Actors and characters of film adaptations, unlike their prototypes

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Idris Elba in the film adaptation of Stephen King's "The Dark Tower", as well as other examples of famous film characters, unlike their literary prototypes.

Dark Roland in the "Dark Tower"

Even according to King himself, he came up with the image of the last representative of the ancient Riflemen Roland Descene, focusing on Clint Eastwood during the movie "The Good, the Bad, the Ugly." Many fans even suggested that the main role in the film adaptation should have been given to Scott Eastwood, who is very similar to his father. But the director decided otherwise, focusing not on the appearance and blue eyes of the Shooter, but on the acting talent.

An equally important role in the plots of the books was played by the fact that Roland was perceived as a person of a completely indefinite age, who seemed to be a quite strong middle-aged man, or a very old man. Perhaps it was this side of the character that they decided to reveal, taking the lead role of Idris Elba.

Morgan Freeman as the red-haired Irishman

The 1994 film "The Shawshank Redemption" consistently ranks high in all sorts of ratings for "the best films of all time." Today it is the leader in the top-250 of KinoPoisk and IMDb.

As in the case of "The Dark Tower", the picture is based on the work of Stephen King. In the original novel, one of the main characters, Ellis Boyd Redding, is nicknamed "Red." Partly because of the surname, but also, he is also red (English red) in the most literal sense, as a native of Ireland.

In the film, Morgan Freeman was invited for the role of Red, which did not go well with the original image of the character. But after the release of the picture, it was his hero who caused the greatest delight among the public, and the situation with the nickname was simply turned into a joke.

Vasily Livanov - too old Sherlock

Films and TV series about Sherlock Holmes are released around the world almost every year. He even got into the Guinness Book of Records as the most screened human literary character. The superscript "man" appeared due to the fact that the vampire Dracula received more screen incarnations. There are many cult performers of the role of Sherlock in the world. But for the majority of Russian viewers, the best remains Vasily Livanov, who played the great detective in the television films Igor Maslennikov.

Strictly speaking, Livanov at the time of filming was no longer at all suitable in age for this role. In the early books of Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock is described as a "young man." The author does not report the exact date of birth of the detective, but from fragmentary references, fans have calculated that he is about 27 years old, and his partner is a couple of years older.

By the time the first television movie was filmed, Vasily Livanov was already over 40, and Vitaly Solomin, who played Dr. Watson, was six years younger. But according to the director, he had absolutely no doubt that it was Livanov who should play Holmes.

As a result, the first film was a resounding success, the public demanded a continuation, as a result of which a whole cycle was released, which became for the Russian public the standard of stories about Sherlock Holmes. And in 2006, Vasily Livanov received the Order of the British Empire for the embodiment of the image of the great detective.

Arnold Schwarzenegger - the inconspicuous Terminator

Although The Terminator film had no other source other than James Cameron's own script, choosing bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger for the role of the main negative character of the bodybuilder did not fit into the concept at all. Terminator robots were specially created similar to humans in order to sneak into people's shelters unnoticed. According to the protagonist, the first models had rubber skin and they were too noticeable, but the flesh of the new copies does not differ at all from the human.

Arnold Schwarzenegger cannot be called inconspicuous: in the film, he stands out for his dimensions even in the modern world, not to mention the future, where people are exhausted and live in basements. At first, it was planned to give the role to Lance Henriksen, who was much better suited to the image of an "ordinary person". But Cameron liked Iron Arnie in the guise of a killing machine so much that he got one of the main roles, and Henriksen played just a policeman.

It seemed completely nonsense. But the beauty of cinema is that it doesn't have to be logical. It just needs to be plausible. If the audience likes what is happening on the screen, then they do not care how likely it is.

James Cameron director, screenwriter

Arnold Schwarzenegger - office worker

Another film in which Schwarzenegger was supposed to play an ordinary inconspicuous person is "Total Recall" 1990. According to the plot of Philip Dick's story "We Will Recall Everything for You," the main character is an ordinary office clerk who discovered that he was once a secret agent, but all memories of this were erased. According to the original idea, Richard Dreyfuss and William Hurt were offered for this role, just starting from the image. But Arnold Schwarzenegger himself really wanted to play the main role and in the end achieved what he wanted.

