Saturday 2 July 2016

A Pinoy At The Movies: Samantha Morton, My 'Secret' Favorite Actress

                   (Samantha Morton in Elizabeth, 
                              the Golden Age)

I was flipping channels today and ended up at the Sundance Channel. While I didn't have any other option because, one, the news channels are reporting on a tragic terrorist bombing that just happened in an international airport, which is sad, and, two, the other TV channels are showing unrealistic Korean dramas full of mother-in-laws from hell and a bunch of Korean actresses competing against each other as to who has the most plastic surgeries.

So, I just stayed with Sundance Channel, and luckily, it was featuring an interview with the award-winning actress Samantha Morton.

Everyone has his or her favorite actor and actress. It's usually a famous Hollywood like Meryl Street, Angelina Jolie, or Cate Blanchett. But for some movie fans, they also have a secret favorite. And I think mine is Samantha Morton! And it's no secret anymore. Ha-ha-ha!

If you saw Minority Report, that Tom Cruise sci-fi movie about Precogs who were able to foresee a crime before it happens, Samantha was the Precog Tom Cruise dragged all over the city.  

But in Elizabeth, the Golden Age, she almost stole the show from Cate Blanchett. In this movie, Samantha was Mary, Queen of Scots, while Cate Blanchett was Queen Elizabeth I.  It would have been a cinematic gem that would have rivaled the Cullinan or the Koh-i-Noor diamonds in its brilliance if the two had a scene together.  Sadly, history has no account of the two being in a catfight, and Mary eventually lost the fight and with it, her head.

But Samantha Morton's scene where she, as Mary, Queen of Scots, was being arrested for treason, was memorable and impressive, with or without a crown on her head.  As the whole movie itself was brilliant, these fiery scenes made us all enjoy it even more. By the way, the diplomat in that scene, who told her she was being arrested, was played by Tom Hollander, the captain of the ship Endeavor, which the Flying Dutchman and the Black Pearl blew out of the sea in Pirates of the Caribbean.

So, there. The Sundance Channel just made me admit my 'secret' favorite actress. 

Who's yours?

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