Lord of the Rings Humour: Parodies, Satires and More [3]

that's called good acting

Mrs Figg wrote:that's called good acting

Sean Bean gives my favourite performance in LOTR, Sean Astin and Jackson both mention how impressed they were with the way he could snap in and out of character, unlike Mortensen or Wood he didn't have an external struggle or a big character arc to play around with, as said above his struggle was internal, Bean didn't have massive speeches or ninja flips to impress us with, he just caught my attention with his performance

Weirdly enough he is closer to how i picture Aragorn in the books (though I still have a soft spot for John Hurt's version)

though I still have a soft spot for John Hurt's version- Malick

Me too- apart from the clothes he looks more how I imagined Aragorn, not handsome exactly, bit rough looking, like he could handle himself, and that voice!

Pettytyrant101 wrote:though I still have a soft spot for John Hurt's version- Malick

Me too- apart from the clothes he looks more how I imagined Aragorn, not handsome exactly, bit rough looking, like he could handle himself, and that voice!

Yeah his clothes are kinda stupid (well, most of Baksi's designs were a little stupid, but weirdly the tone felt closer to the book than PJ's version imo), I always pictured Aragorn as being weatherbeaten and middle aged, his nobility reflected in his height and toughness, rather than appearance. PJ's version looked rather too well groomed...

And it's John Hurt, which is naturally a bonus.

I agree, despite all its obvious faults and flaws I still get more a LotR's book vibe out of Bakshi than I do PJ.

well groomed? he always looked greasy haired, windblown and dirty to me.

but in a good way.

Its the face. Viggo is too handsome, even under the grease.
I liked the craggy, weather beaten look to Bakshi's version, more in keeping with the books description.

nooooooooo! he looks like Charles Bronson in a skirt.

I did say apart from the costume!
But book Aragorn is a bit craggy, weatherbeaten and worn. A lived in face.
Viggo always looked to me like a pretty boy who had smeared some dirt on his face.

 he was in his 40s when he played Aragorn, not exactly the stereotypical Hollywood hunk.

There's a difference between being good-looking and being a pretty boy.

Its not his age its his face- it just doesnt look weather beaten, its not rough or course, its smooth and looks like he uses lotion or something.

I thought Viggo did a very good job with what he had to work with on the acting and character front, but I grew up round farmers, shepherds foresters and the like and those were character faces, those were weathered, lived in faces. Viggo's just isnt.

he looks weatherbeaten to me. plus you show him after he has a wash in Rivendell.

He looks the same in those pics except he has smeared some dirt on his smooth skin!
He just doesn't convince me as someone who is supposed to look like they have spent their life outdoors. His face just lacks the natural coarseness and roughness that comes from that and from having had all the blood vessels in your face go at one time or another in adverse weather conditions. He doesn't look worn and he so his face lacks the sort of character I associate with book Strider.

The first description we get of him in the book is as-

"a strange-looking weather beaten man",

or the following exchange between Aragorn and Pippin-

"A hunted man sometimes wearies of distrust and longs for friendship. But there, I believe my looks are against me."
"They are- at first sight at any rate," laughed Pippin..."But handsome is as handsome does, as we say in the Shire: and I daresay we shall all look much the same after lying for days in ditches and hedges."
"It would take more than a few days, or weeks, or years of wandering in the Wild to make you look like Strider."

or between Frodo and Aragorn-

"I think one of his spies would- well, seem fairer and feel fouler; if you understand."
"I see," laughed Strider, "I look foul and feel fair. Is that it? All that is gold does not glitter."

I just don't think those descriptions work with Viggo's handsome looks.

Yeah but T was a bit unfair, because there are several other moments where he looks "kingly" and tall and strong and lordly, which isn't exactly scummy. He only looks like that half the time. It's hard to find all of that in an actor. I think Viggo is actually lacking in the kingly looking aspect more than the worn and weathered aspect. He looked grungy in FOTR to me...

