The inevitable Obama movie.

[doubleohfive]

What about (and I can't believe no one else has suggested this) Chiwetel Ejiofor? Not much on the resemblance level, but we know the guy is as versatile an actor as any who have been suggested.

 

[doubleohfive]

First of all, I think it's pretty silly to be assigning likelihood for casting based solely on looks. Hair and makeup artists can do a lot to transform an actor and make them look like just about anyone else. Josh Brolin did George W. Bush a few years ago, and he looks nothing like Dubya.

2) Physical appearance alone does not necessarily insure or equate a good performance. You guys are forgetting the acting part of it. Denzel, Will Smith - they are versatile actors who can pretty much do whatever is put in front of them and still fill seats in a theater. Can Lennix? Can Lawrence?

Hell maybe we should just say fuck it and cast Robert Downey Jr.? (and no, that's not a reference to Tropic Thunder but a reference to how he's been both Iron Man and Sherlock Holmes and would probably be great)

No one has said that the actor HAS to look like Obama in order to play him. The reason Harry Lennix is the perfect choice is because of the obvious resemblance AND the acting chops.

Everyone then came in with actors who they believed had what Lennix had: the acting chops AND the resemblance. The recent debate has been strictly about the resemblance part of the eqation. No one was saying that these actors should play the role simply because they look like Barack.

Lennix has the acting chops... says who? The only things I've seen him in have been The Matrix sequels and a few episodes of Dollhouse. What else has he done to indicate he's capable of portraying a U.S. president, let alone one as polarizing and as remarkable as Barack Obama?

Also: Everyone was getting hung up on looks and appearance and not focusing on the more appropriate issue: acting. Hence my earlier comments.

 

[Trekker4747]

What about (and I can't believe no one else has suggested this) Chiwetel Ejiofor? Not much on the resemblance level, but we know the guy is as versatile an actor as any who have been suggested.

Could certainly see it, if he can do a good American/neutral accent.

 

[doubleohfive]

Did you see 2012?

 

[Nerys Myk]

Lennix just doesn't have that Obama vibe. Perhaps he can capture it, but currently all I see a squarejawed military/government agent type.

 

[Trekker4747]

Did you see 2012?

Yeah, I did. Much of it is blocked from my memory.

He was pretty darn good in that, though.

 

[gblews]

What about (and I can't believe no one else has suggested this) Chiwetel Ejiofor? Not much on the resemblance level, but we know the guy is as versatile an actor as any who have been suggested.

This was the first name my sister came up with when I mentioned this thread. I thought then as I do now, that Ejiofor is as random a pick as Denzel. Why not just give the part to Forrest Whittaker, an actor I consider superior to all mentioned in this thread. O'Bama's racial make up is part of his story. In order to use Ejiofor (or Denzel or Whittaker, for that matter), it would require a serious make up job.

That being said, I do like Ejiofor a lot as an actor and agree that he is versatile.

Lennix has the acting chops... says who? The only things I've seen him in have been The Matrix sequels and a few episodes of Dollhouse. What else has he done to indicate he's capable of portraying a U.S. president, let alone one as polarizing and as remarkable as Barack Obama?

Ha! I say he does.

He is more versatile than you might think. His roles in the Matrix and as the very calm and in command, Joe Adams (Ray Charles' first manager in "Ray") are just two of the very different characters he has played quite well. He played a young singer in the Robert Townsend movie, "The Five Heartbeats" and had a significant role as a staff member in the short lived "Commander-in-Chief", not to mention his excellent work in Dollhouse. Although in Dollhouse he always appeared to me to be a bit bigger than the material.

In short, in every role I've seen him in, he has appeared, at the least, to be exactly who he is supposed to be. He is an actor who can convey presence, an ability to appear in command, and is somewhat charismatic.

Additionally, someone just mentioned the voice. This is something that cannot be diminished in importance since a movie would be a one dimensional representation of the man. That voice is one of O'Bama's most distinguishing characteristics and Lennix has the ability to present this otherwise superficial (but hard to reproduce) characteristic rather well.

 

[Sci]

O'Bama's racial make up is part of his story....

<SNIP>

That voice is one of O'Bama's most distinguishing characteristics and Lennix has the ability to present this otherwise superficial (but hard to reproduce) characteristic rather well.

There seems to be some confusion here.

The President of the United States is a man named Barack Obama, not Barack O'Bama.

 

[Captaindemotion]

^ Though there's a long-standing joke in Ireland that, because of his Irish ancestry, the apostrophe is missing. He acknowledged it himself in his visit last year:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAYdpV6X5cU

 

[gblews]

O'Bama's racial make up is part of his story....

<SNIP>

That voice is one of O'Bama's most distinguishing characteristics and Lennix has the ability to present this otherwise superficial (but hard to reproduce) characteristic rather well.

There seems to be some confusion here.

The President of the United States is a man named Barack Obama, not Barack O'Bama.

I'll be damned if I can tell you what I was thinking.

 

[FarStrider]

Lennix has the acting chops... says who? The only things I've seen him in have been The Matrix sequels and a few episodes of Dollhouse. What else has he done to indicate he's capable of portraying a U.S. president, let alone one as polarizing and as remarkable as Barack Obama?

Also: Everyone was getting hung up on looks and appearance and not focusing on the more appropriate issue: acting. Hence my earlier comments.

If you have only seen Lennix in those, then you know NOTHING! Go rent and watch the movie Titus where he nearly stole the movie in a walk from Anthony Hopkins, Jessica Lange and Alan Cumming. Then come back and we can talk about his chops or lack there of. . . The man can act. . .


~FS

 

[DevilEyes]

So basically, people are coming up with every well-known black actor there is? The only one of those actors who looks or sounds anything like Obama is Harry Lennix (no, I don't think that this Lawrence guy looks anything like him). And do Denzel and/or Will Smith have to play every single African American historical figure?!

 

[Owain Taggart]

Lennix has the acting chops... says who? The only things I've seen him in have been The Matrix sequels and a few episodes of Dollhouse. What else has he done to indicate he's capable of portraying a U.S. president, let alone one as polarizing and as remarkable as Barack Obama?

Also: Everyone was getting hung up on looks and appearance and not focusing on the more appropriate issue: acting. Hence my earlier comments.

If you have only seen Lennix in those, then you know NOTHING! Go rent and watch the movie Titus where he nearly stole the movie in a walk from Anthony Hopkins, Jessica Lange and Alan Cumming. Then come back and we can talk about his chops or lack there of. . . The man can act. . .


~FS

Yep, all he needs now is his starring role.