In the past, celebrities have appeared on HBO’s Entourage in two types of roles: either they’re playing themselves (or, you know, versions of themselves); or they’re brought in to play Hollywood professionals (or, you know, versions thereof). I’m not going to get into the first category, because those cameos/roles are fairly straightforward. What interests me, in this rant, is the people who play real people.
I’ve never seen Harvey Weinstein in real life, because the guy’s never in front of the camera. I couldn’t pick him out of a line-up of two. So when they get Maury Chaykin to play Harvey Weingard, an Entourage facsimile, I don’t know the difference. Similarly, Stephen Tobolowsky playing the mayor of Beverley Hills is fine because I don’t know the mayor, or what he looks like.
But when they bring in Stellan Skarsgård to play Werner Herzog (simply named Verner in the show), I’m outraged. Herzog has been in a number of his own documentaries, not to mention the Zak Penn mockumentaries Incident at Loch Ness and The Grand (in which he played himself and The German, respectively). He’s appeared on camera. He’s a funny guy, and it’s clear from his experience playing himself he has a sense of humour about himself. So why couldn’t they get him to play himself? Maybe there were scheduling conflicts, I don’t know, but knowing the real Werner makes it that much more painful to watch this false Verner storm about on the show, because he’s such a hack compared to the real thing.
I’ve never seen Harvey Weinstein in real life, because the guy’s never in front of the camera. I couldn’t pick him out of a line-up of two. So when they get Maury Chaykin to play Harvey Weingard, an Entourage facsimile, I don’t know the difference. Similarly, Stephen Tobolowsky playing the mayor of Beverley Hills is fine because I don’t know the mayor, or what he looks like.
But when they bring in Stellan Skarsgård to play Werner Herzog (simply named Verner in the show), I’m outraged. Herzog has been in a number of his own documentaries, not to mention the Zak Penn mockumentaries Incident at Loch Ness and The Grand (in which he played himself and The German, respectively). He’s appeared on camera. He’s a funny guy, and it’s clear from his experience playing himself he has a sense of humour about himself. So why couldn’t they get him to play himself? Maybe there were scheduling conflicts, I don’t know, but knowing the real Werner makes it that much more painful to watch this false Verner storm about on the show, because he’s such a hack compared to the real thing.
DFTBA
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