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A Quote Worth Repeating
Topic Started: Jun 23 2008, 08:09 PM (242 Views)
tammitam
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Out of the Fire and Back in the Frying Pan
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This was originally posted in another board, by our own SammyCat, but I felt it needed reposting ... because it was just ... fricking awesome!!!

So here here to SC for her words when someone asked who we would see playing Sam if not Jared!!! And girl I hope you don't mind me posting this here.

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For all the fanfare that Jensen gets, I think it says something about Jared that he's earned his place in the fandom. He's had to make his mark in a role that is not flashy, has never been as fleshed out and backgrounded as well as Dean, has been set up as a mystery and possibly evil, has been given geek credentials but never gets that geek-love most tv geeks get (compare the love shown to Willow on Buffy for example - they don't do the cute nerd thing with Sam at all), he doesn't get the funny lines most of the time, he doesn't get the pop culture references, he doesn't get entire seasons devoted to his emotional temperature. I love Jensen as Dean, I truly do. But Jared has been operating like Ginger Rogers here, forced to do his moves backwards and in high heels, and only rarely getting the recognition for it.

Jared has done a fine job embodying a role that is often rather nebulous in comparison with the attention Dean gets from the writers. This has been true since Dead in the Water, episode 3 of the first season. No one cares if Sam is a smartass, do they? But God forbid if Dean didn't get his special smart ass lines next season. Dean's EMO has been part of the fabric of the show from the very beginning, it's there, even in the Pilot. I am not talking about acting here, but writing. I just want to say that Jared has had to work with a role that is bizarrely less developed and enhanced than lead characters (co-lead) on other tv shows. And he has done a fine job with it with less public thanks for it than Jensen has. This is not to take away from Jensen, because he has obviously brought so much to Dean's characterisation, and is deservedly loved by fandom. Jensen is a wonderful actor and I couldn't see anyone else as Dean. It is meant to support Jared for Sam's characterisation. As the less experienced actor on the show, Jared has had to work with less material and attention, less detail, and a shifting storyline that seems to float or tank according to Kripke's interest level (lower in season 2, higher in season 3).

Sam is a subtle, quiet character on a show written with anvils, anvils, anvils, and very often those anvils aren't meant for him. Sometimes they are, but well, sometimes is only sometimes, isn't it? I just want to give Jared credit for succeeding so well in a role that hasn't been geared for immediate attention.

Jared Padalecki as Sam Winchester. I know he used to get a bum rap in the first season of the show, though I wasn't part of fandom at the time. I didn't watch the show at all until mid-season 2. But I've seen at least one review and heard about how he was treated early on (fans who thought Jared was talentless and ugly). I think it is a tribute to Jared that people really can't see someone else as Sam right now. That people have gone back and watched season 1 with different eyes than they did on first viewing. (People gave Jared another look after BUABS). That they can love Sam despite the strange way Kripke has set the character up, the lazy way he seems to be characterized episode to episode, is a huge tribute to Jared's talent and charisma. I think conventions have made it obvious that Jared is tempering his considerable energy and charisma to play Sam, whereas Jensen is in the position of being able to expand on his to play Dean. That's just the way it is. I wouldn't love Sam if I didn't love the smart, quiet ones. But in terms of role-playing, Jared is a Hare in the body of Sam's Tortoise. How many actors can pull that off and still be interesting? Anyway, I love Kirk and Spock because they are KirkandSpock, they are always best together. And I love characters with Contained Energy (Spock), and that is Sam in a nutshell. Sam is a contained force, an electric wire, but sometimes the tension in that wire doesn't get seen or felt right away.

The chemistry between Jared and Jensen is unbeatable and precious, and if either one were not there, this simply would not be the same show we have today. There might be a brotherly vibe, but the depth of feeling between brothers probably wouldn't exist to this extent. And why am I hooked on this show, and not Lost or BSG or Heroes, to this degree? (Yes, I watch and love all these shows). The depth of feeling between two brothers. I find it richer and more meaningful, even though the writing is often clumsy for both boys and the plotting oddly paced. It is hard to believe this would exist without Jensen and Jared, so thank goodness Kripke found them when he did. And I am glad Kripke created them both and gave us SPN, even if I complain about things. Being a producer is a hard job on a small network, esp. one without an understanding head.

