Now that the movies are complete, I was thinking back about how well all of the actors did. It’s pretty remarkable that the same basic cast (including many children) can be kept around for 8 movies and they all were convincing in their portrayal of their characters.
However, certain actors created characters which were larger and more real than all others. Most of the actors did a great job, but it was a great acting job. I knew it was an actor reciting their lines. You could have subsituted another actor and gotten a similar performance. But some actors were above that. They were the character and more. No other actor could have done nearly as good a job. Who do you think really made the character their own?
Top for me is Alan Rickman as Professor Severus Snape. Every word, look, movent had so much gravitas behind it. Snape is a complex character and Rickman embodied everything about the backstory and more.
I loved Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange. She was a perfect portrayal of evil, crazy, and lovestruck.
I was very impressed with Evanna Lynch as Luna Lovegood. Although I don’t know if I should really include her in this list. I’m pretty sure this was a cameo by the real Luna and not an actress. Her ethereal personality came through perfectly without being comical or emo.
Probably last on my list is Daniel Radcliffe. His close resemblance to the character on the book cover gives him a big boost up. He did a good job bring Harry to life, but sometimes I felt he was too manic and hyper. Probably some other 10-year-old could have done the same job or better, but I feel obligated to include him here for some reason.
I think the 3 kid leads did amazingly well - it’s not often you can go to a movie with many child actors and let yourself forget it’s child actors, and just enjoy the movie. They not only let me forget that they were kids, but also that the characters in the books might have been different from them in any way.
On the other hand, many of the secondary players in the Potterverse are archetypal - what else are you going to do with Dumbledore, or Hagrid? They’re almost cartoonish, but fully realized at the same time. Doing something else with the characters would have been wrong. Ditto various goblins, Professor Flitwick - just look the part and be one-dimensional.
I agree with your Snape - I pictured him differently in the books before I had ever seen any of the movies, but he became Snape after I saw him, and I can’t imagine Snape any other way now.
This. I will admit, I didn’t “get” Luna when I read the book. I couldn’t get a good mental picture of her, and the characterization in the book just didn’t really grab me or feel very real. Then I saw Evanna Lynch in the role, and it was a revelation. Oh, THAT’S what Luna’s like! I totally get it now, and she’s now one of my favorite characters in both the books and movies.
Draco takes the cake for me. I think that the way he was portrayed in the movies is perfect; going from the snide little “my father will hear of this” spoiled brat…so a mentally anguished teen with way too much on his plate. BIG props to Tom Felton for doing this perfectly
I think it’s the reverse. The fourth book (Goblet of Fire) came out around the same time that the first movie was in the works. Starting with the fourth book, the picture of Harry Potter on the cover looks more like Daniel Radcliffe. On the cover of the first three books (US versions), Harry Potter looked different.
I was impressed by Evanna Lynch as well, although for reasons pretty much the opposite of WhyNot’s.
When I read the 5th Harry Potter book I was struck by how much the Luna Lovegood character resembled my younger sister “Jackie” when she was younger (and really even today). Both the way Luna acted in the book and the physical description, with the exception of her hair color, reminded me of Jackie. If J.K. Rowling had ever met my sister then I’d swear Luna was based on Jackie. Then when the movie came out and I saw Lynch in the role, I thought “Yup, that’s Jackie as a blonde!” She even sounds like my sister, only with a different accent.
Funnily enough, after everyone in my family had read the 5th book Jackie asked us what we thought of the Luna Lovegood character…adding that she didn’t understand why so many Internet reviews she’d read mentioned Luna as a great new character. According to Jackie, Luna was both annoying and unrealistic!
I did like her, but I had been hoping they would cast Hannah Murray, whose Cassie character on Skins was a much better Luna.
I thought everyone did a pretty bang up job. Especially the various Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers.
I think this question becomes harder as the series went on because it wasn’t a one sided affair. After the first few films, Rowling started to become influenced by the film portrayals and it showed up in the way she wrote the characters.
Count me as another who was impressed with Evanna Lynch (Luna). I’d also give Robbie Coltrane an honourable mention, he was great as Hagrid. Of the three kids I felt that Rupert Grint (Ron) was the best match to his book character.
I greatly disagree on Snape. Rickman was absolutely marvelous - but so was the characterization of Snape in the books. Rickman brought a great deal to the role, but there was plenty in my mind’s eye that I already had.
On my list:
Luna. I also didn’t completely “get” her in the books. At least, she just seemed like a young Amelia Bedilia caricature. But her on-screen portrayal made her both believable as well as sympathetic.
McGonnegal. I didn’t think there was much meat on the bones in the book here - just a generic school marm who happened to be a witch. Maggie Smith added so much more to that.
Umbridge. There was a big departure here, in terms of appearance. No one quite knew what her “Hrmmm, hrmmm…” was going to translate to on screen, but this portrayal absolutely nailed it.
Birdman and I both loved Lavender Brown and Slughorn on screen. Of course we love everything Jim Broadbent has ever done. At random times of the day we will throw his awesome line readings at each other “The muggles who own this place are in the Canary Islands”, “A big bushy beard!”, “She’s CONFESSING!!!”, etc.
Is there anyone at all who’s seen the movies who doesn’t think that Rickman did an amazing job as Snape? Aside from the Oscar nominating committee, of course.
Yes, but the fleshed-out characterization in the books was an extremely difficult one. I think it’s an even bigger tribute to Rickman’s acting abilities that he was able to match such a complex character created by someone else, as opposed to creating a complex character of his own.
Ooh, Slughorn’s another great one for my list. I had an absolutely terrible picture of him in my head that just didn’t make any sense. I tend to stick with my first impression, and in his first impression he was…a chair.
J.K. Rowling, as she was writing the later books, took great care with the character of Snape. It says on the Snape Wikipedia page that she shared information (privately) with Alan Rickman and he knew ahead of time how the character was going to play out.
we used to have heated debates as to who should play sirius black. there were several possibles mentioned (mine was adrian paul of the highlander series) but we get stumped in naming an alternative snape. suggestions ranged from the late raul julia to tim curry and even hugh laurie. one said a nasty hugh jackman might make it.
but to me jason isaacs would be a major contender. the acting requirements for snape and the older malfoy are similar.
