Star Wars: Episode VII to be directed by J.J. Abrams **NON SPOILER THREAD** — Page 67

She is proven a good enough actor for a well written role.

Carrie wasn't pushed very far in ANH but she was memorable in a way that none of the female characters in the PT or even the Raiders sequels were.

Around that time there were three big blockbusters with brunette lead actresses and Carrie more than held her own and delivered a performances comparable with Karen Allen and Margot Kidder.

She was great in ESB and not so in ROTJ, the difference being one was a sequel written by people with something to prove (that the first film wasn't a flash in the pan one hit wonder) and the other was a contractual obligation piece captained by a depressed man who cared only about the money.

The point is the story suggests to me an arc to the character of Leia who is played by Carrie Fisher who has a proven record of playing characters well when they are written well and directed well.

Natalie Portman has a similar track record and she was a plank in three badly written badly directed Star Wars films.

imperialscum said:

"Played well" is your opinion. In my opinion, her performance was average, considering the potential the well written character offered. As I said, that is most likely the reason why OT were her first and the last big films in her career (luckily for her it was a trilogy so she automatically starred in two subsequent, otherwise I would be talking in singular instead of plural). I mean if you can't shine in such character then it is bound you won't get another important role.

So her track record is a complete opposite to that of Portman. Fisher record include (effectively) one big film with average performance. Portman was great in every character that was at least decently written. And her record include many big films, of variety genre and of different producers/directors.

Naturally I will only give you my opinion.

Portman has been in more films. She has been good in some, okay in some and awful in some.

The difference with Portman is she wasn't as identified with the role as much as Fisher.

Leia is a more memorable character and the OT was a popular cultural phenomena.

The PT met with a largely a negative cultural impact and Padme was a forgettable part of it.

It's understandable that a talented actress wouldn't be typecast in a unmemorable performance in three disappointing films.

It's understandable that a talented actress would be typecast in a memorable role in three films with large popular appeal.

Mark is a talented actor too and he suffered much the same typecasting and was cast in similar films after Star Wars.

Harrison was lucky (and it was as much luck as getting the Han role) to be cast as Indiana Jones so while people remember Han fondly, his identity as an actor isn't focused entirely on one role. This allowed for him to be cast in roles like Witness and Mosquito Coast roles that wouldn't be offered to someone like Carrie and Mark but would be offered to someone like Portman.

Carrie is a good as Mark and Harrison in the first two films.

Her role in such classics of awfulness as Time Guardian matches Mark's in Slipstream etc (both try their best regardless of the production).

I personally don't see Sir Alec as a great actor either.

The only time I actually saw him act as anyone other than himself was in Little Dorrit and in The Ladykillers where he as playing Alastair Sim.

Not that I mind because he has even after death an agreeable screen presence which is what you want from a film star.

Cushing on the other hand actually played characters where you couldn't see Cushing from time to time.

Ryan McAvoy said:

*ahem*

Exactly... all of them are Sir Alec playing himself in a different costume.

imperialscum said:

Puggo - Jar Jar's Yoda said:

the only really great actors in the OT, in my opinion, were Guiness and Cushing.

Personally, I would add McDiarmid to the list.

Absolutely agree with you there.

JEJ is a great actor too.

Others like Kenneth Colley, Julian Glover, Caroline Blakinston, Seb Shaw are really good actors but don't really get a chance to shine in the OT.

And Billy Dee is just as good as everyone else in ESB.

Only Ian gets to be great in both the OT and the PT and he has to suffer humiliations in the writing of the PT scripts too.

A good actor is reliant on good material and a supportive director.

A great actor can turn in a good performance regardless of how bad the material and director are.

I agree there's no sense in dissing on Carrie Fisher.

However, I can't see a single reason why she should be the villain, other than it would give her something interesting to do.

imperialscum said:

In OT she was memorable purely because of the well written character and greatness of the films themselves. Her performance did very little to add anything significant to the character.

Consequently, that were her first and the last big films in her career.

I guess you've never seen Austin Powers.

Ryan McAvoy said:

I...don't get it.

All this bickering is pointless. What's really important is that there are no good iPhone Star Wars apps.