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Post by joe17 on Aug 5, 2007 17:56:59 GMT 1
Seeing the TV line-up for tonight I notice that 'From Hell' is on C4. Pretty wretched film, but notable here for the fact that Anna 'nearly' got the role they eventually gave to Heather Graham; who made an absolute pig's ear of the part as an Irish prostitute. (Worse Irish accent than Tom Cruise in 'Far and Away', and that is really saying something.)
A sort of pattern develops when you consider 'Gangs of New York' where Anna again lost out on a role, this time to Cameron Diaz, who again delivered an atrocious performance, again as another Irish woman. (Well I'm guessing she was meant to be Irish.) As 'Gangs...' is one of Scorcese's worst films it would have been a mixed blessing for Anna to be cast, but would have been a break for her none-the-less.
Is this pattern of Anna losing out on roles in pretty big films to other actresses (talentless or otherwise) one anyone else has any thoughts or info on.
I give you 'Fight Club' and 'The Mummy' to keep the ball rolling....
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Post by davec on Aug 5, 2007 21:15:16 GMT 1
I remember seeing an Australian mini-series called 'Mary Bryant' on TV a couple of years ago. I was quite taken by the lead actress and so I looked her up. Her name is Romola Garai, who despite the unusual name is English. It is about a young Cornish girl transported to Oz for some minor crime and her consequent adventures at sea and in the colony. Famous names in the series were Sam Neill, whom I admire as an actor and who seems to have been in just about every decent Australian production ('Dead Calm' for instance) and Jack Davenport who reprised his role from 'Pirates'. Anyway, back to the subject of this thread, I read somewhere that Anna was being considered for the lead role, but lost out to this unknown actress. The two girls are so different and I thought Romola was so good that I just can't imagine Anna in the role. Of course, it's all a bit academic as the series certainly hasn't launched Romola's career, even though I thought she was excellent! Cracking Cornish accent, spunky and sexy performance  The Keira Knightley role in 'Pirates' was obviously the one to get, and I could see Anna being really good in that! Where were her agents when that was being cast? |
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Post by joe17 on Aug 5, 2007 23:58:34 GMT 1
Good examples, davec. Though to be honest I'm glad Anna never got near the 'Pirates..' films, they just stink. (And we've discussed Keira before. Did you ever catch her first major role, in 'Dr Zhivago'. She was just shockingly poor, yet this doesn't seem to have counted in the medium term.)
Didn't like what I saw of 'Mary Bryant'. (Which was only about twenty mins I must admit.) Think it was one of the most expensive Australian TV shows ever made. Couldn't imagine Anna in it either, and am glad she wasn't.
Always intrigues me why certain actors are cast in certain roles and why others lose out. For example Anna is suppose to have lost out to Cameron Diaz in 'Gangs..' because Diaz is the 'name' actress and DiCaprio 'got on better' with her. Yet Diaz just stank in that film, couldn't even get close to an Irish accent, and there is no way Anna could possibly have been worse than her. (You just know that miles of footage of Diaz's perfomance ended up on the cutting-room floor. Why would you cast someone who couldn't even sound remotely like the character she was meant to be playing.)
Suspect Anna loses out quite often because she just doesn't photograph strongly enough. Also believe , though have no real evidence (just circumstantial stuff), that she is not rated amongst her peers. In the luvvie world that counts for a lot. (Anna has often complained in the past of snobbery in the acting world and I don't think she is just being paranoid.)
While Anna will never be a great actress, she is certainly no worse than the actresses I've mentioned in this thread so far. When the question arises as to why she has never 'made it' I guess it is just a case of 'pick a reason'.
Also find very odd the trans-Atlantic 'trade' in actors. Brits playing Yanks and vice versa. Why does Anna have to go to L.A. to get the chance to make a hit TV show? Why, for instance, have they cast Scarlet Johansson and Natalie Portman in 'The Other Boleyn Girl'? (Two 21st Century Americans playing two 16th Century British noblewomen, what gives?) The whole 'box office' game just smells really badly. Portman has dogged Anna's career in the past, taking the role of Alice in the film version of 'Closer' for instance.
Crucially Anna never got the breaks early enough in her career to really cash in. Maybe it could prove a blessing in the long run. I think Johansson, for example, has about a year or two of shelf life left before over-exposure and lack of any real talent sees her off.
There are two actresses' careers that haunt me when I look at how things might pan out for Anna. Joanne Whalley (also from Greater Manchester) and Patsy Kensit. I shudder at the thought of Anna ending up like either of these two, and there are parallels to be drawn.
