EpDis: By Any Means Necessary

[Dorvo]

Well, if it's a complaint, it's a very minor one. I'll gladly take an over the top B5 acting job over a perfectly nuanced performance in just about any other series, no problem.

Ben Zayn didn't bother me as much for some reason. Just goes to show, a lot of this is purely individual impression.

 

[Wulf]

Apparently I have a thing for "over the top" characters

 

[Lennier's Tears]

Apparently I have a thing for "over the top" characters

Heh. Somehow I think that might be a bit TOO over the top, even for me

 

[hypatia]

Londo Molari's entire first season was pretty over-the-top, wasn't it?

I, too, have a fondness for a bit over-the-top. :bolian:

 

[B5 in Oz]

Londo may have seemed over the top but I think it set the tone of the character and the demise of the Centauri as a master race?

 

[Springer]

Londo may have seemed over the top but I think it set the tone of the character and the demise of the Centauri as a master race?

That's a good point, from the beginning Londo was always a little over the top, larger than life, not just in his character but his clothing and his hair-do - that was part of the charm, and of course as the series progressed we got to know him more and were able to put his over-the-topness into context. So we accept it unconditionally as that's who Londo was, but I wonder how many people first watched The Gathering and Season 1 and thought that the guy with the hair really had to tone it down? (Not me, I hasten to add - I love over the top characters chewing scenery, it's entertaining)

 

[B5 in Oz]

Do you think that the character accent of Londo was deliberately leaning towards German? as the Centauri were depicted as a kind off master race?

 

[Lennier's Tears]

Hmm, I never thought he sounded German.

I always got a Roman vibe off the Centauri. Obviously there are many influences there and they look a lot like any Empire. The Roman thing is just my personal bias (and the polytheism ). There's definitely a lot of 19th century European empire there, too. The clothes definitely have a bit of a 19th century Europe military feel to them.

 

[Springer]

If anything Londo's accent was a pastiche of eastern-European, but not every Centauri spoke with that accent, that was Londo's 'regional' accent. I also wouldn't say the Centauri saw themselves as a master race as such – they wanted to eradicate the Narn but had no such wish to do the same to the humans, Minbari, Drazi etc.

 

[hypatia]

Their first instinct, upon meeting Humans, was to lie about how big, powerful, and important they were in the Galaxy. Perhaps they didn't see themselves that way, but the sure did want us to see them that way.

I think you have it correct with the Romans. Personally, I always saw the Centauri as being a lot like us in the USA. But the dress and hair do kind of suggest Roman, don't they?

 

[Jan]

Do you think that the character accent of Londo was deliberately leaning towards German? as the Centauri were depicted as a kind off master race?

No it wasn't. Peter Jurasik's often said that he invented the accent on his own with no suggestions from production.

Jan

 

[Wulf]

It never occurred to me that the Centauri could be anything but Roman, with Cartagia being a variation on Caligula.

 

[B5 in Oz]

Good points guys,

 

[Dorvo]

For his accent, I'd lean towards generalized Euro trash. If I had to pin it down, it's vaguely Romanian, Count Dracula sounding to me, with a little Russian thrown in for seasoning.

 

[B5 in Oz]

Do you think that the character accent of Londo was deliberately leaning towards German? as the Centauri were depicted as a kind off master race?

No it wasn't. Peter Jurasik's often said that he invented the accent on his own with no suggestions from production.

Jan

Thats interesting Jan, I wonder if anyone asked Peter what the accent was meant to be if anything?

 

[Jan]

it's been a long time and I don't think I'd be able to find the source as it was in an interview but if I recall correctly, he had recently been turned down for a part requiring an accent because whatever it was didn't sound right. So he devised the Londo accent from a number of elements on the theory that nobody could tell him that his accent didn't sound Centauri.


Jan

 

[B5 in Oz]

:guffaw:

it's been a long time and I don't think I'd be able to find the source as it was in an interview but if I recall correctly, he had recently been turned down for a part requiring an accent because whatever it was didn't sound right. So he devised the Londo accent from a number of elements on the theory that nobody could tell him that his accent didn't sound Centauri.


Jan

 

[Ubik]

It never occurred to me that the Centauri could be anything but Roman, with Cartagia being a variation on Caligula.

I always thought there was some Prussian influence too.