Seriously she looks nothing like Anne of the book. Anne is described as painfully thin and I felt so sorry for her in a way I never felt for Megan's performance. I just can't see her as Anne..
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Well seeing as you are one of the very few people I have ever come across that feels that way, I don't think your opinion matters that much. Megan did an outstanding job as Anne and clearly that's a fair statement seeing as 99.9% of people who have seen this film thought the same way. Nobody is agreeing with you.
shareI never said Megan didn't do an outstanding job! I just don't visualize her as Anne of the book. And I have every right to express my opinion even if no one agrees with me..
shareI agree with you. This is supposed to be a forum for our opinions and we should not get angry or attack people who have a different opinions. As I was reading this to my nutty friend ;-) who is one who feels that no one else can play Anne but Megan she was appalled but she didnt get bent out of shape. We all come here for intelligent discussion and its good to have a little friendly back and forth so Mary dont feel bad for having an opposite opinion, I still love you :-)
shareAbsolutely! I agree, everyone has their own opinion! I have to say though, I think Megan Follows plays an outstanding Anne, even if she wasn't painfully skinny like it says in the book. :)
shareI read the books first and I just assumed that Anne would look like the front covers of the book set I read - which means that she would change her face all the time because the artist couldn't seem to draw the same person for each book cover. So I guess I was prepared for anything.
shareI'm trying to picture
"appalled but not bent out of shape"! How are they different? :)
I agree. This has just entered my list of all-time favorite performances. Megan was outstanding as Anne.
Poorly Lived and Poorly Died, Poorly Buried and No One Criedshare
I thought she was perfect for the part, ESPECIALLY Jonathan Crombie as Gilbert :)
shareI think nobody could have played Anne better than Megan Follows, she was perfect?
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Megan Follows played Anne Shirley/Anne Blythe in three Anne movies. The first two are Canadian classics and so we have come to visualize Anne as looking like Megan Follows.
Had she been played by a different actress, we would think of that actress as being the ultimate "Anne".
It's not a matter of performance I think (and I myself confess to having a lot of trouble visualizing another actress in that role) but more one of association. Don't get me wrong, I think Megan Follows did a wonderful job as Anne, but more than that, three movies have made us come to blur the lines between actress and character, and nobody else has a chance playing Anne now, unless it's either a new fan, or one who is extremely open-minded!
I understand what you are saying lyndajane but when an actor/actress does do such a magnificant job is is very hard to see someone else in that role.
It doesn't always follow though, for instance as good as Peter Ustinov was as Poirot, it was not a definitive version, and as soon as you see David Suchet you realize you are seeing Christie's Poirot brought to life and no-one could better it! The same with Megan Follows.
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It really is a tough thing! I compare every version of Romeo & Juliette to the Franco Zefirelli 1968 version http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063518/ THat one was so perfect that I feel I am being unfair to all who follow!!
Megan Follows is "my" Anne...
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Well, having seen the movie with Megan Follows prior to reading the books, and then later seeing the other, older versions of the movies (the one that perplexes me most is the one starring Anne Shirley from 1934. Now, it's been a long time since I've read the book, so I can't remember when it was written, but I am curious, does anyone know if this was the real Anne Shirley, or just a coincidence that she shared the same name?) and in some of them I think that Megan Follows was definitely better, but in the 1934 version, I really liked Anne Shirley as Anne Shirley. God I wish I could get some clarification on that confusion! It's driving me up a wall!
Anyway, I have to disagree with you Marybl. I just adored Megan Follows as Anne Shirley, and she remains embedded as Anne to me, and always will. When I read and re-read the books, it's her face and voice that I see and hear, just as I see and hear Colleen Dewhurst (PERFECTLY cast as Marilla), and Richard (sorry, don't know his last name) as Matthew.
That's the version I grew up with, so that's who I always think of when I think of Anne of Green Gables.
I believe Anne Shirley changed her name to Anne Shirley because of her love for the character of Anne Shirley.
I suppose we should just be glad she didn't change her name to Marilla Cuthbert. That would be somewhat confusing.
Anne Shirley is a made up character, Avonlea is a made up town. The book was published in 1908, but it is set much earlier. Annes children are old enough to go to war in the First World War, so it's set around mid-1870s? The movie in question sets it closer to the turn of the century though.
LM Montgomery loved PEI, and she grew up in Cavendish with her Grandparents. The farm house there is said to be the basis for Green Gables, and the town for Avonlea. Nearly all of her stories are set on PEI, and she had a love for portraying the relationship between children and elderly people.
Anyway, there is no Anne, or any other character in real life, especially of the right age in the thirties :)
Omg! The 1985 version with Megan Follows is the best ! I have seen the BBC version of Anne of Avonlea and it was a big ripoff. No offense to people in the UK.
The 1985 version was the 1st on I saw and it will always be my favorite .
I found the books to be very confusing - not the first one. But I was totally lost reading Anne of Avonlea. But I have a reading comprehesion probblem.
I agree that everyone can have their own opinion. In my opinion, Megan Follows did a magnificent job as Anne. Megan was actually very thin in the movie, but her clothes were very bulky which made her seem bigger. If you pay attention, you can tell that she has a small frame.
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You can't act your looks, that's for make up. As far as acting goes it was as good as it gets. For being skinny, I agree with one of the other replies; back then that build would likely have been skinny. Heck, my grandparents kept telling me how skinny I was until I was 16yo, and I was not anorexic. I think that fits perfectly with the setting of rest of the time and period. DOn't be sensitive, CARROT. I think 99.9% would disagree, that is an opinion.
shareMegan Follows was fantastic as Anne, and it doesn't matter to me that she didn't look like the character was described in the book (this rarely happens, by the way, so get used to disappointment). I can't picture anyone else playing the part.
shareMegan looked pretty thin to me.
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