Not that I have anything against 35 year old British actor Matthew MacFadyen but if this were any other kind of Robin Hood picture, I would be feeling pretty outraged at this point by his casting in this iconic screen role.
Alan Rickman, whether it was an outrageously over-the-top and ridiculous performance or not, put his heart and soul into one of the true memorable and charasmatic villainy parts in cinema history which saved Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and made that movie seem ten times better than it really was. Rickman went at that part with full gusto and no fear, knowing the material was camp stuff, and he performed it in such a fashion that the campness was both disguised and made fun of.
MacFadyen, the lead star of Spooks, who bored the world to death with his forgettable performance as Mr. Darcy in Pride & Prejudice (showing that Colin Firth actually did a lot more than simply put on the costume of unsinkable character first time around) has been cast as the Sheriff of Nottingham in Ridley Scott’s now filming epic it has been confirmed by his agent over at a fansite.
He shoot his scenes sometime over the next two months.
But as I say, this isn’t an ordinary Robin Hood adaptation. From everything we have been told, The Sheriff is now a miniscule part, he’s probably only going to have a few scenes, a supporting role if you will, as the country of France is being setup as the main antagonist.
You may remember, originally the part of the Sheriff was going to be a duel part with Robin Hood (as they were said to be the same character in the first draft of the screenplay) but a late re-write changed all that.
Anyone else feeling extremely sour towards this picture now? I’ve been feeling it for a while and despite Ridley Scott ramming down our throats that this is the new Gladiator, I hate that they transformed an originally intriguing idea (Robin Hood bad guy, Sheriff the good guy) into the same old, same old.
via – /film
12 Comments
Absolutely terrible choice. A bland actor with absolutely no real talent or charisma. Lets just hope Scott relegates the role to a bit-part character.
Im sorry but I dont agree fully- am I the only one who saw Secret Life in which Macfadyen played a convicted paedophile attempting to return to normal life? He was brilliant in it, playing the role with subtelty and humanism when it could so easily have been a toxic propaganda type performance. And I thought he was okay in Frost/Nixon as well.
Although I dont strictly agree that Macfadyen is wrong for the part, Scott has already set a precedent for mis-casting massively. I will always bemoan the decision to chose Joaquin Phoenix for Gladiator, as I think he’d have trouble acting his way out of a plastic bag on that kind of blue chip production. By all means cast him in indie movies, where he’ll find his feet, but never EVER give him a leading role that required so much poise and more charisma than his performance offered. My choice would have been Dominic West, but then that choice is swayed considerably by his menacing turn in 300, and his consistently excellent work on The Wire.
Are you serious about Phoenix in Gladiator? That was casting genius on the part of Scott and co. Phoenix portrayed the snivelling wretch of an Emperor that the part called for.
He’s established that this is gonna be a massively unconventional adaptation of Robin Hood, and I don’t think any of us really understand where he is going and what he is doing. But I say go for it, he’s trying to do something different, and it seems like he knows where he’s headed, and seeing as none of us know where he is headed (you included, Matt), I think it’s far too early to make judgements. Even though he’s been a bit crap of late, let’s not forget that this is Ridley Scott we are talking about.
Your right Bob, I don’t really know where he is going with this adaptation, but if you read through the comments made by Ridley Scott and the writers then it’s not a stretch to think that they don’t know where they are going with it either.
Seriously, we’ve heard about 7 different film plots for this.
I will agree, Ridley has been a bit hit and miss lately. Though I did enjoy American Gangster.
Why attack film makers for making generic films then attack another one for making a non-generic version of a popular tale? Its hypocritical to say the least, and I’m not that big of a Ridley Scott fan. Outside of Alien and Gladiator I don’t really care for much of his work, but I will say that I am intrigued by his adaptation of Robin Hood so far. Making him (Hood) older , the sheriff a bit part, and setting the country of France as the main antagonist instead of the King of England? Sign me up for now.
Although I agree that Dominic West would have been an amazing cast. Currently watching the Wire in its entirety and he is amazing so far.
Roars I’m deadly serious- I agree that he’s good when he’s menacing- but his attempt at what he imagines is refined, emperor-like speech is laughable. I dont really rate him as much of an actor anyway, and there are any number of actors who would have played that role better. If you can mention a role that required a certain gravitas that Phoenix has undertaken and properly nailed, then by all means share it: I just cant think of one. Even his Johnny Cash wasnt what it should have been.
Matthew Macfadyen is an outstanding, totally under-rated, and under-estimated actor. I can’t wait to see what he does with the Sheriff. I would love to see a twist on the Robin Hood tale with Robin as the the bad guy and the Sheriff as the good guy. That would be worth seeing!
Matthew MacFadyen – Argentina MySpace Club
http://www.myspace.com/MatthewMacFadyenArgentina
I think Matthew Macfadyen is an astonishing actor, and I have yet to see a him poorly perform yet. When I saw P & P I fully expected to be disappointed after the BBC version, but loved the film and thought the casting (for everyone) was pretty much faultless.
See him in “In My Father’s Den” and tell me why he isn’t already an Oscar winner.
Matthew Macfadyen, estava maravilhoso em “Orgulho e Preconceito”, ele não ter sido pelo menos indicado ao Oscar, á exemplo de Keira Knightley, foi uma injustiça. E creio também, que ele estará a altura de Russel Crowe ou mais, interpretando o xerife de Nothighan.
I am happy to see Matthew Macfayden in any role and feel he is undervalued as an actor. I’ve seen him in several things and think he did a spectacular job in all of them. I thought his Darcy was right on!
Seriously, some of the parts Crowe has taken on weren’t so great either but yet he’s sort of treated like the new Brando in the film world.
I hope Macfayden’s role has meat and propels him into more and better film projects and roles. Lead roles.
He’s up to it.