Rufus Sewell as Hamilton - John Adams (2008) Discussion

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] BulletHeadedSaxonMothersSon 15 years ago

Me too. My only gripe was that he was the only one of the actors playing the founding fathers who did NOT physically resemble the character he was portraying.

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[–] sarahannsmith 15 years ago

That is true - the real Hamilton looked very different from Sewell. I liked the portrayal, though.

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[–] pe81171 15 years ago

I thought he did a good job too. I wish he could have been in more scenes. I have found Hamilton to be a very fascinating figure after reading Flexner's book on Hamilton's first 26 years and Ron Chernow's excellent book. The founders really have had some excellent work done on them by historians.

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[–] thechamp2586 15 years ago

I think Richard Gere resembles Hamilton; anyone else agree? Not that it would have been an easy task to convince Richard Gere to play a supporting role.

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[–] diamondhead49 9 years ago

"My cat can eat a whole watermelon!" - Ruben and Ed

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[–] Hancock_the_Superb 15 years ago

Sewell's performance is fine but I think the series' depiction of Hamilton is far too negative. Perhaps understandably so, since it's from Adams' POV, but it's still pretty one-dimensional, focusing entirely on his scheming and posturing while scarcely acknowledging his brilliance. I'm currently reading Chernow's biography and he truly was an extraordinary man.

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[–] bsommers 15 years ago

I think physically that Julian MacMahon would be perfect to play Hamilton.

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[–] angussu 15 years ago

"What do you think of his portrayel?

True to the real man or not?"

I don't think so.

Most depictions of Alexander Hamilton I have seen portrayed him as a great man who deserved his title as one of the Founding Fathers. He and Thomas Jefferson were simply two men with different political views.

Rufus Sewell's protrayal of Hamilton made him a very negative character. Not only does Sewell barely resembles the historical Hamilton, the character is shown to be an arrogant stuck-up that served to get on everyone's nerves.
I can't help but wonder why John Adams despised Hamilton even though they were both in the Federalist Party.

Furthermore, I was disappointed that the series didn't show nor mention Hamilton being killed in that duel with Aaron Burr. It would be interesting to know what John Adams thought about Hamilton's death.

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[–] Ghost_of_Third_Island 14 years ago

I agree with your last line. I would have liked to see what Adams thought about the duel and his death by the bullet from Burr. I also would have liked to see what Adams said about Franklin and a couple other founding fathers after their deaths.

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[–] trez1 13 years ago

I like Sewell as a actor but his Hamilton was off, there was no charm, no witty brilliance that was his calling card. Of course it was thru the negative lens of John Adams loathing of AH so it was to be expected.

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[–] pe81171 13 years ago

I agree that the view of Hamilton was through Adam's eyes. He absolutely loathed the man, as you mentioned.

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Harmonica: An ancient race.

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[–] jriley555 10 years ago

it would be questionable to skew the history just to present john adams state of mind or representation of his state of mind.

i agree that AH could not be the idiot he was portrayed in the piece, and that is probably the greatest flaw in it.

otoh, maybe he was the fool JA tells him to his face that he is, but that seems off.

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[–] Hancock_the_Superb 14 years ago

The Adams-Hamilton rivalry was a clash of personality and egos. Both were extraordinarily ambitious men who saw themselves begrudged by their peers - Adams forced into foreign service and later the Vice Presidency, Hamilton ineligible for high office due to his foreign birth. Adams became jealous of Hamilton for his influence over Washington and prominence in the Federalist Party, and contemptuous of his military posturing during the XYZ Affair, while Hamilton loathed Adams for becoming President when he couldn't, and subsequently disregarding much of his advice. It wasn't a question of ideology so much as two men who just plain hated each other.

It's undeniable that Hamilton was an abrasive personality and alienated many, but the show scarcely hints at his unquestionable brilliance, administrative skills or far-sighted worldview. If he let his ego run rampant on occasion, as when serving as General of Adams's provisional army, he wasn't alone in that era. I don't think this show served him well at all, Sewell's competent performance notwithstanding.

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[–] Haaken78 12 years ago

I didn’t get the impression from McCullough’s bio that Adams was jealous of Hamilton’s status within the Federalist party, but disliked that he was playing into the party divisions at all. Adams’ thought political parties could tear the union apart before it really solidified, even if his ideologies made him a Federalist by default… and it seems that Abigail hated Hamilton more than anyone and we know Adams took her opinion seriously.

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[–] BridgetB 10 years ago

Hamilton's foreign birth did not stand in the way of the Presidency. None of the Founders were born in the USA! They grandfathered themselves in.

However, he was not a very good "politician." He was too direct--he'd explain exactly why he was right in brilliant detail but wouldn't act the folksy guy--as Jefferson could.

I've enjoyed Sewell in numerous roles but he was wrong for Hamilton.

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[–] FYeahJenna 9 years ago

110% incorrect, they did not "grandfather" themselves in. There had been colonists in America for quite some time before the colonies became one and a country, and Washington/Adams/etc, were all born in a colony. Because it wasn't called the USA at the time is a ridiculous argument.

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[–] BridgetB 9 years ago

Article II Section 1 of the Constitution http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_transcript.html

No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.

The writers of the Constitution grandfathered themselves in. For purposes of the Presidency, nobody cared which "colony" anyone had been born in.

Of course, some of Hamilton's enemies held his birth against him. Especially John Adams, calling him a "Creole bastard"--among the many choice phrases used by the old Puritanical grouch.

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[–] ibbi 13 years ago

The part was written without much in the way of redeeming features, and Sewell, to his credit, a guy who often revels in playing the villain, actually doesn't make him quite as wicked as the script might have justified him doing. There's always that mask of unknowable ambiguity there. I thought he did really well.

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[–] poupartca 11 years ago

I generally enjoy Rufus Sewell as an actor, but I didn't like this series' portrayal of Hamilton at all. It captured his immense arrogance and often abrasive manner, but failed entirely to display his brilliance. His financial acumen is really only hinted at, and his critical role in the drafting and promotion of the Constitution isn't even mentioned. Obviously this series has a biographical focus on John and Abigail Adams, which I greatly enjoyed. But they could have given one of the greatest of the Founders a bit more to do than just irritate his colleagues.

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[–] slimone (7996) 5 years ago

I like the actor Rufus Sewell and I thought he was very good as Hamilton.

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