comment #1

PhilipGalasso says ...

I think this is along the same lines as all the recent talk (whichever side of the fence you fall on) regarding schlubby male romantic leads. I think it all comes down to the same thing, and that its easier to find sympathy with a character when its someone you feel like could be you, and for a number of dudes, schlubby and geeky fits the bill, especially when it comes to the guys going to see these movies. I don't think it's as out of the realm of reality as jeff does. speaking as an okay looking dude, probably a 7.4, i've dated both in and above my bracket, mostly above, something I take pride in. I'm not in particularly good shape, and am a little geeky, but not since high school have I really had too much trouble getting laid. I'm also not rich. Funny, it depends on who you ask. Point is, making the leads in these movies less "cary grant" and more "seth rogen" isn't as far a leap from reality as Jeff would have you believe, at least among under 30's, and that it often adds a level of "hey, that could be me" to the movie, making it more involving to watch (which is no doubt why transformers made so much dough.) what geeky 16 year old WOULDN'T want to have a transforming car and megan fox as a girlfriend? w

comment #2

T. Holly says ...

This is precious, thanks for bringing it to light, now all the galumphy guys can chime in about how their hot girlfriends find them heroic too. I'm sure this has a lot to do with looking in the mirror and the DIY movement.

comment #3

vansmith says ...

its the softening of the american male, the feminization of him, thats why the women are so sexually aggressive and provacative...

comment #4

MilkMan says ...

Too bad this trend didn't exist when I was a kid. I would've loved to Watch Eddie Deezen as Flynn in Tron. That would've made more sense. Personally, I'll wait for this whole Meek Action Hero trend to fade away. I like my action figures to be anti-heroes in the Kurt Russell-Snake Plissken/ Mel Gibson/Road Warrio/Ken Wahl/The Soldier mold, guys who want to be left alone, but who find themselves in a situations they can't get out of. Shia Le Boof is only credible when he's running away from something. Assuming that the American Super Ego (or is it Id?) is represented by the contemporary action hero, then what does the casting of these little kids say about us as a country? That deep in our collective subconscious we see ourselves as wise-ass weaklings? But we still get the girl, right? And we still kick ass, right? Of course we do. Not very existensial, and that's what my tastes run towards; loners, people on the margins. But I guess Emile Hirsch is a better avatar than Sly or Arnie. I guess. But I can't really identify with Emile Hirsch, either. Not that I want to. Which is the problem.

comment #5

BurmaShave says ...

Isn't Emile Hirsch decidedly un galumphy? I would equate him more with mid-90s DiCaprio, though with much worse instincts, excepting INTO THE WILD and presumably MILK.

comment #6

K. Bowen says ...

Well, this is problematic. Fortunately, Daniel Craig is still James Bond.

comment #7

Mark says ...

Stars like Clint Eastwood and Bruce Willis were men; these are boys.

Right; though as these particular scripts actually call for boys, I don't see any techtonic shift here. You could cast Hirsh as Maverick, Shia as Goose, and McAvoy as Ice Man and you'd have the exact action cast from Hollywood 20 years ago.

comment #8

Rich S. says ...

Nobody better tell Dustin Hoffman. He'll have to take Straw Dogs and Marathon Man off his resume.

The major exception to this rule is Tobey Maguire. Peter Parker is supposed to be geeky and dweeby. That's one of the reasons the character has been so damn popular for 40+ years.

comment #9

Mark says ...

BTW - isn't this the most tired of all regurgiatated stories. It was written when Damon first did Bourne, when Leo opened Titanic, when Pitt did Legends, Keaton Batman, Weaver after Aliens, Murphy in Beverly Hills Cop, etc.

So it's not only tired, it's inaccurate, as nothing has really changed in casting over the last quarter century.

comment #10

vansmith says ...

with these three, hirsch is a bad ass, mcavoy is so so with a permanent fish out of water expression, shia is the snarky bruce willis wanna be, he's just too small to be a real kick ass kind of guy. hirsch could carry the 80's man mantle piece, he's kind of small though...

comment #11

PastePotPete says ...

Rich S already mentioned Hoffman, and there's also RIchard Dreyfuss in the 70s, playing a role Spielberg wrote for Steve McQueen in Close Encounters. It's cyclical.

comment #12

D.Z. says ...

Spider-Man doesn't really count, because he has super powers. The other characters are good examples, though, because we're supposed to suspend our disbelief that they can pull off action scenes without a net.

comment #13

corey3rd says ...

I would have guessed if Robert Downey Jr would have played the Superhero Roger Ramjet - popping pills to get his secret power.

comment #14

Michael says ...

vansmith, I only half kid when I ask....what is 'too small' in hollywood these days? Lebouf as an action hero is a non starter.

comment #15

dinovelvet says ...

