Above, we have Gabrielle Creevy, Will Sharpe, Paul Bettany and Rory Kinnear, stars of the new Amadeus TV series — the second-ever adaptation of the play that inspired the 1984 movie starring F. Murray Abraham and Tom Hulce. In this version, Bettany is Saliere and Sharpe is Mozart; I am EXTREMELY curious how his interpretation is going to run counter to Hulce’s, because SURELY you cannot try and imitate that which is inimitable. I DO think Hulce’s Wolfie would approve of Sharpe’s pants. So shiny, so baggy, so Hammer. And he would simply adore that Creevy is wearing ornate placemats.
Sidebar, if you want to fall down a rabbit hole with me: Tim Curry originated the role of Mozart on Broadway, but apparently they didn’t want to cast him in the movie, though the screenwriter insisted he at least get to audition for Saliere. His Broadway replacement was Mark Hamill, who read with all the actresses up for the movie, but they didn’t want to hire him because of Luke Skywalker. And Kenneth Branagh claims he only didn’t get the role because they wanted an American cast. All of which led to Hulce, who says he based his performance on the infamous tantrums… of John McEnroe. Wikipedia is great sometimes.