Especially for him, the image of the hero was slightly changed, and the clerk turned into a builder. Nevertheless, the bodybuilder clearly stands out from his colleagues, from the very beginning forcing him to think about the character's other life. However, it was this film that became the hit of the year and received nominations for the Oscar, BAFTA, Saturn and many others.

Heath Ledger turns the Joker into an anarchist

Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight" has quickly burst into the ratings of the best films since its release on the screen, and this is largely due to the performer of the role of the antagonist - Heath Ledger. He completely unexpectedly and non-standard embodied the image of Batman's main enemy - the crazy criminal Joker.

Of course, Batman comics have been out for decades, the Joker's appearance has changed several times. But almost always it was a man with a narrow white face, green hair and a smile from ear to ear - the consequences of chemical poisoning. He wears an elegant purple robe that could be called stylish. In addition, the Joker, although completely insane, has always been the king of the underworld with many subordinates.

Heath Ledger did not want to repeat the image that Jack Nicholson perfectly portrayed in Tim Burton's Batman Returns, and is rumored to have locked himself in a hotel for a month, inventing a completely different character. So a more realistic, disheveled Joker was born, whose white complexion became makeup, and his smile turned into scars from knives. The character of the character also changed: from an inveterate criminal he became a mad anarchist.

Now the Joker, played by Heath Ledger, is the most beloved among the audience, and Jared Leto had to try hard so that the similar role that he got in "Suicide Squad" did not remain in the shadow of his famous predecessor.

Keanu Reeves - blond from UK

"John Constantine: Messenger of Hell" is a series of comics published by Vertigo (a DC Comics imprint aimed at an older audience) about an exorcist detective who saves people, and sometimes the entire Earth from evil spirits. In 2005, the story took on a screen version, and Keanu Reeves played the main role in the film.

Reeves was already a world star after the Matrix trilogy. But the choice of this particular actor for the role of John Constantine seemed strange to many comic book fans. In the original, the hero looks completely different: a blonde in an unchanged beige raincoat and most often a red tie. In addition, Konstantin is quite chatty, speaks with a British accent and constantly makes sharp jokes.

In the film version, he changed completely: he became silent and withdrawn, and outwardly did not resemble his prototype in any way. But the film became very popular, fans are still dreaming of a sequel and want to see in this role exclusively Reeves. In 2014, NBC aired the TV series Constantine, starring Welshman Matt Ryan, in a more classic and canon character. Unfortunately, the series was not very successful and closed after the first season.

Not Too Mad Hatter - Johnny Depp

Releasing his version of "Alice in Wonderland", director Tim Burton did not want to fully focus on the plot of the book by Lewis Carroll, considering it too simple and childish. In Burton's version, Alice matured, and the plot and character relationships were much more complex.

But the director approached the visual line very carefully. Many characters completely copy the illustrations for the first edition of the book by John Tenniel, a friend of Carroll's. The Jabberwock, the Cheshire Cat, the White Rabbit seem to have left the pages of the work. The same cannot be said about the Mad Hatter, played by Johnny Depp. A dwarf with a big nose and a face that resembles a rat's face, got bright makeup and green eyes, for some reason became sad, and he became taller. Of the common features, only the hat itself and the polka-dot neckerchief, which replaced the bow tie, remained.

However, it was this character that proved to be the most popular in the film, spawning many imitations, cosplay projects and fan sites and communities. The plot of the sequel "Alice Through the Looking Glass" is already being built around it.

American Scarface Al Pacino

The film "Scarface", which for many years has become a legend and a standard of gangster action, has also been repeatedly criticized for choosing an actor for the main role. In the story, Tony Montana, played by Al Pacino, is a felon who fled from Cuba. At first, many critics and viewers could not believe that an American with Italian roots could convincingly play a native of Liberty Island.

But time puts everything in its place. The picture not only became one of the real canons of the genre, but also got into the top ten gangster films in 2008 according to the American Film Institute. Now the Mexican Diego Luna will have to make every effort to make his role in the remake of the same name in 2018 compare with the classics.