posted
The thing about Zeus is that he isn't a kindly, wise man. He isn't even a terribly sympathetic character. As Teshi pointed out, he's a powerful, dangerous being, with elements of the sexual predator about him. He's charismatic, certainly, but I don't think that I've seen a suggestion for him yet that would really be capable of doing the character justice. I'm wish I had a good suggestion, but I'm still mulling it over.
As for Hades, I'd like to see him played as something other than slightly evil. There is a gravity to Hades, but he really isn't worse than any of his siblings. I could *maybe* see him being played by Lawrence Fishburne, but I'm not sure that I won't come up with someone better as I think about it further.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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posted
Natalie Portman would make a MUCH better Persephone.
Ares will always be the guy who played Ares on Xena... Even though he's dead =(
I DEFENATELY second Gina Torres as Athena. Athena wasn't some delicate flower, though she COULD be vane. Athena sprung from the head of Zeus. She was kinda butch.
quote:As Teshi pointed out, [Zeus is] a powerful, dangerous being, with elements of the sexual predator about him. He's charismatic, certainly, but I don't think that I've seen a suggestion for him yet that would really be capable of doing the character justice.
John Malkovich or Kevin Spacey. They'll have to buff out a bit.
Hera should be played by Camryn Manheim, of 'The Practice' fame.
Apollo should be played by Kenneth Branaugh.
Posts: 14554 | Registered: Dec 1999
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posted
Oh, John Malkovich! That's the best suggestion I've heard yet for Zeus.
Kenneth Branaugh might be a little old now to play Apollo, but a younger version of him would be great in the role.
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posted
Zeus: Harrison Ford is too...normal to play Zeus. There's a wide-eyed innocence to him (as, say Jack Ryan or as the Fugative) that is hard to shake. He doesn't have that predatory angle that he'd need. He's too rough.
But in the vein of Sean Connery, if he was bulkier, Peirce Brosnan. So might Jude Law, if he was older and bigger.
Hera: I always felt that Hera was not all that attractive or nice. So her physical stature was more 'handsome' than beautiful. Hillary Clinton fits. So does Susan Sarandon.
Aphrodite: I love Angelina Jolie. She is the epitome of traditional and modern classical beauty. Who cares about the hair. Ditto with Monica Bellucci. Curvy in a traditional way. Jennifer Connelly would work, too, though she's slimmed down a mite too much for me.
Ares: Christian Bale would be awesome. But so would Brad Pitt. Very bloody and rugged and handsome.
Hermes: I can see Jude Law. Very mercurial (pun intended): can go from light to dark quickly. Just impish enough, without being extreme.
Those are my ideas, plus a bunch I am forgetting or totally agree with.
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posted
I didn't think Denzel was at all believable in Training Day. I know 13 year-old suburban white kids that sound more comfortable with urban slang than Denzel did.
Posts: 5462 | Registered: Apr 2005
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While I sincerely disagree with you regarding Denzel's use of slang, that is, in my opinion, completely beside the point.
I was speaking more specifically to his psychological seduction of Ethan Hawke. The way he kept pushing him and then pulling him back, constantly turning the tables, always one step ahead of him.
He was a snake and was ruthless. Even before his final attempt to win Ethan to his side, he had already made arrangements with the homies to kill Ethan. And yet Denzel was fascinating to watch. He'd push and push and then push too far, then pull back and speak to Ethan from a more traditional perspective, drawing him along. It was only when he killed Roger did he lose Ethan completely. But up to that time, Ethan was on the fence. But even then, we weren't sure that Ethan was lost to him. We watched Denzel empathize with his moral struggle, but with the way out that the ends justified the means and that it was only for 18 months and then the sky's the limit.
He was charming and dangerous and utterly amoral and selfish. And it was utterly believable.
He could do Zeus. Sedecing women? Talking Hera into forgiving him or at least taking him back (while letting her vent on his offspring)? Dealing with his brothers and mortals? No question, in my mind.
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posted
I just said that the role you cited as evidence why he'd be such a great Zeus was, IMO, one of his worst performances. Just because you believed it doesn't mean it was inherently believable. Just as me not buying it for a second doesn't necessarily make it a bad performance. But seriously, I cringed throughout that movie.
I'm sure he'd be great as one of these gods, but I just don't see him as Zeus. No edge.
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posted
I think Johnny Depp would make a great Dionysus; he's just boyish enough, and still has that wild, fanatical, mysterious look to him.
Posts: 14554 | Registered: Dec 1999
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With the description Noemon gave of Zeus just now (especially the "sexual predator" part) I can't get Chris Walken out of my mind. Anyone ever see those "The Continental" skits with him as the would-be seducer of whomever was mutely behind the camera? I love how he pronounces "champange." :giggle:
Posts: 7050 | Registered: Feb 2004
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posted
Yeah bev, I'm always entertained those skits.
I agree that Jude Law would make a great Hermes. Christopher Walken occurred to me as a possibility for Zeus, but I'm not utterly sold on anyone for the part yet. I keep thinking that there is *somebody* who is perfect for it that I haven't come up with yet. He and Malkovich are the best candidates I've seen mentioned though.
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Yeah bev, I'm always entertained those skits. 
