The Presence Of Brian Blessed
Sometimes one person makes such an impression on you, just by being him or herself, that you can't help but be astonished every time he or she enters a room, starts a conversation or leaves that same room.
Brian Blessed at the Flash Gordon 35th Anniversary Celebration at BAFTA (2015)
source: Wikimedia Commons
My uncle was such a man. No matter how crowded the party, he soon became the center of attention. But even my uncle, a big man with a big heart and a loud, commanding voice, is no match for British actor and comedian Brian Blessed. Now you might not immediately know who I'm talking about here; one of his best known more recent roles has been Boss Nass in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace. You know, the giant toad Gungan ruler (that was actually modeled after Brian's own large physique):
Yousa no tinken yousa greater den da Gungans? Mesa like dis. Maybe wesa... bein' friends.
This man has so much pure presence it's scary sometimes. I first saw him (or I thought that was the first time) in the 1980 movie Flash Gordon in which he played the winged Prince Vultan. The man always seems to play royalty or a leader of some sort. The line from the below scene where he asks if "Gordon's alive", has become famous for years in England:
Gordon's Alive?
The introduction on his IMDb page describes him perfectly:
Boisterous British actor Brian Blessed is known for his hearty, king-sized portrayals on film and television. A giant of a man accompanied by an eloquent wit and booming, operatic voice, Brian was born in 1936 and grew up in the mining village of Goldthorpe in South Yorkshire.
source: IMDb
Somehow I knew I had already seen him before Flash Gordon, but it was years later when I discovered why I had that feeling; he played a character in one of the first season episodes of Blake's 7! That's what I mean by making a lasting impression, you just never forget this man once you've heard him speak or seen him act.
He is British all the way and looks like such a huggable person that it creates a nice and funny contrast to hear him swear with his oversized mouth producing an oversized voice. "Bullocks" and "Cock" are apparently popular English swearwords:
Brian Blessed Swearing Compilation
And I just discovered that Brian Blessed apparently warned George Lucas about Jar Jar Binks! YouTuber Jamie Stangroom tracks old Star Wars actors and interviews them about their time working in on the movies, and in this interview Brian Blessed explains how that went down:
Boss Nass Warned George Lucas about Jar Jar Binks (Brian Blessed Interview)
That voice... That Beard... And there's so much of it all, it's overwhelming. He has played so much roles, a lot of it voice acting of course, and he's still active today; he stars as Friar Tuck in the 2018 movie Robin Hood The Rebellion
That's it for today's short post my dear friends. I hope you liked this short introduction of one of the less known but iconic actors I've come to admire. I'll be back here tomorrow and hope to have more time then for my daily post. Looking forward to meeting you here, until then stay present and keep steeming!
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