MovieChat Forums > And When Did You Last See Your Father? (2008) Discussion > Firth and Stevenson's Age

Firth and Stevenson's Age

posted 17 years ago by JohnRace
21 replies | jump to latest

I knew it, I just knew it, Stevenson's was born in 56 and Firth in 60: 4 years apart and they play mother and son?! Who do they think they are, that they can put her in just any role they want to? I just hope this role is VERY good, because I'm sick of seeing such an awesome actress getting these little roles as "Psychiatrist" and "Mrs Something"... same thing goes do Diana Rigg, I want her back!! Do a Poirot remake with all the old cast, M. Smith, Rigg, Lansbury, something... sorry about the ranting, but I'm just a guy who wants to see movies with a kick-ass all-star british cast.

[–] klorentz 17 years ago

Please please please make her his step-mother. Remember when Jessie Royce Landis played Cary Grant's mother in North by Northwest - and she was a day younger?

[–] aonesue 17 years ago

My thoughts exactly!!

[–] cffan55 17 years ago

Please please please make her his step-mother. Remember when Jessie Royce Landis played Cary Grant's mother in North by Northwest - and she was a day younger?

This was not even in the realm of possibility as it is a true story and Blake Morrison did not have a step-mother.

dmdemore
Web Site Owner
FIRTH ESSENCE

[–] woodvillelite 17 years ago

JohnRace... not sure whether you are dishing the wonderful Juliet or just the role she was given but will give you the benefit of the doubt.

As a long time admirerer of Juliet's I was kinda shocked myself at this casting and thought she was ideal as the mother but a younger man should have played the role of the son. In seeing them together they both looked pretty much the same age or just with a few years different which in fact they were.

But in going back to the age thing.... best one is Manchurian Candidate with Angela Lansbury (b 1925) playing Lawrence Harvey's (b 1927) mother.

[–] JohnRace 17 years ago

"(...) because I'm sick of seeing such an awesome actress getting these because I'm sick of seeing such an awesome actress getting these (...)". Dude, all due respct, but in which part does it sound like I'm dishing her?
And then I talk about Dame Maggie and Diana, almost comparing her to them, c'mon?!
Dishing...

[–] cffan55 17 years ago

I saw the movie and honestly, none of them has a huge role, per se. And the age thing works. Excellent actors and actresses can do this type thing. Juliet is no exception (excellent and a consummate professional). She took the role and she made it work. Kudos, first, to her and secondly, to the make-up department.
Colin Firth was 46 when they made the film and at the time of his father's death Blake Morrison was 41.
BTW - Jim Broadbent was 57 at the time of filming. Hardly old enough to be Colin's father, either.

dmdemore
Web Site Owner
FIRTH ESSENCE

[–] amoammo 17 years ago

the producers? personally i think the casting is excellent, and the age difference perfectly practical given the way the story unfolds. Kind of reminds me of Celia Imrie in "Hilary and Jackie".

[–] cffan55 17 years ago

John,

They couldn't have just "put her in just any role" ie: this role. She had to have accepted (read taken) it and signed on to do it.

dmdemore
Web Site Owner
FIRTH ESSENCE

[–] sirjeremy 17 years ago

I was thinking the exact same thing last night after seeing the clips on Film 2007. It's going to take alot to convince me that they're mother and son. Oh I know they're both wonderful actors but this casting is rather questionable.

[–] clayheadswamp 17 years ago

it's already been noted - this film is filled with flashbacks, the age difference would be one thing were it solely in the Blake as 40ish time frame but it is not and the parents had to be believable over a stretch of time.

at least Colin Firth's screen wife isn't much younger than he. it brings to mind Emma Thompson on the Sense & Sensibility dvd commentary recalling that some teenagers in a test audience said of her and Hugh Grant as a couple "but she's old enough to be his mother!" when they are around the same age. in Nanny McPhee Colin Firth married his daughter from My Life So Far!

[–] sirjeremy 17 years ago

Yes but the flashabcks are when Blake is a child and then a teenager and of course it's entirely plausible that Juliet Stevenson could be Blake's mother at these times. But I've seen the film now and she and Colin Firth cannot overcome this ridiculous mistake. Jim Broadbent and Firth is just about believable however.

[–] Colinrocks 17 years ago

But since the action takes place in the late eighties, the sixties and even the fifties, they would have needed three different actors for all the main roles, following this logic.
Jim Broadbent looked old, in close up to be the father of the child Blake, but it didn't matter. They were all wonderful, honest performances,and you need to take account of the skill of these actors. Juliet Stevenson aged beautifully, without lots of make up, just by the way she moved.Sarah Lancashire was also convincing as the younger and older Beaty. Jim Broadbent is a marvellous actor.
It worked, believe me!

[–] backofthevan 16 years ago

I agree about the age confusion. I'm familiar with these three actors and to me they all looked around the same age. It was hard to get beyond the closeness in age to actually accept them as parents and child. They are all terrific actors and favourites of mine, I just thought there was some miscasting in there somewhere.

Yes, the best ever was Angela Lansbury as Lawrence Harvey's mother. But in that case she pulled it off brilliantly.

[–] razbre_duck 16 years ago

I think it works perfectly.

[–] brendastern 16 years ago

Yes, the age difference in real life is ridiculous, but the makeup, wig and clothing age her enough (she could have been a very young mum, or else had her kids and completed her schooling.)

[–] phillipsfamily 16 years ago

Hi, remember thats why they call it acting....It makes me think of when Dustin Hoffman was preparing for the role in Marathon Man they said he did everything to feel the way the man in the movie would feel and Laurence Olivier told him to just try ACTING.....

[–] phurrballs 16 years ago

They pulled the same thing in Colin's movie Apartment Zero. The actress who played his mother in that also was only a few years older than him.

[–] samanthaseaotter 16 years ago

Same thing happened - Rachel Griffiths (born 1968) played Johnny Depp (born 1963) in "Blow."

They age 'em a bit and hope the actress is good enough to handle it. In Stevenson's case, there's no argument - she's wonderful. (So was Rachel Griffiths.)

Now if I can only get to this film in Chicago....

Samantha
"Nobody's perfect."

[–] teresa_ 16 years ago

I found it believable .... they are both great actors . The weirdest case of mother/son casting was Eileen Herlie as Gertrude , 13 yrs younger than Olivier in the 1948 Hamlet ..... it was believable tho - great acting overcomes age discrepancies .

"Tereza .... What are you talking about ?" DD-L 'The Unbearable Lightness of Being'

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] Mithol 13 years ago

The ages in the casting are fine. Juliet Stevenson and Jim Broadbent may only be a few years older than Colin Firth, but most of the story is told through flashbacks to when Colin Firth's character was a kid. So, in that respect, the ages are almost perfect. And, when Colin Firth is in it, Stevenson and Broadbent just rely on makeup and good acting. It was the same in Back to the Future.