On the off-chance you're not sick of TOBG movie discussions by now: British historian slams Portman's period piece. David Starkey has commented on the choice of American actors for the film of The Other Boleyn Girl. I'd say ouch, but this is not a big surprise. Still, I confess I don't get this one remark of his, so maybe someone can enlighten me: "It's another example of how all historical figures have to be portrayed on screen with American accents to appeal to an American audience." I don't think this is really true - Americans generally love to hear British accents in the movies. I also assumed Portman et al would be sporting British accents for the film, like Gwyneth Paltrow did in Shakespeare in Love. Plus, um, Eric Bana is Australian. Comments, anyone? Would you rather have seen British actors, and if so, whom?
Yet another: Hollywood stars head to Britain. A brief note on Cate Blanchett's upcoming reprisal of her Elizabeth I role in The Golden Age, among other things.
About Me
- Sarah Johnson
- Collection management librarian, readers' advisor, avid historical fiction reader, NBCC member. Book review editor for the Historical Novels Review and Booklist reviewer. Recipient of ALA's Louis Shores Award for book reviewing (2012). Blogging since 2006.
I don't care where the actors come from as long as they're hot. Ioan Gruffyd, Sean Bean - droooool - or Clive Owen would have done as well as Eric Bana for me, though I don't seen Ioan as Henry VIII exactly. The one I don't want to see in any movie is Tom Cruise; can't stand the man.
ReplyDeleteDon't know about actresses, I don't tend to look at them. :)
I'm with you about Tom Cruise, Gabriele! Never understood the appeal.
ReplyDeleteAmerican actions are fine with me as long as they can do decent British accents (and it has to be a pretty poor accent for me to notice).
Tom Cruise just seems way too obnoxious to me, in general.
ReplyDeleteI understand they're filming in London with a British crew, so someone would likely notice if their accents weren't up to par...
Actually my first criteria would be GOOD actors. Then I would like an accent appropriate to the place and time period. Nothing cheeses me out more than an crappily done accent. So if you have to get British actors in order to get an authentic accent then that's the way to go. Personally I think Portman is beautiful but a very wooden actress.
ReplyDeleteI would like to see Emily Mortimer as Anne Bolyen, and Kate Winslet as Mary Boleyn.
ReplyDeleteNot sure about Henry...
Stephanie, I tend to agree with you on Portman, and I don't think she's the best fit for Anne... although she may look the part.
ReplyDeleteI looked up Emily Mortimer on the IMDB since I'm not that familiar with her. I saw she starred in the dramatized version of Rosamunde Pilcher's Coming Home, which I would like to see one day. I loved the book.
I have to admit, I was never fond of Portman for Anne from the start. I don't know if it the lack of British ancestory or what, but I haven't been fond of the choice since the beginning...
ReplyDeleteAccents don't bother me as long as their owners can act. I have a feeling that a modern British accent may not be much closer to an authentic Elizabethan accent than a modern American one. Isn't there a theory that the New England accent preserves some 16th- and 17th-century forms that came over with the Pilgrim Fathers and have been lost in Britain?
ReplyDeleteI think Emily Mortimer would make a fine Anne! Ah, well.
ReplyDeleteCarla - yes, I've heard that some regions of the US preserve an accent that's closer to Elizabethan English than to BBC English, and that the Elizabethans pronounced their r's more like modern Americans do... I haven't studied this extensively, though.
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