cnj
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Post by cnj on Apr 28, 2021 3:01:49 GMT -5
Meghan Lahey didn't look anything like Mary Anne at all...too tall and her hair and eyes were way too light. Book canon Mary Anne has straight dark brown hair and brown eyes. Also, the 1990s series didn't capture Mary Anne's sensitive nature too well either. At first, I couldn't even tell which one was Mary Anne. I think Meghan would have been better playing Sunny Winslow if Sunny had ever been shown in this series. Rachel Leigh Cook and Malia Baker are much better as Mary Anne straight down to her high sensitivity and her dark hair and dark eyes.
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andrew
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Post by andrew on May 2, 2021 9:50:31 GMT -5
Yes too tall but otherwise I think her appearance was good (I guess hair a little too light at times but not a big deal, in the book covers it was I guess dark brown but at times light or not so dark and in the TV series it also varied but generally looked close).
Book Mary Anne was a unique mix of cheerful/friendly and anxious that is hard to capture on screen, especially as TV Mary Anne didn't have a lot of screentime, but TV Mary Anne still did well with some anxiety, especially in worrying about and resenting the idea of Logan and Marci. I also liked her interactions with other characters especially with Dawn and Kristy in "Dawn Saves the Trees".
Cook was also good, also playing her and her aspects well despite not having a lot of screentime, while I didn't like Baker, I thought she got the character the least, she seemed generally not really reserved or shy at all and other times her nerdiness or her shyness and anxiety were overplayed.
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andrew
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Post by andrew on May 2, 2021 10:01:24 GMT -5
2020 Kristy, who looks quite a bit like Lahey (not as tall as Lahey, taller than book Kristy), is a lot more like I would have preferred 2020 Mary Anne to look like.
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Post by CharlotteTJohanssen on May 2, 2021 17:23:18 GMT -5
I really like Meghan as Mary Anne! She's really cute and nailed MA's personality. I don't think it's necessary that the actresses have to look exactly like their book counterparts though. A lot goes into choosing actresses and I'm pretty positive looks isn't the highest priority compared to a chemistry test with the other girls, if they could act as the character, etc. Would it be nice if she looked *exactly* like Mary Anne? Sure but everyone has their own vision of what each girl looks like.
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cnj
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Post by cnj on May 3, 2021 18:17:21 GMT -5
Yes, too tall but otherwise I think her appearance was good. I guess hair a little too light at times but not a big deal, in the book covers it was I guess dark brown but at times light or not so dark and in the TV series it also varied but generally looked close. Disagreed there...Meghan's hair was WAY too light to me and it never "varied" IMO. Book Mary Anne's hair is never "light" brown in any of the books and no book cover shows Mary Anne with light hair. What bothered me the most about Meghan being cast as Mary Anne is that unlike book canon Mary Anne, Meghan has small light blue eyes whereas book canon Mary Anne is always described as and shown in illustrations as having slightly almond-shaped large dark brown eyes. Nowhere on any of the book covers is Mary Anne ever shown with small eyes or with blue or green eyes and nowhere in any of the 130 or so books is Mary Anne ever described has having blue or green eyes. That's the issue I had with the poor casting of Mary Anne in the 1990s television series. I don't agree that Meghan was even close to the book canon Mary Anne...when I watched the first few episodes, I couldn't even tell which one was Mary Anne. Rachel Leigh Cook made a much better Mary Anne both in appearance and personality. Book Mary Anne was a unique mix of cheerful/friendly and anxious that is hard to capture on screen... Agreed there. Mary Anne is a fascinating character. 2020 Kristy, who looks quite a bit like Lahey (not as tall as Lahey, taller than book Kristy), is a lot more like I would have preferred 2020 Mary Anne to look like. I find 2020 Kristy's hair a bit too light, but otherwise, she made a good Kristy. I'm so glad they have a dark-haired, dark-eyed actress play the 2020 Mary Anne, even if it's not exactly book canon in appearance...Malia Baker makes a pretty good Mary Anne otherwise. 2020 Stacey's hair is a tad too pale, but otherise, she looks about right. I really like Meghan as Mary Anne! She's really cute and nailed MA's personality. I don't think it's necessary that the actresses have to look exactly like their book counterparts though. A lot goes into choosing actresses and I'm pretty positive looks isn't the highest priority compared to a chemistry test with the other girls, if they could act as the character, etc. Would it be nice if she looked *exactly* like Mary Anne? Sure, but everyone has their own vision of what each girl looks like. Meghan would have been better as Sunny Winslow, who has strawberry-blond hair and blue eyes, IMO. Even if there had been absolutely no dark-haired, dark-eyed preteen actresses whatsoever available for the 1990s telly series, the producers could have dyed Meghan's hair the dark brown that book Mary Anne's is and had her wear brown contact lenses to give her at least a slight bit of resemblance to the real Mary Anne. Yes, the chemistry test is important as well as the acting ability, but appearance does count. I just think in the 1990s series, the casting was rather shoddy...the actress playing Claudia also erroneously had light eyes and the actress playing Stacey had frizzy curls instead of book Stacey's straight honey-colored hair. It's my opinion, but it seems to me as if the 1990s series was hastily casted. The 1995 film did so much better with the casting and not only did all the actors look their part, but they depicted the characters well and the chemistry between them was straight on. The 1995 film is also how I always picture Kristy's mum, not some young blond, blue-eyed glamour lady. |
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andrew
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Post by andrew on May 3, 2021 21:39:16 GMT -5
Disagreed there...Meghan's hair was WAY too light to me and it never "varied" IMO. Book Mary Anne's hair is never "light" brown in any of the books and no book cover shows Mary Anne with light hair.
