MovieChat Forums > Borgia (2011) Discussion > Doman was perfect.

Doman was perfect.

posted 9 years ago by !!!deleted!!! (8778465)
7 replies | jump to latest

John Doman was the perfect man for the part. At first it came across as grating, yes, as did many things in the show. At first I couldn't stand almost any of the characters, actually, but I could tell it would be great if I kept watching, so I did. Character develop makes this show, any annoying nuances from the characters are eventually used to solidify who they are supposed to be. John Doman captures the evil, insanity, sorrow, and even kindness of Rodrigo Borgia perfectly, I actually couldn't imagine anyone else pulling it off in such a meaningful way.

Especially after Rodrigo dies, anyone else as Pope just does not capture the same essence that Doman brought to the role.

I can't imagine The Borgia's could be remotely as good as this show ended up.

[–] elpasowill-591-209892 9 years ago

I respectfully disagree. John Doman was awful in his role as Rodrigo Borgia. Doman's all-too-American accent was almost as absurdly distracting as his wooden acting. I struggled watching the first several episodes and finally gave up after realizing that Doman was beyond all hope. He didn't stand a prayer. Jeremy Irons, on the other hand, was brilliant as Rodrigo in Showtime's "The Borgias." I truly wanted to like "Borgia" but could not manage to do so. I'm just happy that you saw something in Doman that I didn't. That's what makes each of us unique.

[–] TheBestWarrior 9 years ago

I'm over the Doman "accent." Irons is overly British. Doman's voice is firm and commanding. It's very unique, yet at the same time you hear his commanding voice you can also sense his uncertainty or arrogance. Doman was awesome.

[–] !!!deleted!!! (8778465) 9 years ago

Indeed, indeed. I hear you, but, I can see past the accent, for mainly one reason. In real life, Rodrigo Borgia would have sounded much different than his peers, being a Spaniard and whatnot I'd imagine he'd have a Spanish accent. Sadly, most of the accents are all botched up in Borgia. The fact Doman sounds ridiculously out of place, though, makes sense. Does his accent being American make sense? No, but, I can excuse it, even if a bit of a reach, does in a way actually make sense.

Maybe Doman is an acquired taste, I dunno, I really liked him in The Wire as well.

I tried out 'The Borgias', TBH, I couldn't get into it.

[–] maudisdottir 9 years ago

I'm really struggling with this series and Doman's acting, particularly his accent, is a big part of why I can't get into it (I've watched season 1 and am a few episodes into season 2). I keep hearing/reading that it gets better, but it's only getting worse. The other night Rodrigo introduced half his relatives to the other cardinals and it was like some New Jersey mafioso naming members of his mob family. And Cesare isn't much better, although his accent doesn't grate, it's just his "crazy eyes" style of acting I can't warm to. As for Lucrezia, she's very pretty but when her and her mother talk I have to switch on closed captioning.

[–] Master_Cilander 7 years ago

I love people complaining about his accent as if British accents are any more Spanish or Italian.

[–] foxboro27 8 years ago

His accent bothered me at first, but I soon got over it. I thought he nailed it out of the park with his acting. I loved it when he was emotionally freaking out. Great actor.

[–] denis-38 7 years ago

I just binged this on Netflix, having not heard of it, and a fan of this sort of thing. I thought I might give up, because of Dorman's accent, but I hung in, got hung up, and found it far, far more compelling than Showtime's "The Borgia's" (which I had enjoyed--the first season, anyway.)

Dorman grew on me, and the rest of the cast was terrific. Mark Ryder! Talk about a character arc. Why isn't he acting more?!

This was infinitely more bloody and sexy--I don't recall so much nudity in "The Borgia's" or such graphic depictions of various horrible deaths, but oddly, I didn't find either gratuitous, although of course it was just that. Very impressed, and glad I stuck it out. For all those who complain over Dorman--not without some justification--try watching Dustin Hoffman in "Medici." Hoffman is surreally wrong, bad, miscast, laughable.