Stars also have a generic fit, as I said briefly before. Jim Carey, when you see a film with him, you expect it to be a fairly funny film. If you see a film with Arnold Schwarzeneger, you expect it to be an action film. Stars have certain qualities that make them suitable for certain genres. Jim Carey, being quite lively, quirky and naturally energetic makes him perfect for comedy. Arnold Schwarzeneger, having a fairly gruff, imposing demeanour, makes him perfect for action films. This is also fortified by their previous work. Bruce Willis, for example, having been in the ‘Die Hard (John McTiernan, 1988)’ films now has a massive reputation for action films as ‘Die Hard’ was a huge success so he was then cast in more action films such as ‘The Last Boy Scout (Tony Scott, 1991)’. On the other hand, some actors are able to pull off doing many different genres such as Colin Farrell. He was in ‘Phone Booth (Joel Schumacher, 2002) which was a fairly nerve racking thriller and he was also in ‘In Bruge (Martin McDonagh, 2008) which was a fairly dark comedy. Also, when it comes to casting, stars often hold particular influence because of who they have worked with in the past. Such as the case of Johnny Depp and Tim Burton. Tim Burton has cast Johnny Depp in many of his films such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), Sweeny Todd (2007) and currently in production, Alice in Wonderland (2010). Tim Burton obviously works well with Johnny Depp and therefore, the way Johnny Depp has grown in influence has some element of being to do with Tim Burton.
There are also many negative impacts of having a star in a movie. Firstly, and most importantly, is the cost. Many independent films and small-time directors without huge reputations don’t have the budget for a major Hollywood star so have to use other, unknown actors. Another issue regarding stars is their availability. Being a major Hollywood star, means they are likely to have a lot of bookings with many film makers all trying to hire them due to their influence so even if it does turn out to be a ‘flop’ of a film, it will still get a lot of box office revenue due to a star being in it. This can however have negative consequences where a star will be cast purely for the fact that they are a star even though they may not be the right person for the role. This may lead to certain people being cast when there could clearly be someone better for the job. A star also takes away some of the novelty of the story, with people concentrating more on them than the actual film. This is usually appropriate in some blockbuster films or action films where the plot is sometimes fairly thin and usually easy to follow. It is not appropriate for in-depth films that require concentration such as ‘The Matrix (Andy Wachowski, 1999)’ or ‘The Butterfly Effect (Eric Bress, 2004)’.
Some stars also have major clashes with others. This can be due to divorces, prior arguments, competition, fierce difference of opinion or a number of other things. This is most prominent in the case of Jennifer Aniston, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. Brad Pitt had an affair with Angelina Jolie which seemed to be provoked by the 2005 film ‘Mr and Mrs Smith (Doug Liman) that they were in together. This obviously sparked of a lot of conflict between Pitt and Aniston. I feel that in future, they would refuse to work with each other if the situation arose. Although each person may be perfect for the character, they may be unable to cast them just because of their past disagreements.
Other issues that may prevent certain actors being cast over another are somewhat more obvious. For example, gender, it is very difficult to adapt a part to one gender after it has been written for another. Although this was not the case with the 2008 Action/Thriller ‘Wanted (Timur Bekmambetov)’. The part of Fox, played by Angelina Jolie was supposedly first written as a male part but was altered to fit her. Other factors like this include age and ethnicity. In a fairly extreme example, it would not be plausible if someone such as Morgan Freeman were to feature in a teen movie. For ethnicity, it is not being ‘racist’ as some may consider, it is just making the film as plausible as possible. For example, if a film were based in India or the Middle East and was entirely about isolated events there, a white American would not be appropriate to feature in it unless there was a part specifically written for one.
In conclusion, a star can benefit a film incredibly by giving it almost instant box office success depending on the influence of the star, giving the film a clear generic idea to the public and may bring a certain element to the character. They can also cause a lot of problems. Due to things such as availability, budget, having clashes with other stars or by taking away the essence of the film. Also their gender, age or race may prove to be a problem as if all the other criteria is met, they may still not fit the part they need to play. I feel that overall, for blockbuster movies which may not require as much attention to the plot, stars are essential but for those more obscure films that require a bit more analysis of what is going on, stars can take away the essence and leave it just to being a film about that particular star.
