Vimes in movie
- Thread starter Jizburg
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Jo of the Gates said:
You bet we will!
I have no epithets for you, Sandman (well, maybe "chauvinist" suggests itself), but there is no earthly - or Discworldly - logical reason an American could not portray Sam Vimes brilliantly. Many British actors have portrayed Americans without American audiences crying foul. Daniel Day-Lewis (OK, I know he's Irish) played Abraham Lincoln, for crying out loud! My own first choice to play Vimes has portrayed Englishmen at least twice before.
. (Holmes and Chaplin) As an aside here--Renee Zellweger played Bridgit Jones so well that fellow actors who did not know her before refused to believe she was a Texan. And speaking of Texans - going further aside - have you seen Michael Caine in Secondhand Lions? He portrayed a "good ole boy" Texan flawlessly. And I am one Texan who can spot a phony drawl a mile off!
All in good fun, of course, Sandman.
I have no epithets for you, Sandman (well, maybe "chauvinist" suggests itself), but there is no earthly - or Discworldly - logical reason an American could not portray Sam Vimes brilliantly. Many British actors have portrayed Americans without American audiences crying foul. Daniel Day-Lewis (OK, I know he's Irish) played Abraham Lincoln, for crying out loud! My own first choice to play Vimes has portrayed Englishmen at least twice before.
All in good fun, of course, Sandman.
I guess I'd also just wonder WHY you'd cast an American when there are many Brits who'd be great for the part. I actually think you get a much better class of actor on projects like this in Britain than equivalent ones in America. I think because British actors work for less and there's a smaller pool of them
For example, compare the British and American incarnations of 'Being Human': in Britain a project like that can be a major-channel show and attract actors like Phil Davies and Russell Tovey as regulars. In America (or Canada I think it was filmed), the actors are all beautiful unknowns with considerably less talent and experience, and made very much as a genre show.
I know I'm generalising, but if we're talking about actors you'd realistically get to sign up to this kind of project, I'd have more confidence in the British acting pool than the American.
I could see Robert Lindsay playing a cracking Vimes myself.
I can't match Sybil to an actress, nor Carrot to an actor.
I can see Donald Sumpter as Willikins (there was someone else, but I tend to forget who).
Liam Cunningham or possibly Mac McDonald as Colon. Or - and only because you put me in mind of him above by mentioning a completely unrelated phone advert - Bob Hoskins.
Perry Fenwick as Nobby
I can't match Sybil to an actress, nor Carrot to an actor.
I can see Donald Sumpter as Willikins (there was someone else, but I tend to forget who).
Liam Cunningham or possibly Mac McDonald as Colon. Or - and only because you put me in mind of him above by mentioning a completely unrelated phone advert
- Bob Hoskins.Perry Fenwick as Nobby
I've been thinking about this for some time, and Nathaniel Parker (who appeared in Stardust) (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0662511/?ref_=tt_cl_t13) would be a great Sam Vimes. He would do the anger, sadness and sweetness, that are Vimes, justice.
I could see freeman as vetinari. he can at times have that cold calculating look.
for the comments at about vimes and American Vs English. to be honest, why does he have HAVE to be english at all? it for one, being a fantasy world, and two, it's not like the arguments about a character who was black, or asian being played by a white guy or someone else.
I doubt you'd see as much of a hardline stance to make sure Angua sounds like she comes from Louisiana. not that Cajun Angua is a bad idea
Anyway. I second the Chris Eccleston vote. I think he would work very well as Vimes.
for the comments at about vimes and American Vs English. to be honest, why does he have HAVE to be english at all? it for one, being a fantasy world, and two, it's not like the arguments about a character who was black, or asian being played by a white guy or someone else.
I doubt you'd see as much of a hardline stance to make sure Angua sounds like she comes from Louisiana. not that Cajun Angua is a bad idea
Anyway. I second the Chris Eccleston vote. I think he would work very well as Vimes.
