Days of Future Past The Official Rose Byrne/Moira MacTaggert Thread

[succumbtofear]

Did anyone ever question why a character like Nightcrawler was speaking in German, though, he was in America? So far, he's the one character that has appealed to me most of all, because he stuck out from a group of yanks. (Not just because he was blue, either.) But because he was done so faithfully.

I just think it's sort of pick and choose with the film makers. Actors like Hugh Jackman, Michael Fassbender, and James McAvoy are expected to do accents to portray their characters, because, of course, Wolverine is not an Aussie, Magneto is not Irish, and Xavier is not a Scot. But then when it comes to characters like the Russian Colossus, Banshee of Ireland, or, alas, MacTaggert from Scotland, they're told "nah, don't present the character with their natural accents. Just use your own American one."

That does not seem fair to me. I find it really boring actually, as does most the general international audience. When I came out of the cinema for X2, I was ecstatic over The Blue Fuzzy one, but wondered why Colossus was speaking in American, especially when he only had so few lines? If a character like NC can show up with an accent as his German roots are important to his character, and not seem too out of place or enough for the audience to raise question, then others like Colossus, Banshee, and MacTeegee's roots and therefore accents should be very relevant as well.

I look really forward to this film, don't get me wrong. Just, really? Who needs dialect coaches when you have other actors with natural accents working with you on the set daily? Byrne could have just been coached by McAvoy, and the ginger playing Banshee could have had conversations with Fassbender. I wouldn't even care if something was presented subtly, as long as it's there.

 

[SuperSoldier985]

That would've made too much sense...

 

[Deaths Head II]

I agree that foreign characters would make more of an impression. It also would've gave some subtle backstory. Colossus would be remembered as that Russian metal dude instead of just that metal dude with the two or so lines he had in the original trilogy. With the way the foreign market is becoming more and more important for films, you would think the X-Men film franchise would take advantage of the multicultural characters that helped make the comic series popular in the first place.

 

[Glutton]

Yahoo! Movies UK asked X-MEN: FIRST CLASS cast members James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Rose Byrne, Jason Flemyng, Nicholas Hoult, Jennifer Lawrence, Alex Gonzalez, Edi Gathegi, Zoe Kravitz, Lucas Till and Caleb Landry Jones which mutant power they would want in real life.

Rose Byrne (Moira MacTaggart) – “I’d like a combination. I’d like Charles’s power to read and to block people’s minds, but then I’d also love Angel Salvadore’s power to acid vomit! I think that’d be useful. You’re saying to the AD, “Where’s my cup of tea?” Boom! Your reputation might be a bit ruined. You might burn a few bridges. Literally. Maybe just the threat of it – just a side spew so they could see what you’ve got… But yeah, I think a combination of a few of them would be really cool.”

 

[SuperSoldier985]

lol, Rose is hilarious...

 

[Cheshire1996]

Hooray! She has a sense of humor t:

 

[Jake Cassidy]

Of course she does. She's an Aussie.

 

[Mako]

Rose is awesome.

 

[Scarlet Spider]

Rose is awesome.

She is indeed. She's incredibly likeable and charismatic.

Rose has been one of my favorites for quite some time and I'm looking forward to seeing her in an X-Men film.

Before she landed this role, I always thought she would have made a great Lois Lane.

 

[Electrix]

Interview with writer Jane Goldman

2. On What’s Missing From The Film As Released

There’s such a lot that was shot which isn’t in the film, most of which is the absolutely right decisions, but there was extra character stuff. The most important thing, and I think the intention always was that the relationship between Charles and Erik to be central. I think that as the film evolved it became clear how powerful that was. It was important to not trivialize the differences in their ethics and outlooks by not having it to appear to be about one person. Moira is a really strong character and her involvement is massively important, but in earlier iterations, before we came along, there was a sort of love triangle thing. We had already very much drawn back from that but it was ultimately a matter of drawing back from that even further.

Sometimes things go just because of length, but it was also sometimes in service of actually allowing the Charles and Erik relationship.

When you write a screenplay, it’s the combination of things you put in that convey what you want the character to be. When it reaches the editing stage it is no longer in your hands so it’s obviously not going to be exactly the way you planned it. In service of the film, these cuts were the correct decision, but in the service of Moira’s character, it doesn’t give a full picture.

