The British Invasion: Ed Westwick
In this generation, most of Hollywood’s promising actors have clipped accents and say things like ‘Bloody hell’ or ‘Sod off’ when annoyed. Ten years from now, the biggest names in Hollywood –– the next Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Leonardo DiCaprio –– would have hailed from great Britain.
Yes, it’s true, Hollywood has been invaded by British darlings with gorgeous smiles and not a sight of bad teeth anywhere (apparently, the British are stereotyped as having bad teeth . . . ?). Let’s see, we have Robert Pattinson –– current matinee idol who caused a frenzy among pre-teen girls and middle-aged housewives with his portrayal of a sparkly vampire with stalker-ish tendencies in the big-screen adaptation of Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight novels. We have Ben Barnes, that pretty boy with the charming smile who played Prince Caspian in the movie adaptation of C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia books as well as playing Dorian Gray in the latest movie version opposite Colin Firth. We have Henry Cavill (once dubbed as “The Unluckiest Man in Hollywood” after losing out on roles such as Batman/Bruce Wayne and British spy-slash-ladies’ man extraordinaire James Bond, now set on to play the Man of Steel, Superman, in 2012), Jim Sturgess of the Across the Universe fame (a musical based entirely on The Beatles’ songs), Andrew Garfield (one of the leads in The Social Network and currently stars as Spiderman in the latest Spidey reboot), and the lesser people such as Max Irons (cute, played second-fiddle to another person whose name I can’t remember at the moment in that horrible Red Riding Hood) and Ed Westwick, set to star in Carlo Carlei’s Romeo and Juliet.
Only Westwick plays Tybalt –– Juliet’s cousin who was killed by Romeo after Tybalt accidentally kills Romeo’s BFF Mertucio –– and not the titular Romeo.
Compared to his contemporaries, Ed Westwick’s present resume seems a little lacking, doesn’t it? His most prominent role to date is the Upper East Side’s wealthy bad boy Chuck Bass, and before the CW decided to bring Cecily von Ziegesar’s frothy Gossip Girl books to television screens, he had hardly made an impact on the masses with his small roles in United Kingdom TV.
Westwick (b. June 27 1987, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England, UK) appeared in daytime soap Doctors, BBC’s medical drama Casualty, and ITV’s Afterlife in 2006 –– his first few roles in television. He then starred in Alfonso Cuarón's science fiction film Children of Men, also starring Julianne Moore and Clive Owen (it was a small role, but impressive considering his previous credits). He then landed a small role in Anthony Mingella’s Breaking and Entering –– where he met his best friend, actor Rafi Gavron –– before his breakout role in Gossip Girl, a show about the scandalous lives of the rich and fabulous in Manhattan’s Upper East Side.
Westwick portrays Upper East Side’s resident bad boy Charles “Chuck” Bass, extreme womanizer and Blair’s love bitch–– I mean, love interest. Chuck Bass is no stranger to debauchery and decadence. His no-apologies “I’m mad, bad, and dangerous to know” persona garnered Westwick a loyal fan base among viewers of the hit TV series and promoted him to one of Young Hollywood’s hottest heartthrobs. His relationship to Gossip Girl co-star Jessica Szohr and his fronting indie rock band The Filthy Youth –– alongside Benjamin Lewis Allingham, Jimmy Wright, Mitch Cox, and John Vooght –– only added to his momentum and appeal. Westwick was no longer obscured in guest-star roles, but had a steady lead role in one of the most watched and publicized TV shows on air and had established himself as a ‘supporting actor’ type in films such as S. Darko (Donnie Darko’s straight-to-DVD sequel), critically acclaimed indie film The Son of Rambow, and upcoming big-budget biopic of the life of FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, J. Edgar, starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Hoover, Westwick as Agent Smith (Hoover’s biographer), Judi Dench, Naomi Watts, and directed by the incomparable Clint Eastwood. In 2011, Westwick landed the lead role in Chalet Girl, a British rom-com starring Felicity Jones as Westwick’s love interest, Brooke Shields, and Bill Nighy.
To me, at times, he comes off as trying too hard. And to be honest, the showing of the chest hair bit –– which, he admits, he is totally into and is his trademark –- is kind of disgusting and makes him come off as a douche. Still, Ed Westwick has shown us that he is more than just a pretty face. He’s a talented, versatile actor, and while Rob Pattinson and Andrew Garfield have much more superior resumes, Westwick is definitely one to watch in the wave of British actors.
References:
· Answers.com. 2011. Ed Westwick: Information from Answers.com. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.answers.com/topic/ed-westwick. [Accessed 07 June 11].
· Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2011. Ed Westwick - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [ONLINE] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Westwick. [Accessed 07 June 11].
· IMDB. 2011. Ed Westwick - Biography. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2067953/bio. [Accessed 07 June 11].
0 comments:
Post a Comment