For me it's essential that the Discworld have an English accent (okay, not in BangBangDuck or Howandaland, but you know what I mean). It's true that it's pure fantasy. But the tone of the narration is so British and the characters are written with such an English accent (or rather range of British accents) that to have an American accent in an adaptation just seems utterly bizarre. To me it would sound as weird as having American characters in Lord Of the Rings.
And I think it changes the essential tone of the thing: for instance, an American Vimes becomes too slick, too Marlowe-esque.It reminds me of when they talked about making an American version of Spaced a few years ago (you can see clips of the pilot online). IT wasn't a bad attempt, but there was something fundamental to the show in its Britishness: it was a response to all those slick American shows like Friends. The joke was these big Hollywood tropes playing out in a grubby North London flat. Once you move the show to America, it loses that whole juxtaposition.
The default accent for fantasy is English (even where the author is American, see Game Of Thrones) and the reason, I think, is partly because British history often makes up a lot of the source material, and also the fact that these fantasy worlds are clearly analogous to a time before there WAS an American accent because Europe hadn't 'discovered' the Americas yet. Thereby American accents sound a bit too 'modern' to our ears... It's just one of those things: futuristic science fiction has an American accent, historical fantasy has an English accent
For instance, Marc Warren's Michael-Jackson-via-Johnnny-Depp's-Willy-Wonka accent always sounded a little out of place in the Hogfather adaptation. I think a consistency with the accents helps to ground the setting and make it feel more real.
And I think it changes the essential tone of the thing: for instance, an American Vimes becomes too slick, too Marlowe-esque.It reminds me of when they talked about making an American version of Spaced a few years ago (you can see clips of the pilot online). IT wasn't a bad attempt, but there was something fundamental to the show in its Britishness: it was a response to all those slick American shows like Friends. The joke was these big Hollywood tropes playing out in a grubby North London flat. Once you move the show to America, it loses that whole juxtaposition.
The default accent for fantasy is English (even where the author is American, see Game Of Thrones) and the reason, I think, is partly because British history often makes up a lot of the source material, and also the fact that these fantasy worlds are clearly analogous to a time before there WAS an American accent because Europe hadn't 'discovered' the Americas yet. Thereby American accents sound a bit too 'modern' to our ears... It's just one of those things: futuristic science fiction has an American accent, historical fantasy has an English accent
For instance, Marc Warren's Michael-Jackson-via-Johnnny-Depp's-Willy-Wonka accent always sounded a little out of place in the Hogfather adaptation. I think a consistency with the accents helps to ground the setting and make it feel more real.
Well, he's a cockney in the books for sure. He's AM born and bred, and when Ridcully talks to a street urchin in UA, the boy pronounces 'half past' as 'arp arsed' - definite cockney. In the films, I don't think it would really matter, except that he's ours and we'd all get really upset 
There's never been a Robin Hood with a decent accent, and don't we all love complaining about it!
There's never been a Robin Hood with a decent accent, and don't we all love complaining about it! The actors have to be British (or speak with English or UK accents, anyway). Well, except for the Uberwaldians, who'd have to speak in "Nazi English" and the Klatchians, who'd have to speak in "Arab terrorist English."
The Britishness is what makes it work. I mean, can you imagine the characters in True Bood speaking with British accents? Heck, can you even imagine any actor from the UK or Australia or New Zealand playing any of the True Blood characters with an American accent...oh, wait....
The Britishness is what makes it work. I mean, can you imagine the characters in True Bood speaking with British accents? Heck, can you even imagine any actor from the UK or Australia or New Zealand playing any of the True Blood characters with an American accent...oh, wait....
The thing is, accents in the UK vary with every few miles, so a fake accent is too easy to spot and then all we do is whine about it I liked Gwyneth Paltrow's English accent though. I never hear anyone complaining about Andrew Lincoln or Hugh Laurie, is the American accent easier to do? I heard Eric Bana say that his Australian accent got slated in his own country, by a reviewer who thought he was American
I liked Gwyneth Paltrow's English accent though. I never hear anyone complaining about Andrew Lincoln or Hugh Laurie, is the American accent easier to do? I heard Eric Bana say that his Australian accent got slated in his own country, by a reviewer who thought he was American 