Worst PT Casting Choice: Poll

I actually like Hayden Christianson, I think he could have done a proper Anakin given the right circumstances. I don't even necessarily dislike Jake Lloyds performance that much; but it's the bottom of the barrel for me.

 

Lucas as writer, director, producer, final decision maker, owner, one not to disagree with, arbiter of all things Star Wars.

Thanks to Lucas for creating Star Wars. But needed help with the PT and didn't get it.

 

i gotta be honest. im really surprised that someone voted against SL Jackson...he was the perfect Windu.

 

Well he was...But not with that script in that form. I might be wrong...but there was a hint of 50/50 Windu from the Clone Wars. He was somehow written better there...More build.

 

hmm. I still wouldn't fault the actor for bad writing. i thought it was a perfect cast.

 

I myself was on the fence for Jake Lloyd, but I can't necessarily commit to that choice. It seems less a problem with the particular actor and more the direction. Remember that in the end Lucas was fine with all the takes and didn't try to get more out of Lloyd (the same goes for Christensen and Portman actually).

But if I had to choose my least favorite performance in the final, director-approved product, it would be Lloyd's.

 

Hard to say if was terrible acting or a terrible script/story and directing, or maybe and more probably: all them together! But I voted for the worst acting.

Both Anakins. Hayden in the first place, gold medal for him!

 

Considering that many of the actors from the PT have shown decent to good to great acting chops in other movies, I think you have to chalk up the terrible acting to the terrible script/story and directing.

 

Yeah, maybe. Even Ian McDiarmid, great in ROTJ and TPM, had a weak performance in ROTS.

 

I've always thought it was George's fault. When you put actors in front if a blue screen and day, "Okay, act!", you're going to get weaker performances.

I wouldn't fault the story. But the script (dialogue) wasn't written very well for some of the characters, i.e. Jake, Hayden and Natalie.

You really think so? Though Ian was incredible, and did a great job of being the Emperor, even before he was the Emperor. He tied the two trilogy performances together nicely, as the over-arcing bad guy.

I have to say, at first I thought this would be an easy pick, but after sering the options and really thinking about it.. Hayden wasn't that bad in Sith. Not great, but his acting seemed appropriate for Anakin, as a pathetic, confused, and emotional, yet at times emotionally numb, character. But his Clones acting was.. Idk. Maybe I just didn't like the character in Clones, and the acting itself was just true to the character.

Jake Lloyd as young Anakin: I considered Jake with Hayden, but I think he acted appropriately for the incredibly innocent character that gets thrust into a world where innocence gets you abused, and I think, thinking of it in that way, it makes sense that Hayden portrayed Anakin in the kind of childish way in Clones; He was still a bit naive, and the first time he was really exposed to evil, it was incredibly scarring, resukting in his first step towards the Dark Side.

Natalie Portman as Padme: I think she acted well enough. Anything that seemed lacking from her was probably becahse of Hayden's weaker acting.

Ahmed Best as Jar Jar Binks: Regardless of Jar Jar, I think Ahmed is a great guy, and did the best he could with the character. I don't blame him for his character's poor reception.

Jar Jar Binks...period: Probably the best choice, honestly, especially if you agree with my perspective, that the characters were developed or dialogued poorly, rather than acted poorly.

Count Dooku instead of Asajj Ventress: I wouldn't replace Christopher Lee in Star Wars for anybody. Especially not Ventress, not that I have anything against the character, just that she isn't Christopher Lee or Dooku.

Temuera Morrison as Jango Fett and Clones: I can't say that I see any fault in his performance.

Samuel L. Jackson as Mace Windu: I like the strength Jackson brought to the character, and it makes his death more powerful, being that he was a symbol of unrelenting power in the Jedi Order.

Matthew Wood as General Grievous: I think Wood did a great job, actually.

Jimmy Smits as Bail Organa: Honestly, aside from Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, and Ian McDiarmid, one of my very favorite casting choices and I really hope we get to see at least a cameo from him in Rogue One. That would be fantastic to me. Could almost be a goodbye for the character, who dies on Alderaan in ANH, very soon after Rogue One.

 

Even though Lucas didn't give him much, Hayden was miscast, IMO. I still think a good actor may have redeemed the role. I always thought Eric Bana from the Hulk would have been a good choice.

 

I don't think Jake did a good job. But it is rare and difficult to find a child actor who can do well. No need to reply with examples of good child acting, I know it can be done, I'm just saying its difficult so I get it.

Hayden is a garbage actor, though, and as an adult there is no excuse. And I voted for Natalie Portman, who is a very talented actress, but was apparently wrong for the roll. The chemistry between her and Hayden is so terrible its astounding. I'm not being hyperbolic. I am astounded that their scenes were committed to film. I suppose I could cut Portman a break, but since I don't know if it is Hayden's fault as and actor, or GL's as the director, the performance is so bad she gets lumped in with the hate.

Its really too bad because I like Obi-Wan's adventure in ATOC.

 

I definitely agree, but I don't think he was helped by Lucas, some of his dialogue was poor, and I never really felt that Windu was this all powerful Jedi. The other thing that annoyed me about that scene is how quick the other jedi fell, it wasn't the most sneakiest of sneak attacks from Sidious and they all had there sabers drawn.

I went for Jaja and young Anakin, again these were more to do with the character than actors.

 

Christopher Lee is a legend but Count Dooku was simply not a well-written, three-dimensional character. He just shows up twenty minutes near the end of the film to be the bad guy. I would have cast him in a role where he would be memorable, and made the Sith villain in II and III be a character like Asajj Ventress; someone the heroes could play off of.

 

Yeah I agree. Although I would not go the ventress route, as cool as she is. I wish maul hadn't died in 1. He should have been the Vader of the pt. Instead we got maul and then dooko and then grevious. Oh well.

 

I liked them all. Poor directing from Lucas caused all of those bad scenes. I like Hayden as Anakin the most. George should have tried to write the script better.

 

And here I thought I was the only one! Yeah, I really enjoyed the hunt for Kamino. It was also great to see Yoda actually teaching younglings. You'd think that you'd see that more often.

I certainly have to agree that Dooku sucked as a villain. He's in the entire trilogy for a whopping half-hour and it's really disappointing. Maybe it could have worked if he were built-up a little more, only to be revealed at the end of AotC, but yeah it didn't work out.

 

Nice about Obi-Wan. My favorite part is where he is chilling with Dex in the diner, but the whole arc is pretty cool.

I also agree with you about Dooku. I think I see what GL was trying to do, set up all of these proto-vaders, none of whom are strong enough for Palpatine, like, Maul is young/athletic but dumb/cocky, Dooku is wise and powerful but old/frail, Grevious is a technological terror but not force sensitive, and they all culminate in Vader, who would have become the all powerful sith apprentice for palpatine if he hadn't lost his duel with Obi-Wan on Mustafar. He is the strongest for decades but Palpatine is always on the lookout for the perfect apprentice, and sets his sights on Luke.

Like, I get the gist of that, but as a story-teller/movie maker, what is a good thread of an idea doesn't pan out, because now you have three movies with three bad guys that the audience doesn't get a chance to care about at all. Maybe GL needed to lean in to the carelessness Palpatine shows towards his apprentices/projects, and it would have made more sense.