who should play Alexander?

[james]

I know, more film banter!
I was just wondering if any of you feel there is an
actor who would be better suited to play
alexander than Colin Farrell or Dicaprio
(seriously!). Is anyone familiar with Paul Mcgann
made famous in 'Withnail &I' ? he had the
perfect face and intensity although he's a little
old now. Any suggestions?

[nick]

I am beginning to get convinced that both Farrell and DiCaprio are actually quite fine for the role.Regards -
Nick

[susan]

I think that it depends on what you want or expect the films to be. Certainly, neither of them will be an in-depth analysis of what it was to be Alexander - but the ancient sources couldn't agree on that - there was a saying "Quot histories, tot Alexandres " ( or something like that) -meaning "how many historians, so many Alexanders" or "each historian describes a different Alexander". The fact that there are two films will probably encourage each one to be better.I don't think that the appearance of the actors playing Alexander and his companions really matters too much; I read a book about King Arthur, once, that merely described him as being someone that men would remember after a 1000 years - and I think the same is true about Alexander. If they can get someone with the necessary screen presence, then the details of colouring are probably secondary.In a way, the film of the 300 Spartans (discussed below) showed this. It was a B-movie, there were many historical inaccuracies but at the end, the image of the small band of Spartans dressed in red, forming into a shield ring and being shot to death by the Persian Immortals dressed in black got the message across well - you could see why their stand at Thermopylae is still remembered after 2500 years.At any rate, the films give us something to discuss - and I'm sure that Alexander would be very pleased to have so much money being spent on him. He liked grand gestures after all.RegardsSusan

[anna]

Dear Susan, that's exactly what i wanted to say on the topic.Thank you for expressing my thoughts as well so nicely (and saving me an effort)

[Halil]

Hello SusanWasn't it rather that Alexander liked to make grand gestures himself because he could afford it, but he worried about the amount of money other people spent because of him? For example, he set a limit on the amount of money that could be spent by someone who had invited him to dinner. It is also recorded that he worried about the extravagance of using silver nails in boots. This sounds like someone who wanted money to be spent wisely, not extravagantly. Just a thought...Regards - Halil

[james]

indeed susan!
He would have enjoyed the fuss.