3. On The Gender Politics Of The Film

Emma, I don’t think, needs a reason to be dressed the way she is, that’s the way she looks like in the comics, and it’s absolutely what she should look like. If you want to make it realistic, there are absolutely reasons given. In terms of Moira removing her clothes, I have to take responsibility for that one. I was just trying to think of a clever in way that she could infiltrate the party, and that was the idea that popped into my head.

I think there’s definitely an element of 60s sexism, which is supposed to be not-a-good-thing, running through the movie, though unfortunately sometimes, when a film is edited you end up with a thread seeming that you’re not following all elements of all threads. There was much more of story about Moira being oppressed.

I think what was originally there is that Moira was a woman, so in the minority in the CIA, and in that sense was an outcast in her own way, just as all the mutants are. She was a victim of prejudice. That story line was supposed to reflect what was echoing and reverberating throughout the film, including with Raven.

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2011/05/31/interview-jane-goldman-co-writer-of-x-men-first-class

 

[ArmsHeldOut]

They could've at least said that her parents are scottish but they moved to the US hence she doesn't have the accent (or something like that)

Ironically, Rose Byrne's real life parents are of Scottish and Irish descent. She talks about her heritage in numerous interviews, so I'm fine with no accent. At least they got a Scottish girl (by way of Australia) to play a Scottish girl.

 

[psylockolussus]

I think Moira might be my favorite non-mutant character in the X-Men movie franchise.

Her scenes at Hellfire Club were amazing and her last scene was hilarious!

But she became under-written once Professor X got his mutants.

 

[Tony Stark]

Like I said in my review, I'd pay the price of admission just to see that scene of Rose running around in her undies and thigh highs in the club scene! t:

 

[SuperSoldier985]

I heard many murmurs in the audience when it was revealed in the movie that she was indeed Moira McTaggert. I've seen Rose Byrne put on a variety of different accents. I've heard her in her native tongue, english, american,..etc. I guess in retrospect, the idea of having a Scottish CIA agent, let alone a female one in the 60's would've made things even weirder, BUT, I still think they could've gotten away with it if they gave her an accent of some small kind.

I know they're killing to birds with one stone by introducing her as a possible real fling for Xavier and also using her to bring together the CIA aspect of the movie, but I kinda felt like it wasn't the right character to use for the role. I mean aside from her name, she really didn't have any connection whatsoever to her character in the comics. I dunno, am I wrong?

 

[marvelrobbins]

While Jane Foster In thor really only was connected by Name to jane In comics.

I loved Rose as Moira.After Jennifer Lawrence she was best actress In Film.And I found
her sexyier than January Jones(I may be one of few to say that but her In bra and In
short skirts so sexy) and I hope after what happened at end she Is back In any First
Class sequels.

 

[Bauerman24]

For my first post, here are my two cents...

Giving Moira a Scottish accent may have been cool, but perhaps a poor decision for a commercial film. This is like the Natasha-Russian accent that was dropped from Black Widow in Iron Man 2. It creates a loaded Chekov's gun.

Anton Chekov famously stated that if you describe a gun over the mantle in chapter one it must be fired before the last chapter. If Moira was in the CIA with a Scottish accent, it creates a situation that the non-comic-book-hip people would not understand.

In the movie, when they announced (on screen) Byrnes' character as Moira, I was like, "O sure... Wait! Isn't she Scottish?" But that's because I understand that already. These movies are often made for the average person on the street, who, when confronted with a Scottish accented CIA agent, would have stared at the screen slack-jawed and said, "Huh?" It would have to be explained.

If you've seen Bridesmaids, you'd know what I mean. Kristen Wiig falls in love with an American police officer with a British accent, which is addressed in the film. To not explain how an American police officer does not have an American accent would have overlooked a very major point that may seem as a discrepancy.

Thus, to avoid confused "non-comic-book-nerd" masses, the filmmakers niggled away a detail unnecessary for the movie they were making. If Moira did have an accent, they would have to explain why, and that would have taken some time to be credible and not seem as a one-off (like Michael talking about the whispers on Lost... Losties, you know what I mean lol)

In defense of the filmmakers, Xavier is almost always portrayed with a British accent. I can't remember Xavier's origins, but is he British by descent? At least they stuck to their guns concerning that one. Also, I thought Halle Berry spoke with an accent of sorts in X-Men (or at least she didn't talk like normal Halle Berry), but then not in X-Men 2. I think that she received criticism for her portrayal in the first movie and the decision was made to drop it.

