Actors and writers

[Pecksie]

Hi,

Lately I've been given to fantasizing about the movies I'd like someone to make about my favorite writers.

I read somewhere that Jude Law had refused the role of Byron in some movie (which I'm not sure was ever filmed, BTW), and that was a real disappointment , as I think he would have made a great LB.

Thinking about an actor who could play the role of Shelley is a bit more difficult - I know there was a movie about the two of them, a long time ago, which in most people's opinion was awful - seems like we really need a good movie about these two!

So the question is, do you ever wish someone would make a movie about your favorite authors, and do you have a specific actor/actress in mind who should play them?

Bye!

P.

[LitNetIsGreat]

I couldn't see Jude playing Byron myself he is a great actor but I don't think he would work well in that role.

Stephen Fry was born to play Wilde, but unfortunately the film couldn't live up to its promise, did it ever really have a chance?

[Pecksie]

I couldn't see Jude playing Byron myself he is a great actor but I don't think he would work well in that role.

Stephen Fry was born to play Wilde, but unfortunately the film couldn't live up to its promise, did it ever really have a chance?

I enjoyed that movie a lot. Both Fry and Jude, who played Bosie, were uncannily like the real Oscar and Bosie. And the script was good.

[LitNetIsGreat]

Yes Jude was made for that role too. In real terms there was nothing wrong with it, but you can't expect to fully capture the life of Oscar Wilde with a 90 odd minute production, no matter how good.

Ultimately, any film of Wilde's life was always going to focus on the sensation of his downfall too much, of course it is a big part of the myth of Oscar Wilde, but watching the film I felt like I was seeing his life through the tabloid press, instead of through Greek tragedy.

[Pecksie]

Yes Jude was made for that role too. In real terms there was nothing wrong with it, but you can't expect to fully capture the life of Oscar Wilde with a 90 odd minute production, no matter how good.

Ultimately, any film of Wilde's life was always going to focus on the sensation of his downfall too much, of course it is a big part of the myth of Oscar Wilde, but watching the film I felt like I was seeing his life through the tabloid press, instead of through Greek tragedy.

I guess the problem is that, unlike other professions (imagine a movie about a dancer or painter or sports star's life, for example), writing is an activity that cannot really be "shown" in a movie. You may show the guy feverishly scribbling or typing away, or something like that, but you can't really show the creative processes or the genesis of ideas or whatever it is that makes a literary work. So there's really no chance but to focus on the non-writing part of the life - which is why I think there have been movies about Wilde, and there will probably be more about Shelley and Byron, but there are no movies about, say, Philip Larkin!

[wessexgirl]

Hi,

Lately I've been given to fantasizing about the movies I'd like someone to make about my favorite writers.

I read somewhere that Jude Law had refused the role of Byron in some movie (which I'm not sure was ever filmed, BTW), and that was a real disappointment , as I think he would have made a great LB.

Thinking about an actor who could play the role of Shelley is a bit more difficult - I know there was a movie about the two of them, a long time ago, which in most people's opinion was awful - seems like we really need a good movie about these two!

So the question is, do you ever wish someone would make a movie about your favorite authors, and do you have a specific actor/actress in mind who should play them?

Bye!

P.

Jonny Lee Miller played Byron a few years ago, for British tv.


www.bbc.co.uk/drama/byron/

It was quite good, but he doesn't look like Byron to me.

[hhc]

Joseph Fines playes Shakespeare in Shakespeare in Love, accompanied by Gwyneth Paltrow, as a quite original Dark Lady... I enjoyed the movie, but definitely think Joseph Fines was the worst Shakespeare EVER.

[Pecksie]

Joseph Fines playes Shakespeare in Shakespeare in Love, accompanied by Gwyneth Paltrow, as a quite original Dark Lady... I enjoyed the movie, but definitely think Joseph Fines was the worst Shakespeare EVER.

I agree with that. And Gwyneth is not "dark" by a long shot.

[Mark F.]

Pasolini plays Chaucer in his adaptation of The Canterbury Tales. Writer's lives rarely make for an interesting story though, Capote was pretty good and Matt Dillon nailed Bukowski with his performance in Factotum but the film failed to capture Buk's sense of humour.

Cronenberg's adaptation of Naked Lunch is an exception, but the film is more about writing than about Burrough's life itself in spite of the strong biographic undertones.

On a side note what about writers appearing in films? There are a few memorable performances I can think of, Burroughs in Drugstore Cowboys, Mishima in Hitokiri and Eddie Bunker in Reservoir Dogs.

[Pecksie]

Capote was pretty good

Indeed - Philip Seymour Hoffmann's similarity to old Truman was uncanny - and there was also another movie, "Infamous", with Toby Jones, which was very good too.

As to writers in movies, I've never seen any - guess most of my favs never made it to the era of cinema, though But it's an interesting topic - e.g. whether they play themselves, or another writer, or a non-writer character...

[byquist]

Nick Nolte would make a great Hemingway, who's not a favorite author.

[subterranean]

I pretty much like J.M Barrie played by Johnny Depp.