That Voice

[qos]

I just watched the first episode of "I, Claudius," which I've heard about for years but never actually seen before.

The actor who played Augustus kept twitching me. His face was utterly unfamiliar, but there was no question that I'd heard his voice before: rich and resonant, far bigger and more imposing than his rather round and sweet face would lead one to expect.

Finally I paused the DVD and went to IMDB.com to look up the cast.
And then I had to look again.

Brian Blessed?

In all the roles I've seen him in, he's always had a big brown beard and seemed much bigger than everyone else. Augustus almost seemed smaller than everyone else.




Can't be the same man. . . !



Unfortunately, I couldn't find a photo of him in full armor as Exeter in Branagh's Henry V -- although he fights with a mace and a wild-eyed grin in that movie as well. . .

Comments

[rocket-jockey.livejournal.com]

Wait until you encounter Patrick Stewart

[qos.livejournal.com]

I've seen a couple of photos. He has hair!
But I know I'd recognize *that* face and voice.

[rocket-jockey.livejournal.com]

Lots of hair - and little restraint in the part, too, as Sejanus.

Brian Blessed appeared in a couple of episodes of The Avengers. We have one of them, "The Superlative Seven," where he looks like the leftmost photo.

[gailmom.livejournal.com]

I would NEVER have figured out that first pic was Exeter. No way. And he is one of my favorites, with that fabulous voice. :P

That's funny. :)

[don-negro.livejournal.com]

I saw, I, Claudius before anything else, so everything else I've seen him in, especially the comedy roles, has had an additional element of 'this is even funnier than it seems, because I'm Augustus Fucking Caesar.'

Wait til you see the last episode he's in. One of the finest things ever put on film, bar none, in the history of the world. There are many more hours involved, but in terms of sheer badassness on celluloid, I, Claudius ranks with A Lion in Winter.