acting THE mild-mannered reporter.

[Aspiring Mogul]

Since we're not working, let's talk film.

For whatever reason, I got to watching parts of Superman 1 and 2 (with Christopher Reeve) on Youtube. To me, he's not only the iconic Superman, he's also the iconic Clark Kent. According to Wikipedia, he prepared for his role as the mild-mannered reporter by watching Cary Grant in "Bringing up Baby". Any thoughts on that? Are there any other examples of mild-mannered characters he could have used?

I would LOVE to get the contract to retell the story of Superman .... and Batman.

 

[directorik]

I don't think anyone had done both (Kent and Superman) better. You can clearly see Grant in his performance.

Of all the great themes Williams has composed the Superman theme is still the best of his work.

 

[Aspiring Mogul]

If I was ever fortunate enough to get the contract for a few Superman movies, I would instruct the actor to model his performance after Reeves.

The other iconic character would be Terence Stamp's version of General Zod.

 

[indietalk]

Yeah but there's inspiration and imitation. The reason Grant worked was he was not playing Superman.

Do you really think an actor would take it well if you told them to act like another actor in the same performance?

 

[Aspiring Mogul]

Good point, Rik, but, just as Reeve took his cue from Grant, so too should the actor use Reeve and Grant as an example of what I would like. The same would go for Zod. Again, I don't expect the actor, half a century later, to imitate Terence Stamp but rather to use him as an example of what I want. IOW, not imitation, but inspiration.

On the other hand, I don't want Gene Hackman's interpretation of Lex Luthor. While I like Hackman's work, especially in other movies, my interpretation of the arch-villain would be different - he would be a power-mad industrialist, out to conquer the world. And, when Zod and Co comes over, Luthor would ally with Superman. In the original Superman 2, the villain went over to help Zod try to destroy Superman, which would not make sense, because he would want to destroy Zod and Superman, so he can rule the world, or at least Australia.

 

[indietalk]

"Hey we want you to be the next Joker. Can you do your best Joaquin?"

NEXT!

Actors don't want to be treated as second best, understandably. Also, fans do not want to see impersonations that will never live up to their faves, that's why characters are reinvented. And this is where actors shine.

 

[Aspiring Mogul]

Agreed. But Clark MUST be mild-mannered, because that's his character.

As for the Joker, I won't be fussy, so long as he's deranged. In my version, he's a victim of Scarecrow's psychological experiments, and, after some adventure and chasing, to end in a chemical factory, he falls into a vat of chemicals and so becomes the white-faced villain. An actor can take that story and give his interpretation of what the character would be like, subject to (ahem) my creative directives.

This is going to call for a lot of team work.