Is Cumberbatch right for this role? - Parade's End (2013) Discussion

[–] 13 years ago

[deleted]

I agree, he doesn't look the way I imagine Tietjens. He doesn't seem to have bulked up (thank goodness!), judging from the production photos available. I guess they thought the most important thing was presence and a commanding manner, with fragility suggested and eventually revealed, which Benedict can certainly supply. I also suspect that they have gone for the glamour factor for this series and wanted people who looked great and who would look even better in the period costumes and settings.

reply

[–] Maui3 12 years ago

Matthew Macfadyen would've been much better but since he doesn't travel for role anymore he was out.

reply

[–] MissGelly 12 years ago

The character is also supposed to be 26. I think Matthew Macfadyen would've had some trouble selling that. I think Benedict is also a tad old but has a boyish face so you can believe he is just starting off as a newly married. I think he'll be perfect for it and the rest of the cast looks stellar as well.

reply

[–] jshoaf 12 years ago

The story covers 10 years at least, so he will be the right age at the end.

My thought is that if he can play Stephen Hawking he can play Tietjens; it's all acting. Christopher's size is part of whole set of physical and spiritual qualities, his "mooning along" and being clumsy but very physically strong, someone who likes to manage his own baggage on a train, etc. I would think that physical acting can get a lot of this across.

reply

[–] torrgran 12 years ago

I think Matthew Macfadyen would have been perfect for this role. However I did like the first episode but had to laugh out loud at Cumberbatch's upper class, rigid English accent, also because he puts his chin down he is hard to deciper. His accent reminded me of Stephen Fry's General in Blackadder. It is OK at the moment, disastrous scheduling by the BBC although folk can watch it on iplayer nowadays. Had to laugh at his odious wife saying to the servant "Teapot!" Just what we love about the ruling classes eh?

reply

[–] mike-1828 12 years ago

Yes,very odd acting . I know he's been in Sherlock Holmes, but I didn't see that. He seems to have something wrong with his mouth. Does he always talk and move his mouth about as he does in this series? Bit of a joke really, or maybe this is supposed to be the character.

reply

[–] Rachiwesteros 12 years ago

he does in this series. I´ve watched him in others shows and nothing is wrong with his mouth. Is rare, his face seems different.

reply

[–] Jameron 12 years ago

"his face seems different."

It's called acting, he is 'being' a different person ie. not Cumberbatch.

To answer a previous question, yes he bulked up but not to the extremes of De Niro, et al.

- - - - - - - - - - -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0e3tGxnFKfE

http://tinyurl.com/LTROI-story

reply

[–] Rachiwesteros 12 years ago

i´ve not explained properly. now i´ve watched the three episodes think he has a prosthesis in the mouth to make the jaw wider.

reply

[–] glasha-1 12 years ago

Cumberbatch wore a fat suit and cheek pads.

The character is described as a 'bulky' northerner, which led Benedict to wonder why he'd been chosen for the role.

'He's a fat, blond Yorkshireman - he should be glum, featureless, ruddy-cheeked, blue-eyed, blond and fat,' Benedict tells TV Magazine.

'So I insisted on wearing a fat suit and plumpers - those things you put in your mouth - but I would like to have gone a lot further than that. I kept looking at myself and getting angry at the fact I wasn't fat enough!'

http://www.nowmagazine.co.uk/tv-news/538433/benedict-cumberbatch-i-was -engulfed-in-flames-when-stunt-went-wrong-on-new-bbc-drama-parade-s-en d

FYC: Three-time Academy Awards nominee Angela Lansbury for an Honorary Oscar

reply

[–] torrgran 12 years ago

I think BC had pads in his cheeks to make his face fatter this must have caused a bit of a problem for him. Remember Marlon Brando?

reply

[–] jensmile1 12 years ago

in parades end i find it hard to understand him when he is talking.

reply

[–] Squeeth2 12 years ago

He nicked Edward Fox's top lip that's all.

