MovieChat Forums > Dark Shadows (1991) Discussion > ben cross great in role of barnabas

ben cross great in role of barnabas


I have to say i think ben cross is brilliant in the role as barnabas,i read somewhere that he did'nt have enough charisma for the part and that he was'nt sexy enough, i disagree selo7we

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I thought he was excellent in the role of Barnabas.

He was instantly able to make Barnabas a dangerous, yet sympathetic character.

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[deleted]

i read somewhere that he did'nt have enough charisma for the part and that he was'nt sexy enough,

Well, whoever did write that...I absolutely agree with them. Ben Cross as Barnabas was the reason that I, after the 2nd episode, stopped watching this revival. Couldn't have been only me who felt this way, either, since the show crashed, burned, and was off the air after, what was it, about 10 episodes?



"You may sit here in the waiting room...or, you can wait here in the sitting room."

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The show was taken off the air because it kept getting preempted by Gulf War reports. Imho, I think he had plenty of charisma and I find him very attractive.

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I fully agree and he would love to hear from you! Here is a link to his FB fan page and he DOES answer fan posts! Since the release of the trailer of the new movie, viewers are watching the Revival series on hulu.com more and are giving the cast some well-deserved and belated respect! Ben is a very gracious man and he cares about his fans so it's cool to tell him what you think and ask questions too! He so rocks!

https://www.facebook.com/actorbencross

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Since the release of the new trailer, he's getting new fans ever day on his FB page and many of them say that he is the one that OWNED the role in retrospect. It lasted 12 episodes and it has been well documented that the Gulf War coverage killed the ratings--not the cast or Dan Curtis.

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Would you rather he have been an old man like in the original series? Because that guy repulsed me. The show didn't crash and burn... The Gulf War news footage took it off the air. Many shows ended up being cancelled in 1991 because they couldn't get air time on a major network.

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I will always think of him as Barnabas Collins no matter what role he is in. And he can kick Edward Cullen's butt IMHO!

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Come on let us both be serious for a moment. The Count from sesame street can
can kick Edward Cullen's butt !!! LMAO!!!

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Tell him that on his FB page! He'll get a kick out of that one! Here's the link: https://www.facebook.com/actorbencross

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I thought Ben Cross was excellent.

What I found incredible was that despite avoiding watching the original series he gave a very similar interpretation to Barnabas as Jonathan Frid. This is possibly because of both of them being Sagittarians.

I also loved that his pre-vampire life was shown as 1790 instead of 1795. Better clothes!



The Fabio Principle: Puffy shirts look best on men who look even better without them.

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You, "fop" you! I much prefer "dandy" fashion of the regency era to the overly elegant later Georgian fashion of the years preceding it. Different strokes for different folks as they say.

"The game's afoot!"

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Oh hell YES he was a sexy vampire! After watching this back in the day I went out and rented all his movies that I could find (not an easy task before the internet, I think I had to look him up in Who's Who at the library). I had a mad crush on him for many months. Am watching his DS on Chiller and have a mad crush on him once again! Loved his portrayal of Barnabas. NBC shot themselves in the foot over this one.

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I thought he was wonderful in the role. After seeing only Jonathan Frid's perfect portrayal of Barnabas for so many years it took me a long time to get used to someone else in the role, but once I did I found him to be very great. He was very charismatic and seemed so classy and sophisticated yet he could also be terrifying and menacing. Just like Jonathan Frid. I love everything about this revival series but I think the casting is one of the strongest assets.

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Of all the men who've played Barnabas he was the sexiest and most alluring. The others are not attractive to me and were over acting the role or their makeup was just too odd. His looks and accent really added something. Whoever wrote that he was bad in the role must know zero about seduction.

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We treasure and hold close to us those celebrities that have touched our hearts deeply, and we do not like the idea of a replacement coming in assertively and taking their place.
No one can fill Jonathan Frid's shoes. He just looked like a vampire and the wonderful man that he was inside shined through as well. But when Ben Cross came along I was thoroughly pleased with his performance - an excellent choice! He had all that it took for the part and I'm only sorry that the mini series could not have continued after that fabulous ending! I've always thought it so funny to read that Frid received tons of fan mail containing photographs of women in low cut gowns saying "Bite Me Barnabus". Of course ... everyone on this post already knows this lol.

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