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 Read the full post.
Jan 20
2006
08:59 PM ET
Christopher Lee: Today's stars are too inexperienced
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Totally agree and Totally disagree-
It was a distracting in an otherwise fine film. Reminded me of the series final of Sex Feet Under when everyone aged respectively except for the great Laura Ambrose, who prostetic resembled that of an elf from Lord of the Rings. Solution: change the young actors as time evolves with older actors.
As far as actors too young for meaty roles, let us not forget a young Jodi Foster or Leonardo DiCaprio. Those two not only carried movies when they were young, they damn near stole every picture.
Anne Hathaway’s character in “Brokeback” was one of my favorite things about the film. I’ve been wondering why she’s been glossed over for awards and mention.
Her being cast was a brilliant idea and her performance proved it. Don’t forget the Thanksgiving scene when Jack finally stands up to his father-in-law. Hathaway’s complex and perfectly controlled reaction was amazing. I’ve never seen “Princess Diaries,” but with this one performance she’s made me an admirer. Flawless.
VERY wrong indeed.
Using Brokeback was a poor example. Anne and Jake were top notch. Your problem seems to be more with the make-up dept. rather than the acting.
I am also going to disagree with EW. I thought Anne Hathaway had one of the best scenes in Brokeback where she tells Heath Ledger tragic news- big hair and all. Remember this was the 80s — of course the hair was big. I agree with Josh — she was like Sue Ellen Ewing from Dallas.
I thought she conveyed the loneliness, resentment and loss in that scene very subtly. My friend even suggested that she had something to do with the fate of a character — which is not totally off-the-wall. It’s a fantastic performance.
Totally wrong concerning Brokeback, and only partially wrong elsewhere.
Not to take credit away from Mr. Ledger and Mrs. Williams, but what happened to the bravos for Mr. Gyllenhaal and Mrs. Hathaway? It’s often much harder to give a great performance opposite the big roles. Heath and Michelle had more raw emotion to portray, yet Jake and Anne got that quiet simmering emotion down wonderfully. In their final meeting, Jake and Heath are both fantastic, but it’s Jake who has to sell it, for sure. He does.
I hadn’t even noticed how much older Jake looked. Yes, the moustache was distracting, but not without purpose, when we see young Jake and older Jake in scenes close to each other, I was astonished at how subtley they had aged him. Anne Hathaway, as mentioned before, conveys so much in her final phone conversation with just the way she breathes. Amazing.
In general, perhaps younger actors aren’t experienced enough for older roles, but does that mean that they can’t play them? And what about older actors playing young roles. Rachel McAdams at 25 playing a high school junior? It’s a bit outlandish, but she pulls it off, and if she can, who cares? If the actor fits the part, let them play it, regardless of who they are in reality.
The characters of Brokeback Mountain only age to their late thirties. In other words, Jake G only needs to look three years younger than Brad Pitt and Johnny Depp, and I think we can all agree he accomplishes that.
Likewise, Anne Hathaway needs to look about forty, which everyone seems to be confusing with sixty. If it’s depth of character you’re looking for, I don’t think that final phone scene shows anything shallow or immature from Anne at all.
Besides, keeping those characters baby-faced adds even more to the tragedy of their missed opportunities.
It’s a lot easier to have younger actors playing older than vice/versa — case in point, Kevin Spacey in “Beyond the Sea.”
Makeup can make an young guy look older, but it’s hard to get rid of crow’s feet and spare tires!
As a long time fan of Christopher Lee, who actually starred in some very successful movies in the last 50 years, I take exception to the way this was written. Mr. Lee, a very decent, gracious and talented thespian, did not use “Brokeback Mountain” as an example, nor maligned its stars. Perhaps he was referring to “Dukes of Hazzard” (which there is a good chance the ‘stars’ of this film made more than the actors in Brokeback), any Jennifer Aniston film of 2005, or any high budget movie starring a Duff, Hilton, Lohan…
Perhaps he is perplexed as to why Hollywood spends millions of dollars to film really bad movies, starring beautiful, but really bad actors, and moreso, why people actually pay to see them. Quoting someone is one thing, making it appear that your opinion is theirs is another. Mr. Lee, and quite frankly, the cast of ‘Brokeback Mountain’ deserve better.
Who the hell cares the movie was great thats the most important thing…and i do not like gay people
I appreciate his comments, especially since he doesn’t point the blame on the actor and seems to speak generally. However, I regret that people are making assumptions about who he may be referring to. There are some high profile younger actors who are experiencing a series of flop, post the time they were featured in higher profile movies. Let’s just accept the remarks generally and move on. It’s kinda rude to speculate…
Note to Stephen: No thanks for the spoiler. Please be considerate to those who haven’t seen this film yet.
I do agree to some extent about the casting of young, unproven actors in big budget movies, like another poster mentioned. Exhibit A of Orlando Bloom was spot-on, but I don’t agree with Exhibit B. Each of those 4 leads was cast with believable actors. And was I the only one who noticed Hathoway’s tobacco-stained front teeth during the final scenes? Whatever this movie might have lacked in make-up was made up with this subtle cigarrette stain. Frankly the aging might have been a bit more believable with a small beer gut, especially for hard drinking Ennis. I’m almost 40 and, dare I say, look pretty good and not all that different from 20!
I have to somewhat agree. Brokeback Mountain was a bad example because all the actors were great, but Orlando Bloom, definitely, is not leading-man material.