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Christopher Eccleston

Peach Pie

10:02 / 20.11.02

I recently saw Christopher Eccleston on stage, and his talent defies words. Surely the best actor in Britain, no?

Our Lady of The Two Towers

10:25 / 20.11.02

Not at all, though I'm not sure who I'd put on that top spot, but I think Ian Holm is certainly better, or did you mean 'best young actor'? I've got a bit of a soft spot for Anton Lesser too, though he hasn't, to my knowledge, had anything where he's been at centre stage but he normally does a good job in supporting roles.

I haven't seen him on stage or in '28 Days Later', but he seems to have done gritty dramas which have him acting in one particular type; 'Our Friends in the North', 'Cracker' and that disabled thing a month or so ago, which I saw a little bit of but mainly missed. Did anyone see 'Elizabeth' which he was in, did he act against type then?

DaveBCooper

10:36 / 20.11.02

CE always brings a certain presence, but best actor ..? Hmmm, I’d be inclined to go for John Hurt, offhand.

DBC

ONLY NICE THINGS

10:44 / 20.11.02

Haven't seen Ecclestone on stage, so if we're talking about stage acting, I'm not sure. I would say that Mark Rylance, Simon Russell Beale and Richard McCabe, none of them much older than Eccleston, are IMHO better actors than Eccleston has shown himself to be in TV and film...

The Strobe

11:20 / 20.11.02

Ecclestone is very much a niche performer - most of his roles, to be honest, have been relatively similar.

By contrast, the people Haus namechecks are far more flexible actors. I've seen Simon Russell Beale do a fair amount of very varied work, certainly, and Mark Rylance will try his hand at anything. Ecclestone's "Flesh and Blood" for BBC2 was very good recently, though, and possibly a bit of a departure for him.

But no, he was very similar in Elizabeth to most of his parts and performances.

Peach Pie

12:44 / 20.11.02

i think he is often cast in similar roles, but that's not to say he can't expand. He is teriffic in Hamlet, intense, energetic, electric. You really can't take your eyes off him for a second. He brought out the conflicts of the character more clearly than anyone else I had seen in the role.

The Strobe

13:21 / 20.11.02

Well, Hamlet's a part you can play a thousand ways, and from what I've read/heard of that performance, Ecclestone was really good at pulling that part of the character out. Actually, from what I've heard of it, that production sounds very similar to the Russell Beale Hamlet I saw - great Hamlet, rest of production not up to much. Supervisor of mine laid into the Ecclestone production.

To be honest, the best Hamlet I've ever seen was Sam West, summer 2001, at Stratford. Which was just stunning on every level (ie great production, great cast).

wembley can change in 28 days

13:34 / 20.11.02

Mark fucking Rylance!

Even crippled by a mediocre cast in the Globe production of Hamlet two summers ago, he is the image I now see when I think of Hamlet. He was fucking incredible. I wish I had better adverbs for him than 'fucking,' but my mind goes fucking blank when I think about it. Hot damn, but he was fucking good.

Peach Pie

19:27 / 20.11.02

I swear - if you see christopher you will be blown away. No self-conscious, no undue deference to the role, no archaic received pronunciation. he didn't seem to miss a trick in his delivery, he had a fine comedic turn and had the audiences in stitches whenever he wanted to. He was bold, outrageous, witty, shocking and sympathetic without being the least bit soppy or sentimental.

The Strobe

22:23 / 20.11.02

And I swear he can't beat Sam West, and I don't need to see the Ecclestone to say that

Face it: everyone has their own favourite Hamlet. Not necessarily the first, just the one that makes the most sense as to the way you read the character.

Peach Pie

08:09 / 21.11.02

well i've seen sam west but YOU haven't seen ecclescakes!

ONLY NICE THINGS

09:07 / 21.11.02

So, what you mean is, "I really like Christopher Ecclestone. I think he is the best actor in Britain. If you disagree, I am going to talk about Christopher Eccleston and how good he is a bit more."

Excellent.

Peach Pie

14:04 / 21.11.02

i see haus has played this game before.

christopher eccleston is tops!!!

Mourne Kransky

22:17 / 23.11.02

Just saw 28 Days Later, which was surprisingly good for a Brit SF /Zombie movie btw, but there was old Christopher doing that same thing he always does. I might be more taken with him if I ever saw him play someone frivolous or a romantic hero perhaps. Got himself a bit typecast, has he not?

Regrettable Juvenilia

19:20 / 24.11.02

If anyone wants to see Ecclestone's most ignoble hour, I recommend renting Gone In 60 Seconds. That is the only context in which I will ever say those seven words. "They call him the Carpenter. Because's he's a carpenter." Aiiieee!

Our Lady of The Two Towers

09:15 / 25.11.02

He's currently working on a film that'll be on telly 'soon', in which he plays a carpenter who has a mental breakdown and believes he's Jesus. It's apparently anti-Organised Religion, not anti-Christianity, but watch out for the newspapers dusting down arguments they haven't used since 'Life of Brian' came out.

Peach Pie

13:36 / 27.11.02

typecast yes, but highly convincing, no? I personally believe that "Shallow Grave", not "Trainspotting", was the great new wave brit film of the last decade, and who else could have played an accountant who goes mad without making people laugh?

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