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Lord John Grey And Royal Wedding Fever! 


Outlander Goodies! 


From Spartacus to Outlander?

When I first watched Spartacus: Blood and Stone (to give it the full title) was the first time I saw the actor Andy Whitfield on the screen and I let out an involuntary "Oooooo!". Maybe not the best of ideas as I was watching it on my laptop with the headphones on and I had to pause it in order to explain to my children that I wasn't in any kind of distress!

For anyone who hasn't seen the delectable Andy Whitfield in action it is a sight that any red blooded woman (and man for that matter) should see at least once in their lifetime. The mini-series probably isn't for everyone. There is lots of sex, lots of violence, lots of blood, lots of nakedness, tons of corruption and betrayal and did I mention the sex? I consider myself pretty broadminded and even I was a tad shocked by some of it!

Anyway, Andy Whitfield is hooooot! He has the most beautiful slanted eyes I have ever seen on a human being and whilst he isn't a red head, he isn't a Scot and he is only 6' I would actually be willing to overlook that if he was to be cast as our very own Scottish Jamie! (Hair dye or wig not optional though).

The character Andy plays is Spartacus himself and as you can imagine he is excellent at the action scenes and has a "quite nice" body but it is the relationship with his wife which really makes you think of Jamie and the determination he feels to be reunited when they are separated.  I understand that Andy Whitfield is simply playing a role but some of the scripting could easily have come straight from a Diana Gabaldon book!

On a more negative note though, Andy Whitfield is currently undergoing treatment for non-hodgkins lymphoma and therefore is currently quite ill and obviously not working at the moment. It is so sad that anyone, regardless of whether they are in the public eye or not, has to go through awful illnesses in that way and I'm sure we all wish him lots of luck and best wishes for a speedy recovery. 


Outlander From A Man's Perspective!

My husband isn't a big reader but after much persuasion he finally agreed to read Outlander. The problem of course is that I missed him whilst he was ensconced upstairs in his own little world, or rather the Jamie and Claire world.  Why is it that he insists on asking me what is going to happen without actually wanting an answer? If I tell him he's going to be upset but if I don't he won't shut up about it. He is now beginning Drums of Autumn after finishing the previous book last month.

He has agreed unanimously that they are the best books he has ever read and he can't wait to see what happens. However, his attitude towards the stories and the characters was so very different to mine.

Whilst I see Claire as an independent modern woman my husband simply can't see why she won't "do what she's bloody told" and not "go galavanting here there and everywhere". Jamie has been stabbed, shot at and raped all because of her and her inability to stay in one place and not run off.  My husband does a great impression of Claire, (imagine a very high pitched squeaky voice), "Oh Jamie says I have to stay here .... I wonder why the lights are on in Gellis's house? I'm going to take a look". He claims Jamie has the patience of a saint!

If he finds Claire slightly annoying do you think there is any chance at all that he'll like Brianna and her not so subtle way of drawing attention to herself and making life difficult? Mmmmm .... I can feel more ranting coming on! Castlerigg Stone Circle (print) by gregartis 


Robert Kazinsky as Jamie Fraser? Who I hear you ask?

I've never been a huge soap fan but I have seen Robert Kazinsky on the TV occassionally. Have I ever considered him for the role of Jamie Fraser? ... No! I've only seen him as Sean Slater from Eastender and as I haven't watched Eastenders for years and years then you can forgive me for not thinking of him before. I was inspired by a tweet I read on Twitter ... so thank you!

What attributes does he have I hear you ask? Mmmm .... firstly he is a 28 year old red headed actor with blue eyes. He's 6' tall so he may be lacking slightly heightwise but hopefully that wouldn't be too much of an issue. He's English and I have no idea if he could do a Scottish accent but he is an actor afterall so he should be able to. Now I'm not saying he is 100% perfect facially but he is a really good looking man and there is a serious lack of decent red headed actors out there. I've never really been happy with the idea of using too much hair dye or wigs because they rarely match a person's skin tone and look a little strange.

Is he James Alexander Malcolm McKenzie Fraser material?  I'll just show you! 

Saturday, 16 April 2011

Frank Randall And His Evil Twin ... Black Jack Randall!

(Yeah I know they aren't twins but it sounded like a good title!)

There is little doubt in anyone's mind that the actor who is cast in the role of Claire's first husband is going to have to double up and play the sadistic Jonathan Randall as well. After all if Claire stuggled to tell them apart at first then having two different actors in these roles will be ... just silly!

Who should play Frank and Jack in the movie?

