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[V-Adore]

(A response to J's last post in the PotC thread -- pre-split-off for the convenience of those who don't really want to read about LotR.)

Both Orlando and Viggo do seem to be cast pretty far out of general type, as do several other actors in LotR -- do you think this is a deliberate choice by Jackson, or do you think it just happened? Either way, it casts a whole new layer of weirdness over all the scary fangirls who apparently think that Orlando Bloom (or the apparent trendy fangirl nickname for him, "Orli") is really Legolas even before makeup.

Also, a shameful confession: I know that Merry and Pippin were played by Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan, but I to this day cannot remember which actor played which. Also, I still can't distinguish movie-Merry from movie-Pippin without the costumes ("hey, which one is that? -- okay, scarf, that's Pippin"). I'm so weak.

[jay-ell]

Thanks for the self-monitoring, V.  

Here is an interesting thing:

Split Screens of actors/characters.  

I think the casting against type was unintentional, but still indicative of the way Jackson ran the film production.  I think the casting director did extremely well at looking past the actors' initial appearances and into the spirit of the roles they would be playing.  If you look at the split screens linked above, most of the elves look nothing like the actors who portray them.  But they really work in those roles, because -- and I think this is where photos fail -- their voices and facial expressions carry the roles more than anything else.  Other filmmakers and casting directors might cast Tom Cruise in a romantic lead because he's pretty; Peter Jackson pays more attention to the quality and the substance of the actor's interpretation of the role.  

IMHO.

P.S: It's the noses.  Merry's nose is much broader than Pippin's.

[V-Adore]

Here is an interesting thing:
Split Screens of actors/characters.

This is pretty interesting -- I'm especially surprised to see that Frodo's eye color looks to be Elijah Wood's natural one, too. I'd assumed that he had contacts, given as there seems to be this visual motif of blue eyes throughout FotR.

If you look at the split screens linked above, most of the elves look nothing like the actors who portray them.  But they really work in those roles, because -- and I think this is where photos fail -- their voices and facial expressions carry the roles more than anything else.

You have a very good point. I'll admit, though, that in some respects I've always found the unfortunate coincidence of his being cast as Agent Smith to hamper the effect of Hugo Weaving's scenes as Elrond; his griping to Aragorn about mortal men really, really doesn't help.

P.S: It's the noses.  Merry's nose is much broader than Pippin's.

Ah! That helps. Now I won't have to depend on Pippin keeping his scarf for all of RotK.

[jay-ell]

I've always found the unfortunate coincidence of his being cast as Agent Smith to hamper the effect of Hugo Weaving's scenes as Elrond; his griping to Aragorn about mortal men really, really doesn't help.

Yes!  I know exactly what you mean!  

Welcome to Rivendell...Mr. Anderson.  The time of...men...is over.  

Hilarious.

[V-Adore]

[minor scriptual griping] It doesn't really help, IMHO, that they give Elrond very little to do besides scowl at Aragorn and Arwen and generally be the Embodiment of Grumpy Dad. I'm surprised he never told the Fellowship to get off his lawn. [/minor scriptual griping]

[Choop]

is it just me, or can anyone else discern why one of these photos should be scarier than the other?



Seems to me that Grima Wormtongue looks no more frightening than Brad Dourif out of makeup.

[V-Adore]

Seems to me that Grima Wormtongue looks no more frightening than Brad Dourif out of makeup.

It's the mustache. It's totally the 'stache.

... I think I got it: Brad Dourif looks more or less like a human Nice Pete. Eerie.

[Choop]

HOLY HELL THAT'S IT RIGHT ON THE NOSE

[satchel]

What I didn’t get with the elves was the dark eyebrows. Plus elves are supposed to be tall, like six-feet-plus. I’m sure these issues have been rehashed to death on fansites...

[V-Adore]

What I didn’t get with the elves was the dark eyebrows. Plus elves are supposed to be tall, like six-feet-plus. I’m sure these issues have been rehashed to death on fansites...

Oh, I'm sure they have, although I haven't followed it. I've come to the conclusion that LotR movie fangirls will rip more or less anything to shreds, up to and including critiques on private websites that make mention of the fangirls being slightly cliqueish and worrying.

That said, I have no idea how to account for the dark eyebrows. I'm going to assume they were an intentional visual detail, or, at least, that the makeup/hair crews wouldn't overlook something so grossly obvious; why light-haired elves should have dark eyebrows is still a total mystery. All I know is that many fangirls seem to find light hair and dark brows attractive, God only knows why. (Does this combination ever occur in nature?)

[AlohaDawg]

I think the eyebrows/hair combinations are a little problematic. Now I forced to ponder Galadriel's collar vs cuffs. Will I go to hell for that?

The height issue is interesting. The Elves would be taller in a strict interpretation of the books.  However, to find a group of similar-looking people who are generally over 6' would potentially change the general 'European' sort of look of the elves to a much more 'African' kind of look, which certainly would have been noticed by the fansites. That said, though, they did a good job of making all the people playing hobbits look small relative to the larger races..they could have spent the same effort making the elves look relatively tall...