Outsourcing America's Heroes

Outsourcing America's Heroes

Why are Hollywood studios outsourcing superheroes that tend to be so closely associated with America? VULTURE made some inquiries to studio insiders and received some awakening responses.

By Hawksblueyes - Feb 02, 2011 03:02 PM EST
Filed Under: Superman
Source: VULTURE

Henry Cavill as Superman, Rayan Reynolds as The Green Lantern, Christian Bale as Batman, Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man and Chris Hemsworth as THOR all have one thing in common. Not one of them is American. The folks at Vulture asked some industry insiders for some of the reasons these "American" heroes are being outsourced and some of the answers are somewhat surprising.


The following are just some of the quotes from VULTURE...


The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises casting director John Papsidera had this to say on the subject...

"The ugly truth is that American leading men just aren't terribly manly anymore."

"You look at the list of American leading men, and in their twenties and thirties, they're very boylike. Take Jesse Eisenberg: I put him in Zombieland, but he's not going to play Superman. He's much closer to what Dustin Hoffman turned into than John Wayne or Steve McQueen. It's hard to find movie stars that live up to the needs of the story. Leo [DiCaprio] is growing into it, but for a long time, he seemed young and boylike. Inception was the first time Leo seemed to have fully grown into a man. You need to find guys who carry that heroic-ness with them."


On turning to Canada, the UK and Australia to find leading men Papsidera added...

"There, they're still raised as men. Heath [Ledger] was a man's man. Guys like Henry Cavill, there's an easy masculinity to them. But because of how predominant the sixties and the women's movement were here, guys in America talk about their 'feelings' far more than guys from New Zealand and Australia or Ireland."



United Talent agent Louise Ward offered the following...

"The studios are highly invested in these superheroes as brands. As such, they don't usually want [an actor with] the baggage of another role, and they often can't have an affiliation with another role. Kids are not so easily fooled anymore. They'll say, 'Oh, it's that guy from Gossip Girl!' or 'It's the girl from The O.C.!'"

"I believe there's been a certain feminization of the American male. As a result, there are a lot of 'mama's boys.' Kids are raised like veal. We're afraid to let them play soccer. That kind of nurturing softens what we're used to seeing on the screen. American men aren't men on the screen."


Hawksblueyes: There is much more to this report and it is definitely worth reading. Follow the jump to VULTURE to check it out in it's entirety.
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Hawksblueyes
Hawksblueyes - 2/2/2011, 3:03 PM
;P
ecksmanfan
ecksmanfan - 2/2/2011, 3:09 PM
Sadly...i think it may be true.
Twenty23Three
Twenty23Three - 2/2/2011, 3:17 PM
hear that america? your a bunch of girls haha
Oxion
Oxion - 2/2/2011, 3:19 PM
Well of course, we all getting fat and soft, any man acts like a man in America and he's dealing wit the court system or wit doctors for being "verbally violent" or "physically unstable" or some kinda crap that lands them on the news. Lets face it, there are no more G.I.'s in America anymore. Men have died out.
marvel72
marvel72 - 2/2/2011, 3:22 PM
XD hahahahahahahahaha! real men come from uk,canada,europe & australia.

this should be on main.
nuck82
nuck82 - 2/2/2011, 3:29 PM
wait what? jesus was american, your welcome
MarkCassidy
MarkCassidy - 2/2/2011, 3:33 PM
lol, I dunno. Get better actors and they will get better roles! Really, what does it matter in the end?
jazzman
jazzman - 2/2/2011, 3:33 PM
this is just dumb so how is he going to example American actors playing British characters

most or nearly every man are mama's boys
marvel72
marvel72 - 2/2/2011, 3:38 PM
@ gaston

your right,i hate that little shit stain.

LEEE777
LEEE777 - 2/2/2011, 3:39 PM
As long as The Guardian and Captain Canuck are Canadian

Captain America is American

and Captain Britain is British

I don't give a rats a$$ lol! : P



P.S. Superman is an ALIEN!!!

And THOR's a [frick]ing GOD!
LEEE777
LEEE777 - 2/2/2011, 3:40 PM
(Yes don't hit me with SAMBO lol, I'm a changed man)

