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Started By
Message
Is casting a 9 year old as young Anakin the worst casting decision of all time?
Posted on 5/4/20 at 10:15 am
Posted on 5/4/20 at 10:15 am
The Phantom Menace. What were they thinking? They cast an actor 5 years too young for a role written for a 14 year old. It was an impossible task for little Jake Lloyd. He could have been the best actor in the universe and it wouldn't have mattered because the script wasn't written for a kid.
I really don't understand how a billion dollar franchise could screw it up that badly.
I really don't understand how a billion dollar franchise could screw it up that badly.
This post was edited on 5/4/20 at 10:17 am
19
Posted on 5/4/20 at 10:18 am to BitBuster
That's about the 16th worst thing about that movie.
Posted on 5/4/20 at 10:19 am to BitBuster
quote:
The Phantom Menace. What were they thinking? They cast an actor 5 years too young for a role written for a 14 year old. It was an impossible task for little Jake Lloyd. He could have been the best actor in the universe and it wouldn't have mattered because the script wasn't written for a kid.
I really don't understand how a billion dollar franchise could screw it up that badly.
Haley Joel Osment auditioned for that role. George Lucas thought Jake Loyd was better.
Posted on 5/4/20 at 10:34 am to BitBuster
quote:
I really don't understand how a billion dollar franchise could screw it up that badly.
You just don't understand podracing.
Posted on 5/4/20 at 10:40 am to Green Chili Tiger
quote:
Haley Joel Osment auditioned for that role
The movie wouldn't have been any better. It would have ruined his life like it it ruined Jake Lloyd's life. The problem isn't the actor, it's the age.
Posted on 5/4/20 at 10:45 am to BitBuster
There are good child actors out there. The kid in Looper was freaking fantastic and I’m pretty sure he was under 10 at the time.
This post was edited on 5/4/20 at 10:46 am
Posted on 5/4/20 at 10:45 am to BitBuster
9 y/o, 14 y/o, it wouldnt have mattered. the material and execution was always the problem.
you could have had Empire of the Sun era Christian Bale in that role, and Lucas still would have told him to say "Yipee" exactly as written.
you could have had Empire of the Sun era Christian Bale in that role, and Lucas still would have told him to say "Yipee" exactly as written.
Posted on 5/4/20 at 10:47 am to cigsmcgee
quote:
9 y/o, 14 y/o, it wouldnt have mattered. the material and execution was always the problem.
you could have had Empire of the Sun era Christian Bale in that role, and Lucas still would have told him to say "Yipee" exactly as written.
now THIS is posting.
Posted on 5/4/20 at 10:58 am to BitBuster
quote:
He could have been the best actor in the universe and it wouldn't have mattered because the script wasn't written for a kid.
The script really wasn't written for adults, either.
Anakin: Are you an angel?
Queen Amidala: What?
Anakin: An angel. I've heard the deep space pilots talk about them. They live on the moons of Iego, I think. They're the most beautiful creatures in the universe.
Queen Amidala: You're a funny little boy. How do you know so much?
Anakin: I listen to all the traders and star pilots who come through here. I'm a pilot, you know, and someday I'm going to fly away from this place.
Posted on 5/4/20 at 10:59 am to Rep520
quote:
Anakin: Are you an angel?
Queen Amidala: What?
Anakin: An angel. I've heard the deep space pilots talk about them. They live on the moons of Iego, I think. They're the most beautiful creatures in the universe.
Queen Amidala: You're a funny little boy. How do you know so much?
Anakin: I listen to all the traders and star pilots who come through here. I'm a pilot, you know, and someday I'm going to fly away from this place.
As an 8 year old at the time, it didn’t hit me just how fricking stupid this exchange was.
Posted on 5/4/20 at 10:59 am to RollTide1987
quote:
The kid in Looper was freaking fantastic and I’m pretty sure he was under 10 at the time.
I know we like shitting on Rian Johnson, but he is a good director when it comes to getting the best out of his actors. Lucas is fricking awful with actors.
