MovieChat Forums > Thirteen Days (2001) Discussion > Steven Culp as Bobby Kennedy, the forgot...

Steven Culp as Bobby Kennedy, the forgotten

posted 18 years ago by Jackie-Kennedy
27 replies | jump to latest

I may be alone here but does anyone else think that Steven Culp doesn't get nearly enough credit for his portrayal of Bobby Kennedy? IMO the movie belongs more to him and Bruce Greenwood than to Kevin Costner even though its Costner who gets the credit. They both take over the screen with their preformances as the Kennedy brothers but yet poor Steven bearly gets a mention and bruce is always second to Costner. Steven's Bobby Kennedy was ace. He had the look and the accent perfect and his mannerisms were excellent. Am I alone?

[–] lala75 18 years ago

I totally agree with you that the movie belongs more to him and Bruce Greenwood than to Kevin Costner. I just watched about 45 min of it yesterday and for the first time ever and i got this feeling right away .i can't really tell about the accent 'cause i don't know how Bobby was like but i can say yes about the looks . Bruce also was very good as JFK . But i guess it's a matter of publicity and big names !!!

[–] Jackie-Kennedy 18 years ago

I've seen clips of Bobby Kennedy and heard recordings of him speak and Steven Culp is the perfect choice in looks, accent and mannerism. And Bruce Greenwood was fantastic too, quite handsome as well if you ask me. But of course as it's Hollywood there has to be a big name to make the film sell. Sad really coz I think Bruce and Steven carried the movie.

[–] RagtimeWilly 18 years ago

its one of my favorite acting preformances ever.
there's nothing more to say except that Culp was perfect.

Yeah well, that's just, ya know, like, your opinion, man.

[–] pakistanichap 18 years ago

I must say i completely agree. Stephen Culp was absolutely perfect as Robert Kennedy. I realised this from when he first appeared on screen. The manner of the pose, the hands crossed in front of the chest, the look, it was done to perfection. I think it was Stephen Culp more than the others who got the accent spot on. Bruce Greenwood seemed to forget it a few times and Kevin costner's was a disaster.

[–] Jackie-Kennedy 18 years ago

I was watching the trailer again and they way they tell it you'd swear Bruce and Steven had only minor roles and it was all about Costner!!! In fact IMO Bruce probably had the most important role considering who he played with Steven in a close second. As you may have gathered by the way Bruce Greenwood was my fav actor in the film!

Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy

[–] TobyTyler10 18 years ago

You'll note that Kevin Costner is a producer on this film; he may have been instrumental in getting it made. I guess that gives you a certain artistic license if you choose to use it because I always felt that the role of Kenneth O'Donnell was overstated.

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[–] wduncan6 18 years ago

on how accurately RFK is portrayed in this film maybe Emilio Estevezs film could have been showing more of Bobby then all the other actors

They should make a movie basically showing Bobby's political career after his brother died

his greatest problem was that his life was overshadowed by his brothers presidency and the fact that many people still don't believe Oswald acted alone
im sure if you ask teenagers today if they know who Bobby Kennedy is they won't know who you're talking about

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] bsuey21 18 years ago

I would disagree with your assertion that teenagers today wouldn't know who Bobby Kennedy was. He is remembered by even the younger generations as a legend whose potential was never fulfilled because of his assassination.

[–] BasqueNYC 18 years ago

I agree Culp looks like him,accents and everything else and Bruce Greenwood did a great job as well the movie belongs to the both of them than Kevin costner.

I think I saw culp play RFK before but I might be wrong...but damn he really does look like him the eyes everything great casting

[–] Renny_Sue 17 years ago

He played RFK in a movie about Monroe.

According to the film commentry, Christoper Lawford (who had a bit part as Commander Ecker) kept getting emotional on set because of how realistic Culp was as RFK. He commented a number of times it was like seeing his uncle again. I don't think you can get any higher praise than that.

[–] tie81289 16 years ago

I realize this comes more than a year late, but I am re-watching this film for the first time in years, which has lead me to this message board. Anyhow, I just wanted to say that despite a generation gap, you need to give teenagers more credit. I'm nineteen years old, and I most certainly know of Bobby Kennedy and all he did for this country. Granted, I'm a student of political science and sure, a lot of teens may not know much about Bobby or his role in out government, but don't fool yourself; Bobby is a well known figure and I can guarantee you everyone knows his name and that he had a role in the national government.

