So it’s the morning after the Oscars & I’ve got acting on my mind. I was recovering from a nasty cold yesterday and allowed myself a rare day of day-light movie-watching. And, since my husband was hale and healthy and out-of-the-house, I chose those movies that he would, perhaps, prefer never to be forced to watch again. Among them was the Gwyneth Paltrow version of Jane Austen’s Emma.
I haven’t seen the version in a very long time. In fact, the only reason I have it is because it came in a 2 DVD set with Shakespeare in Love. However, I’m always up for Austen–any version, any time, so I popped it in.
I’d forgotten that Alan Cumming played the part of Mr. Elton the vicar & when I saw him, I was astonished. It wasn’t just that he looked completely different, it was that he fully absorbed and portrayed the character of the self-involved vicar to a T.
Now, just in case this doesn’t impress, let me show you an example of some stagework I was fortunate enough to see in person back in 2006 (Not, obviously, at the Tony’s–I had regular old Threepenny Performance tics). Here, he’s playing the uber-evil Mack-the-Knife. (Warning: the song is relentlessly dark and could be offensive to some.)
The man is amazing. Mr. Elton to Mac-the-Knife is quite a range–like being able to write sweet, romantic comedies and steampunk-vampire death-thrillers. Wow.