Braveheart: casting the women actors

Rating: 1/10 (6 March 2005)

my mother's ancestors are from the north of Scotland...they were part of those Brave Souls who fought with William Wallace and Robert Bruce. My Great Great Grandfather's name was Roderick Fraser, he was a crofter: my mother's female relatives and ancestors were much more robust than the women actors' appearance in "Braveheart"...for one thing, they had BIG noses with strong bridge on the nose, and long, big boned faces, and they were generally fairly big and tall (one of my girl cousins was over six feet tall by the time she was 13 years old.) The women actors cast in Braveheart did not look remotely like the strong, tough, usually dark haired women i know as "Scottish highlanders"; in fact, the women in this movie had elfish, gamin-like appearance and were considerably skinnier and daintier than any crofter's wife or daughter would have been. these people worked hard to survive, everyone had to be physically strong, not delicate and flimsy. otherwise, an excellent movie. the "hollywood" look of the women was a bit distracting as my great grandmother looked down over her big nose and strong hands at me from the family portrait in my living room.