I couldn’t possibly disagree more regarding Jake and Anne. I think both aged plausibly in this film, and despit ethe fact that their faces are indeed young, they conveyed their character’s ages well through their physicality. I was articularly proud of Anne’s change in her final scene. She pulled her age off with flying colors.
Of course everyonen is a critic, and it is very easy for us to say “That person wouldn’t look like that in 20 years!!!” but do any of us really know? The best examples I can think of… Look at Dave Foley. He looks EXACTLY like he did when he broke onto the scene with Kids in the Hall 18 years age, except now he has greay hair and a moustache. If you took that photo back in a time machine to 1988, and showed people that is what Dave would look like in 2006, people would balk.
I think this article is just a lame attempt to attempt to poke holes in what is a perfect and beautiful film. Get over yourself, and try to write something of substance next time.
Jeee whiz they are only supposed to age 20 years, from what 20 until 40? You act like they were supposed to be 80. Look into both of their eyes in the later scenes, you can SEE and feel what they have been through, that is better acting than some bad aging make up.
You may have a point, but your completely off-the-mark example of “Brokeback Mountain” has hidden it deeply.
The disingenuous comment about 40-something stars looking better because of surgery… I’ve just read at least ten articles about Sundance and how bad Robert Redford looks because he decided not to get plastic surgery. Oy vey. Don’t you know it is absolutely an expectation of stars today? And who drives it? The public. It’s the viewing public that will only love non-aging stars, and they mostly mean women who don’t seem to age. Jake and Anne did a great job. And don’t forget the time period they were suppose to be in when the movie ended. I lived through it and think my hair looked exactly like Anne’s at the end of the movie and in the early 80’s, you were hard-pressed not to find a man who did not have that awful porno-king mustache.
yes, you are wrong.
If Mr. Lee has had so much time to ripen into his career, why is he still doing the same bad guy in movie after movie. I thought Anne Hathways performance in Brokeback is the most over looked, her final scene is a heart breaker, and certainly worthy of as much praise as the rest of the CAST. Give this girl an Oscar.
Are you kidding me with this? This movie was one of the best I’ve ever seen and you are worried about a bad wig and mustache? They were wonderful and I would gladly pay again to see that bad wig and mustache. It’s about time that young actors move to more serious roles and actually MAKE me want to go to the movies for a change instead of playing roles in movies that I will never pay to see, even on DVD.
Yeah. You’re wrong, but only when it comes to “Brokeback Mountain”.
That last scene in “Brokeback Mountain” with Anne Hathaway on the phone, was eery and heart shattering. I thought she did well with the role. And I thought Jake came across as totally believable with the mustache as his character aged.
I totally agree with Orlando Bloom. He needs to develop more as a leading man before he thinks he can carry a film on his own. “Elizabethtown” just didn’t suit. But that could also be because the movie wasn’t stellar to begin with. Who knows.
But there’s always been that stigma with older actors playing young, and vice versa in Hollywood. The fault in that lies with the casting directors, because that’s where it starts. Will it ever get balanced out. Probably not. Mostly because it’s rooted in Hollywood’s obsession with preserving youth and beauty. Such an unrealistic ideal seeps into various aspects of not only motion picture, but television and music. It will only change when the PEOPLE who choose to buy into these things stand up and say something about it.
Yeah you are wrong. And so is Christopher Lee. Some of Hollywood’s greatest actors are young. Everyone was perfect in Brokeback Mountain. The entire cast deserves Oscars. Jake and Anne were just as good as Heath and Michelle, and their portrayals of age were just as convincing. Young Hollywood has some major talent. How about Rachel McAdams, Dakota Fanning, Kirsten Dunst, or Reese Witherspoon? They are some of the greatest actresses around they are all young. As for young actors, just watch Jarhead and Brokeback and you will see plenty of great performances. Christopher Lee is just jealous that he will never get and Oscar nomination and all these little pip squeaks are getting them younger and younger. Sorry Lee, you are just not a great actor. Fortunately for us all, the youngins’ are.
I just want to point out that Christopher Lee didn’t mention anything about the actors in Brokeback Mountain, he didn’t name anybody specifically. I think he may have a point about some actors, they get thrown into the spotlight before they’re ready.
I don’t think that’s the case with Brokeback, Heath Ledger gave probably the performance of his career, he may never match this one again, but he can live off the cred from this one for years to come. Maybe it’s just me, but I thought Jake was supposed to look kind of silly with the sideburns and mustache.
Ann Hathaway did a fine job, she was only supposed to be about 38 at the end of the movie, plenty of people look good in their 30s, especially somebody like her character that would be able to afford age defying options.