Multilayered characters in TV

[AchtungNight]

Another guy named Wilson who is constantly looking over a fence in "Home Improvement". Down the street, his relatives are arguing about a boy named Dennis- They also qualify.

 

[Candy_Kane54]

Raymond Reddington from Black List played by James Spader. Outgoing and smiling one minute and a deadly killer the next.

 

[onehitwanda]

Wilson from House M.D.

Wilson from "Cast Away". Not much of a speaking role but a very accomplished method actor.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

Maybe we should create a new thread just for Wilsons

 

[AchtungNight]

Loki, Sylvie, and Mobius. In any variants.

 

[SimonDoom]

Wilson from "Cast Away". Not much of a speaking role but a very accomplished method actor.

I don't know. His performance left me feeling a little adrift.

 

[StillStunned]

A very well-rounded character. And the actor playing the part seemed to be having a ball.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Wilson from House M.D.

I agree with that one.

Em

 

[SimonDoom]

Wilson from "Cast Away". Not much of a speaking role but a very accomplished method actor.

From what I've read, like Daniel Day Lewis he stays in character throughout the shoot. It's annoying, but one cannot deny the results.

 

[AchtungNight]

From what I've read, like Daniel Day Lewis he stays in character throughout the shoot. It's annoying, but one cannot deny the results.

Similarly, Jennifer Walters in She-Hulk has so many layers she can actually walk around and through them. It’s… sensational.

 

[BelleCanzuto]

Okay I'll chime in.

The Doctor. From the show Doctor Who, of course.

While there have been many great actors playing the role, with various takes, I'll specifically address the David Tennant Era.

His version of The Doctor embodied a brilliant mix of childlike wonder, whimsy and humor, sadness and pathos, and a dark, brooding, seething rage just beneath the surface that occasionally let itself loose on his enemies.

Sometimes, all this in a single episode.

Even in the goofiest, campiest episodes, DT always brought his A Game and allowed viewers to suspend disbelief at the ridiculous "science" because we loved the character so much we could look beyond the impossibleness of it all.

David Tennant is by far my favorite of the Doctors Who, for all the reasons you list. Plus, he made the whole thing somehow plausible in all its campy glory.


This one's probably obvious: Stringer Bell from The Wire.
Smart if not especially educated. Wise, hard edged. The good lieutenant who also knew when to foment a coup.

 

[BelleCanzuto]

Omar Little from "The Wire." A brilliant tactician willing to fall back on brutality. A criminal with a deep sense of honor.

And, tender with the people he took care of. And, iirc, one of the first openly gay black characters on TV.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Sawyer had so many layers he was like an onion in LOST. Hurley is more of a parfait. Kate Austin was a layer cake. Jack Shepard was a chocolate lava cake (very few layers but very explosive). While Ben was Layered Nachos Supreme. Charlie Pace had so many layers, and not all of them all that tasty, that we have to say he was stacked pasta salad. Now John Locke was Worth the Wait Lasagna, or maybe Loaded Layered Hash Browns. Okay that's as far as I can push the food layers thing.

 

[StillStunned]

Okay that's as far as I can push the food layers thing.

But... but... lasagna, moussaka, trifle! Millefeuille!

 

[MillieDynamite]

I didn't say there weren't more, I said it was as far as I could push it. Oh crap, I so want to bing LOST again, now.

But... but... lasagna, moussaka, trifle! Millefeuille!

 

[cdstefi]

Mal from Firefly. He shows himself a capable and hard captain repeatedly (train job, Out of gas) but there's still a huge soft spot for people in trouble. (River, Simon, and Kaylee) He also respects that River is most likely stronger than him without seeming put out by it because of what he's gleaned of her experience and likening it to his experience in the war. He feels she survived much worse than he did and she goes from someone in need of rescuing to an equal (Serenity).

SHOULD Firefly have gone to a second, third or even optioned seven-series arc?
Yes, of course it should. But in its one-series length it has that purity that the 27 club rockers have. It never got old or tired, never had a problematic third or whatever season. It was perfect in its brevity.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Sawyer had so many layers he was like an onion in LOST. Hurley is more of a parfait. Kate Austin was a layer cake. Jack Shepard was a chocolate lava cake (very few layers but very explosive). While Ben was Layered Nachos Supreme. Charlie Pace had so many layers, and not all of them all that tasty, that we have to say he was stacked pasta salad. Now John Locke was Worth the Wait Lasagna, or maybe Loaded Layered Hash Browns. Okay that's as far as I can push the food layers thing.