For those who say that Nightcrawler was found in Boston, US, but retained his German heritage accent, this is quite often addressed when he talks about the MUNICH circus. So even though the film does not go into details, between his mention of Munich and his accent, Nightcrawler reads to the average audience as German, even if he isn't wearing Leiderhosen or something. lol

 

[Marvin]

she looked so fine in this.

 

[EnDz0n3]

I really liked Moira in this movie. Kudos to Rose Byrne!

 

[SuperSoldier985]

For my first post, here are my two cents...

Giving Moira a Scottish accent may have been cool, but perhaps a poor decision for a commercial film. This is like the Natasha-Russian accent that was dropped from Black Widow in Iron Man 2. It creates a loaded Chekov's gun.

Anton Chekov famously stated that if you describe a gun over the mantle in chapter one it must be fired before the last chapter. If Moira was in the CIA with a Scottish accent, it creates a situation that the non-comic-book-hip people would not understand.

In the movie, when they announced (on screen) Byrnes' character as Moira, I was like, "O sure... Wait! Isn't she Scottish?" But that's because I understand that already. These movies are often made for the average person on the street, who, when confronted with a Scottish accented CIA agent, would have stared at the screen slack-jawed and said, "Huh?" It would have to be explained.

If you've seen Bridesmaids, you'd know what I mean. Kristen Wiig falls in love with an American police officer with a British accent, which is addressed in the film. To not explain how an American police officer does not have an American accent would have overlooked a very major point that may seem as a discrepancy.

Thus, to avoid confused "non-comic-book-nerd" masses, the filmmakers niggled away a detail unnecessary for the movie they were making. If Moira did have an accent, they would have to explain why, and that would have taken some time to be credible and not seem as a one-off (like Michael talking about the whispers on Lost... Losties, you know what I mean lol)

In defense of the filmmakers, Xavier is almost always portrayed with a British accent. I can't remember Xavier's origins, but is he British by descent? At least they stuck to their guns concerning that one. Also, I thought Halle Berry spoke with an accent of sorts in X-Men (or at least she didn't talk like normal Halle Berry), but then not in X-Men 2. I think that she received criticism for her portrayal in the first movie and the decision was made to drop it.

For those who say that Nightcrawler was found in Boston, US, but retained his German heritage accent, this is quite often addressed when he talks about the MUNICH circus. So even though the film does not go into details, between his mention of Munich and his accent, Nightcrawler reads to the average audience as German, even if he isn't wearing Leiderhosen or something. lol

This is a great post and all, but umm....yeah?

I'm not implying that they would introduce her accent without explaining it or anything. Although there are other characters in the movie that use accents and languages that aren't explicitly explained or necessary to explain, it would have to be the movie and the character's role that will dictate whether it's relevant.

 

[FVD]

Now I could have sworn one of the other CIA Agents mention that MacTaggart was Canadian, not American!!!

And it's a shame she wasn't Scottish in this film as Byrne did such a fine job with the character.

 

[JP]

Adored Byrne. Really hope her role is just as integral in the next, but also meaningful. Really hope they develop something between her and Xavier.

 

[huzzah]

Thus, to avoid confused "non-comic-book-nerd" masses, the filmmakers niggled away a detail unnecessary for the movie they were making. If Moira did have an accent, they would have to explain why, and that would have taken some time to be credible and not seem as a one-off

The CIA have associates / operatives all over the world.
"...and this is Moria McTaggart. We brought her in from Scotland because of her expertise on human mutations..."

This reminds me of Cheryl Cole incidents where she was 'sacked' from US X-factor because it assumed Americans would not understand her accent. I dont understand where this kind of thinking has come from.

 

[The Englishman]

Why can you understand accents??

 

[Nightmare]

I thought she did great. One of my favorite things about this movie. Hopefully she's back for second class.

 

[quara33]

I really liked what they did with this character--and Rose Byrne's performance, of course.

Spoiler

I actually found that I didn't mind she disappeared towards the middle, though I wish we could have had a scene between Erik and Moira pre-Cuba at some point--I found the way Erik gestured Moira over to Charles after nearly killing her oddly touching.