In the spirit of movie 8 being out now, I am doing a blog on the 8 best cast Harry Potter characters of the film series.
#8.
Matthew Lewis as Neville Longbottom: This one could be interchangeable, but I think Matthew Lewis just did a great job transitioning the character from a beaten down kid to ultimate badass. Could others have done the role as well? Maybe, but I think he did a fantastic job.
#7.
Kenneth Branagh as Gilderoy Lockhart: He just did fantastic at portraying the pompous, self absorbed professor. They also considered Hugh Laurie and Hugh Grant for the role. Grant I doubt would have worked. maybe Laurie. But I think that Branagh did it the best. He just nailed that role
#6.
Ralph Finnes as Voldemort: some of you may think that he's a bit low on this list. I'm just not 100% positive that he is the only person who could have pulled it off as well as he did. Don't get me wrong though, his performance was chilling.
#5.
Dame Maggie Smith as Professor Minerva McGonagall: the stern expression, the total no-nonsense demeanor that she shows, This is the first person on my list who truly no one else could have done except Maggie Smith. Judi Dench was considered, but Maggie Smith just made the role. It couldn't have gone to anyone else.
#4.
Evanna Lynch as Luna Lovegood: Lynch beat out 15,000 other people for the role. They chose wisely. I can't imagine anyone else playing Luna. The dreamy expression, the innate quirkiness, it just couldn't have been done by anyone else. She truly brought Luna to life.
#3.
Richard Harris as Albus Dumbledore: I don't care what anyone else says (though pretty much everyone agrees with me here I'm sure) Richard Harris IS Dumbledore. Michael Gambon plays the part admirably but Harris is far superior. Harris is everything that readers of the book imagined Dumbledore would be. It is a great tragedy that Harris died.
#2.
Imelda Staunton as Dolores Umbridge: Before Hans Landa, we had Dolores Umbridge: a character so gleefully evil we just had to love to hate her. Staunton plays it so beautifully that she is the best part of HP5. No contest. Sorry Luna but Umbridge was the best. Each time you see her you almost have to smile at her evil girlish giggle. I don't think anyone could have done it like she did. She was perfect for the role.
#1.
You know what's coming
Alan Rickman as Severus Snape: This is the only choice for #1. anyone how has seen even 2 minutes of Die Hard knows that Rickman can play an ominous character flawlessly. With the 8th Harry Potter getting rave reviews (97% on Rotten Tomatoes) Rickman could be up for an Oscar. I highly doubt it but there is that 1% chance. We'll see. But Snape is such a highly complex character and if you don't get Snape right, you pretty much sabotage the whole movie right there. Rickman pulled it off with apparent ease. Rickman as Severus Snape was easily the best casting choice in the entire Harry Potter franchise.
Totally love the picks. My top 3 would be Rickman, Staunton, and Lynch, and special honor goes to Helena Bonham Carter for being so evil.
ReplyDeleteI would have put HBC on here (and I still might) but I'm unsure if she was truly the greatest for the role as these people were for theirs.
ReplyDeleteSnape's character is absolutely brilliant and Rickman's voice is very chilling much like Vincent price and Christopher lee are known for. Terrific list!
ReplyDeleteLuna Lovegoods character is minor until the 7th film but her performance is refreshing. I may make a list like this when I see 7 p2. Again, great list.
Maggie Smith is number one for me, no contest.. In the way she looks, as well as how she plays the character, she embodies Minerva McGonagall perfectly. I personally would've put Helena at two, and the actress who plays Luna at three. They work not just with their acting, but perfectly in how they look as well... I definitely agree that harris was a much better Dumbledore- other dude plays him way too angry and mean. And as much as I love Alan Rickman, and think he's an awesome Snape, he's too old to be 'absolutely perfect' in the role, for me. Snape was Harry's parents age, and I don't think they would've even reached forty by the end of DH. Rickman's in his sixties, so there's more than twenty yrs difference there.. Oh and I think hugh grant would've been perfect as Lockhart... the bumbling, blustery-ness and he's hot too. Braunagh did great but he's not very good looking to me, and they always went on and on about how handsome Lockhart was. Oh I think Rupert Grint made an awesome Ron- def the most talented of the main three. (also loved the guy that played Vernon Dursley...pretty perfect casting there..) course it's obvious everyone has very diff opinions.. these are just mine. =)
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