Posted on 5/4/20 at 11:01 am to cigsmcgee
quote:
9 y/o, 14 y/o, it wouldnt have mattered. the material and execution was always the problem.
you could have had Empire of the Sun era Christian Bale in that role, and Lucas still would have told him to say "Yipee" exactly as written.
All valid points.
The material didn't make sense for a 9 year old. I get that Lucas wanted Anakin to be precocious, but come on.
Things that would have been more believable if Anakin would have been 14.
-Built C3PO
-Built his own Pod Racer
-Had previous pod racing experience (who lets a toddler pod race?)
-Talks shite on the planet's best pod racer
-Wins the pod race
-Received a romantic interest from Padme who is obviously 16-ish.
-Makes his own decisions
-Destroys the power generator ship
All that material would have been fine had the character just been at a believable age.
Posted on 5/4/20 at 11:03 am to OMLandshark
And as for the actual worst:
Posted on 5/4/20 at 11:03 am to Rep520
Yes, the "Are you an Angel?" exchange when he first meets Padme is ultimate cringe. I think Lucas came up with that after reading a book on cheesy pick-up lines.
Posted on 5/4/20 at 11:06 am to BitBuster
I still can’t get over the space battle and blowing up the generator at the end.
Posted on 5/4/20 at 11:08 am to BitBuster
Said it before, I'll say it again. The role of Anakin in Phantom Menace was clearly written for a 16-year-old or so. But at some point Lucas apparently sat bolt upright in bed in the middle of the night worried he might not sell enough toys, and so he recast Anakin as a preteen without changing the script in the slightest. An eight-year-old who tinkers with racing vehicles, builds robots in his spare time, and who Natalie Portman finds herself strangely attracted to? Yeah, that'll work. Action!
Anakin in the prequels should have been a character in the same mold as Dacre Montgomery's Billy from Stranger Things - an arrogant young shithead with a ton of charisma. It would have been easy to see that character transition into Darth Vader. He's better than everyone else at the Force and that makes him think he's better than everyone else at everything, and all problems could be solved if everyone would just shut the hell up about "the Senate" and "the Jedi Code" and get the frick out of his way. That kind of character would be easy for Palpatine to subtly manipulate into becoming Vader because he truly believed it was the right thing to do. Instead we got, "I had a really bad dream! TIME TO KILL CHILDREN."
Anakin in the prequels should have been a character in the same mold as Dacre Montgomery's Billy from Stranger Things - an arrogant young shithead with a ton of charisma. It would have been easy to see that character transition into Darth Vader. He's better than everyone else at the Force and that makes him think he's better than everyone else at everything, and all problems could be solved if everyone would just shut the hell up about "the Senate" and "the Jedi Code" and get the frick out of his way. That kind of character would be easy for Palpatine to subtly manipulate into becoming Vader because he truly believed it was the right thing to do. Instead we got, "I had a really bad dream! TIME TO KILL CHILDREN."
Posted on 5/4/20 at 11:11 am to TheTideMustRoll
quote:
Anakin in the prequels should have been a character in the same mold as Dacre Montgomery's Billy from Stranger Things - an arrogant young shithead with a ton of charisma. It would have been easy to see that character transition into Darth Vader. He's better than everyone else at the Force and that makes him think he's better than everyone else at everything, and all problems could be solved if everyone would just shut the hell up about "the Senate" and "the Jedi Code" and get the frick out of his way. That kind of character would be easy for Palpatine to subtly manipulate into becoming Vader because he truly believed it was the right thing to do. Instead we got, "I had a really bad dream! TIME TO KILL CHILDREN."
That's a great take.
Posted on 5/4/20 at 11:15 am to BitBuster
quote:
Yes, the "Are you an Angel?" exchange when he first meets Padme is ultimate cringe. I think Lucas came up with that after reading a book on cheesy pick-up lines.
Natalie Portman is so much better than that scene. Such a shame.
Posted on 5/4/20 at 11:33 am to GetCocky11
So much better than that entire series. She definitely phoned it in after the first movie and stopped trying.
Posted on 5/4/20 at 11:35 am to BitBuster
I was fine with it. The story is about who he is and where he came from. It's the execution that was terrible.
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