PT And we wonder why the acting in the prequels were so bad... Interview with Terence Stamp.

Terence Stamp (General Zod from Superman 1 & 2) who played Chancellor Valorum in Episode I: The Phantom Menace, reveals he didn't enjoy his experience working on the Star Wars set as well as not being impressed with George Lucas as a filmmaker:

"We didn't get on at all. I didn't rate him that much as a director, really. I didn't feel like he was a director of actors he was more interested in stuff and effects. He didn't interest me and I wouldn't think I interested him."

"I came all the way back from Australia to do it. I didn't want to but my agent leaned on me and I wanted to meet Natalie Portman because I'd seen her in The Professional. And I did meet her and she was absolutely enchanting. But on the day I'm supposed to do my scene with her, for which I'd travelled halfway around the world, I said, 'Where's Natalie?' And George says, 'That's Natalie,' and points to a bit of paper on the wall. It was just boring."

 

Maybe space opera just isn't for him. Should stick to serious actor pieces like My Boss's Daughter.

 

General Zod isn't interested in Space Opera? I find that hard to believe.


KNEEL!

 

interesting, I think he's right Lucas isn't a peoples director

place your bets before this becomes a Terence Stamp bashing thread for daring to have a opinion that isn't praising something

 

And Alien Nation, and Red Planet, and Smallville, and Elektra, and The Adjustment Bureau...

 

it was obvious in the PT that Lucas was way more concerned with visual effects and CGI than with character development and good writing.

 

***

+ The Elder Scrolls IV

 

don't forget

Far From The Madding Crowd

oh wait..

 

While I am in complete agreement, this sentiment is old, well established and accepted.

 

While I don't necessarily agree with him, I'd take the opinion of someone who actually worked on the film over some whiny bashers on the internet who had nothing to do with the film. Just my take on it.

 

so you only take someones opinion of a movie if they themselves have worked on it?

 

No, I just said his opinion carries more weight.

 

...So Roger Ebert's review of, say, Human Centipede 2, carries less weight than that of Tom Six?

 

God forbid 2 actors actually act in the same scene together *shakes head*

 

I've heard that second part (phrased differently, from a different interview), but not the first comments about GL. Where's the quote from?

Pity - I do rate Terence Stamp as an actor, but he was a non-event in TPM. Ewan McGregor has made a good few similar comments about working on such an effects-heavy film over the years as well, but he had time to get used to it - by ROTS he was in full swing. It's a completely different (and somewhat new) aspect to the craft of acting.

Similarly, some theatre actors never get the hang of doing films, and vice versa.

 

I don't, because it wasn't. Besides, other actors gave positive feedback from their experiences on the prequels, so...

 

Honestly, I'm not sure how much of it is even related to working with effects. My impression has always been that Lucas just isn't that much of an "actor's director".

 

...which is sort of true. He isn't. He has a wider scope, like a painter doing landscapes. That's not to say that acting doesn't interest him, but he just can't invest himself fully in that process, since he's concerned with every little detail of the movie. Like Harrison Ford said, he's a little impatient with the acting process.
Even so, I think the acting is great in all of the movies.





- Ow!
- Then you do feel something!
/LM

 

Bit of both, I imagine. Not being much of an "actor's director" may have become a bit worse when FX meant that it was that much easier for two actors not to even be present on the same day of shooting, in a scene in which they were supposed to be speaking to each other. Talking to a piece of paper with a cross on it isn't the same as interacting with another person, it shows in the performance.

I read an LFL book on the making of TPM back in 1999 in which it was proudly stated just how much could be 'fixed later', as well as just how much shooting they could get through ("We're getting through 36 setups a day!"), thanks to CGI.

 

I'm sorry, but terrence stamp isn't a well known actor. Most people don't even know who he is, let alone what movies he might've been in. Granted, he should've had a more meaningful part because he is a decent actor (maybe played Count Dooku, instead), but the fact remains that he was only supposed to play a small role, anyway. If he didn't like that, then he shouldn't have agreed to play the part.

 

Agreed. CGI was more of a priority rather than great acting in PT.
-Lightsaber fights
-Jar Jar and other aliens
-More space related scenes

 

IIRC: There is bonus content that provides an example of how Lucas alters a shot, digitally. The scene used for this, was the cockpit of Padme's cruiser ... Obi, Jinn and Ric were not filmed in the order that they appear. One of them was moved from one side to the other.

 

GL: Once more, with less feeling.

 

he was obsessed with shoving a lightsaber in every single person's hand and trying to cram as much crap as he could on screen in a battle (Geonosis).

 

Well Valorum was hardly some major part which actually required much of any acting on his part. I remember being surprised that he was in the movie that was turned out to be a nothing part.

Someone should have told him that actors are in a Star Wars movie are not the whole production but one element of the process. I don't think he would have cared much for Alfred Hitchcock either.