This is a class blog run by Dr. Carolina Acosta-Alzuru and her students in the course "Telenovelas, Culture and Society" at the University of Georgia during Spring 2011

Friday, March 4, 2011

An American remake?

Since telenovelas are constantly remade in other countries, and the U.S. created Ugly Betty as a telenovela remake, I thought it would be fun to compare the actors in Corazón Salvaje to some Hollywood actors.

Juan: Juan del Diablo is the important male lead in Corazón Salvaje. He is rugged, manly and romantic. I couldn't help but compare him to Mel Gibson circa 1995's Braveheart. Am I right or are they twins?


















Mónica: The second protagonist is Mónica, the innocent, angelic, pretty love interest of Juan. She is the perfect contrast to her promiscuous sister. Mónica has soft blonde hair and big eyes that, of course, gaze up at Juan adoringly for about 90 percent of the telenovela. I think a good American version is Amanda Seyfried - pretty, but can look a little naive.















Aimee: Mónica's sister is her antithesis; she is promiscuous, sexy and manipulative. I think there's only one actress who could do justice to the character Aimee...



















Andrés: The final main character is Andrés, Aimee's husband and Juan's brother. He is sophisticated and more of a "pretty boy" type than Juan. However, I think that one important characteristic is his ability to look a little bit crazy. He has more than a few scenes where he looks like he's snapped. I think Cillian Murphy has both the distinguished and high society look of Andrés, as well as his craziness. (Anyone remember Red Eye?)





















Can any of you think of other good actors for an American remake?

7 comments:

  1. Hahaha, great comparisons!!! The pictures look just alike!

    It's funny how versions of telenovela stereotypes (the naive protagonist, the evil temptress, etc...) can also be found in United States entertainment!

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  2. This is great! I hadn't even thought of comparing my characters to others from American Tv shows but now I'm just dying to! I think it is interesting that all of the actors, even the Telenovela ones have very light skin/hair. I remember Dr. A saying that is a common trend, in mine most are light skinned but have very dark hair.

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  3. I love Cillian Murphy. (Big 28 Days Later fan.)

    It would be so weird to see him in a telenovela type show. It's interesting to see how other people relate to the actors we know and love.

    I will always see him as a raw, zombie-fighting kickass british dude, but some people who first encountered him in Inception will see him much differently, I think. He definitely has that crazy vibe going on though.

    I wonder how I would think of Cillian Murphy if he were in a telenovela. Would I still find him ridiculously, ruggedly handsome? That's what happens when you think of an actor as the characters he plays, and not as the actor himself. I wonder what he's like in real life!

    Also, the temptress you put as Angelina Jolie looks to me EXACTLY like Sarah Michelle Gellar when she is the temptress in Cruel Intentions...
    http://www.movieprop.com/tvandmovie/reviews/cruelintentionscatherine11.jpg

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  4. I agree, Sarah Michelle Gellar does look a lot like Aimee! Especially as a brunette in Cruel Intentions.

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  5. This is so great! You are dead on with each of these comparisons! Its interesting to think about though because I remember how Dr. A said that the telenovela actors play many different types of characters and are never stuck on one particular character type, that in one telenovela they could be the innocent protagonist and in another one they could be the insane antagonist. Its interesting though because I feel like some of our most famous actors and actresses are known for playing similar characters in their different films. For instance Angelina Jolie was compared in this blog to the Antagonists Aimee, but I feel like Angelina could be also compared to any Antagonist character. Her characters always seem to be the seductive, and manipulative type and as for Amanda Seyfried i feel that she too always place the same type of character being sweet and innocent. Though there are some American actors that play wide variety of roles I would like to see more of them branch out to more roles like the actors of the telenovelas!

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  6. I'm a little late, but I just saw this post. Love it! Mónica and Amanda Seyfried is a dead on match! Crazy. When I was watching, I thought Aimee looked like Amanda Peet a little bit also. It is cool how the actors/actresses you picked for each one also play similar roles in a lot of their movies. I could definitely see these people being the American re-make cast.

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  7. I LOVE this, too!! It's so funny you wrote this because I constantly find myself comparing the actors in my telenovela to those who are popular in US pop culture! I think the main character in mine is a dead ringer for megan fox. The men in my also look familiar to me but I've yet to find their dopplegangers. See below images!
    http://bekoooo.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/twin_starz_02.jpg

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