There have been numerous suggestions regard the English actor Jason Isaacs and I have to admit that his whenever I see the character he plays in "The Patriot" he simply oozes Jonathan Randall nastiness.  I don't feel however that it would be a good choice to play the part for two reasons. Firstly the role of Black Jack is far too similar to the role he played in The Patriot and I think most people would find it difficult to separate the two characters. The other reason is that he is far too old to be a convincing Frank at the age of 48. Although Frank was older than Claire I think a twenty year age gap would be pushing it slightly.

My number one choice for a Frank/Black Jack actor is English actor Richard Armitage. The beauty of using an actor such as Richard is that he has a wonderful ability to be either nice or nasty which would put him in very good stead for this duel role.

He has been in a number of programs in the UK but I first remember seeing him in "The Vicar of Dibley" where he was Dawn French's love interest. He is astonishingly attractive and I can certainly imagine a young Claire Beauchamp being swept off her feet by him.

I only viewed him as being less than a cutie after seeing him play Guy of Gisbourne in the BBC's version of Robin Hood. I suddenly saw him in a different light and my first thought was "Just go for it Marion and forget about that silly outlaw" my second thought was "Oooo! Jack Randall".

Here is a video of him being particularly evil.

... and here is a video of him being nice. 


Semi Naked Kilted Scotsmen!

I could have kept this picture all to myself but it was just too good not to share with my fellow Jamie fans! Of course it's a Fraser(ish) plaid and whilst we have a nice brunette in the foreground I'm pretty sure the guy standing next to him is a redhead! It's enough to make a sassenach go all weak at the knees! 


Gerard Butler ... Is he really Jamie Fraser material?

Let's face it no one is going to be perfect to play our beloved Jamie Fraser! There is no one who is that PERFECT! Even if anyone came close to that amount of perfection it would be very unlikely that he was an actor into the bargin!

There have been many actors who have been considered for the role by Diana's legion of fans and whilst some could probably manage to do a decent job of portraying the great hunky red head, I haven't come across anyone who I think is good enough! Maybe it's the same as when you are finding an ideal partner for your son or daughter ... no matter what anyone says no one will be good enough for them!

One of the more popular choices is Gerard Butler. I have to admit that ever since I saw the film Timeline he is the person I imagine whilst reading the books. I've also seen him in other films when he was younger and looked much more "Jamie like".

Good Points:
He won't need any voice coaching as he already has the accent because of the fact that he is a true Scot, not a highlander I admit but I'm sure he's happy to "do" the accent. He is physically fairly tall and hunky without being too muscle bound and he is a really good actor when given a decent part to play. He is overall a VERY attractive man and would certainly have the stage presence to be a convincing Jamie.

Bad Points

The problem with a brunette playing Jamie is that although a wig or hair dye will change his hair colour, his skin tone isn't really pale enough and the finished effect may be a little weird. His overall appearance is very sexual and you will never manage to persuade anyone he is a virgin no matter how good an actor he is. Although he isn't yet 40 really does look his age and no amount of makeup could cover the fact that he isn't 23 years old.

However, Jamie is only a  young man in the first two books and if the movie people decide to use a different actor for any later movies (not that I really think that is a good idea!) Gerard Butler would be my idea Jamie Fraser! On the other hand I think he would be an ideal candidate for playing Dougal ... I don't really care to be perfectly honest as long as he's in it somewhere!

If you haven't already seen the film Timeline you are seriously missing out on a great movie. What more could a Diana Gabaldon fan want? It has Gerard Butler,  time travel and a fiesty heroine by the name of Claire! (It sends goose bumps down my arms each time Gerry Butler says "Lady Claire") 


The Outlander Movie

Firstly if you are thinking of vikings and aliens then you have come to the wrong blog because I'm not talking about the Outlander film which was released in 2008 and starred the delicious James Caviezel. It was quite a good film if I am being honest but I'm not inspired to write a blog about it!. Instead I am here to talk about the adaptation of Diana Gabaldon's Outlander books into a movie so we are talking about the Scottish highlands, time travel and Jamie Fraser!

If you haven't already read any of Diana Gabaldon's books then you are missing something very very special and I suggest you to beg, buy, steal or borrow a copy of Outlander. Well ... maybe not steal but you get the picture. I've been told I can waffle on for hours about Diana Gabaldon's work so I'll try to keep it short and assume that you are as much a fan of her work as I am.

I began this blog yesterday and I only have a basic idea of what I am planning to do so this is simply an introduction whilst I get my act together and make a plan. My aim is to provide a blog to keep everyone up to date with any film news and at the same time to ask the all important and much speculated questions such as ....

.... Who will play Jamie Fraser?
 Outlandish Companion II Outlander Coloring Book Outlander Season 1 (Part One)