Actor for Captain Smith

L

Logan Geen

Member
If you had to pick an actor for Captain Smith in a film who would you choose? Personally I think that Richard Attenborough would be my immediate choice. I think Attenborough is a fine actor and somehow I picture him very easily in that role...somehow his screen personality fits Captain Smith in my mind. For those unfamiliar with Attenborough, he played John Hammond in the first two Jurassic Park movies, Kriss Kringle in the 1990s version of Miracle on 34th Street and Sir William Cecil in the 1998 film Elizabeth. Entirely apart from the quality of these films, I think Attenborough is a supurb actor (I think he's been somewhat burned, personally I would also have cast him in the Harry Potter films).

Well, he would be my choice for Captain Smith in a film. What are your thoughts? I know that he may be somewhat off in the physical aspects but not a world apart and I believe his personality fits. If you don't think Attenborough would fit the part who would your Smith be?
 
How about actor Michael Gambon, known for his roles as Sir William McCordle in Gossford Park and, recently, as Professor Dumbledore in Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban.

Mr. Gambon, as Professor Dumbledore had a very pleasant, calming presence, which can also "segueway" (I hoped I spelled that right) into the personna of "lost and confused" when calamity hits.
 
I think Bernard Hill was the ideal choice, and I believe the part is his own. I also love Attenborough, but as i am also a 'titanic' fan of Jurassic Park, i like to keep the two separated and not see them intercross. Also Attenborough is more of a calm actor, and i cannot imagine him delivering the lines better than Hill.

J.B
 
Let's not forget Laurence Naismith, who played Smith superbly in ANTR and even bore a very strong physical resemblance to the man. My choice today would be Anthony Hopkins, who is not only an actor of the very finest calibre but also has the physical stature for the role - Attenborough would need to stand on a box.
 
Richard Attenborough has a long and distinguished movie career, dating back to WWII, according to the Imdb website. The role I most associate him with is the one he played in the 1963 movie, "The Great Escape", one of my all-time favorite movies.

While looking at a recent picture of him on the Imdb site, I can easily see how you'd pick him to play Captain Smith, Logan, even though he is now over eighty.

Another candidate to play Captain Smith would be Patrick Stewart, who has a wonderfully commanding presence. Give him a wig and a beard and I think he'd be a great Smith.
 
Good choice, Tracy, so long as he doesn't succumb to force of habit and ask to be beamed up as the bridge goes under
Smile
 
In my humble opinion, Michael Gambon was absolutely horrid as Professor Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. With all respect, Michael Gambon is a fantastic actor, I just think his energy and boisterousness was any good for Dumledore, who's supposed to be calm and never blow his top. In movie four, he snarls at Harry and shakes him against a wall.

Why I am I talking about this on a Titanic-related site? Sometimes I go way off topic ...
 
You do know that it is not always the actor's fault on how a character is portrayed. I think the director of the Goblet of Fire was the main catalyst. It wasn't just Dumbledore who was horribly portrayed, it was the book as a whole! To bring it back into a Titanic realm, you can't really say that Kate Winslet is a horrible actor because of her character in Titanic. If you look at Finding Neverland and other shows she is in, she is actually a great actor. To sum up what I am trying to say, it is usually the director's fault when an actor poorly portrays a character in a film.
 
Rose Dewitte Bukater is a contradiction in terms so you need a very skilled actor to pull that off. Miss Winslet was just starting out remember so I rate her performance as pretty good but if she'd had more training under her belt she could have pulled it off better.
 
It would have also helped if someone else besides James Cameron had directed the show. Even the love affair could have been pulled off without ruining the authenticity of the period had it been put into capable hands. However, ol' James had to get to it first. You know, all us Titanic buffs should get together and make a movie that has a good storyline, all the technical information correct, and the latest updates on the sinking theory. We could make an awesome movie if we pooled our resources.
 
Hi, George!

>>but if [Winslet had] had more training under her belt she could have pulled it off better.

The way Jane Seymour played the role in Somewhere In Time? . . . (I'm afraid I couldn't resist - the two films are so intertwined in my thinking.)

Roy
 
I believe that Bernard Hill did a great job as Captain Smith. For me, he just slightly beats out Laurence Naismith. The only part I did not care for 100% in Hill's portrayal (and not that he did it, it might have been due to the prompting of Cameron) was when the Titanic was sinking and the captain was in this great daze. Yes, historical accounts say that Smith was in shock as the early hours of April 15th rolled on from the great disaster which he knew would come. But I think Hill went a wee bit overboard on the dazed acting. Other than that small thing, I thought Bernard Hill did an excellent portrayal of Captain E. J. Smith.
 
This may seem an odd choice, but John Cleese. Comedy is tougher than drama-the problem with him is that he's tall. WILL
 
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