Kind of light brown, rather than very dark brown, on some covers
Light brown in the show
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Post by booboobrewer on May 3, 2021 22:26:55 GMT -5
Getting Mary Anne’s coloring down to the exact shade is silly. Lahey showed more warmth in her portrayal of Mary Anne than Cook did, and that’s all that matters to me. Cook was the woodenest thing I’d ever seen. All the tv actresses were charming. I don’t think the show was hastily casted. Ann once said the producers waited until Lahey got her braces taken off, that’s how much they wanted her for the part.
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cnj
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Post by cnj on May 3, 2021 23:10:02 GMT -5
Disagreed there...Meghan's hair was WAY too light to me and it never "varied" IMO. Book Mary Anne's hair is never "light" brown in any of the books and no book cover shows Mary Anne with light hair.
Kind of light brown, rather than very dark brown, on some covers
Light brown in the show
I've seen all those pictures...only Meghan Lahey has light hair and light eyes... not book Mary Anne and not the other two actresses, Rachel Leigh Cook and Malia Baker who portray Mary Anne. The pictures you posted the links to merely confirm my point... none of the book covers show Mary Anne with "kind of" light hair at all Also...as I pointed out, Mary Anne has dark brown eyes, not blue eyes. The wiki page itself also says the Mary Anne has brown eyes, not blue or green eyes. My opinion is that Meghan Lahey was just not right for the role of Mary Anne is both looks and personality. Getting Mary Anne's coloring down to the exact shade is silly. Lahey showed more warmth in her portrayal of Mary Anne than Cook did, and that's all that matters to me. Cook was the woodenest thing I'd ever seen. All the tv actresses were charming. I don’t think the show was hastily casted. Ann once said the producers waited until Lahey got her braces taken off, that’s how much they wanted her for the part. Disgreed...Rachel Cook and Malia Baker's acting was better. I say that ignoring the physical appearance completely is silly. That would be akin to having a tall, blond actor playing the role of Harry Potter when book canon Harry is short and has jet-black hair. Actually, I read that it was Rachel Cook who had the braces. But if you can post a credible link of Ann Martin really claiming this about Meghan Lahey and claiming that Meghan was the "only" actress for Mary Anne, I'd be happy to look it over. Meanwhile, I think Rachel was way better in acting and had the perfect Mary Anne-like appearance. The fact that two out of three of the actresses for Mary Anne have dark hair and huge dark brown eyes just like the book canon Mary Anne is telling...otherwise, an actress with light hair and blue eyes would have been chosen for the 1995 film and probably the 2020 Netflix series. |
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Post by fairy3lf2 on May 4, 2021 21:44:36 GMT -5
As I said in another thread, I actually like tv Mary Anne better than book Mary Anne. Her kind nature seems so genuine while I didn't always see it in the books. I'd love to be her friend. Her appearance didn't bother me because it didn't seem that drastic.
I haven't seen the Netflix show but I saw the trailer. Isn't Mary Anne biracial in it? That seems to be a bigger change though I don't mind.
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Post by CharlotteTJohanssen on May 4, 2021 21:48:58 GMT -5
As I said in another thread, I actually like tv Mary Anne better than book Mary Anne. Her kind nature seems so genuine while I didn't always see it in the books. I'd love to be her friend. Her appearance didn't bother me because it didn't seem that drastic. I haven't seen the Netflix show but I saw the trailer. Isn't Mary Anne biracial in it? That seems to be a bigger change though I don't mind. I prefer TV Mary Anne too, I thought movie Mary Anne was bland (then again I really don't like the movie lol).
Yep, she's bi-racial. The actress is really cute and picked up on Mary Anne's nerdy side very well. |
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cnj
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Post by cnj on May 4, 2021 22:50:32 GMT -5
As I said in another thread, I actually like TV Mary Anne better than book Mary Anne. Her kind nature seems so genuine while I didn't always see it in the books. I actually didn't see the kindness and sensitivity so much in the 1990s telly series. I saw it much more in the books and in the 1995 film. When they pick up Kristy at the park in the rainstorm, all of the BSC are crying and Rachel's tears are pretty convincing there. I never did see Mary Anne genuinely cry in the 1990s telly series or have the vivid facial expressions that book Mary Anne had, IMO. I think most of the time, book Mary Anne was just darling and so caring. I like the book Mary Anne best, but usually the books capture characters the best, especially since you usually see their heart and soul. Her appearance didn't bother me because it didn't seem that drastic. To me, it seemed to be a pretty drastic change. I didn't know which one was Mary Anne at first, the depiction was unrecognizable to me. I haven't seen the Netflix show but I saw the trailer. Isn't Mary Anne biracial in it? That seems to be a bigger change though I don't mind. Yes, Malia is biracial...that actually is a smaller change to me because not only does Malia do a wonderful job capturing Mary Anne's sensitivity, shyness and endearing awkwardness, but just like book canon Mary Anne, she has glasses and she has dark hair and dark brown eyes to match canon Mary Anne. And I don't mind the smaller differences in the 2020 series either. Yep, she's bi-racial. The actress is really cute and picked up on Mary Anne's nerdy side very well. Agreed there...Malia Baker is wonderful, a way better Mary Anne than Meghan Lahey was. |
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