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Who Should Play John Galt In Atlas Shrugged?

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Felix

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Hi Everyone, I'm new to the forum and I'll be putting an Intro in the Introduction section, but before I do that I HAVE to get my two cents in about Dagny.

Maggie Gyllenhaal. She is perfect for Dagny. She is versatile enough to play young Dagny falling in love with Francisco, and older Dagny meeting her match in Galt. If you didn’t pay attention you might think she was plain, but add a dress and she is stunningly beautiful. (Which is something I remember about Dagny from the book, usually dressed like a man and sort of plain, but fantastic once dressed up) She looks fantastic in the 20’s look, infact, it’s her look! For anyone who’s seen secretary you know she’s incredibly sexy and an incredible actress. She is the only decent thing that came out of Mona Lisa Smile. Even though she has a name, she isn’t famous enough to bring previous role’s along with her. Basically, she’ll be remembered as Dagny Taggart.

Here are some pictures of her:

http://images.google.com/images?svnum=10&h...aal&btnG=Search

Some other suggestions:

Also, Seeing as they really are related I wouldn’t hate the Idea of Jake as her brother Jim. I think he’s a good enough actor to play a villain. If not, O well, but they sure are one outstandingly talented family.

Mathew McConahey (spelling?) would make a fantastic Ragner. Especially after seeing him in Sahara where he was an action star, I think he'd be fantastic. Not to mention Ragner is notoriously the most handsome man around, and Matthew is certainly my favorite handsome actor!

I do love Val Kilmer, but I can't see him in any of the major roles. Frankly, I think he's too old. It's a lot easier to make a young actor look old then an old actor look young. Hank would be of suitable age, but I think of Hank as a really large, hard man. Val is such a pretty thing. I like the Idea of Russell Crowe in Hanks role. He's strong and manly enough for it, I could believe he runs steel mills. Or even Kevin Spacey. (Everyone wants him as a villain, but he's just so talented overall I wouldn't care who he was playing.)

For Francisco, I like Lorenzo Lamas's son, Alvaro. He's not famous, but he's incredible tall and handsome. http://www.lorenzolamas.info/eng/interesting_facts.php Go to the link that says Alvaro Lamas in the second column under children. Alvaro is a bit young, but he's 4 times better than trying to get Antonia Banderas in a love schene with a really young woman. Don't get me wrong, Antonio's the man, but he def doesn't have a roll in this film.

John Galt John Galt John Galt. First off, I think suggestions like Denzel Washington (who just turned 50) and Russell Crowe are frankly just too old. He should be in his 30's. Thay way if they need to age him it's no big deal. I do like the Christian Bale idea best so far. His face is definetely Angular. He's tall, strong, handsome, and he always looks like he's thinking about something. Since I don't have a favorite I'll put him in as best choice so far. Clive Owen is also a decent suggestion. He's exceptionally talented.

I also like the idea of doing an open casting call like they did with Harry Potter. They tried to select actors who were 1. Unknown and 2. looked the part. I think Hermione and Harry are especially well done, not to mention Draco Malfoy.

Last but not least, are there any Objectivists out there (or on here) who can act? I'm not extremely shocked there arn't a ton of O'ist actor/actresses, but we just need a good, 20 or 30.

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For a very long time Jodie Foster has been my only choice for Dagny -- a strong independent actress with the right shape and look. But this passage in a recent article on celebrity Ayn Rand fans has put another good choice on the table:

"A few years ago, Oscar-winning producer Al Ruddy (The Godfather, Million Dollar Baby) told me that Ashley Judd also was a fan of Atlas Shrugged, and Ruddy considered her his top choice to play Dagny Taggart in his own ultimately abortive effort to make a film from the novel."

So here is a picture of a possible Dagny with the possible Hugh Akston:

http://61.139.55.94/dvd/pic1/high.crimes.jpg

I.

link to article: http://www.objectivistcenter.org/ct-1697-CelebRandFans.aspx

Edited by islander
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Ashley Judd likes Atlas Shrugged? What is it with these celebrity leftists?

