How would somebody trick you into narrating a film that says the sun travels around the earth?

[Savannahmann]

67. Harry Potter

I saw an interview with Michael Gambon. He's the Actor who played Professor Dumbledore after Richard Harris died. The interview was conducted after all the movies were done and had already gone to video. They asked him if it was true what they had heard, that he had no idea what the Harry Potter movies were about.

He replied that he was clueless. He is given his lines, his costume, and his make up. He's told how the Director wants him to act, and then he does the job the best that he can. If it's true, and I find it very easy to believe, then actors are hired to play a part. Some they really love, like William Shatner in Star Trek. Some parts they take for the money, and they do the best they can, but the movie is doomed. Like Matt Damon in the Adjustment Bureau. Nothing could have saved that movie.

So I find it plausible that these people just signed one more contract, and read the lines without ever paying any attention to them. I'm sure that there are parts, like doing Shakespeare at the Royal Theater that stick with them, and they remember every nuance, every bit of the entire experience. Then there are parts that they knocked out in a day that are forgotten before they leave the building. Voice overs and introductions for example.

I'm not sure we should be mad at anyone about this. Because even if they knew what was going on, do we really expect that the idea of an earth centered universe is going to take off now? Perhaps they thought it would be more tongue in cheek. A sort of monty python version of science. It doesn't matter gang.