I never saw his kinglyness as him being any more handsome. Cleaned up yes, better and more nobley attired, but not any more good looking.
For me the sense of his kingliness, his Numenoreaness if you like, is more his aspect, his spirit shining out, the true diamond in the rough.
Think more how you can look at a picture of a close up of a big spider and your first reaction is to be disgusted, or scared, or repelled, and then when you really begin to look you see the beauty of the colours- your looking at the same thing it hasn't changed, but now your seeing a different aspect of it.

On film Id say you accomplish this by casting an actor with a suitable 'character' face, and one with the skill to alter everything about his aspect, carriage and poise between Strider and King Aragorn.
The rest would be down to how you shoot the actor in both aspects. Using consistent angles and styles for each aspect and never mixing them. As Aragorn has moments along the way where he 'reveals' this aspect, like to Eomer, you can introduce these differences gradually up to King.

Gabdalf too should have these two aspects between Grey ad White- its why I think Gandalf the Grey should be portrayed as in the book with a bent back, as an old man who gets tired, and crabbity. Then when he comes back as White, upright and strong, less easily wearied the contrast is starker (and better than just bunging him in white and dying and clipping his beard).

well in all fairness a "character face" isn't gonna sell tickets to a general audience. To be honest about it. I get what your saying Petty but they had to compromise with the actor. At least we didn't get Stuart Townsend as originally cast. That would have been even worse than Viggo

Viggo wasn't selling any tickets was he?- he was brought on after they started shooting, and I don't think I knew anyone who had ever heard of him before LotR's. And I'm not saying he should be ugly, but he should have a face with more character, more lived in look than Viggo has.
Oddly enough id be more inclined to cast Viggo in the role now, age has given his face more character, as it often does, still a bit too smooth skined though-

Im glad he was cast as Aragorn. His demeanour & way he carries himself tells the story. The way he played Aragorn didnt make me doubt him. He was meant to be blessed with long life so, maybe his looks didnt match his numerical age ? Plus, look at all the make up & air brushing that goes on I also am glad Stuart Townsend didnt get the part, I dont think hes got the gravitas to pull it off, where as Viggo was brought up on Scandi myths & legends & he can retell those thru his acting. Stuart probably wonders which aftershave company will sponsor him & the next ad for Gucci underwear.

Seeing how easily it could have been Nicholas Cage, I think I'll say thank god for Viggo Mortensen.

I thought Viggo perfectly described the Numeroneaness, the grey eyes and dark hair, he could look kingly and like a ragged Dunedain in the same film. He is just on the right side of handsome, not too obvious and perfect but romantic enough to look right with Arwen. Not too young either, any older and it would have looked slightly odd, as I believe that he is supposed to look ageless in a way and slightly fey, not as obviously manly and warriorlike as Boromir. I like his portrayal very much, you can tell he lived the part, it shows how much he cared. I think he was perfect casting.

He's a bit short for a numenorean, but other than that I rather like him too.

I am not talking about Viggo's portrayal, I already said I thought he did well with the material he had to work with, all I am saying he is too good looking in my view to fit the descriptions of Strider in the book. He doesn't intimidate in his looks.
I like for example in the Bakshi version that his Strider appears to have had a broken nose- its not canon but its effective as a means to convey immediately that he has been in a scrap or two, lived a rough life.
I always got the impression from the book that Strider wouldn't get any trouble, even though just about everyone in Bree is suspicious of him, not because of his kingliness, but because he looks like the sort of down and ready rough bastard that can take care of themselves and would make you think twice.
He does afterall describe himself as having a 'rascally look' about him.

maybe you would prefer Bronn in GOT? certainly rascally and weatherbeaten, but the problem with rascally looking men is its difficult for them to pull of kingly or noble or Romantic epic. its a tall order you are asking, and if you don't have an actor who you can give as an example I am afraid that Viggo will remain the best choice.

I thought Viggo was a little scrawny for the part.

But he did okay. He was very outdoorsy, if not the rugged build of an orc fighter, with voice a bit too soft. Women always think he's great because they swoon over him for some odd reason.

My first pick would have been Daniel Day Lewis (last of the Mohicans) and PJ wanted him too.