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Elizabeth's (non-)smoking and an odd resemblance

posted a month ago by Nanook (2047)
3 replies | jump to latest

Just finished a second viewing after a decade or so, and enjoyed its premise and thriller aspects just as much, with Noah Emmerich and Frank Langella being standouts, imo, but other bits less so, so this will likely be the last go-round for me. Anyhoo, two things leapt out at me:

Why would they make smoking such an integral part of Elizabeth's character, when Keri Russell couldn't smoke a cigarette convincingly to save her life? I can generally suspend disbelief about certain inaccuracies enough so they don't bug me, but she just looked so unnatural holding a cig and obviously not inhaling the smoke; just make her a non-smoker and leave it at that.

And this might sound weird, but once I noticed it, it became a point of distraction: to my eyes there is a strong facial feature resemblance between Julia Garner (Kimmy) and Brandon J. Dirden (agent Aderholt). Absent the sex, size, skin tone, hair and mustache differences, they're dead ringers.

[–] beauq81 (1142) a month ago

Because the way someone smokes is a quiet and easy way to show someone's state of mind. How often they take a drag, whether it is a quick or a long one, how they put the cigarette to their lips, how they are holding it... She appears colder, less emotional than Peter, but, then, she takes a cigarette and you see that she is anxious, nervous, relaxed, horny...

[–] Nanook (2047) a month ago

My point was Russell is a very good actress who can convey all those emotions with acting alone. She is not a smoker, however, so not only was the smoking not necessary, her unfamiliarity of how to hold and smoke a cigarette naturally detracted from her performance.

It's like making a character a juggler, but the actor can't juggle. Extreme example, I know, but along the same lines...

[–] beauq81 (1142) a month ago

Yeah, but you don't need acting all the time. Maybe she's standing alone with no one to talk with. Or she needs to stay calm, but we need a way to show that she is jumpy. That kind of stuff. Not to mention the fact that Russians smoke(d) like chimneys.