Best film portrayal of a character from a book

7,479 Views | 70 Replies | Last: 8 yr ago by Philip J Fry
MidnightYell2003
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From reading the Lonesome Dove thread, it got me thinking. I think that Robert Duvall's portrayal of Gus is the probably the greatest representation of a character from a book onto the big screen.


I would say a close second is Snape by Alan Rickman, but that's a little unfair since the book character was based off of Alan Rickman - though he did fit the part well.


What do y'all say? (has there been a thread on this before?)
TXAG 05
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Everyone from the Green Mile. It is probably the closest adaptation of a book that I have ever seen.
jbsj9698
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I agree about Robert Duvall. He is Gus. Although nowhere close to that portrayal, here is my contribution:



2ndGen87
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James Dean in East of Eden

Marlon Brando who is The Godfather
Natasha Romanoff
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Snape for me. Rickman/writers did a great job with the proper amount of loathing or emotion throughout all 8 movies. The scene of his memories at the end of the 2nd Deathly Hallows movie was perfection - exactly what it needed to be and gets me every time. Probably helps that in my mind, 2nd Dumbledore was a big fail so it could have made Snape look even better.

I can't think of any others that stand out, but I'm not a huge movie buff. I think Rickman + writers nailing Snape's role over 8 films is impressive as well.
jeffk
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I thought both Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and Dumbledore (Richard Harris) were really well-cast.

Thinking of it, McKellen and Patrick Stewart were great castings for Magneto and Professor X (not sure if comic books fit the OP though).
MidnightYell2003
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comics can count, why not!
Natasha Romanoff
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quote:
I thought both Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and Dumbledore (Richard Harris) were really well-cast.

Thinking of it, McKellen and Patrick Stewart were great castings for Magneto and Professor X (not sure if comic books fit the OP though).


Gandalf was great. 2nd Dumbledore - he was too cold for me. It probably wasn't the actor's fault, but how they portrayed him in the movies vs how he was in the books was off.
maxag42
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Gregory Peck's character Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird was near perfection.
Tanya 93
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quote:
Gregory Peck's character Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird was near perfection.
Just about to post this.

Nothing is better.
BQ78
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I like Robert Duvall but in The Great Santinii.
Murder Hornet
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You basically shut down your own thread with Duval/Augustus McRae.

I'll add RDJ/Tony Stark

Mr. White
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Anton Chigurh, No Country For Old Men
MaroonStain
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Jim Caviezel, The Passion of the Christ
Several actors, Game of Thrones
gigemags-99
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Tom Cruise - the vampire Lestat.
gigemags-99
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quote:
Jim Caviezel, The Passion of the Christ
Several actors, Game of Thrones


Several characters = Sand Snakes?
chipotle
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Bruce Almighty
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Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter
Henry Fonda as Tom Joad
Heath Ledger as the Joker (especially The Killing Joke)
The shark in Jaws
Vincent D'Onofrio - The Kingpin
jeffk
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Not Sean Connery in HFRO?
Bruce Almighty
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Its that damn Scottish accent.
aTmAg
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Audie Murphy played a convincing Audie Murphy.
Jacques
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quote:
quote:
Gregory Peck's character Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird was near perfection.
Just about to post this.

Nothing is better.

The three kids were good too.
Sex Panther
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quote:
Vincent D'Onofrio - The Kingpin

I'm not a Kingpin aficionado, but wasn't D'Onofrio's portrayal basically nothing like Kingpin from the comics and cartoons?
Bruce Almighty
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He was pretty close to the later comics, but the early Spider-Man or even Daredevil stuff.
jenn96
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Brando was already mentioned but Pacino as Michael Corleone was just perfect casting. Exactly the aura of quiet, understated menace - without ever being overtly threatening - that I imagined when I first read the book.

But I have to agree that Tommy Lee Jones and Robert Duval WERE Call and Gus. Every look, mannerism and accent - absolutely perfect.
MW03
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Brad Pitt as Tyler Durden
MW03
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Also, Kathy Bates was pretty excellent in Misery.
Hello Newman
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The characters in Goodfellas.
AgLaw
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You've got to separate movies you saw first from books your read first. Most of us saw To Kill a Mockingbird before we read the book, so, yeah, Gregory Peck fits perfectly.

My vote goes for Javier Bardem in No Country For Old Men. Read the book first and Bardem was spot on.
MSFC Aggie
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Harvey Korman as Hedy Lamarr
AGnBCS
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Nicol Williamson as Merlin in Excalibur
Jeff Golblum as Ian Malcom in JP
The dog that played old yeller
Sting as Feyd Harkonen in Dune



BEaggie08
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quote:
Most of us saw To Kill a Mockingbird before we read the book
Maybe if you're over a certain age. I'm 35 and most people I know around my age read the book first. It was part of my high school curriculum. Then we watched the movie.
Vander
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quote:
From reading the Lonesome Dove thread, it got me thinking. I think that Robert Duvall's portrayal of Gus is the probably the greatest representation of a character from a book onto the big screen.


I would say a close second is Snape by Alan Rickman, but that's a little unfair since the book character was based off of Alan Rickman - though he did fit the part well.


What do y'all say? (has there been a thread on this before?)


What? Have you ever actually read the description of Snape from the books? He's not supposed to be good looking at all and is described as being rather ugly as a man. Rickman did a good job with the personality, but he looks nothing like the Snape from the books. Of course it's not at all surprising for the movies, which screwed up just about every single character outside of Harry, Ron, and Dumbledore (for whatever reason they completely forgot that wizards live twice as long as normal people and so they portrayed loads of characters as looking much older than they should have looked). Overall the movies were not good from a casting standpoint.
Definitely Not A Cop
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quote:
quote:
From reading the Lonesome Dove thread, it got me thinking. I think that Robert Duvall's portrayal of Gus is the probably the greatest representation of a character from a book onto the big screen.


I would say a close second is Snape by Alan Rickman, but that's a little unfair since the book character was based off of Alan Rickman - though he did fit the part well.


What do y'all say? (has there been a thread on this before?)


What? Have you ever actually read the description of Snape from the books? He's not supposed to be good looking at all and is described as being rather ugly as a man. Rickman did a good job with the personality, but he looks nothing like the Snape from the books. Of course it's not at all surprising for the movies, which screwed up just about every single character outside of Harry, Ron, and Dumbledore (for whatever reason they completely forgot that wizards live twice as long as normal people and so they portrayed loads of characters as looking much older than they should have looked). Overall the movies were not good from a casting standpoint.


Yeah there is actually a picture in one of the books of Snape. He looks way different. I thought they nailed Hagrid though.
Vander
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