[–] codger81 18 years ago

Culp and Baker as RFK and McNamara stole the show for me, superb performances from them both. Everything about them, nuances of speech and mannerisms, body language - spot on.

[–] schoduck 17 years ago

I concur. Culp and Baker were dead on target while Kevin Costner as Kenny O'Donnell was an absolute joke; especially with that ridiculous Mass accent.

Good God, as a kid I lived in a town with a SAC base and remember the whole confrontation oh so well. People today really don't know how close things got.

"There are 10 kinds of people, half understand binary and half don't!"

[–] missmay77 16 years ago

I definitely agree. I loved both him and Bruce Greenwood in the movie. Their performances were great, and they look like they actually could be Kennedys

Sing the praises of pants!

[–] tchevyz71 16 years ago

I totally agree, they looked similar and did an excellent job.

[–] sfnprincess81 15 years ago

Culp was outstanding as RFK, and I agree w/the previous poster that Dylan Baker as McNamara was excellent as well.

Greenwood was good, but he was too withdrawn sometimes. Costner was overrated, and his accent just made it worse.

[–] Classics-Movie-Fan 15 years ago

Yep I agree (just watched it again for the umpteen time still waiting for the Bluray though!!) that both Greenwood & Culp owned this movie along with nearly everyone else. The supporting cast were just amazing.

Only weak link to me was Costner he is just out of sorts here and not as skilled as some of the other actors but I suppose he used his producer power to dominate the PR.

Greenwood & Culp deserved to receive the same oscar (I know its not possible) but both gave incredible once in a lifetime performances. Costner's O'Donnell could have been played by anyone it was not a showy part which required much acting skill.

Special mentions should also be given to Kevin Conway as Curtis Le May he really nailed that and made you both fear, admire and respect his character (not an easy thing to do) & Dylan Baker as McNamara but I felt he was a little too OTT in places and unconvincing because his emotions were not controlled enough for such a senior politician.

13 days is definately a very important film both politically & historically yet it was overlooked by the mainstream audiences so to this day is still very underated and should be well in the top 250 on Imdb as the acting alone is top notch but the way the filmakers were able to string it all together makes it very intense and an almost perfect movie.

[–] Artdoag2 15 years ago

13D is a great film, and I wont go into the realism and accuracy etc. It's all been said before. But worth mentioning is how the three 3 figures of John F, Bobby K, and Ken ODonnell really play off each other well. It was fun to watch them all, all i do thank that Bruce Greenwood's voice was too rough and low for JFK, he was convincing. Bobby K was as well. Now for ODOnell, was it really like that between him and the Kennedy brothers? Did they really have that kind of relationship were he would bark and yell at the prez to sit his ass down, to shut up and listen, etc? And where was the vice pres throughout all this!! That wudda been LBJ, and I dont think we saw too much of him.

[–] jakob3 14 years ago

LBJ had a minor and shrinking role in the last year of JFK's presidency,
including the Missile Crisis. On foreign policy, LBJ consistently was
more hawkish than JFK (who was quite hawkish himself, compared to Adlai
& later Democrats).

[–] hoodudes 14 years ago

While Culp did an excellent imitation of RFK his strength of character was too much like Ron Howard's Richie Cunningham. You could call him Opie Kennedy. Possibly because the director wanted to make sure he seemed juvenile in comparison to the JFK character.

[–] pe81171 15 years ago

I agree. He does such a superb job as Bobby Kennedy. I really admired his and Bruce Greenwood's performances.

Frank: Just a man.
Harmonica: An ancient race.

[–] bluesology 15 years ago

Steven Culp is one of my favorite character actors. He did a great job in this movie. I think what I was most impressed by was the multiple moments where the three of them were able to re-create or at least capture the spirit of a lot of the iconic photography you see of JFK and RFK in the White House.

"Is a hippopotamus a hippopotamus, or a really cool opotamus?"

[–] Doom 14 years ago

Agreed.

He had a small, cool role in the second season of '24' as well...

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Wait a minute... who am I here?

[–] egoangel18 14 years ago

Agree. Culp should have been nominated for an Oscar.

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