hh_clubs | Smarmy Society: Term XXV, Activity 3: Character Replacements

Activity name: Character Replacements
Points: 24hr debate: Participation 10pts, Additional comment: 5pts. 30pts limit.
End date: Monday 1st April @ 14:00 UTC
Details: Over the course of the films, some of the characters were written out, assimilated into others, or played by multiple actors. Do you feel this is the right approach? Does the change of face affect how you feel about that character? A 24 hour debate to end the month.

So I was considering my next activity for the Smarmy Society, when I read on the news that the actor Richard Griffiths, who played Vernon Dursley, passed away on Good Friday following surgery complications.

I was reading some of the assosciated articles related to this, and one thing that came up was how he was perceived as "perfect" for the role of Uncle Vernon. This got me thinking- without doubt he was excellent in the role, but had someone else played the part, would it have still been as good? The thought reminded me of when Richard Harris was replaced by Michael Gambon and the ensuing dissonance.

I would like to invite a quick discussion about the synergy between actor and character. If an actor or actress becomes unavailable, walks away from the project, etc, how would you think this impacts on the character role? Would it change? Does a strong actor or actress fit into the role smoothly, and would a transition be smooth? More importantly to the Smarmy Club, would your view change if it were a major role versus a minor one?

I'll give 10 points for a substantial, thought-out comment (let's say about 200 words, minimum). Further comments of at least 50 words will be awarded five house points.

As it's a topic with broad scope I shall not be assigning debate motions here. I would just like to see some free chatter. But of course, feel free to play devil's advocate with each other. I love to see a bit of that over a circle of people nodding among themselves. ;)

_{The Smarmy Society: Because loving the Trio is too mainstream.}

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I think PoA is my favorite of the HP films (except for DH). I love PoA so much and watched it so many times, I forgot how different it is from the book until I re-read the book and I was all 'Hey, that didn't happen in the movie! ... Ohhhhhhh.' lol

HP movies are a little weird in the fact that they all have different directors and thus different writing styles. I love them because I love the books, but I've always wondered what it would be like to watch the movies without having any prior knowledge. And then with all the minor characters changing all the time (I totally did not know Pansy had been recast either!), I'm sure that totally doesn't help matters any.

I really wonder why all these minor characters got recasted so much!
I suppose it could be that schedules just didn't allow for the same people to be in all the movies (I think they did contracts pretty spread out and not all at once?). That, or the people casting for one film did not have long-term vision for the other films, but it is really weird! It doesn't really bother me that much — since half of them I didn't even notice — but now that I know, it's weird!

Kristine | Puff

YAY ANOTHER PERSON WHO LIKES POA. LET ME LOVE YOU. I also like the new school uniforms it introduced...I digress.

Haha, sorry I made you notice the weird stuff...it's like how now I always notice the arrow in the FedEx logo and little things like that!

Emmapuff

Smarmy Society: Term XXV, Activity 3: Character Replacements

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