So I’m rewatching ONCE AND AGAIN, a Herskovitz & Zwick (the producers of MY SO-CALLED LIFE) show. Why? Because it’s finals time.* Ahem.
And there’s a lot of things I’m thinking this time through, mostly centering on how much recognition I feel at all the classically identifiable H&Z moments and tropes. Some of which is wonderful and moving for me, and more of which, actually, is annoying than I would have expected.
But here’s my question. They did a simply amazing job of casting the teen girl actors, Evan Rachel Wood (who’s gone on to a very successful movie career) and Julia Whelan (who I believe mostly stopped acting after the show). And the teen male lead is… not as good. I don’t recall whether he improves later in the show (I’m still just halfway through season one), but it’s very noticeable. He’s not awful, but… the difference is striking.
And it’s making me remember just how incredible Claire Danes was in MSCL, and how in a few key scenes, Jared Leto just doesn’t measure up. (Like, after they’ve broken up and he comes to her house to return her bike, except it’s really Brian’s bike, and they’re talking about sex and death, and it turns out her dad is listening the whole time…)
So, obviously any show can have a dud actor. And I’m not talking about duds here, just actors who don’t always rise to the greatness of their costars. (And actually, I think the weakest acting in MSCL comes from Devon Odessa, who plays Sharon.) But H&Z have been consistently incredibly successful about casting female leads who take your breath away. Is it a general pattern that in the teenage years, it’s more common for female actors to reach great heights of naturalistic displays of emotion? Or am I overreaching? What do you guys think?
* I don’t actually watch much TV anymore; I never watch it live. But some semesters, when I’m really in a panic over finals, I feel an inexplicable urge to watch my shows. My first semester of grad school, I didn’t watch any TV all semester (which was actually kind of an adjustment, moving away from my parents’ TiVo and all)… until finals hit, when I suddenly felt compelled to watch three seasons of ANGEL. (My first-year-of-grad-school roommate and I picked one another for several reasons, but the complementary nature of our respective TV-on-DVD collections was not the most minor of them. I had MSCL and the Collectors’ Edition of Freaks and Geeks, both of which were hard to find at that time; she had… everything else.)
But yeah. I don’t know if this pattern is a reaction to the anxiety (Avoidance, the Greatest Strategy of Them All!) or because when I’m so close to freedom I start fantasizing all the things I could do with it and then I really want to, or what. But this semester’s papers are a particularly painful bunch for me (as measured by the triumvirate of how much I care about these classes (a lot), how much I’ve done on these papers (almost nil), and how soon they are due (let’s not discuss it)), so ONCE AND AGAIN it is.
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April 24, 2009 at 10:56 pm
I completely agree. And whilst there is something I like about Shane West, I don’t think he ever really improved. I am more annoyed that Julia Whelan didn’t continue (or get hired for roles) as she was so real, so true and unbelievably talented.
April 24, 2009 at 11:02 pm
I think Wilson Cruz, who played Rickie on MSCL, throws a bit of a wrench in this theory.
April 25, 2009 at 8:15 am
I wonder if it’s because there appear to be more potential dimensions for female characters. I mean, if they are trying to get a teenage boy audience, does it make sense to have male characters (and actors) able to portray sort of the “everyboy” (not like just anti-emotion and just wanting to hang with his buddies, play basketball, and do the video game thing, but someone that a young male audience can relate to).
This is really neat to think about … it never occurred me to contemplate it : ) I’m going to have to do some rewatching of VHS tapes of MSCL lol. Can’t believe I admitted to still having those … : ) Actually, I’m not–that was a great show!
April 25, 2009 at 11:30 am
Yeah, I think I agree, KLo. Jordan Catalano was never all that deep of a character. Claire Danes had a lot more to do, so I think that’s probably why–she had that opportunity that J-to did not.
April 25, 2009 at 11:58 am
Emily, I didn’t see your post…and I agree. Wilson Cruz was really good. Rickie was such an awesome character, too. I wish I had a Rickie, too!
I also was thinking of other TV shows geared towards teens. The Dawson Creek actors were a bit older, I think, when they started (around 18 or 19, mostly?) and I think Katie Holmes and Michelle Williams were considered to be better than the Beek. Though Joshua Jackson had his moments. Not that any of them are really all that good when compared to Claire Danes.
Did you guys ever see Freaks and Geeks? I often compare to MSCL just because they were both really good, authentic shows about growing up (as opposed to the super happy Dawson’s Creek, 90210 type shows) and both were canceled after a season but had/have huge cult followings.
April 25, 2009 at 5:55 pm
I agree that Claire Danes was the best thing on MSCL, and females generally outshine male actors, especially at younger ages. Maybe the range that we want boys to express is more limited, at least if they’re going to be masculine, so Wilson Cruz is not really an exception. Fred Savage on The Wonder Years, but he had the advantage of having an adult voiceover (Daniel Singer) adding depth — you see the kid acting, but you hear the grown man looking back on it with greater understanding.
On thirtysomething, where hthere were no kids, Timothy Busfeld did well with a good role, but for my money Melanie Mayron was the real star — a grown-up version of Angela Chase in a way I can’t quite put my finger on .
H&Z started out writing for Family, whose teenager was Kristy McNichol — not so great
April 26, 2009 at 2:22 pm
Good comments, y’all. I’m still not sure what to think of this.
I think it’s right that the range of emotions that the male characters are expected to portray is generally more limited; Rickie on MSCL is a total exception, and the character’s being gay is undoubtedly a reason for this. (Also, I think it’s a really good point, Jay, about the use of the older voice-overs in THE WONDER YEARS on this score.)
But how much of this is because of the writers’ sense of what boys are like, and how much is because of what the male teen actors can actually carry? Like, on ONCE AND AGAIN, Eli is totally not introspective and self-aware like Grace (and, later, Jessie); that’s part of the point. But he does have real problems on the show — in this first season, that he really struggles in school — and he’s supposed to express a lot of anger and grief about that. In a way, though, it’s not these big moments that he carries poorly (some of them are actually pretty good) as much as the more naturalistic scenes. He’s just noticeably more artificial.
Another thing I wonder is whether there are as many parents trying to break their young male kids into acting as there are for young girls. I have absolutely no knowledge here, just speculations out of my ass that this may not be the case, and might help explain why there are more good teenage actresses to choose among.
April 28, 2009 at 10:31 pm
Sadako: a bit of a belated response, but yes, we both love Freaks and Geeks!
May 24, 2009 at 2:21 pm
[...] So I’m working on my last paper of the semester, which means after a hiatus I’m back to watching ONCE AND AGAIN. …As in, I settled in yesterday after a long day of reading journal articles and practicing [...]