Topic: Actors Taking Over Characters

[An tSaoi]

The other side of the coin to Serge's thread about characters overtaking actors (ie people embodying a role so well you wouldn't think it was them). I'm looking for the opposite; people who - rather than immersing themselves unrecognisably into a role - changed the role to fit them, maybe altering what the character was about in the first place, maybe refusing to play the character as scripted. It can be a good or a bad thing.

Take Marlon Brando's turn in Apocalypse Now. You all know the story - Kurtz was supposed to be almost emaciated, Brando showed up hugely overweight and under-prepared, so they made Kurtz huge and let Brando ramble on and on to his heart's content. He hijacked the character to the point where he even demanded (semi-successfully) that Kurtz name be changed to Leighley. But it all worked out in the end (arguably).

Sometimes an actor's take on what their character should be like is better than the initial concept, and they were right to "take over" the character. Sometimes it can be a bad thing, and someone else should have assumed the role and played it as planned. Dustin Hoffman almost took over the role of Deckard in Blade Runner and had him rewritten as a bespeckled bureaucrat as opposed to a hard-nosed detective.

I'm sure you can come up with better examples...

_{Note: This is not an "Actors Who Just Play Themselves" thread, unless the character was originally intended to be something completely different.}

[The Region Legion]

In b4 Jack Nicholson's Joker.

[Feralkid]

Eastwood's character in Fistful of Dollars originally had more dialogue, including a bigish speech explaining why he was saving the gal.   Clint wisely pared all of that down - making the character much more laconic.   

[SavageHedgehog]

I understand Steve McQueen often did the same thing, especially in Bullit where he apparently pared down a long speech into something like "you go this way and I'll go the other".

[Serge]

And Morgan Freeman did something along the same lines with Detective Somerset in 'Seven', reasoning he could convey a lot of his dialogue with his facial expressions. As I remember it, he seemed more of a stock 'older cop' character in the original screenplay.

[Artemis]

Wrong thread. Damn these stupid 'opposite' threads.

[lipsink]

Peter Sellers basically took control of Inspector Clouseau which was basically a small role initially, didn't he?

[ColonelVolestrangler]

Peter Sellers basically took control of Inspector Clouseau which was basically a small role initially, didn't he?

Yep, originally offered to Peter Ustinov. Sellers also improvised a lot of the role of Quilty in 'Lolita', I believe.

[CaledonianGonzo]

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Yep, originally offered to Peter Ustinov. Sellers also improvised a lot of the role of Quilty in 'Lolita', I believe.

He pretty much invented the character of Dr Strangelove too didn't he?

[ColonelVolestrangler]

He pretty much invented the character of Dr Strangelove too didn't he?

Ja, mein fuhrer... Mr President, and his English Group Captain ended up improvising some stuff about the 'damn string' in his leg after Sellers pulled a hamstring for real - though some reckon this was actually an excuse to get out of playing the more physical role of Major Kong, because he couldn't get to grips with the accent.

[An tSaoi]

He was well on his way to getting the accent though, he genuinely broke his leg and couldn't do it.

[Serge]

I was under the impression that he definitely faked the injury to get out of playing Kong - every telling I've heard of the story seems to imply this was the case, if not  to state it outright.

[An tSaoi]

I heard he literally fell out of the raised set that constituted the plane and injured his leg. He listened to recordings of a Texan crewmember on a loop, so he couldn't have been far off getting the accent.

Anyone know for sure?

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

I heard he literally fell out of the raised set that constituted the plane and injured his leg. He listened to recordings of a Texan crewmember on a loop, so he couldn't have been far off getting the accent.

Anyone know for sure?

It's odd that you sort of decided that you dislike character comedy in the Bellamy's People thread, when you're obviously an admirer of Sellers and Strangelove. Surely all of the greatness of Sellers at his best, and Strangelove in particular, arises from details of characterisation?

It goes without saying that that first episode of BP was hardly on a par with Sellers at his best, but I think you'll enjoy it on a second viewing, when you can just savour the performances and details therein. I just enjoy watching Whitehouse, Day and Higson in character in a way that I enjoy Sellers, even in his lesser work.   

[An tSaoi]

I couldn't understand why everyone liked Bellamy's People, so when I noticed that everyone was talking about how great the characters were, this led me to believe that I therefore must not like character comedy, and must prefer funny situations as opposed to simple mundane interactions. I'm not really interested in people just being people in real-life (hence I hate Big Brother and all that shite), so it makes sense. To me Bellamy's People seemed to be based entirely around characters without many discernible gags (let's not go down the "Well there were gags X Y and Z" route) - it was just people showing him round their homes and rambling on about things, unlike Dr Strangelove which is more about situations and characters reacting to situations as opposed to just interacting.

Ah, but then I love the phone call between the President and the Russian Premier. Maybe I do like character comedy afterall, and just couldn't stand BP for some other reason.

[Mildly Diverting]

Benicio del Toro as Fenster in The Usual Suspects. A hopelessly under-written character beautifully and hilariously brought to life.

[Ghost of Troubled Joe]

This happened to Tom Baker when he was Doctor Who. He owned the part for so long, and the lines between the character and his public persona became so blurred, that 30 years later he's still finding it impossible to shake off the typecasting.

[An tSaoi]

That's one for the other thread more than this one, but I see what you mean.

[The Boston Crab]

Dexter Fletcher as Baby Face.