Michael & Alicia Fassbender ~ A Loving Couple Thread

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#1,081
logansrun said:
I have been reading comments on this site for a while, I am a bit of a film buff, and I have to make a comment about Ms Alicia Vikander. Please note this is purely subjective.



It's blatantly obvious that she's a very pretty young woman and a competent actress, but I really don't understand the hype surrounding her acting.



She's not classically trained, which is no bad thing, neither is Jennifer Lawrence, but I totally understand Lawrence's appeal. She makes you empathise for her, there's an everywoman quality about her, you root for her on screen, and off screen to many she comes across as endearing.



Alas, the same can't be said of Ms Vikinder. Don't get me wrong she's a capable enough actress and maybe in a decade's time she'll be a fine one, but in my opinion she hasn't merited "the one to watch" media attention given to her from the film roles I have so far seen her in, such as - A Royal Affair, Anna Karenina, The Man From U.N.C.L.E and ex Machina. From the few interviews I've seen or heard, her persona is more of a pretty but slightly smug, a bit too entitled and just a tad too pleased with herself college sophomore.



I definitely think she appeals to men, particularly those of a certain age, who have a taste for that still dewy from pubescence look, but I don't think her appeal crosses over well to the majority of women. It's hard to muster up feelings of support and empathy for someone who gives off the aura that she merits everything she has so easily acquired without putting in decades of hard graft to earn it. I have rarely seen an actress give off that energy in such a matter of fact manner. I am sure she doesn't mean to do it, but to me that's how she comes across.



I have to say I would much rather have seen the over half a dozen roles gifted to Miss Vikander shared out amongst the likes of Léa Seydoux, Kirsten Dunst, Mia Wasikowska, Saoirse Ronan, Lupita Nyong'o, Rooney Mara, Sheridan Smith, or Margot Robbie, who've all at some point blown me away with truly impressive film or television performances. Maybe all the roles given to Miss Vikander were turned down by the above named actresses due to scheduling or other commitments, who knows.



The only other actress I know of who's been given so many plum roles is Jessica Chastain, but unlike Vikander she's turned in strong crafted performances in virtually all of them.



I wish the (generally middle aged male) Hollywood executives and producers would go beyond their physical peccadilloes and choose really strong actresses for really strong nuanced roles, and if they can't quite get past the looks of their latest crop of PYTs, at least make sure their flavour of the month actresses don't give off the impression that the major roles gifted to them are a little beyond their hopefully burgeoning capabilities.
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As you say, the comments you've made are subjective and clearly you're not a fan. Personally I don't get the hype about Jennifer Lawrence, I find her competent but not extraordinary, and suspect she is as popular as she is due to being someone many American women feel they can relate to.

Of course you're entitled to your opinion and no actors are universally liked but I take issue with you hinting she is getting roles because of "Hollywood producers and executives ......physical peccadilloes". She has worked hard to get where she is and has been slowly building up her CV over ten years. She was nominated for a BAFTA rising star award in 2011 and won the Swedish Film Industry's best actress award in the same year. Some of the roles she got were offered to other actresses first, Saoirse Ronan for Anna Karenina and I believe Jennifer Lawrence another. But she took her chances and outclassed Keira Knightley in Anna Karenina. She learnt Danish for a Royal Affair and has learnt to speak English fluently for all her other roles in the past 4 years. Alicia was offered her roles in the Danish Girl and The Light Between Oceans which were both scheduled to shoot around the same time. But Tom Hooper deferred shooting to accommodate both as he only wanted Alicia in his film and was prepared to wait to secure her.

Personally I find her acting very impressive, even more so as she wasn't classically trained, and I believe she is very talented. Being beautiful is an asset for any actress and Alicia is lucky she has talent and beauty. Ultimately it is directors who choose their cast and clearly they can see Alicia's potential and talent which is why she is consistently offered good roles.
 
#1,082
I have to say I find Jennifer Lawrence annoying with her girl-next-door attitude. She's overplaying it.

And well, Alicia is trained in ballet so I assume you have to be able to express certain emotions physically. That's why she's better when acting without dialogue, I guess.
 
#1,083
Jennifer Lawrence is an entertaining celebrity but I can't say that I think she's much of an actress. Well, I do think she has good comic timing, but I honestly think she's ghastly in The Hunger Games and X-Men. And none of her characters ever feel really lived in or emotionally authentic. Which is maybe why I prefer Alicia. I cried three times while watching Testament of Youth because I believed her despair and her inner strength. I can't say that JLaw has ever moved me that way. But I also really love Mia Wasikowska, who's very lowkey and internal. It's just a preference.
 
