Erik Appearances
While Erik as he appears in GND is clearly based on the Broadway musical's Phantom of the Opera, it's just too much fun to not take a quick detour of some of the most fameous or outlandish takes on the character that have appeared on screen over the years;
Arguably Lon Chaney Sr's career-defining performance, the 1925 silent film is widely considered one of the greatest horror films ever made...
Claude Rains played him next in 1943, again a career highlight for a lauded actor...
Herbert Lom starred in the 1962 film, which had a complete shift in setting, and was the first real reimagining of the character's visuals...
William Finley starred in Brian de Palma's 1974 rock musical version of Phantom of the Opera (I've never seen this but given the images I've been able to find, I DESPERATELY want to)...
Maximilian Schell played a subtley reimagined Phantom opposite Jane Seymour in the 1984 television movie...
Freddy Kruger himself, Robert Englund, played the character in full-on classic 80's horror movie mode in 1989...
A pre-Game of Thrones Charles Dance played a suprisingly dashing version of Erik in the 1990 tv miniseries...
And of course, Julian Sands plays a completely unrecognizable version of the character in 1998 Dario Argento film.
Not unrecognizeable in the good way. Argento movies are weird.
Not unrecognizeable in the good way. Argento movies are weird.
Like we said earlier, GND's Erik is clearly basd on the musical. This play has been performed hundreds of thousands of times over the decades and has likely had tens of thousands of actors play the lead role. Like most musical performances, of course, the role was largely defined by actor who originated the role. In this case, that would be the star of the original 1986 cast, broadway super-legend Michael Crawford.
For our purposes, however, there has been an interesting new take on the character in the last decade or so. While there is obviously an endless list of amazing performers to have taken on the character, one in particular has actually risen up to redefine the part and claim it as his own. This would be Ramin Karimloo, whol played the part on the West End before he became the original Phantom in Love Never Dies, and eventually went on to play the part in the 25th Anniversary cast. Karimloo happens to look exactly like our Erik, and his singular performance of the character, even in Love Never Dies, is absolutely unique and awesome. This is very much the look I imagine for GND's Erik.
of course, we can't really do this list without at least mentioning Gerard Butler, who played him in the 2004 Joel Schumacher film. This is obviously the take on the character that was being referenced in AsheRhyder's Roommates comic, which means that there are several comments and in-jokes in GND and Erik looking like Gerard.
The reality, of course, is that GND's Erik is clearly depicted as skinny and dapper rather than as a hulking Scotsman. Still, the iconography of the movie is ingrained in him.
The reality, of course, is that GND's Erik is clearly depicted as skinny and dapper rather than as a hulking Scotsman. Still, the iconography of the movie is ingrained in him.