The Harry Potter game
Feb. 23rd, 2008 10:30 amI bought Sense and Sensibility for $5 at Target yesterday. I watched it last night, and I'm watching it with commentary now. One thing that strikes me about it is - well, the same thing that I look at in every British movie that comes on nowadays, which is, how many of these actors have been in a Harry Potter movie? (Looking at IMDb, it looks like you could also play that game with the British series "Midsomer Murders" - good god, everybody has been in that.) Of the four actors above the credits, we're at 50% - Emma Thompson and Alan Rickman, yes; Hugh Grant and Kate Winslet, no. Kate Winslet is old enough to play a teacher by now, certainly, but she's not a person who works a lot and I would be very surprised to see her turn up. Hugh Grant - well, I wouldn't say his career is going so well that he'd be above that kind of thing, but I dunno, he's Hugh Grant, don't you think? I mean, somehow there's something so iconic about him that his presence would be distracting, to my mind.
others:
Imelda Staunton (who here plays Charlotte, the woman who never, ever stops talking) was, of course, Professor Umbridge
Gemma Jones (the mother) - Madam Pomfrey
Robert Hardy (Sir John) - Minister Fudge
Elizabeth Spriggs (Mrs Jennings) apparently played the Fat Lady in the first movie, before (I believe) Dawn French took it over
name actors from this movie not (yet) in Harry Potter:
Hugh Laurie (Mr Palmer) who, of course, is otherwise occupied these days
Tom Wilkinson (who plays the father, who dies in the first 5 minutes) - he works constantly, I wouldn't be a bit surprised.
Greg Wise (Willoughby the heartthrob) - haven't seen him in much since he & Emma got divorced, although according to IMDb he is still working. Of course that very divorce could be one reason he's particularly unlikely to get cast in the HP movies, anyway.
(one actor who has a small part, Oliver Ford Davies, has been in not one but two Star Wars movies - that's interesting as well.)
Have we seen any casting for Half-Blood Prince, yet? (Off to check IMDb again.) Oh yeah - Jim Broadbent is playing Slughorn, I believe I had seen that one. That's about the only major new one I see.
others:
Imelda Staunton (who here plays Charlotte, the woman who never, ever stops talking) was, of course, Professor Umbridge
Gemma Jones (the mother) - Madam Pomfrey
Robert Hardy (Sir John) - Minister Fudge
Elizabeth Spriggs (Mrs Jennings) apparently played the Fat Lady in the first movie, before (I believe) Dawn French took it over
name actors from this movie not (yet) in Harry Potter:
Hugh Laurie (Mr Palmer) who, of course, is otherwise occupied these days
Tom Wilkinson (who plays the father, who dies in the first 5 minutes) - he works constantly, I wouldn't be a bit surprised.
Greg Wise (Willoughby the heartthrob) - haven't seen him in much since he & Emma got divorced, although according to IMDb he is still working. Of course that very divorce could be one reason he's particularly unlikely to get cast in the HP movies, anyway.
(one actor who has a small part, Oliver Ford Davies, has been in not one but two Star Wars movies - that's interesting as well.)
Have we seen any casting for Half-Blood Prince, yet? (Off to check IMDb again.) Oh yeah - Jim Broadbent is playing Slughorn, I believe I had seen that one. That's about the only major new one I see.