Sunday, May 07, 2006

Hero Head-Scratcher

Even in LA, where the LA Times Calendar-section reporters might be expected to know their subject matter, I encounter what-was-he-thinking? statements that make me wonder whether the reporters (or their copy-editors, or the research department) all nod off narcoleptically at times. (For instance, a few months ago a photo caption called "Lost" ratings-challenged.) Here's one in the current issue's interview of Brandon Routh, the new movie Superman, by Times staff writer Geoff Boucher:

"This new Man of Steel points out that Tobey Maguire, Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale have recently portrayed superheroes and have not been confined to those personas by the movie-going audience. True, but those actors, unlike Reeve and Routh, were not virtual unknowns when they suited up."

Really? And what exactly was Hugh Jackman known for when he played Wolverine in 2000's X-Men movie? A review of IMDB shows that he wasn't in any American films before that feature put him on the map. I don't think a history of Australian and British stage and TV work make one a "known" actor in the US.

No comments: