Friday 24 October 2014

New course! A video about films

Hi everyone! We're back with some more video goodness.

Have you ever thought "no one could be Corleone but Marlon Brando"? What about any other characters? Actors and their iconic characters remain together forever, but the process whereby a specific actor is chosen can be long and involve a huge number of other people and circumstances. If that other actor hadn't turned it down...

This video takes us through some of the best alternate castings. Here's some vocabulary that I'd recommend you check before jumping to the open questions:


turn down
aficionado
contender
to be halted
to buckle (figurative sense)


And here are the questions. Key coming shortly! Enjoy the comeback!

Why did Burt Reynolds turn down Bond's role?
What was the problem with Stallone's script for Beverly Hills Cop?
What actor was only rumoured to have turned down a role? In which film? In that case, who would be to blame for not accepting a successful role?
What difficulties did Harrison Ford find to obtain the role for Han Solo? How did he finally get it?
And what difficulties did Michael J. Fox have when shooting Back to the Future?
Why was Harrison Ford cast for Indiana Jones only three weeks before production?  
What unexpected even could have enabled Tom Selleck to accept the role?



3 comments:

  1. Hi Bea and everyone,

    Here I leave my contribution to this video activity

    Why did Burt Reynolds turn down Bond's role?
    Burt Reynolds turned the role down by saying that an American cannot play the quintessentially British secret agent.

    What was the problem with Stallone's script for Beverly Hills Cop?
    Stallone re-wrote the script as an action flick but this caused budget problems since comedy unlike action is cheap.

    What actor was only rumoured to have turned down a role? In which film? In that case, who would be to blame for not accepting a successful role?
    It was rumoured that Ian McGregor turned down the iconic role of Neo in Matrix but he denies this, speculating if there were truth to the rumour it´d be his agent´s fault.

    What difficulties did Harrison Ford find to obtain the role for Han Solo? How did he finally get it?
    Jorge Lucas had previously used and light Ford for in American Graffiti but wanted a new face for his space opera. Although Lucas denied Ford an audition he did hire him to read Solo´s part during audition sessions before giving in and just casting in.

    And what difficulties did Michael J. Fox have when shooting Back to the Future?
    Fox had to balance night shooting of the film with day time shooting of the sitcom Family Ties.

    Why was Harrison Ford cast for Indiana Jones only three weeks before production?
    Jorge Lucas was hesitant to reuse Harrison Ford and opted for the fresher face of Tom Selleck. Finally he couldn´t accept it due to his commitment to the Magnum P.I. so Lucas had to cast Ford just three weeks before production began.

    What unexpected even could have enabled Tom Selleck to accept the role?
    Selleck could´ve accepted both parts had he known Magnum would be delayed for over six months because of a writer strike.

    Best wishes,

    Irene

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Irene!

    Thank you for your very accurate answer! Let me just explain a couple of words where connected speech can make two words sound the same and bring some confusion:

    (Harrison Ford in Star Wars)

    1. George Lucas had previously used and liked (light) Ford...
    2. ...before giving in and casting him (im).

    In the first sentence, it's difficult to pronounce the consonant cluster /ktf/ in "liked Ford" at normal speed, which causes the /k/ sound to be dropped. In connected speech, then, "liked" sounds just like "light".
    As for "him/im", it's a typical feature of connected speech: we don't pronounce the aspired /h/ sound in object pronouns when they are unstressed. Remember the dialogue:

    - Is she coming?
    - Alaska.

    ...which is what we hear instead of the full "I'll ask her".

    You just saved me a key, you know, because apart from these two words your answer is spot on! Thank you! Oh, and I love the "Jorge Lucas" renaming!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi everyone,

    I'm posting Conchita's answers on her behalf. Very good, too! There are some inaccuracies, but you can check them against Irene's answers. Thank you!

    What did Burt Reynolds turn down Bond's role? Because he said that an American couldn't play the quintessentially British secret agent.

    What was the problem with Stallone's script for Beverly Hill cop? Stallone rewrote the script in an action flick and this caused budget problems since comedy unlike action is cheat.

    What actor was only rumoured to have turned down a role? Ian McGregor.

    In which film? Matrix

    In that case who would be to blame for not accepting a successful role?. He denied the rumours speculating if there were truth to the rumour it would be his agent's fault.

    What difficulties did Harrison Ford find to obtain the role for Han Solo? and How did he finally get it? George Lucas had previously used Ford in American Graffiti but wanted new faces for space opera. Though Lucas denied Ford at the beginning, finally he did hire him after reading solos part during auditions sessions before giving in and just casting on so long.

    What difficulties did Michael J Fox have when shooting Back to the Future?. He had to balance night shooting with day shooting at the sitcom family ties.

    Why was Harrison Ford cast for Indiana Jones only three weeks before production? Lucas was hesitant to reuse H. Ford and opted for somewhat pressure base up T. Selleck and even screen tested him for the role he couldn't accept due to his commitment to Magnum PI. Then Lucas back again cast Ford just three weeks before production began.

    What unexpected even could have enable T. Selleck to accept the role? A writers strike

    Wishes

    ReplyDelete