Cursed divine roles
Lee Ayrton
Quite some time ago we had a discussion about acting roles that are
"cursed" and, if I recall correctly, it was suggested that actors who
played Christ tended to not live long lives. I recently read a review of
a roadshow of "Jesus Christ Superstar" and noticed that Ted Neeley, who
played JC in the 1973 movie version, is once again playing the title role,
some 36 years later. That's one slow-working curse.
Lizz Holmans
wrote:
Michael Powell, the British Jesus, has had a long career since his
resurrection.
Lizz 'But I still don't like Jasper Carrott and I never will' Holmans
>
--
I stayed up late to hear your voice.
David Scheidt
:Quite some time ago we had a discussion about acting roles that are
the longer it takes to catch up with you, the worse it is!
--
sig 61
part...@yahoo.com
My understanding of the "curse" relating to playing JC is that the
actor's _career_ dies, not necessarily that the actor himself dies.
The IMDB Character page for "Jesus Christ" is here:
http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0006201/
So I decided to check on a few actors who portrayed Jesus in major
Hollywood movies (defined as "English-language movies that I have
heard of") and compare their roles before and after playing Jesus.
(Caveats: This is an unscientific sampling, actors can have successful
careers on stage without appearing in films, not all roles are equal,
should we define "success" as artistic or commercial, and I'm probably
forgetting a few more.) In evaluating careers, I am including TV
appearances as well as movies. The results:
Ted Neeley, "Jesus Christ Superstar" (1973)
Pre-JC films: no film appearances, a couple of guest shots on TV shows
Post-JC films: a few minor film and TV appearances from the 1980s,
most notably as Curly in a TV production of "Of Mice and Men"
Verdict: Inconclusive, but film career did not greatly improve
James Caviezel, "The Passion of the Christ" (2004)
Pre-JC films: various TV and film appearances from the 90s and 00s,
including high-profile films such as "The Rock", "The Thin Red Line"
and "Pay it Forward"
Post-JC films: roles in "Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius", "The Stoning
of Soraya M."... no, I never heard of these films, either
Verdict: Curse holds
Willem Dafoe, "The Last Temptation of Christ" (1988)
Pre-JC films: several supporting roles, notably in "Platoon"
Post-JC films: "Mississippi Burning", "Wild at Heart", "Clear and
Present Danger", the "Spider-Man" franchise, etc.
Verdict: Curse fails
Max von Sydow, "The Greatest Story Ever Told" (1965)
Pre-JC films: various Swedish films which are not famous in the US
Post-JC films: over 100 films, including most memorably "The Exorcist"
Verdict: Many of his later films are not very high-profile, but he's
been working pretty steadily. Curse fails
Jeffrey Hunter, "King of Kings" (1961)
Pre-JC films: roles in over 30 films, including "The Searchers"
Post-JC films: primarily TV guest-star appearances, including the
pilot of "Star Trek" as Captain Christopher Pike (replaced in the
series by William Shatner as Capt. James Tiberius Kirk); died 1969,
age 42
Verdict: Career curse holds, and actor death curse also holds
Claude Heater, "Ben-Hur" (1959)
Pre-JC films: none
Post-JC films: a 1970 TV production of "Tristan und Isolde" is his
sole listed credit
Verdict: Well, 1 film is more that 0 films, so curse doesn't really
hold, but certainly not a big post-JC film career; inconclusive.
Final tally: 2 curse holds, 2 curse fails, 2 inconclusive. Someone
with more time on their hands and/or with more knowledge of film is
welcome to look through the other actors who have played Jesus
(especially in non-English language productions) and see if any
clearer pattern emerges.
-Robert A. DeRose, Jr.
part...@yahoo.com
> So I decided to check on a few actors who portrayed Jesus in major
> Hollywood movies (defined as "English-language movies that I have
> heard of")
> James Caviezel, "The Passion of the Christ" (2004)
Sorry, temporary brain malfunction there. "The Passion of the Christ"
is of course not in English. But it is still a major movie that I
have heard of. so I am leaving it in.
-Robert A. DeRose, Jr.
R H Draney
>
>Final tally: 2 curse holds, 2 curse fails, 2 inconclusive. Someone
>with more time on their hands and/or with more knowledge of film is
>welcome to look through the other actors who have played Jesus
>(especially in non-English language productions) and see if any
>clearer pattern emerges.
Victor Garber, "Godspell" (1973)
Pre-JC films: none
Post-JC films: "Sleepless in Seattle", "The First Wives Club", "Titanic",
"Annie", "Legally Blonde", "Milk", plus lots of TV and theatre, including four
Tony nominations
Verdict: Not a bad way to start a career.
Kenneth Colley, "Life of Brian" (1979, seen only in the distance)
Pre-JC films: "The Music Lovers", "Fall of Eagles", "Jabberwocky" and the TV
series "Ripping Yarns"
Post-JC films: "The Empire Strikes Back", "Return of the Jedi", "Firefox", "War
and Remembrance"
Verdict: Doesn't seem to have had a discernible effect of the path of his career
one way or another.
....r
--
A pessimist sees the glass as half empty.
An optometrist asks whether you see the glass
more full like this?...or like this?
Lee Ayrton
IHNTA, IJLTS that this is an excellent AFU post. Thank you.
Hatunen
<lay...@panix.com> wrote:
He was in the roadshow production that came through Tucson last
autumn, I think it was. He has gotten way too old for the part.
--
************* DAVE HATUNEN (hat...@cox.net) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *
Evan Kirshenbaum
> On Sun, 12 Apr 2009 21:34:15 -0600, Lee Ayrton
> <lay...@panix.com> wrote:
>
>>
>>
>>Quite some time ago we had a discussion about acting roles that are
>>"cursed" and, if I recall correctly, it was suggested that actors
>>who played Christ tended to not live long lives. I recently read a
>>review of a roadshow of "Jesus Christ Superstar" and noticed that
>>Ted Neeley, who played JC in the 1973 movie version, is once again
>>playing the title role, some 36 years later. That's one
>>slow-working curse.
>
> He was in the roadshow production that came through Tucson last
> autumn, I think it was. He has gotten way too old for the part.
He's also done it so long that most of the time he was singing
"around" the tunes, apparently trusting that the audience was as
familiar with the material as he was. It was the first time my son
had seen the show, and he didn't enjoy it much. I enjoyed it less
than some local and amateur productions I've seen.
--
Evan Kirshenbaum +------------------------------------
HP Laboratories |Other computer companies have spent
1501 Page Mill Road, 1U, MS 1141 |15 years working on fault-tolerant
Palo Alto, CA 94304 |computers. Microsoft has spent
|its time more fruitfully, working
kirsh...@hpl.hp.com |on fault-tolerant *users*.
(650)857-7572
Ray
> On Sun, 12 Apr 2009 21:34:15 -0600, Lee Ayrton
> <lay...@panix.com> wrote:
>>Quite some time ago we had a discussion about acting roles that
>>are "cursed" and, if I recall correctly, it was suggested that
>>actors who played Christ tended to not live long lives. I
>>recently read a review of a roadshow of "Jesus Christ Superstar"
>>and noticed that Ted Neeley, who played JC in the 1973 movie
>>version, is once again playing the title role, some 36 years
>>later. That's one slow-working curse.
> He was in the roadshow production that came through Tucson last
> autumn, I think it was. He has gotten way too old for the part.
So it was an antique's roadshow?
--
Ray
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