DEAD FAMOUS
10 Times Celebrities became the Walking Dead (but not on that TV show).
Zombie plagues and apocalypses won’t differentiate between the rich and poor. Nor will they hold up a hand and refuse to infect any human who’s identified as being a “celebrity”. So it’s only right that some A-Listers and accomplished actors have portrayed the Living Dead over the last few years.
We’re not talking vampires like whiny Brad Pitt in “Interview with the Vampire”, or the sparkly Robert Pattinson in the “Twilight” films. Nor are we talking about the surprise ghosts in films like “The 6th Sense” or “The Others”. No, we’re talking about the bona-fide pain-free somehow-walking shuffled-off-this-mortal-coil-at-least-once corpses that make a significant contribution to a film or TV show … not just a clever cameo where prosthetics hide the actor’s identity.
So here, in the spirit of the Halloween season, we present ten instances where the famous became fearful and played your actual zombies. Some are flesh-eating, some aren’t. Some are magically resurrected, some are disease fodder. A couple are massive cheats, but far too good to ignore… All are played with a surprising amount of gusto by the actors involved, especially as Zombies were often considered laughable b-movie characters or disposable extras. What times we (un)live in now!
Billy Connolly as Fido in “Fido” (2006)
Connolly is Scotland’s premiere stand-up comedian and the UK’s answer to the ground-breaking Lenny Bruce (and a great personal hero for this writer). Besides being a pioneering funny-man, he’s also a respected actor in the likes of “Mrs Brown” and “The X Files: I Want to Believe”. But it’s his endearing and well-judged performance in this offbeat zombie movie that earns his place here. Playing the titular role, he gives the mute character a lovely “Bub”-like quality and huge likeability, with his body-language and grunts & groans. Grey-skinned and clad in a plain boiler-suit, he nonetheless becomes the unlikely hero of this Canadian comedy/horror/drama. It wasn’t exactly a huge money-spinner and got some mixed reviews, but is actually a hugely underrated film and a quite charming take on the Zombie sub-genre. It’s like a tasty milk-shake blend of “Pleasantville” and “Shaun of the Dead”.
Imagine that “The Walking Dead” took place in the 1950’s…. “Space Radiation” has caused the zombie plague to momentarily mess up the white-picket American dream, but after the “Zombie Wars” Middle-America just picks itself up and carries on. The undead are domesticated via electronic collars and become “pets”. Fido (Connolly) is just one of those pets/servants, but through a series of misadventures – and despite taking chunks out of deserving victims and causing mini outbreaks – he shows himself to be the ideal husband and father to Helen (Carrie-Anne Moss) and young Timmy (K'Sun Ray). A heart-eating … err … warming tale and Connolly is absolutely excellent in the role.
Says more than “Brainsss…”? – Not even that. Fido just groans throughout the movie … but is still the most likeable character and has bags of charisma.
