OK, WP is being a naughty bunny again and not letting me upload photos. Let’s see how things go . . . ahhh the hotness of John Portah. Rescuer of damsels in distress, protector of young prisoners and helpless orphans, the man you want to comfort and save you when you get in a jam. He’s kickin’ ass and he’s takin’ names. Have we mentioned he’s gorgeous? Buff? Sexy? A wonderful hero brought to us by a wonderful actor who is detailed, dedicated, intelligent, thoughtful, funny and lovely.
I soooo envy these two ladies… Shelley for getting to make out with Portah/Richard (incl. a kiss with..erm..tongues!) and the make-up lady for being able to touch that gorgeous, gorgeous face of his… *sigh* And they even got paid for it!
Yes, Judit. I think you speak for us all. I stopped and looked at that photo with the make-up lady and thought about how much I would have loved to be her!
*sigh*…me too..:)
I bet he is such a sweetie to all the behind-the-scenes people, too. Polite, patient, professional and down to earth. *sigh*
[response from a supposedly intelligent, well-balanced, mature woman]
**SIGH**
Yeah, same here, hon.
Oh, ladies, I’m sorry but I just have to comment.
Did anyone else do a double-take when that first pic showed up? I though it was Richard’s bum I was seeing when it was merely Shelley’s leg
and where is her hand going???? Mind in the gutter or what?
And then the parted lips in pic no. 3. and the lovely neck……..mmmmmm
followed by the cute smiles in nos. 4 and 6……swoon
and those beautiful long fingers in pic no 5, the shoulders, the biceps, the bracelets…….thud
Is Angie trying to kill me or what?
How am I supposed to sleep now?
Funny, I’ve never noticed that about her leg,Kathryn, but you’re right.. You obviously studied that picture very thoroughly, my friend! Never noticed her hand either, hmmm.. naughty girl, what is she doing?
Looking at this photo, it’s hard to believe that actors and actresses don’t have fun filming the love scenes…
And did you notice she still had her shoes on??? Oh heck! Might as well admit I studied those pictures in detail and noticed almost all the things Kathryn did!!
**blushes**
Shelley (what a beauty!) and Richard were incredibly hot together, on screen and off – Richard was sweet, when he stroked her arm tenderly at the premiére…And this was a REALLY sexy love scene
and the contrast to Porter in chains very poignant. Gosh, SB 1 was quite an achievement.
Nietzsche, where can I find that tender arm-stroking picture? Or is there a video? Thanks!
Nietzsche,
As much as I dearly love the character of John Porter and what RA did with the role, the travesty that is the rebooting without RA turns my stomach. I think to myself, “Oh, Richard–I am so glad you are out of that %$@^&#*.” And of course, we know that Porter is SND (So Not Dead). 
Yes, the constrast of desire being fulfilled and the frustration of being shackled–very poignant.
I’ll be watching something on HBO/ Cinemax and in between features they will run promos for Strike Back’s next season. My lip curls in disdain and I have to change the channel.
She forgot to kick the shoes off in the heat of the moment… Who can blame her?
Shades of Paul Andrews’ forgetting that white sock at his 1st session with Alona, anyone?
Poor GOR – I always reckon that she just found RA much too sexy and was trying hard not to show it!!!!
When she’s good, she’s very very good but when she’s bad, she’s horrid
Paul must have been in a hurry!
However the sight of the divine peaches more than compensates for presence the sock! 
There is something kind of endearing about that lone sock.
I find it hard to believe GOR can be good… What was she good in Kathryn? Just so I can give her another chance?
I guess if you take into account all the people watching them as they film and the director nearby telling them what body part to put where . . . that could take some of the fun out of it. It’s all orchestrated and choreographed, which makes the seeming spontaneity of the scene all the more remarkable. Kudos to Shelley and Richard! On one hand, you could say, Oh, wouldn’t anyone be able to pull that off with RA. But think of GOR. She was topless in bed with a semi-nude RA (well, I assume so) and even riding him in that dream scene . . . and I just didn’t feel it with her. She was very chilly onscreen.
That’s exactly what I meant, Angie. Even though there was a crew watching them and we know these things are always choreographed Shelley and Richard still managed to make it look “real” somehow. That’s good acting, I suppose! Servetus says GOR was probably directed to act like an ice queen so we shouldn’t be too hard on her..She has a point, but still I can’t shake off my dislike of GOR.
I’ve only see GOR in one other production, and that was “The Young Victoria.” She was a lady-in-waiting who was mostly in the background and she had at most one line in the whole movie. So it wasn’t much of a test of her acting talents.