I’m not clear, did you like Lost or not ?

Em

 

[Kumquatqueen]

I’m not clear, did you like Lost or not ?

Em

Lost was like a soufflé - beautiful to look at, seemed to have substance, but as you go on you realise there's actually nothing there...

 

[EmilyMiller]

Lost was like a soufflé - beautiful to look at, seemed to have substance, but as you go on you realise there's actually nothing there...

I didn’t watch it when it was first out, too young. But have seen it all once and a lot of episodes twice. I didn’t hate the end the way some do. It kinda worked for me.

Em

 

[MillieDynamite]

No, I loved LOST!

I’m not clear, did you like Lost or not ?

Em

 

[MillieDynamite]

Me to EM. The ending did not suck!

I didn’t watch it when it was first out, too young. But have seen it all once and a lot of episodes twice. I didn’t hate the end the way some do. It kinda worked for me.

Em

 

[EmilyMiller]

Me to EM. The ending did not suck!

I thought it was a considered ending - almost comforting. Maybe not what some wanted.

Em

 

[MillieDynamite]

It was JJ's kind of ending. Alluding to a hereafter and the good move on while the ambiguous stand still waiting to earn the privilege. Fringe had a similar ending. I think Abrams has a thing. My favorite ending of JJ Abrams's TV show was Person of Interest. I didn't even mind that Reese died.

 

[Blind_Justice]

Can't remember when I've seen a multi-faceted, well-written character in movie or TV to be honest. It's all "strong female protagonist", bland, stoic, good at everything and especially when a man is around. Fuck that trend. I mean, I'm all for strong female characters (read my shit!), but what happened to the Susan Ivanovas or Captain Janeways? Were they not strong female characters? Multilayered even? Why this insane obsession to turn everything with boobs into a total, perfect, infailable and most of all INSUFFERABLE bitch? Is that really the kind of woman young girls should look up to? Not the caring, compasionate, yet capable person Beverly Crusher was? If you want the tough woman instead, how about Ellen Ripley? She got shit done without being one-note perfect. Or the utter ass-kicker Rita from Edge Of Tomorrow who still left room for the male lead in their movie? There's your layered female characters, strengths AND flaws make a well-rounded character. Moments of growth and weakness make the person so much more likable.

I really don't want to incite a flame war, but I'm so utterly tired of Rey, Galadriel, She-Hulk, Captain Marvel, live-action Mulan and all the other girl bosses rammed down my throat. They are carbon copies of the same bland mold. Speaking of Rita, played by Emily Blunt:

Blunt, who stars in and executive produces gritty Prime Video series “The English,” slammed the concept of a “strong female lead” character.

“It’s the worst thing ever when you open a script and read the words ‘strong female lead,'” Blunt told The Telegraph. “That makes me roll my eyes. I’m already out. I’m bored.”

She added, “Those roles are written as incredibly stoic, you spend the whole time acting tough and saying tough things.”

 

[EmilyMiller]

Can't remember when I've seen a multi-faceted, well-written character in movie or TV to be honest. It's all "strong female protagonist", bland, stoic, good at everything and especially when a man is around. Fuck that trend. I mean, I'm all for strong female characters (read my shit!), but what happened to the Susan Ivanovas or Captain Janeways? Were they not strong female characters? Multilayered even? Why this insane obsession to turn everything with boobs into a total, perfect, infailable and most of all INSUFFERABLE bitch? Is that really the kind of woman young girls should look up to? Not the caring, compasionate, yet capable person Beverly Crusher was? If you want the tough woman instead, how about Ellen Ripley? She got shit done without being one-note perfect. Or the utter ass-kicker Rita from Edge Of Tomorrow who still left room for the male lead in their movie? There's your layered female characters, strengths AND flaws make a well-rounded character. Moments of growth and weakness make the person so much more likable.

I really don't want to incite a flame war, but I'm so utterly tired of Rey, Galadriel, She-Hulk, Captain Marvel, live-action Mulan and all the other girl bosses rammed down my throat. They are carbon copies of the same bland mold. Speaking of Rita, played by Emily Blunt:

Did you read my initial post?

Em