Anything on record that she is a leftist? Or are you just assuming (or joshing)?

Since she hails from Kentucky and the world of country music, I would have guessed she's at least a Republican. With Tim Robbins & Co on the left and Christians on the right, a good old fashioned left-leaning Republican might be the best we're gonna get out of Hollywood.

I.

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I find myself thinking that it doesn't matter much who plays Galt. He always seemed shallow, kind of like AR's cardboard cutout of "ideal man" and not like a real character. Rearden, and Dagny are more important; they're actually flawed enough to develop. Rearden could be any hard-looking actor--I liked the Liam Neilson(?) suggestion--but I always pictured Dagny as an ephemerally thin blonde, hard but able to submit completely, too, when it suits her. I like Gwyneth Paltrow.

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I find myself thinking that it doesn't matter much who plays Galt. He always seemed shallow, kind of like AR's cardboard cutout of "ideal man" and not like a real character.

I disagree completeley. Galt is the most important. He essentializes the entire theme of the story. I also don't think that he is at all a "cardboard cutout of 'ideal man' and not a real character"; he stands out in my mind as strikingly different from Roark or Prometheus or Kira. Sure, they all have the same essential qualities and virtues, but their personalities are all different. Roark seems the most contemplative and reserved, Prometheus seems the most overtly passionate etc.

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I disagree completeley. Galt is the most important. He essentializes the entire theme of the story. I also don't think that he is at all a "cardboard cutout of 'ideal man' and not a real character"; he stands out in my mind as strikingly different from Roark or Prometheus or Kira. Sure, they all have the same essential qualities and virtues, but their personalities are all different. Roark seems the most contemplative and reserved, Prometheus seems the most overtly passionate etc.

I think you're right; he is strikingly different from Roark or Kira. But that difference, to me, is not in his favor. One of the rules of making an interesting literary character is to give him some fault to overcome. He learns and grows in the process, and that's called character development. Kira and Roark developed. So did Dagny and Rearden. There were things they didn't understand and things they couldn't do. I felt with them, and for them. I never felt the slightest interest in John Galt. He was just some perfect guy, pulling strings from the shadows.

Incidentally, I never understood why Atlas Shrugged was considered AR's best book. I think I liked it least of her books. My favorite is Fountainhead.

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What fault did Roark overcome? Dagny, Rearden, and Kira learned and overcame errors of knowledge, but I wouldn't exactly call those faults.

However, Galt did learn and develop. He figured out the evil behind irrationality and altruism when he was working in the Twentieth Century Motorworks.

EDIT: Corrected typographical error

Edited by LaszloWalrus
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I find myself thinking that it doesn't matter much who plays Galt. He always seemed shallow, kind of like AR's cardboard cutout of "ideal man" and not like a real character. Rearden, and Dagny are more important; they're actually flawed enough to develop. Rearden could be any hard-looking actor--I liked the Liam Neilson(?) suggestion--but I always pictured Dagny as an ephemerally thin blonde, hard but able to submit completely, too, when it suits her. I like Gwyneth Paltrow.

upon the first reading of Atlas Shrugged, I did find Galt seemed rather one dimensional, however, when I went back months later and re-read just the third part, Galt seemed like an amazingly deep character (since he was the personification of Rand's philosophy), while Rearden was just "some guy" . What one has to remember about Galt is that he is a person with no contradictions in his thinking, and therefore does not have to struggle like other characters. Perhaps its a fault of Rand's writing that she attached Galt too closely to her philosophy, so for someone reading AS without knowing much of her philosophy he seems rather flat, although I don't see how it could be any other way.

Edited by RI1138
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Galt Represents human perfection.

Hollywood represents the New York Banner

Grotesque filth.... your never going to see human perfection spring from Beverly Hills... or from the movie industry.

I hope they never make an Atlas Shrugged movie.

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Hollywood represents the New York Banner

Grotesque filth.... your never going to see human perfection spring from Beverly Hills... or from the movie industry.

They almost surely won't do a perfect job of Atlas. However, less ambitiously, are there a few hollywood movies you really like? If so, would you rather they were never made?
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