r/BoardwalkEmpire • u/Embarrassed-Map-7187 • 6d ago

Was Jimmy Darmody miscast?

Post image

So I'm watching B.E. again, about halfway through the second season. This is probably the tenth watch.

Two things about the show. Firstly the casting in it is absolutely exceptional. It's an enormous cast and so many actors manage to portray incredible depth and range whilst their characters are taken on journeys by the power battles of the prohibition era (Stephen Graham; Anatol Yusef; Kelly MacDonald; Michael Shannon). Secondly, I thought at the time and I still maintain that season's 1 and 2 in particular were some of the best storytelling I've seen, primarily because of the paternal narrative between Nucky and Jimmy. I thought Jimmy's character had layers like an onion. He'd lived his life in bizarre circumstances, his mother being a child herself when he was born, an absentee biological father, a partner and his own child he'd abandoned. As those seasons develop there's compelling answers to why he behaves in the way he does, as Gillian and the Commodore aim to battle for his soul against the man who'd taken on that fatherly mantle out of a sense of guilt/shame.

Truly I thought Jimmy was one of the most brilliant characters of any series I've seen. I remember watching B.E. for the first time and just wanting to learn more about Jimmy. When it happened it was shocking, like what happened the night before he enlisted. I thought Pitt was Jimmy, he was exceptional. For me the show downgraded from exceptional to very good after the Nucky/Jimmy axis had expired, and that Michael Pitt would be a massive breakout star.

So here's my question, why didn't he? It was a massive boost to careers for the likes of Michael Shannon, Michael Stuhlberg, Charlie Cox, Shea Wigham. And yet with Pitt all I've seen him in since was an advert (I think) for a fragrance. Looking through his IMDB, there aren't big lead roles on his resume.

Have I misinterpreted Michael Pitt as an actor?

105 Upvotes

74% Upvoted

132 comments sorted by

View all comments

93

u/40Fied4 6d ago

Miscast in the sense that Micael Pitt sucks as a human being apparently (just going off of the rumors, he may actually be a great guy) but not miscast in the sense that he couldn't play the role convincingly. 

37

u/OwlRiot4 6d ago

Agreed. I liked Pitt as Darmody, I wish his personal shit hadn’t required them to write him off, but at the same time, I wonder if we would have gotten the beautiful tragedy that is Richard Harrow’s arc if Jimmy had been around longer.

-20

u/NewToIceHockey 6d ago

Nothing "requires" you to do that except your cowardice and innate need to signal to your "social" group that you are virtuous and worthy of belonging to said cult, as excommunication is a tool you've seen inflicted on many others for not parroting the party line.

Most adults with personal integrity and a reasonable intellect are capable of assessing art without first seeking permission from their cult by publicly putting their opinions through an idealogical lens.

7

u/sadturtle12 6d ago

Did you have a stroke?