hey i saw your tags on how magnus' characterization comes from harry's acting and i think thats really interesting could you explain what you mean? :]
HELLO sorry this is late ndjqnd i was not #online today and also this might not make sense im literally terrible at explaining things
but RIGHT, magnus bane is a centuries old warlock, he’s seen and done more things than most of the other characters on the show could barely bring themselves to imagine. he has this huge past that has been both tragic and truly amazing at times, he’s powerful but vulnerable, he’s smart and quick and has a type of wisdom you can only get by living through things. harry has the formidable task of trying to pull all those threads together and act them out in such a way that we can actually believe in it all - and that makes a consistent level of sense. which he does amazingly well. there’s a lot about it that is direction and scripting, and magnus being, imo, one of the most consistently written characters on the show does help that, but there’s a very obvious distinction between how harry plays magnus and how the other actors play their characters - not that the other actors lack skill, there’s some killer performances this season especially, but i really cant help but notice how much he puts in to everything he does, he has an investment in his character and you can definitly see that passion come through on screen (behind the scenes as well - “Harry is a huge inspiration to his character” regarding his costume design, and also during interview with the vfx supervisor when a question was asked about magnus’s magic - “My collaboration with Harry has been great and very important to the design of the magic.”) and he has mentioned improvisation before (“I have done scenes where i myself just improved forgetting their names - it hasn’t been written in that way.” and there was another interview i half remember but i might have made it up as i cant find it), so that’s definitely something i’m always looking out for in the show. And watching any interview where he speaks about the character is really amazing, he really has a profound understanding of magnus and his motivations/past and how that would lead him to act around others - both in terms of diaglogue but also how that dialogue is backed up by his physicality and spacing.
one of my favourite quotes from harry about how he plays magnus is this: “He’s very cat-like, I think his movement is very calculated but also very fluid. I think it helps that I have a dance background that I can utilise - but not in a way of looking like a dancer - but putting it into the character where there is a distinction between just walking and like moving with intentions.” I think that really hits the nail on the head as to why i adore his acting in this role in particular, it is very intentional. all his movement has a purpose to it, it either reveals something new or works to back up already established characterisation. everything about how harry presents magnus has a very clear intent and you can really piece together the how, what and why of magnus’s character through looking at how harry places himself in scenes, how he moves around others or his reactions to action and dialogue. all his action backs up either what has been told to us through dialogue in the show, or something harry has mentioned himself in interviews - he really brings all his thoughts and his understanding of magnus to his acting and puts it into his scenes in a way that never overpowers anything else because it just fits so perfectly with that character that it isn’t questionable. there’s a huge chunk of magnus characterisation that is either completely or heavily based on how harry portrays him. i dont really have the focus to sit and go through everything right now and this is already too god damn long but i’ll give you some examples of some things i really adore.
a big one for me is magnus’s relationship with jace because i think that’s one of the dynamics in the show that really works because of how it is acted and not necessarily on the content of the dialogue between them. excuse my terrible transcribing skills, i cant really work out videos with no subs, but if we look at this quote - “What’s really funny to me is Jace and Magnus’s kind of relationship - in the sense that he’s always watching out for jace - not quite trusting him all the time.” and then look at how jace and magnus’s relationship is played out, there are definite pieces of dialogue that indicate that is how their relationship is (basically all of their interaction in 104 - especially things like the 1st and 3rd in this), but the biggest indicator for me that magnus is not quite sure on jace is often where he stands during their interactions. the first two gifs on this gifset are some of my favourite smaller interactions between jace and magnus, if you notice in the first how he steps out in front of jace and clary - he does this so often during series one especially. he positions himself between clary and others in the room a lot - but does it most consistently with jace. in the second, which i adore so much, not moving to allow someone past therefore forcing them to move aside for you is a huge display of physical dominance (the 6th gif is also this, i mean … the whole gif set is but -), magnus is often very playfully dominant with jace and in series one he is especially persistent on this type of behaviour towards jace even when he becomes more at ease with the other shadowhunters. for me, the basis of that dynamic is built on those moments of power assertion and thats almost entirely physical and i’m inclined to believe this is more on harry and dom’s part than the writers and directors seeing that magnus and race’s relationship - if left only to their dialogue - lacks the substance in itself to back up this interaction.
another quote i love from harry is this: “When it comes to the mortal cup and anything to do with shadowhunters he likes to just turn away and take a back seat to it.” as of course we have his reluctance to get involved in these matters in the first place but there’s also a few moments during series one, again, especially where he backs off from the Shadowhunter Drama or, as said, ‘takes a back seat’. i like this scene in 107 where luke, jace and clary discuss where the cup is and magnus just sits down and effectively removes himself from the conversation as it’s ceased to be interesting or relevant to him. and in 112 he walks behind clary and jace and throws in comments to the conversation more as a spectator than someone who genuinely wants to be involved in their nonsense. there’s other scenes that follow that pattern to
and look, this is one of my favourite scenes in series one only for how he sits - at the head of the table, leaning back and casually inspecting his nails while he’s on official business and in someone else’s place of work/home, that’s a huge display of power and dominance like, look up dominant body language, that’s a literal intimidation technique. another scene i think is really amazing in in 206 when alec turns to walk away, magnus doesn’t watch him leave and harry presents that moment like magnus has almost resigned to the fact this would happen. my natural instinct in that scene if it were me acting would be to watch the person leaving .. leave. but it fits so much better for him to not.
oh, and the au ep, my one true love. i think that episode really drove home that harry understands magnus and all the pieces that make him into who he is because his acting in that episode was really amazing. i could talk about that episode for Years but this is too long already and makes no sense. but it was a good episode cause it really illustrated the points that harry drives home with his characterisation of magnus and why he does those things - he wasn’t exactly shy and retiring in the au ep but did not have that cold streak of defensiveness that magnus has in other episodes as a man who has been busy ruthlessly protecting himself other downworlders, it still pisses me off they called that ep ‘this world inverted’ when it was not … THAT. but the au ep is the only episode i can think of where he lets himself be physically led without resistance, and i think about that … TOO MUCH
and thats not even getting into line delivery and things like this and this and look, i have a tag for harry’s acting cause holy shit - but this is …. long and doesn’t make sense to i will let u go SORRY THIS WAS ….. STRANGE. but basically a lot of the nuance of magnus’s character comes from the understanding of and passion for him that harry has
baratheonpilled
jacobvanloon
gummygunk
kianamaiart