#1,084
pearlyqueen said:
Of course you're entitled to your opinion and no actors are universally liked but I take issue with you hinting she is getting roles because of "Hollywood producers and executives ......physical peccadilloes". She has worked hard to get where she is and has been slowly building up her CV over ten years. She was nominated for a BAFTA rising star award in 2011 and won the Swedish Film Industry's best actress award in the same year. Some of the roles she got were offered to other actresses first, Saoirse Ronan for Anna Karenina and I believe Jennifer Lawrence another. But she took her chances and outclassed Keira Knightley in Anna Karenina. She learnt Danish for a Royal Affair and has learnt to speak English fluently for all her other roles in the past 4 years. Alicia was offered her roles in the Danish Girl and The Light Between Oceans which were both scheduled to shoot around the same time. But Tom Hooper deferred shooting to accommodate both as he only wanted Alicia in his film and was prepared to wait to secure her.
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She also won the Shooting Star Award at the Berlin Festival in 2010 for Pure (one of my favorite performances). The fact that many of her movies have been released this year (I'm obviously talking about small supporting roles too) gives the impression that she was offered all those roles in the last two years. She signed up for Seventh Son five years ago,if I'm not wrong,and that movie was released this year.

BagBerry13 said:
I have to say I find Jennifer Lawrence annoying with her girl-next-door attitude. She's overplaying it.

And well, Alicia is trained in ballet so I assume you have to be able to express certain emotions physically. That's why she's better when acting without dialogue, I guess.
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This is the reason why most of the actresses that @logansrun has listed are wrong for a movie like Ex Machina.

mollie12 said:
Jennifer Lawrence is an entertaining celebrity but I can't say that I think she's much of an actress. Well, I do think she has good comic timing, but I honestly think she's ghastly in The Hunger Games and X-Men. And none of her characters ever feel really lived in or emotionally authentic. Which is maybe why I prefer Alicia. I cried three times while watching Testament of Youth because I believed her despair and her inner strength. I can't say that JLaw has ever moved me that way. But I also really love Mia Wasikowska, who's very lowkey and internal. It's just a preference.
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Acting is subjective,but I completely agree and I love Mia Wasikowska too. Her performances in Tracks,Jane Eyre,Stoker and In Treatment are really great. Mia has a ballet background too.
Alicia is a very expressive actress or,quoting David Poland,an "emotional actress".Testament of Youth wouldn't have been remarkable without her work. But she can also be very subtle and precise in a movie like Ex Machina wher her ballet training is pretty evident.
 
#1,085
Each to their own, but I'll be surprised if she catches on with a mass audience. She's no Jennifer Lawrence who (like her or not) objectively is one of the most popular actresses at the moment, and a lot of that has to do with her off screen persona - again the everywoman factor. She's no Saoirse Ronan either who's talent shines out on screen and is a total charmer off screen in interviews.

As I stated before Vikander is a competent enough actress, but she lacks the qualities to make a big commercial movie star or a longstanding indy darling. Off screen she comes across as too vapid and aloof and strangely enough her girlish prettiness doesn't detract but highlight those negative traits - which does not bode well for studio executives, producers and directors if they want to get those box office numbers up.
 
#1,086
logansrun said:
Each to their own, but I'll be surprised if she catches on with a mass audience. She's no Jennifer Lawrence who (like her or not) objectively is one of the most popular actresses at the moment, and a lot of that has to do with her off screen persona - again the everywoman factor. She's no Saoirse Ronan either who's talent shines out on screen and is a total charmer off screen in interviews.



As I stated before Vikander is a competent enough actress, but she lacks the qualities to make a big commercial movie star or a longstanding indy darling. Off screen she comes across as too vapid and aloof and strangely enough her girlish prettiness doesn't detract but highlight those negative traits - which does not bode well for studio executives, producers and directors if they want to get those box office numbers up.
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Yeah, each to their own. The vibe you describe though is YOUR reaction to her and isn't shared by most people; I don't get the aloof or vapid vibe and have seen her being interviewed where she is very charming and endearing.

I doubt Alicia has any desire to be a "celebrity movie star" like JLaw, she's a very private person who is motivated by the craft, not fame. Regardless of whether the American studios want her, trust me she will continue to get high quality roles in Europe, she is VERY highly regarded here by directors and fellow actors.
 
#1,088
But also a big part of Lawrence's problem is that she's overexposed. She's still young and needs space away from the camera to develop. She also need to know when to say no to certain projects.

All the actresses listed above would probably end up grating people for one reason or another if they had the same level of media exposure. What people like in an actor/actress is often the same thing they end up hating as the actor/actress become more familiar.

The trick is to be public enough so that people are aware of you but not so much that you overstay your welcome.

People like Lupita, Vikander, Ronan etc are playing a much smarter long game than Lawrence. I say this but of course Lawrence in that very small category which a few people get put into every now and then. She'll have more opportunities and have more leeway to make mistakes ... which she seems smart enough to learn from.
 
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#1,091
Alicia looks great. But what's catching my eye is the second last photo in the set. It may just be that millisecond of frame but it looks like BCoop is making eyes at that dude. You do you Bradley :-D
 
#1,094
She's very pretty, but acting-wise, I find her quite dull. J-Law is okay. I was never into the hype. Her personality is both endearing and annoying to me, but at least she has one. Alicia just seems so... meh, and that's my opinion of her acting as well. But regardless, her success here is great and all the power to her!
 
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