Its a bit of a false analysis. WANTED calls for a dweeb type in that particular role, ditto with Spider-Man. And isn't Hirsch pretty much considered to be a hottie? He looks like Tom Cruise Jr. to me. Or if that's what a "geek" looks like these days, then standards have suddenly gone way up!
And on the other hand, you've got recently anointed classic macho types like Daniel Craig, Gerard Butler, Josh Brolin, and Sly Stallone has had a comeback, so...I think we're seeing "occasional exceptions" here rather than some kind of "All action roles now go to 5 foot 5 man-boys" rule.
BTW, anyone notice that almost every time there's a "savage brute" role, they cast a non-American? Jackman as Wolverine, Butler in 300, Ray Winstone as Beowulf, etc. Is there a testosterone shortage in the US?

comment #16

Rich S. says ...

Re: too small to be an action hero

See: Alan Ladd

comment #17

Edward says ...

There were also Tyrone Power and Cary Grant. What about Henry Fonda and Jimmy Stewart? They're definately not in the mold of Stallone, Arnie or Russell.

comment #18

p.Vice says ...

Elijah Wood in Lord of the Rings.

comment #19

LYT says ...

With the exception of Shia in Indiana Jones, all these roles are based on existing properties. Wanted is relatively recent, but Speed Racer and Prince Caspian are children's stories that have been around for years. Why not include Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint?

And going out on a limb, I don't think many people are going to see Indy 4 because of Shia.

comment #20

Hallick says ...

Umm...what the eff is Ben Barnes even doing in this group? He looks like stereotypically conceited dick character in a high school movie. He's a pretty-boy, not a geek by an ENDLESS longshot.

comment #21

Joel says ...

I'm sorry, but this doesn't feel like an overwhelming trend here. For instance, Will Smith is probably the biggest action star on the planet, while Shia LeBouf happened to be in Transformers.

comment #22

Burbanked says ...

Seems as though this is more of a trend to cast a young, relative unknown in a franchise role so that the studio can get a trilogy for a cost. Not only are Willis, Stallone and Arnold not as young as they used to be, they were never very cheap. Further, the bulked-up 80s male ideal doesn't exist anymore, so the casting of scaled-down - or LaBeoufed - action stars shouldn't be surprising.

I'm pretty sure Johnny Depp is to blame.

comment #23

Josh Massey says ...

Thank you Mark for saving me the time to say all of that.

comment #24

frankin says ...

Daniel Craig is my favorite. It is said he is dating friends on a millionairedating site called meetingwealthy.com. His photos and profile ar found there.

comment #25

Rich S. says ...

"I'm pretty sure Johnny Depp is to blame."

You can also toss Orlando Bloom in there.

comment #26

Bocephus says ...

Blame anime. The target audience for these types of movies was practically raised on the stuff. We are used to the skinny, effeminate male leads.

Noone wants to see a roided-up meathead tossing out one-liners anymore. That was really only popular in the designer-drug decade that was the 80's. Now we see someone that big and are reminded of our decaying sports culture, which is a bummer.

comment #27

Jean says ...

Just to add: Bruce Willis' success in with the first Die Hard film was because he wasn't Sly or Arnold; he was an average guy stuck in an extraordinary situation - which is why audiences loved it (they could relate). In every film afterwards he was the superhuman action hero. That element of average joe-ness also helped in part to sell Keanu Reeves' role in Speed.

comment #28

Richardson says ...

Jean said exactly what I was going to say. dammit.

Also, lets throw in Hackman in 'The French Connection'.

comment #29

D.Z. says ...

Rich: Depp isn't a geek. Bloom just got stuck in geek movies.

Bocephus: The target audience for these movies would probably not be watching Appleseed Ex Machina or Highlander: Search For Vengeance-I'll tell you that.

Jean: Die Hard did well, because Willis had a hit show where he succeeded at playing a tough cop; and that persona transferred over to Die Hard. If he was really that "average", he wouldn't last 15 minutes alive in the building. Arnie didn't really have a big hit until around the same time with Predator. Sly only did well with Rambo and Rocky. Speed succeeded, because it didn't go for the Dirty Harry/Lethal Weapon approach of most cop movies at that point.

comment #30

bill says ...

welcome to the site wealthykiss.com!

comment #31

Burbanked says ...

DZ: Willis' David Addison was a "tough cop"? Wiseass, maybe, but I'd be hard-pressed to understand how mugging to the camera and spouting snappy double entendres translates to McClane-style machine-gunning of badguys.

Although clearly above average, McClane was a much more relate-able, normal kind of guy in an extraordinary situation - and SPEED is essentially the same movie.

comment #32

Dave Polands Gut says ...

They've been writing this same article since the early 90's.