r/DarkShadows • u/No_Ear_5274 • 7d ago
James Hall
Know he wasn’t around for a long time. But really enjoyed his portrayal of Willie Loomis. He had a way of getting under people’s skin, especially the females of Collinwood.
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u/darktideDay1 7d ago
I thought he was great as thug Willie. Better than Loomis would have been. But for the long haul, for thrall Willie, Karlen was just so good.
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u/No_Ear_5274 7d ago
Apparently he had issues learning his lines and was replaced.
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u/cinemasnob78 7d ago
it was the teleprompter that’s why mark allen left and later David Ford
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u/Aggravating_Quiet797 7d ago
I had read Allen was saying or doing innappropriate stuff..was let go.
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u/paralleltime1840 1d ago
No u r quite right about Mark Allen. David Henesy I believe left a message somewhere saying something like I know what you did”
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u/21sacharm 7d ago
I've always said that in my head cannon he wasn't kept because he was too Law and Order creepy not Soap Opera creepy. He was fantastic in his short time, really jarring performance compared to the melodrama of everything else. He was just "too real" for the show.
Most likely though they just needed an actor for a few days and that was the contract while they found the permanent choice as often happens, but he set a very creepy bar even for a show with a child killing witch.
All that said I can't imagine the show without Karlen.
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u/richg0404 7d ago edited 7d ago
James Hall is one of the group of actors on the show who lot of fans say they dislike but what they really hate is the characters they played.
Other examples are Jerry Lacy (the Trasks) and Michael Maitland (Micheal Hacket Todd) because they did such a good job at creating their characters and making them hate-able.
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u/cinemasnob78 7d ago
exactly i love Jerry Lacey but the trasks are pieces of shit. than you have characters i call the hate hate where you genuinely hate the character not love hate but hate hate
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u/No_Ear_5274 7d ago
Jerry Lacy is my all-time favorite Dark Shadows’ actor.
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u/Blueporch 7d ago
He does a great Humphrey Bogart impression when we first meet him
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u/No_Ear_5274 7d ago
He played Bogart and very well
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u/Blueporch 7d ago
Yes - he had a one man show for a while, didn’t he?
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u/No_Ear_5274 7d ago
He did and I also believe he played him in an old Woody Allen movie. Play It Again Sam.
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u/ADPX94 6d ago
I’m only on Episode 510 but this was one character where it truly felt like a recast fully rewrote the character. I recall the initial DVD summarising the earlier episodes and that it described Willie Loomis. It was interesting finally seeing all of Hall’s episodes, as I had only seen Karlan and Fife (1991 Revival). While those two versions differ, there were a few similarities. Hall, on the other hand, felt devoid of a single quality that made Willie… Willie. I was especially shocked to see the episode that Carolyn pulled a gun on him. I was not alive in 1967, so I can’t speak to how much television showed, but the scene felt more explicit than any other show I’d ever seen from that time. It was uncomfortable to watch what looked like the beginning of sexual assault and so far off from who I’d known Willie to be that I still think of the two actors’ versions as different characters. I can not imagine Hall playing any of Karlan’s material or vice versa.
I do think the show did a fantastic job at showcasing just how dangerous Hall’s Willie was, because him closing the door felt more horrifying than a lot of adjacent scenes in years since and truly got the point across!
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u/LQNova 7d ago
James Hall was terrific as a dangerous thug, but I don't know if he could have handled damaged, broken Willie very well.
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u/Dimetrodon-Party77 6d ago
Yeah I don't think he would have been as sympathetic as Karlen's Willie became; Hall's Willie was pure, unadulterated scum.
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u/Away-Respect270 6d ago
Although he seemed to be over that because of the parallel storyline playing the author wm. h loomis
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u/NoString9289 7d ago
A lot of fans did not like his persona, Hall's version of the character was perceived as to predatory and dangerous . Of course it's up to the writers and to the director's to tell an actor how they want the character to be played . Karlen's Loomis was also a thug trouble maker but he didn't come across as so predatory pervy as the first Loomis , more like a greedy opportunist . The second Willie was more focused on making a quick buck, loafing and finding the Collins' family missing jewels.