Jean Hatchet has a scathing Critic piece on Eddie Izzard.
The Great Pretender
When does acting stop and real life begin?
Former Sherlock Holmes, Robert Downey Jr, once said, “I know very little about acting. I’m just an incredibly gifted faker.”
It is perhaps a blueprint for acting that Eddie Izzard is tempted to adopt in excess. So much so that he blatantly attempts to blur the lines between acting and his real life, to the point where we might wonder when Eddie is acting and when he stops. Is it when he says he’s a woman and puts on a dress and stiletto boots, or when he plays the part of a man, as a man, for a huge salary?
Familiar territory, but well worth reading as a reminder that celebrities rarely seem to resist the temptation to treat the rest of us as fools. It is no great stretch to conclude that the entertainment industries generally treat us as fools.
I can see why Eddie doesn’t choose “girl mode” when he seeks a film role. Eddie is not a girl, because he’s 60 years old — and he’s not a woman because he’s a man. His commitment to “womanning” seems to be secondary to his desire for top billing. A woman by contrast can take off her lipstick and whistle. No one will come and offer her the role of Sherlock. Izzard knows this very well.
5 comments:
I'm sure we'll see a female Sherlock pretty soon.
Sherlock Holmes as a woman? Amazingly, Izzard played a Nazi communications officer in the (?) 2007 film Valkyrie, about the plot to kill Hitler. I thought he did quite a decent job of it.
I was a bit upset to read in the linked article that his chances of standing as a Labour candidate are receding. That would have been an interesting campaign, and would have helped the Labour Party tear itself apart. The idealistic daft students who make up one part of the support would have been wildly keen on the pathetic old dear. The Asians and the decayed working class, less so.
Izzard, He/she/it/they/them is sinking into the slough of nonentity.
I hope he has some true friends, because for the rest of us, who?
His place has been taken by Frankie (I used to be a rebel) Boyle.
Cue loads of BBC canned laughter.
dearieme - but will she still smoke a pipe?
Sam - yes, I've also been hoping he'd make a success of standing as a Labour candidate. Sir Keir tying himself in knots would have been delightful.
Doonhamer - I don't know much about his career prospects, but the slough of nonentity is certainly a good place for him. May he sink further.
AKH - only of cannabis.
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