It can be a huge reality check when you find out that there’s a difference between characters and actors.
Don’t get me wrong, I know characters on stage and TV aren’t real people. But this thought is always in the back of my mind when I’m watching a story unfold before me.
I remember when Comedy Central released the roast of Bob Saget and I realized that Saget was nothing like Danny Tanner, his role on “Full House.” He was actually quite different, to say the least.
You’d think that was enough for me to realize how different the two ideas are, but no.
A few years later, I heard a story about Emma Watson – Hermione in the “Harry Potter” movies – getting irritated at one of her classmates at Brown University because when she answered a question right, he said, “Ten points to Gryffindor.”
To some people that might be a witty crack. To Watson, it was a trite comment that she had probably heard at least a hundred times.
Not to mention the first time I watched Anne Hathaway swear or play anything that wasn’t Mia Thermopolis from “The Princess Diaries.” That was incredibly strange for me at first.
That feeling has subsided since she’s made more of a name for herself, but I should’ve known she wasn’t an awkward teenage princess in real life.
About a year later I watched an interview with Naya Rivera, who plays a less-than-pleasant character on the show “Glee.” In the interview, she actually seemed like a kind human being, which surprised me more than it should have.
More recently, I saw a comic strip with Daniel Radcliffe introducing himself as Daniel Radcliffe. Underneath this was a graphic of a frowning stick figure saying, “No, you’re Harry Potter.”
While this is quite comical, most people would know that this really isn’t true. Or do they?
The YouTube channel Funny or Die made a video a while ago in which someone interviewed Radcliffe, who jokingly said he is Harry Potter in real life, and outside of that he plays “Dan the actor.”
All jokes aside though, it really is quite an insane idea that I cannot distinguish characters from actors unless they’ve been in several different movies, or are famous for a scandal, or have a child named after a fruit.
I do commend myself for not making that connection with one actress by the name of Kristen Stewart. And I’m pretty sure unless she is ever cast as a statue, I never will make that connection with her.
I don’t know if anyone else can relate to this, but I’d like to think I’m not the only one who suffers from this mentality. Maybe I am and I just need to get over it and become more cultured.
But on the off chance that I am not alone and there are other people who link actors and actresses with characters they play, I’m going to continue writing.
I guess what I need to do, though I never thought I would recommend this to myself, is get on the Internet more and find more information about these people through interviews, articles and, of course, Wikipedia.