: D
Fabs
Fabs - 2/2/2011, 3:43 PM
@Gaston. Uhm... Jesus was a Jew...
TheTalent
TheTalent - 2/2/2011, 3:43 PM
Kevin Costner's Robin Hood was a bit of a fairy.
jazzman
jazzman - 2/2/2011, 3:46 PM
@teabag

hahahahahaha

so wrong teabag :P
Amazo
Amazo - 2/2/2011, 3:48 PM
British (as well as our cousins abroad) actors tend to be theater trained.American actors seem to train specifically for a career in movies and T.v,as a result I think that as actors our guys have more range and depth.They're trained to connect to a room full of people face to face so they have to be convincing then and there.In the past Hollywood has known this but only used us for villains as they were afraid of alienating their home market.Now they have taken chances on Brits as heroes and its paid off, they've realised that this depth of training is equally applicable to the hero job.In short our actors are better for the roles and the modern view of superheroes.Not just pretty boys out to make a buck.
adamdusza
adamdusza - 2/2/2011, 3:50 PM
Oh no you didn't Twenty23Three. Our "girlie men will take your country over in 10 mins
otto
otto - 2/2/2011, 3:51 PM
John Papsidera is an idiot and thats a total copout statement. Theyre are tons of manly american actors out there. Maybe you should blame the casting directors who only seem to go after the 10 people in the now all the time. All you ever here is the same people rumored for every role out there
ShadowkinG
ShadowkinG - 2/2/2011, 3:52 PM
Dammit, I knew I shoulda got into acting.
JoshWilding
JoshWilding - 2/2/2011, 3:53 PM
Haha, this article made me laugh for some reason - "There, they're still raised as men" - that's not that accurate when you think of US leading men like Chris Evans, Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio. It's just a strange coincidence that a few non-American actors have been cast as superheroes these past few years. There are plenty of American actors who could of played Superman, Batman and Spider-Man...it just so happenned some equally talented British actors were considered better choices. Good stuff HAWKS. :)
Scarecrow44
Scarecrow44 - 2/2/2011, 3:53 PM
Chris Evans as Captain america, Aaron Echart as Harvey Dent, Brandon Routh as Superman, Edward Norton as The Incredible Hulk, Robert Downey jr. as Iron man, Tobey McGuire as Spiderman MUST I CONTINUE! So Jesse Eisenberg isnt good for a superhero but Andrew Garfield is? What if Jesse was cast as Spidey or an X-men member Firestrom or any other hero??? p.s. Andrew Garfiled is not a manly man.... so cross him off your list
Slaggathor
Slaggathor - 2/2/2011, 3:55 PM
It's not really American men in general as much as it is the actors who have been acting since they were kids. The truth is, real men can't afford acting lessons because we're too busy wrestling bears.
Amazo
Amazo - 2/2/2011, 3:56 PM
Yeah I don't believe for a second that its a case of manliness.Simply talent on a person by person,role by role basis.
CraptainAmerica
CraptainAmerica - 2/2/2011, 3:57 PM
I think the people who get the part are actors who can act and embody the character they're playing. It has tits-all to do with their nationality. Weaving can play a British guy as he can nail the accent and play the part to perfection and he's an Aussie. Downey Jnr can play the greatest British detective because he can nail the accent and plays the part to perfection and he's a Yank. Gerard Butler cannot play an American because he blows at the accent and plays the part like a village idiot who stumbled into the local panto (300 is excused as he was a legend in that). So saying they give the parts to people of certain nationalities other than Americans is foolish and wide of the mark. They give the job to the best man for the part...the nationality comes with the territory.

P.S. I'm English and suck at the American accent so that put me out of the running for all but Thor...and I fell at the first hurdle because I can't grow a full covering of beard and people would find it implausible that Natalie Portman would want to eye-f**k me on screen
Paulley
Paulley - 2/2/2011, 3:59 PM
hahaha.. im in lesbians with this article lol
ManofSteel23
ManofSteel23 - 2/2/2011, 4:03 PM
HAHAHA i laughed reading this...Proud to be British
Hawksblueyes
Hawksblueyes - 2/2/2011, 4:03 PM
tea: I love you man! ;P
Joe6Pack74
Joe6Pack74 - 2/2/2011, 4:09 PM
I blame the UAW, the NEA and the EPA. Along with the following terrorist organizations, Green Peace, Earth Liberation Front, Sierra Club and Mexico.
CraptainAmerica
CraptainAmerica - 2/2/2011, 4:16 PM
Well I'm British so I must be more manly! I'm opinionated and curse whilst beating my wife after getting smashed on beer and driving my truck home...wait, doesn't that make me Texan?!
airbeyonder18
airbeyonder18 - 2/2/2011, 4:18 PM
It's our culture. Our American culture has become lazy and soft. Sometimes I wonder if being an American is a good thing.
PoPcornDude
PoPcornDude - 2/2/2011, 4:23 PM
CHRIS EVANS will show you how an american MAN is !!!
nuff said !
MrGreen
MrGreen - 2/2/2011, 4:25 PM
Random thoughts:

Ryan Reynold is American, just not a United States citizen. Canada is part of North America.

The younger generation of American actors are just not as good as the exports.

Thor is not an American god last time I checked.

Uh, conservatives.

nuck82
nuck82 - 2/2/2011, 4:30 PM
AMERICA!!! [frick] YEAH!!

tea does using you tears as lube count also?
Roscoe182
Roscoe182 - 2/2/2011, 4:31 PM
does this even matter at all as long as we get our CBM's and they are done well I really don't care where the actors are from .
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