MovieChat Forums > Napoleon (2023) Discussion > Why does Hollywood always cast too old?

Why does Hollywood always cast too old?


If the movie was about Napoleon's rise to power, well, he became "First Consul" at 30 and was crowned emperor at 35. Napoleon did is rising in his 20s and early 30s, and Joaquin Phoenix is now 48. By the time Napoleon was 48, he'd been defeated for the second time and was in exile on St. Helena, and only had a couple of years to live.

Hollywood always does this with reality-based films, casts an actor considerably older than the real person. At least, it does with male roles.

reply

Most actors under forty today look and sound juvenile. If they need somebody to have the look, voice, and demeanor of a grownup they have to go older.

reply

But if you look at the portraits of Napoleon during his meteoric rise, he DOES look juvenile! Boyish, even, I posted links to portaits above and if I weren't on my phone I'd post more now.

No, the middle-aged suits who run Hollywood just didn't have the nerve to tell the real story, which was of a kid in his twenties rising to be co-ruler of a nation during chaotic times. They don't think it feels right, they think that older white straight men like themselves are the natural leaders of the world, so that's what they want to film. Reality is so much weirder than their limited imaginations.

reply

Because getting a great actor who is great for the part is more important than getting someone the same age?

And people didn't live as long back then, and looked older than people now at the same age.

reply

Here's a portrait of Napoleon, when he was First Consul, he was made ruler of France at age 30.

https://th.bing.com/th/id/OIP.28YP-EBicUuWCzU_NGwzowAAAA?pid=ImgDet&rs=1

Doesn't he look like some 18th century douche trying to look cool? Well, he wasn't some douche, he was a man who took over a nation by age 30, and was well on his way to conquering most of the known world, and that's the real story, because it was "chaos is a ladder" acted out in real life. Some utterly ruthless kid taking advantage of unsettled times, and that's a story Hollywood wasn't willing to tell.

reply

People got old looking quick back in those days.

reply

Well, I bet that Napoleon looked older than his years by the time he got back from Russia, but this is how he looked when he first became ruler of France:

https://th.bing.com/th/id/OIP.28YP-EBicUuWCzU_NGwzowAAAA?pid=ImgDet&rs=1

He looks young and douchey.

reply

That's a painting. He would have had the painter paint him like that at 55 as well.

reply

Napoleon wasnt an actor, he didnt need to make people think he wss younger than he really was. No, he was a dictator, and for an official portrait of a ruler, it would have been sensible for Napoleon to tell the artist to make him look mature and statesmanlike.

But he looks like a total douche poser there.

reply

Yeah, I cant take Joaquin Phoenix as Napoleon. He is too famous and too recognizable.

reply

Yeah. If they ever make a movie about the older Napoleon, defeated and living out his days on St. Helena and looking back on his improbable life, Phoenix would be DA MAN!

But for a man spending his twenties rising from nothing to dictator, um...

reply