In the St Kilda post office this week I was slightly taken aback by a gigantic display of the new Australian postage stamps featuring four of this country's finest actors. (Well, ok, three of them.) But why only these guys? Take a look at the picture and tell me who's missing. Yes, I know, where's Naomi Watts or freakin Wolverine or Mad Max and where oh where is bloody Elrond? AKA Hugo Weaving, star of Lord of the Rings, the Matrix and one of my favourite Australian films Proof (no not the one where Gwyneth Paltrow plays the, heh, math genius or the one where Philip Seymour Hoffman plays a kiddie fiddler), no the one about the blind photographer living in St Kilda that also stars a self effacing and humble Russell Crowe....
Elrond and Naomi ain't there not because they weren't born in Oz (neither were Nicole or Russell) but because the Australian Post Office seems to have picked winning an Academy Award as its sole criterion for success. If you don't win an acting Oscar you don't get a stamp. (Mel Gibson didn't get his statuettes for acting.) Come on Australia, are you really going to let two thousand people who mostly live in nursing homes in Arizona decide who goes on your stamps? It isn't right guys; next you'll be putting an octogenarian English lady on your money...oh, wait...
22 comments:
So that means no Toni Collette (is she Australian?) or Eric Bana either. Bummer.
Adrian, did you see The Proposition by any chance? I'd be interested to hear what you thought of that flick.
Brian
Yeah Eric Bana hell of an actor.
I havent seen the Prop but there are 3 reasons that I might 1. It was written by Nick Cave 2. I've heard good things by two different people. 3 Ebert if I recall correctly gave it 4 stars.
Hugo Weaving is an Aussie? I didn't know that. He was bloody awesome in V for Vendetta.
Mike
You know what's great about Hugo is that he was born in Nigeria, sounds English but is an Aussie.
I think that dude from Withnail and I whose name escapes me was also born somewhere really interesting.
Nicole of course was born in Hawaii, lives in Tennessee, works in LA, but look at those cheekbones and that suspiciously unwrinkly skin you'd put her on a stamp wouldnt you?
I can't believe Cate Blanchett's agent let them use that picture. She's on my List, and that picture makes her look like Geoffrey Rush's fraternal twin.
I wanna see some Olivia Newton John. Zana-effing-du, man.
Dana
Actually now you come to mention it...That is a bit weird. And she is an odd deep voice at times.
She's pretty good though isn't she? I liked her in Elizabeth.
Liam
Xanadu who can forget it?
I like the big Grease at the end where she got all tarty too.
My favorite Toni Colette movie is Japanese Story. And it's set in Australia, so she should definitely have her own stamp.
I don't actually fault any of their stamp choices. They just need to do a second series. And probably a third. Hugh Jackman needs a stamp, though more for his stage talent than his screen presence. Simon Baker could use a stamp, though only for his role in The Guardian, not for his current hit The Mentalist, which seems to be a Monk wannabe, but not as good. And Anthony LaPaglia is a wonderful actor, although again, I don't find his current TV vehicle Without a Trace to be his best work. I liked him on Frazier and in the movie Lantana.
Seana
I'm afraid I cant forgive LaPaglia's "Manchester" accent in Frazier. What a travesty. Daphne's vaguely northern tones were a bit much but when LaPaglia showed up with his Dick Van Dyke impression, I lost all faith in him and to be frank, the show. That was the shark jumping year I think.
Withnail and I -- Richard E Grant?
gb
Ger
The very fellow, I think he was born on Zanzibar or Lesotho or somewhere. I know Wikipedia will have the answer but that feels like cheating.
where the fuck is the Paul Robinson/Stefan Dennis stamp?
Colman
Adrian,
Cate is great. Fantastic atress and a fabulous babe, this stamp notwithstanding. Among the things I find so attractive is her willingness not to have to look attractive in all her roles. A very self-confident woman.
I have to go now.
Dana
I agree. You never really catch her acting do you? She seems to inhabit her roles. And she's only getting better as she gets older.
Colman
Well if we're going to go the Neighbours route, what about Kylie eh? Or that guy who plays Harold?
I don't doubt that it was the shark jumping year on Frazier. And I bow to your authority on Manchester accents.But not withstanding, the guy is funny, even in a stereotypically written part, and especially when you compare him to the deadpan roles he usually plays. What can I say? I admire people with range.
And I do rather feel for Australians, who so rarely get to play Australians with Australian accents, but must somehow swat up someone else's version of English. Accents should not be the biggest criterion on the success of an actor. Unfortunately, a bad one or a noticable one detracts.
Seana
Frazier did really well for a long time though didnt it?
And yes he's pretty good is old Anthony LP. have you ever seen him on Letterman or Leno? Very funny guy.
I couldn't figure it on my own, so I cheated and IMDb-ed him. Richard E Grant -- Born 5 May 1957, Mbabane, Swaziland.
I always thought he was uber-English. It would have bugged me not to know.
gb
Swaziland are you sure? I knew it was somewhere out of the ordinary, but I dont remember that. I wonder how he got there?
You had me doubting myself, so I checked his website. Defo Swaziland.
Mad, right?
gb
Yeah, I was thinking about Frazier after my last comment and realizing that though it did finally all go south, it really held up for a long, long time.
I'm not sure there was any way to avoid the shark jumping once you put the couple that can't get together together. It's probably just where you should end a series, though Hollywood never seems to be brave enough to figure it out.
I'd love to see La Paglia do more comedy, either casual or formal, but I haven't caught him on the late night talk shows.
Richard E. Grant actually directed an autobiographical movie about coming of age in Swaziland. It's called Wah Wah and it's pretty good. You would never get that this kid was going to grow up and be Richard E. Grant from it, though.
Or maybe, if you were very intuitive, you would.
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