I already answered this question, about whether or not I could see someone else as Sam Winchester, but I felt the need to expand on that. And also, the words Hyper-Intelligent Manbeast popped into my head today, and this is one area where Sam and Jared really do share the same body and soul.
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SuPeRnAtUrAlChIcK79
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Ever just wanna *lick* his neck?
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BRAVO!!!!!!! Very well said!!!!
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Alec/X5-494
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My Daddy Shot Your Daddy in the Head
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That's awesome!! *claps hands*
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sammycat
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I Full-On Swayze'd That Mother
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Oops, that's me! I have never, never understood why people are so obsessed with Jensen's acting, er ackting, in comparison with Jared's. I seriously don't get it. Jared was much younger starting out, and it showed, but he was never bad or wooden or anything that warrented fan upset or invisibility. Part of me wonders if it's down to Jensen's classically handsome face, with his big eyes and plush lips. Jared's eyes read as much smaller and narrower by comparison, as does his mouth. He is still Pretty, etc. etc. but in a different way than Jensen. I am just wondering if it is some kind of genetic thing, lol, where Jensen gets some kind of automatic acting credit for having large eyes. I know Jensen is an awesome actor, this is not against his acting, but I am wondering about the obsession from the audience level. I am always wondering about the audience level in this fandom, lol.

I also don't understand how people keep thinking that Jensen is magically creating Dean all by himself with no help from the writers, lol. I have never seen a character so loved and doted on by writers as Dean is, except Spike on Buffy (and I do think Dean and Spike are the product of man-crushes from their producers, either for the characters and/or the actors). Dean is the most Mary Sued character on tv I have ever, ever seen. I am so not kidding about this. I watch enough tv to make a teletubby's eyes bleed, and I am taken aback by Dean's treatment on SPN. So, as wonderful and blessed by awesome talent as Jensen is, he is helped out by the writers in vast and mighty ways. In other words, he's not pulling Dean out of his ass, wholesale.

With Jared, he does have the problem, perhaps, of growing up his talent on SPN. Jared was always talented, but SPN put him in a hothouse, making him a hothouse flower. Jared had to mature his talent at a faster rate to deal with the kind of storytelling SPN does. And he handled it, and he's really grown into an acting force to be reckoned with. But he started out the younger one, The Young One, and he'll always have someting of that tinge, because he's the Little Brother, the Kid, and some fans chose to overlook him for that reason alone.

Also, I gotta say it, as the less experienced actor, Jared needs more help from the writers, not less. Jensen may have earned Dean's privelages on the show, but Jared has never done anything to merit lesser treatment. When scenes call for more from Jared, Jared provides. And more tellingly, Jared has provided in scenes that are big Dean episodes, like IMTOD, ELAC, and WIASNB.

At any rate, Jared has fantastic potential as an actor, and if Kripke doesn't tap into that on SPN, that loss will totally be on his head.




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MalAdjusted
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What Would Buffy Do?
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I could not agree with the posts on this thread more! I adore Jensen, and agree he is both beautiful and talented, but he is clearly given more meat in his role of Dean, so much more to work with. We know Dean batter, and so every nuance of character is easy to see. We are never privy to anything important to Sam, and Jared is left with almost nothing to do as Sam except complain on occassion.

And I don't get people who don't find Jared attractive. I understand that Jensen is more classically pretty- he was a model after all. But I find Jared hot as hell- handsome in a more rugged way, and he reminds me so much of the Old Days. From John Wayne to Bruce Willis to Sylvester Stallone to Arnold.

You're right that Jensens features make Jareds come off as somehow 'less'. I had resigned myself to admitting that Jared has 'small eyes', but my daughter the Jensen Fan pulled up several pics and said "You know, he has big beutiful multi-colored eyes. They only look small compared to Jensens, because Jensen has overly large Elijah Wood type eyes." (And yeah, she's an Elijah Fan too!)

Fan and show treatment of Jared/Sam often makes me sad. I think he's just wonderful on so many levels. I think he's a very talented actor, and a very hot young man. Luckily, after those TV Guide shoots, I get the feeling that maybe Hollyweird is starting to realize that too.

Good for Jared!

Now if we can just get Kripke to realize it, and flesh out Sam.

Sigh...
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