However, I read some reviews of a sci-fi movie she made in Australia and they didn’t think much of her performance (or the movie in general, for that matter). Sure, they may have instructed her to act cold, but did they also instruct GOR to use the most irritatingly unbelievable American accent possible?? I am sorry, but she just doesn’t come across as having a lot of onscreen charisma. It made poor Lucas look like a right numpty by falling for her.
It was just a bad, bad casting decision. Why not just cast an American actress in the role in the first place? I’m sure they could have found a “beautiful unknown” to play SC. If they tried. And the other thing that irritated me about her were the black roots. Why didn’t she go to the chemist and got a bottle of hair dye is beyond me! Even I can touch up my roots at home if I don’t have time to go to the hairdresser’s!
Agreed on all counts. I am certain there are American actresses in England who would have been thrilled to play opposite RA and would have managed to play an ice queen and still make us understand the passion Lucas developed for her. I think they were shooting for a cool Hitchcockian blonde, but she was no Grace Kelly or Eva Marie-Saint. The makeup and wardrobe people didn’t do GOR any favors. Her lipstick looked smudgy, the dark roots were so evident, even the clothes weren’t really right. She is supposed to be from a well-to-do family, right? Generally speaking, from the well-to-do Americans I know, their hair color is going to look spot on, as is their makeup. It’s as if the scriptwriters didn’t really know any upper middle class Americans, because they don’t look and they certainly don’t SOUND anything like that.
He he, they probably had no idea what upper middle-class Americans look and sound like!
Which is unbelievable because it’s not like American TV-series are banned from British TV! They have everything! If nothing else, they could have watched some American TV shows for some clues! For research purposes!
OK, I’d just like to jump in here.
How do you think WE feel when WE are protrayed by Americans or Brits??? There are sooooo many decent Australian actors in both the UK and the US – why can’t they be used to protray Australians instead of a local?
I have yet to hear any foreigner (even Meryl Streep) give a convincing performance as an Australian! Even real Australians are required by American film-makers in particular to exaggerate their natural way of speaking.
I always think it’s because Americans fail to understand much in the way of sublity! (can’t think how to spell it in the heat of the moment!). Sorry. But there you have it,
But what excuse do British film-makers have? They are usually more subtle in the way they handle film and television than than the American equivalent so why do they make us sound like right morons most of the time?
It’s called stereotyping. Trust me, as a southern American, I’ve heard our regional accent slaughtered by both American and foreign actors who go overboard and try too hard. So it’s not just Australians or Kiwis who suffer. Should I be upset because most of the leads on True Blood are British or Australian pretending to be American? I’m just sayin’ . . .
And to add insult to injury, as a white southerner, many would assume I am inbred, uneducated and racist, to boot. I do so enjoy proving people wrong.
And yes, contrary to what another RA blogger thought, we even have that new-fangled indoor plumbing. And electricity, too! 
Oh, Angie…you must be pulling my leg!
Surely no one could have thought that in this day and age…I’m appalled but I’m still giggling hysterically for some unknown reason! You sure know how to get me out of a funk
I have to tell you this one….when Matthew was travelling across continental Europe in 1995, on a train, he sat beside this young American who told him that he spoke really good English for an Australian
We sometimes still have a good giggle about that incident!
Maybe the poor bloke thought Matthew said “Austrian” – who knows now? LOL
Aaaaah…… Porter, beautiful Porter….no wonder Danni could give him that duty …….erm…..you know what……and smile about it
“It’s hard work but somebody’s got to do it” indeed.
Oh, no, I am dead serious. We were having a conversation in one of the RA chatrooms once and I talked about living in the country here in Alabama. And she asked me if we had indoor plumbing. I didn’t quite know how to take it when I realized she wasn’t kidding.
Granted, as a child I visited my grandparents’ privy up Tennessee way. But that was a long time ago and my family has always had one of them fancy toilet things, I assure you. 
I once saw GOR in a guest appearance on an episode of “Midsomer Murders”, a British TV show that is aired on one of our local public broadcasting stations. She played a ballerina called Nina and in her defense I thought she looked quite beautiful! No ugly black roots in her hair which was worn tightly tied back in a way that befitted her profession. She spoke with what I think was meant to be a slightly Russian accent which I thought she did pretty well. She looked very elegant when she was shown teaching her pupils some ballet movements, and I thought she played the part well. It made me sorry she was so very badly cast in Spooks.
Her casting in the role is still a mystery to me. Surely they would have asked to hear her American accent? And as I have said, they just didn’t do her any favors with the roots and makeup and wardrobe. And while the lighting complemented Richard’s coloring, it didn’t do a whole lot for her.
Ah, the Power of the Portah. It is a very sexy scene and I think our reaction is exactly what the scriptwriter/director wanted us to have–it appeals to both the ladies and the gents.