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Post by gossipcom on Aug 6, 2007 1:34:47 GMT 1
The Mummy and Gangs of New York are the two big examples of missed opportunities. That being said with Rachel Weisz in that role I definitely didn't have a problem with who Anna missed out to (ask me after they do the next Mummy movie about what I think about Rachel not reprising her role and Maria taking over).
Joe second that shuddering at Joanne Whalley - the last thing I want Anna doing is another sequel to Gone with the Wind. Heh.
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Post by joe17 on Aug 6, 2007 9:40:03 GMT 1
Ha, I'd forgotten about the 'Gone With The Wind' sequel. Talk about nails in coffins.
My main concern vis Whalley and Kensit is about Anna trailing back to Britain, tail firmly between her legs, and pitching up in rubbish TV dramas or aaaargh 'Emmerdale'.
It didn't really bother me at the time that Anna lost out to Rachel Weisz because I couldn't see her in that role. The physicality of 'action' roles is always going to be a problem for one so slight of build. If only she had the rugby league frame of a Winslet!
I've always wondered just how serious all that stuff about Anna appearing in a 'Harry Potter' as Tonks was.
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Post by gossipcom on Aug 6, 2007 12:02:52 GMT 1
That's actually something I was wondering too. There were the reports that said she wanted to play the role, others say she was offered the role but decline it. So it's one of those which is the real truth?
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Post by Dave on Aug 6, 2007 12:31:05 GMT 1
That's actually something I was wondering too. There were the reports that said she wanted to play the role, others say she was offered the role but decline it. So it's one of those which is the real truth? From what I understand, the role was never offered. I'll see if I can clarify this sometime.... As for coming back to the UK to do Emmerdale - she's been there done that already years ago, so I think we're safe from that !! LOL I think the role that Diaz took in GONY would have been a good one for Anna to have won, probably offered her a generous step up in the Hollywood ratings, but the film as a whole (as has been stated) was a bit of a let down - by far one of Marty's worst films.... it never seemed to get going and only offered stereotypes as characters.... As for The Mummy - I couldnt really see Anna in the Weisz's role - actually think it was a role made for Rachel... the accent and style.... oh and dont get me started on Portman's role in "Closer" - although she has a good body for the role (not half as good as Anna's though !!), she was terrible in the film.... she found her niche in the 2nd SW trilogy... but some of her other roles have been lacking... although I do like "V For Vendetta" (but mainly for Hugo Weaving ! The guy's class even as Megatron !!  ) |
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Post by gossipcom on Aug 6, 2007 12:41:44 GMT 1
From what I understand, the role was never offered. I'll see if I can clarify this sometime.... Thanks for that. You mentioned before Mary Bryant - definitely agree about it being a great production (then again I am Aussie so I am biast)  Speaking of Closer, I wouldn't mind her doing more theatre again later on either.
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Post by joe17 on Aug 6, 2007 16:42:50 GMT 1
Yeah nice one, Dave.
While you're at it what about the Rose Tyler role in 'Doctor Who'? Pipes was OK, if you could get past her accent wandering from Kate Nash to Joyce Grenfell (one for the teenagers), and maybe Anna was a little too old, but it would be nice to know how close she actually got to this.
Nice backhanded compliment to Portman vis the 2nd 'Star Wars' trilogy. Knock, knock on wood.
'V for Vendetta', good 'From Hell' link to take us back to the start of the thread. Another adaptation for poor old Alan Moore to tear his hair out over.
You don't see a big Poppy Bruce comeback in 'Emmerdale ' then, Dave? Never rule anything out. When Kensit was in her pomp, being photographed by Helmut Newton and what-not, do you think for one minute she ever believed she'd appear in a soap opera?
I'm just hoping that post-'Pushing Daisies' adds up to something better than the wretched, post-'Closer', 'Boys and Girls' affair.
Oh, and re Joanne Whalley. 'The Singing Detective', Nurse Mills and my teenage self. Deeply embedded in the memory banks. Terrible actress she may be, but some memories are hard to shift.
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Post by joe17 on Aug 8, 2007 22:33:58 GMT 1
Digging round in some 'archives' I found reference to a long lost project 'Guns, Money and Home Cooking', a very dubious sounding Brit gangster pic, which thankfully was never made. Anna was supposedly to star. Vinnie Jones was also mentioned. Does any one know how real this was.
Then of course there is the mysterious case of 'Cordless', in which she was meant to star alongside Paul Rudd, with Steve Buscemi in a supporting role. Think this got quite some way into pre-production before it was pulled.
(Unrelated, have also dug up an old Radio1 interview Anna gave on the Emma Freud lunchtime show. (Hoho, that such a show ever existed.) Must have been around spring time in 1994. Anna would have been seventeen. She gives off an aura of seriousness mixed with equal parts confidence and naivety.)
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