Marlon, Claudia and Dimby the cats 1989-2005, 2007 and 2010.

reply

[–] n_x 11 years ago

lol me too, good thing i watched it with subtitles.
I didn`t know he stuffed his mouth though, makes more sense. I can understand him perfectly fine in other works, just not this one, he`s quite the mumbler in here...still fine acting though.

reply

[–] Torian06 12 years ago

I'm reading only the summaries of Parade's End and haven't come across the descriptions of Christopher Tietjens, so it's quite a surprise for me to learn in this thread that BC's appearance is different from the novel's lead character. I'm quite thankful though to learn more from posters here about the characters from the book. I recall though that even Colin Firth's George VI, is quite different physically from the real one ; even Tom Hooper admitted himself in one of his interviews about it, Firth being a strapping lad and the real one actually much smaller and not as hefty as Firth ; that what's important is that the basic goodness of the character stands out - the "essence" that is quite positive. Seemed to me that Christopher Tietjens character here has his priorities in life quite right, though certainly punctuated with problems.

And that's alright for me.
Just on episode two of the show and enjoyed the first part thoroughly.

Truth inexorably,inscrutably seeks and reveals Itself into the Light.

reply

[–] ronibuni-398-953769 11 years ago

Once again I must say that it often turns out to be a mistake to read the books and then see the production. Cumberbatch appeared perfectly upper-class in that naive clumsy way that is what makes English drama so watchable. He was in no way hard to decipher and very believable in the way he portrayed his character. The only actor I found grating and odd was Sewell(not that surprising)

reply

[–] Clemencedane 11 years ago

The first thing i noticed was that Cumberbatch's voice seemed to have dropped an octave for this role. His acting in this uses his entire body.

reply

[–] fanaticita 10 years ago

Cumberbatch is magnificent in this role. It is a true vehicle to give him plenty of opportunity to stretch his acting muscles, and does he ever. I like him much better in period pieces . . ..unlike Sherlock. .

reply

[–] Clemencedane 10 years ago

I first saw him in To the Ends of the Earth and I was hooked!

reply

[–] BittanyG 10 years ago

He is magnificent in this role! Wow! Maybe people who are really in to the silly Sherlock figure and expert the same "dude" here are biased and cant see his great performance here?

reply

[–] ShannonTriumphant 10 years ago

I admit that I was only able to watch part of this series, not because Cumberbatch was so different from the character of Sherlock (whom I like and is a blast to watch; he's almost constantly in motion...sometimes silly, but no more than other incarnations). The thing that bothered me about Tietjens to the point of quitting was his utter stiffness and containment of every normal human urge...and at such a young age. He reminded me of Hugh Grant's "Clive", the upper-class gay man in "Maurice", who eventually squelches his desires by trying to turn to stone. I realize that Cumberbatch is an excellent actor, but that's not always a good thing when one is playing a psychopath!

His emotional unavailability reminded me of what is probably Harrison Ford's best performance: the crazed inventor in the adaptation of Paul Theroux's "The Mosquito Coast". He inhabits the role so thoroughly, that by the time he has effectively subjugated his poor family to his will (founding a "paradise" in Belize, based on ice-making!), he is so odious that even the viewer can't stand him.

This portrayal by Cumberbatch also reminded me of Damien Lewis as Soames Forsyte--not nearly as good as Eric Porter's, but quite hateful, stiff and wooden. Playing the repressed toff brilliantly is not the same as playing a bad guy who has at least some redeeming or "fun" qualities..

Oh...and I agree that Matthew McFadyen would have been excellent as Tietjens. He played a similar character, especially during middle age, in "Any Human Heart". Despite his stiffness and self-protection, he has very soulful eyes that betray a hurt, longing soul hidden behind the bulky exterior.

Nothing is what it seems. Everything is a test. Rule #1: Don't...get...caught.

reply

[–] maggie49 10 years ago

This is my favourite role of Benedict's and I think he manages to both portray the repressed and upright Christopher very well but also allows the audience to experience his solid beating heart and the intricate inner workings of the character.

I fell in love with Christopher and thought Benedict's portrayal was simply wonderful. I actually cannot imagine anyone else playing the part.

reply

[–] ida96 8 years ago

I'm just beginning to watch Parade's End. Your comment about his bulk/clumsiness and perceived ox-like qualities probably accounts for some of BC's acting choices. Tietjen is a brilliant, intellectual man but slow to react, slow talking, slow moving. And, I'd guess, slow to anger. Very bound by morals, mores, chivalric codes, he seems to be rather tied up by society, his situation and his world view.

reply