MovieChat Forums > Laura Fraser Discussion > Miscast in a Knight's Tale?

Miscast in a Knight's Tale?

posted 18 years ago by vasq6876
9 replies | jump to latest

I just saw this movie last night. Well, actually I only saw about an hour in the middle so I don't know how it starts or ends, so please correct me if you think I'm wrong.

As I was watching, I just kept thinking to myself this girl was miscast as Kate the ferrier. I thought she should have been cast as Lady Jocelyn. She's way better looking than the girl who was playing Jocelyn in my opinion, and she was a real joy to watch, so it just threw me off that Laura should be playing the blacksmith.

I think the producers really missed out by giving her such a small part when she should have been in the starring role.

I'm so ugly...that's ok 'cause so are you.

[–] peterr-9 9 years ago

It's simple. Kate/Laura is the "blacksmith with glasses", a variation on the teen movie trope "girl with glasses".

You know, the female friend of the male protaganist who is much better suited to him but nonetheless helps our hero land the unattainable "hot" girl. Frequently she will be played by an actress of supermodel hotness but disguised by glasses which she may remove at some point for the cathartic "reveal".

If the hero sticks with the "hot" girl, the narrative usually ends up feeling false for the reasons you articulate. Most of the time when I see these films I wonder if the original screenplay had the protaganist select the appropriate choice but the studio insisted on seeing the hot girl resolution. Apparently John Hughes made Some Kind of Wonderful essentially as an immediate remake of Pretty In Pink because the studio insisted on the wrong ending.