Nick Stahl's consultant for the role
According to Artistdirect.com, Nick Stahl studied for his role as a paraplegic with the help of real life disabled actor Mitch Longley. Mitch was a regular on "Las Vegas" for 5 years.
Yea, god forbid they actually hire the consultant/actor to play the main role. We couldnt actually have someone with a disability play someone with a disability. How would able bodied actors win Oscars?
shareIf you saw the movie, you'd understand why a paraplegic actor wouldn't have worked, jackass.
shareActually I did see the movie idiot. And Im assuming you are referring to the part that he stands and barely walks. You are obviously ignorant to the fact that many parapalegics can indeed stand and walk with the assistance of crutches and braces, but just use wheelchairs primarily for convienience and to speed up their lives.
shareHow many of those are paraplegic actors with the experience necessary to be the lead in a film?
shareand how do the non-disabled actors GET experience? If you want experienced disabled actors, give the non-experienced disabled actors a chance. Or see what you can find looking at non-actors. Huge stars come out of non-acting backgrounds all the time.
I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you, I've had this argument (from your side for the record) with my disabled roommate a million times and just wanted to point out that the other side isn't without a sound basis for their argument.
You're *beep*
sharewhat apart the parts where he walks with only a stick?
It so obviously couldn't be a disabled actor in the role?
Indeed if you watched to the end you would see that actually he wasn't disabled at all.
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I'm a disabled director/actor in New Zealand. The fact is that A) Not a lot of agencies have disabled actors. B)It's nice to say give them experience but a lead role is a lead role Nick Stahl is a very good actor, I won't jepordaise my first feature on a rookie who looks the part but can't act. I walk on a stick it very well could have been a disabled actor if they could act. I am writing a film about the paralympics the only disabled actor in it is me.
"I ain't afraid to try, I fail as good as anybody else."
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TheGodfather1215: I am flabbergasted by the ignorance regarding the paralyzed consultant/actor.
Besides the fact that casting needs to be as precise as possible (in quality films), it would have been inherently impossible to find an experienced actor that fit the character's description and had the ability to walk fairly well by the end of the film.
Regarding the character's particular diagnosis: Paralyzed is paralyzed. Total leg paralysis is not indicative of partial leg paralysis.
Any major movement of the legs to acquire an assisted walk, to which you refer, is done at the hip - that is, if one's legs are only affected by the spinal cord injury, as the film suggests. Also, filming would have been extremely demanding on an actual paralyzed actor and possibly a concern for their wellbeing; there are film budget concerns (e.g. shooting schedules) and studio liability needs to be minimized.
Even then, movement below the hip was necessary to the story (his ankle and calf movements especially). The actual consultant/actor was not able to do so. The next best thing is to have a consultant at an actor's disposal to be as accurate as possible. Many filmmakers wouldn't have even done that...so it was a good thing.
BUT the biggest point of all: *Major spoiler alert*
The character was only a "wannabe", not an actual paralyzed man. So casting the disabled consultant does not mirror authenticity. In fact, using an "able-bodied" actor was perfect for script and casting accuracy. How could we have accepted the ending, when using the paralyzed actor? It would have been an absolute insult. Can you imagine the repulsive direction?
Carlos Brookes (director): "Okay. So now we need you to reveal that you're NOT actually paralyzed by having you attempt to move your legs and feet and try to walk in the next six or so scenes...make it look as real as possible...we can get you an able-bodied actor to consult with you, if you'd like."
Seriously?