I'm just curious. I can't remember now why I thought of this, but I idly wondered about it and now want to as idly ask:
What character comes to mind when you think of these actors/actresses?
1. Harrison Ford
2. Kate Winslet
3. Tom Cruise
4. Keira Knightly
5. Russell Crowe
6. Nicole Kidman
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Character Association
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11 comments:
1. Harrison Ford - Indiana Jones
2. Kate Winslet - Titanic
3. Tom Cruise - Top Gun
4. Keira Knightly - Pirates
5. Russell Crowe - Gladiator or 3:10 to Yuma (just saw that one recently)
6. Nicole Kidman - dunno, maybe the musical one she did, no real stand-out characters there
Interesting that you put the name of the movie rather than the name of the character for all but Indy. Lends credence to a pet theory of mine, that fame overrides the character. For further consideration: can you easily rememeber the name of any Tom Cruise character, or is it "Tom Cruise" that always comes to mind?
Btw, did you notice anything about the credits in 3:10 to Yuma? Been waiting for people who read this to see that so I could compare notes with them...
1. HF - Indiana Jones trilogy
2. KW - Titanic
3. TC - Mission Impossible trilogy
4. KK - Pirates trilogy
5. RC - Gladiator
6. NK - blank, like most of her expressions
So, for some it may be the repetition of playing a role that reinforces the image, others the commanding presence onscreen. Titanic was so long, it nearly was its own trilogy.
Ha! You did the same thing, saying the movie rather than the name. Kate's name was Rose, I believe, in Titanic, and Tom's was Ethan in MI.
Here are mine:
1. Indy
2. Marianne (Sense & Sensibility)
3. No one...just Tom Cruise. His fame overrides all his roles. (Or maybe I think of carrots!)
4. Elizabeth Swann
5. Maximus
6. Must be Far and Away, since that's about the only thing I've seen her in. Don't remember her name in it, though.
I think I tend to remember the movie more than the character, per se, other than "who was in it." Now, if you asked, "Carey Elwes," I'd have to say, "Wesley" - that character I can remember. Close second would probably be "Robin Hood" (Men in Tights).
For Christopher Reeve, "Clark Kent/Superman" of course.
Nicolas Cage: "HI" (from Raising Arizona, probably my all-time favorite movie ever).
Jennifer Connely: Labyrinth (back to movie names... oops!).
Anyway, I guess I tend to remember the movie name and, like you said, the actor instead of the character (well, "Mark Hammil (?): Luke Skywalker").
Could be most people do that, but if I were a producer, director or caster (don't know the official name for that), I'd use unknowns so people would think of the character rather than the star. Maybe the way people think of Inigo as Inigo rather than Mandy Patinkin (sp?). Not that he's unknown, just is much more readily identifiable as Inigo, to probably more people than just me. In other words, when they think of the Princess Bride, they refer to Inigo, not Tom Cruise. (Not that he was in that; but hopefully you know what I mean.)
Daniel gave me his answers orally today:
1. Han Solo and Indiana
2. Nothing came to mind...didn't really know who she was.
3. Ethan Hunt and John Anderton
4. Star Wars. He thought she was Natalie Portman (they do remind one of each other)
5. He said the full name: Maximus Decimus Meridius.
6. No one came to mind, although he's seen Moulin Rouge.
1. HF-Star Wars
2. KW- It was a tie between Finding Neverland and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I notice they're both newer titles...
3. War of the Worlds. Last thing I saw with him in it.
4. Pirates
5. Gladiator
6. Moulin Rouge
In "The Princess Bride," of course it's the characters... Wesley, Inigo, "the Sicilian", etc.
That, along with Raising Arizona, are probably my two favorite movies ever. Oh, sorry, add "Noises Off" and make it a threesome. And "A Christmas Story" - four. And I'll stop listing them there.
Another funny thing... all these "old movies" from the 80s (Princess, Christmas Story)... suddenly they're becoming "pop phenomenons" with T-shirts being sold and stuff (found some T-Shirts for Princess at Steve & Barry's recently... got one with the Sicilian and "inconceivable" - but it would have been better had they left off the "Princess Bride" tagline and just left it to those "in the know" to know). I figure it probably has something to do with those who were children and/or teens at the time those movies first came out now being in positions to market stuff for the super-movies of their childhood. At least that's my take on it.
I was talking the other day with my wife about this, and I think the difference about "character" vs. "actor" is probably, at least for me anyway, that when I was younger, I didn't know actors. I just knew characters in movies. As I got older, I started knowing actors more, and the characters must have faded somewhat - I'll keep the movie in mind, but don't keep the characters' names around, but the images of the actors reminds me of the actors' names.
Then again, you sometimes get "one image" of an actor when they have a huge hit role in something that's the first thing you've seen with him/her in it, and anything else just doesn't fit afterwards.
1) The Witness (superb film)
2) Titanic (yikes, and I was on the Doulos! It made me scared to go back:-)
3) A few good men
4) Bend it like Beckham
5) Gladiator
6) The Hours
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