September 3, 2015
This A- list mostly movie actress/part-time behind the camera person was at an event earlier this week and acting strange. Talking to herself and glassy eyed. She has never had a drug rumor about her, but the married actress is going through some personal issues at home so maybe it is related to that.
Elizabeth Banks (and now she cited family issues for pulling out of the next Pitch Perfect)
Rebel Wilson could drive me to drink, if I wasn't a drinker already.
ReplyDeleteA one-character actress, like Melissa McCarthy. Kathy Bates has never been petite, but is a great actress with broad range. Being the loud fat lady in comedies is overdone.
ReplyDeleteShe must be messed up if pulled out of pitch perfect. Her role in that franchise couldn't a day or two of shooting.
ReplyDeleteBanks is the EP of the Pitch Perfect movies. Too bad. She's always great in them.
ReplyDeleteYou don't know Melissa McCarthy's career AT ALL if you think that's all she does.
ReplyDeleteShe was probably meant to direct this one as well. She's also a producer.
ReplyDeleteShe was the director.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it's her fault though. Ladies who aren't skinny get typecast into those roles.
ReplyDelete@OKay
ReplyDeletefound another fat lady
they always defend each other. easy to spot.
Does this reveal hurt the theory that Banks dropped out because of drama between Wilson & Kendrick?
ReplyDeleteAgree--her pairing with John Michael Higgins is perfection
ReplyDeleteAgain, Kathy Bates.
ReplyDeleteShe cited family issues? I thought she had a scheduling conflict with another film?
ReplyDeleteKathy Bates may be the exception that proves the rule, but despite her range and great career, she was never going to be cast as the leading lady.
ReplyDeleteI'm talking about acting range. She doesn't play the same role in every project, like 'crabby chubby sidekick'.
ReplyDeleteShe can do drama, comedy, character roles.
I guess what I'm getting at is appearance-based careers. Like that obnoxious 'fluffy comedian'. Ok, you're fat & Mexican - what else you got? Turns out, not much. It makes for a narrow and often short career.
I know there are other examples, but I'm periodically avoiding some serious house-cleaning by messing around on CDan and her name popped into my head as a not-small, not-pigeonholed actress.
I don't care who's thin or who's not, it just bugs me when someone makes a career out of a single character. I feel the same way about some researchers I work with who've been giving the same presentation for ten years. Ugh.
My floors are up next. Dammit.
I don't know what came first: the chicken or the egg. Does Hollywood promote stereotypes or does society demand stereotypes? Why do we always want our fat people jolly, our gays flamboyant, and our African Americans immersed in stereotypical "black talk?" That's what I hate. People are being defined by a narrow "role" that is placed upon them. You can't just be a person who happens to be overweight, or gay, or of a certain religious belief, etc. Instead of taking those things as they are, which are one small portion of a person, they become the identifying characteristic.
ReplyDeleteKathy Bates has been the Leading Lady in films...Misery & Dolores Claiborne immediately come to mind for two examples...(maybe I am misunderstanding your comment though,,do you mean Rebel will never get cast as a leading lady?
ReplyDeleteDon't you think it's up to the individual to change that to some degree? John Goodman was type cast early on, but eventually became a solid actor who plays different roles.
ReplyDeleteI understand taking a job that's offered, but at some point - let's say Melissa McCarthy. She has the clout right now to pick & choose what she wants to do, but she keeps playing the same thing.
I also understand that some vast chunk of the population buys tickets to see that stuff.
I think it's a waste to not even attempt a stretch when you're at the top of the box office heap.
You're right - the industry knows specific characters should be part of every formula comedy. The actors, themselves could opt out after they've risen to the top on that role.
Or maybe she enjoys playing the same role, IDK.
I'm entirely too invested in this, for some reason.
There was a Reddit thread today about actors who've been in hundreds of movies, but no one knows their names. All about type casting - this is the guy you get to play a Latino gangster role, this is the guy you get for a vaguely sinister, vaguely Eastern European role, stuff like that.
I suppose there's something to be said for that. They're the soup stock the rest of the movie meal is built on.
I hadn't read the family issue thing, either.
ReplyDeleteI guess I take umbrage to the idea that Melissa McCarthy, having a successful career, gets to pick and choose her roles. I really don't think that she has that luxury. Let's face it - she's not going to be cast as, for example, a romantic lead because she doesn't have the look that people want to see. As a society, we want the beautiful woman and the beautiful man as the leads. People like Melissa can get the lead in a comedy because "She's fat and that's funny!" but that's it.
ReplyDeleteReally. Uh. :-(
ReplyDeleteI believe they can try, but honestly actors don't have that much power. They get the publicity and fame, but they aren't calling the shots. I've heard a lot of bad things about McCarthy, so I'm not particularly fond her, but I don't think that she has the power to pick and choose which roles she's going to play. She has the power to accept a role or to turn it down, but I doubt anyone wants to hire her in a capacity beyond her stereotypical role.
ReplyDeleteI concur
ReplyDeleteThat's a very good point about McCarthy - I've enjoyed thinking about this topic with you, btw.
ReplyDeleteAs for me, personally, i have no problem watching a *romance* (except I don't watch romantic films) involving not-tiny people. But I'm really old school about stories & actors & characters. Most days will find my on the TCM app or buried in classic film on Amazon or Netflix, so that's an indicator of this minuscule target audience. I'm not who movies are made for in the 21st century and I'm OK with that. It's someone else's turn.
There was a mix of her schedule is really full combined with her saying that her kids would be starting school around the time they're filming. She wouldn't be able to be at home with her kids and would basically miss the first half of their school year.
ReplyDeleteThe movie was supposed to start months ago, but it kept getting pushed back. Elizabeth also is producing the next Charlie's Angels movie, she acted in that Power Ranger movie, she's got a pretty full plate. But the first thing she said when it was announced she isn't directing is that filming would go into the start of her kids school year and she would be there for them. There have been other rumors about her, but she's said it was to be with her kids and her full schedule.
I would hope so, but let's be honest, probably not. There's clearly someone out to get Rebel and Anna. There's been a lot of gossip about them, so I'm sure the media will keep pushing those story lines because they're more exciting than the truth.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. She is terrible.
ReplyDeleteI have enjoyed discussing it as well! I also am not a fan on romantic movies (although it seems like EVERY movie these days insists on having romance as at least a subplot. My boyfriend and I always groan and complain when what is marketed as an action/thriller movie clumsily inserts the ubiquitous love scene).
ReplyDeleteThat being said, the leading man and leading lady who are beautiful sell tickets. McCarthy might be amazing as a romantic lead, but no one is going to hire her for that. Sad, but true. She doesn't fit into the fantasy, which I think is a large part of it. People want to see a fantasy, not people who look like the average person you see on the street. People loved Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. They're both looking a little rough right now IMO, but in their prime they were the ultimate fantasy of a perfect life. For some reason, we want to only see beautiful people as our stars unless they are comic relief.
I hope it really is family issues.
ReplyDeleteDid you see the movie, "St Vincent"?
ReplyDeletep.s.
ReplyDelete@Kno Won Uno, have you seen the movie, "St Vincent"? Melissa McCarthy's performance was quiet, nuanced, and effective in her role.
@hohl, I am not a "fat lady," although you state that if one defends a "fat lady," one is obviously a "fat lady."