MovieChat Forums > Gormenghast (2000) Discussion > Fuschia woefully miscast

Fuschia woefully miscast

posted 13 years ago by inqueling
4 replies | jump to latest

And that's a shame, because she was my favorite from the books, with Prunesquallor a close second. Everyone else was marvelous--so many screen giants squeezed into one movie what else could be expected? JRM was alright (not gonna say "too pretty", I know how the industry works). The woman who played Fuschia was simply too old for the part. All of her child-like turbulence and her troubled heart were lost on the actor. Fuschia the character had the mind of a 15(?) year-old, the heart of a 6 year old, and the troubles of a princess. She should not have been played by a 28 year-old woman.

[–] PommeraieVasundhara 13 years ago

I disagree and agree with you all at once.

I think Neve has a very unique physical beauty that matches the character well enough, and she managed to portray Fuchsia's tenderness, manic, childish mannerisms and her tragedy too. But when you read the book you realize that Fuchsia is a very different creature to Neve's interpretation.

But I wouldn't get too upset--it is, after all, simply one of many views you could have of the character. I almost thought that Neve, at times, was way too beautiful for Fuchsia. I don't think she's meant to be a typical beautiful princess-type character.

To be fair, the BBC did everything they could to make Neve seem younger-covering her up in massive amounts of fabric, binding her breasts, ect. If you observe Fuchsia in the first episode and compare her body language and voice to the last episode, you'll be able to see how much effort Neve put into trying to convince us that she was a 15 year old one minute and a woman the next.

"A film is-or should be-more like music than like fiction..." Stanley Kubrick

[–] different-drummer 13 years ago

I don't think she's meant to be a typical beautiful princess-type character.

Indeed not: on her very first appearance she's described as "gauche in movement and in a sense, ugly of face, but with how small a twist might she not suddenly have become beautiful".

[–] pkendell 8 years ago

Should have been Susan Lynch. She was a dead ringer for Peake's own drawings of Fuchsia.

[–] letitiadionne 7 years ago

I didn't mind how she looked.

For me, it was more that she played Fuschia as someone stupid. Fushchia was very clever, but frustrated, bored and unloved.