My son, who is an actor and a cinephile, complains about how movies and shows all have actors who look like actors, and don’t look like real people. He often talks about “iPhone Face,” where a character in a period piece like a 19th century western, looks like they know what an iPhone is.
Luis Guzman is one of my favorite New York actors. Born and raised in the City, trained in the City, always played NYC locals. Maybe a cop, maybe a psycho, but always a New York City guy.
One day his agent calls him; they want him for a movie, The Count of Monte Cristo. He’s flabbergasted. He plays New York, that’s what he does. But he goes in and auditions and they decide they want him.
I remember seeing him and recognizing him and saying ‘no way.’ Then he starts acting and it’s like, yeah, there were Puerto Ricans in the 1800s.
My wife loves Asian period dramas and this is a hugely common thing that drives me nuts.
It doesn’t matter if you’ve got period clothing and scenery etc. If the “lowly common girl” has a perfect complexion, teeth, and obvious cosmetics it just breaks it.
Having had a few Scandi-descended girlfriends, I concur. But on average, they’re nowhere near as hairly as Slavs or Armenians. Not that anything’s wrong with body hair.
My son, who is an actor and a cinephile, complains about how movies and shows all have actors who look like actors, and don’t look like real people. He often talks about “iPhone Face,” where a character in a period piece like a 19th century western, looks like they know what an iPhone is.
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0350079/
Luis Guzman is one of my favorite New York actors. Born and raised in the City, trained in the City, always played NYC locals. Maybe a cop, maybe a psycho, but always a New York City guy.
One day his agent calls him; they want him for a movie, The Count of Monte Cristo. He’s flabbergasted. He plays New York, that’s what he does. But he goes in and auditions and they decide they want him.
I remember seeing him and recognizing him and saying ‘no way.’ Then he starts acting and it’s like, yeah, there were Puerto Ricans in the 1800s.
Yeah, I love him, too. He’s always great.
My wife loves Asian period dramas and this is a hugely common thing that drives me nuts. It doesn’t matter if you’ve got period clothing and scenery etc. If the “lowly common girl” has a perfect complexion, teeth, and obvious cosmetics it just breaks it.
The Viking ladies with shaved arm pits…
Yeah some of them back then would probably have been able to braid more than just the hair on their head…
Having had a few Scandi-descended girlfriends, I concur. But on average, they’re nowhere near as hairly as Slavs or Armenians. Not that anything’s wrong with body hair.
This is one of the good things British shows have. People looks like people.