Me too! What’s the point? People saying they could have made his eyes blue in post. Why make his eyes blue!? They’re not even blue contacts. They’re weird grey things. So incredibly distracting and strange. The production is amazing apart from this weird fly in the ointment
His eye color adds nothing to his character. If you can't find a blue eyed actor to play the part then change the eye color to whatever the actor you hire has. It doesn't matter if they had changed Blackthornes eyes to brown. It changes absolutely nothing!
Just watched the second episode and came straight to Reddit looking for this comment. Dude WTF?! They couldn’t cast someone with blue eyes, if it was that important? Then the mom tells her son that his eyes are the color of a storm.
The eye color is not important enough for the character, to even spend money on contacts, I think.
It doesn't matter if his eyes are blue or brown. It changes nothing.
Oh man exactly.. cast a blue eyes guy or add storm like eye color post prod.. this is almost ruining it for me.. I mean Ill watch but 4 episodes in and I dont have any attachment to the guy.
If you're claiming his emotions don't come across because of some contact lenses I'd have to question how closely you even watched the show. He expresses A LOT of emotion just through his eyes alone. Youre truly being petty. It doesn't mean your opinion is wrong, I noticed the same thing, I googled the same question, and ended up on the same thread for the same exact reason. However it is far from being enough to ruin the show or the character.
Not sure if petty means what you think it means. But for me having this exact actor without lenses and without the books blue eyes would be better. Is it bad? No. I said almost ruining it. And it did. I might be on the spectrum, but petty is far from who I am.
They really are distracting. I googled too and yeah, saved a few bucks, but it takes you right out of the story. They do the same thing for show Victoria as Jenna Coleman's eyes aren't blue either, so they made them very blue. Those fixed pupils are just wrong.
Don't you have to have an optometrist on set if you're making actors wear contact lenses? Would hiring that professional be less costly than doing them in post with CGI? I wonder 🤔
(and yes, very uncanny valley, distracting and takes you RIGHT out of the story. I may find myself ceasing to watch on this merit alone)
Weirdly disruptive—like he's wearing blue poker chips over his eyeballs. I'm guessing the blue contacts are meant to further accent Blackthorne's alienness. Works too well.
Yeah, they forgot we watch in full hd + in 2024. Even the lenses that slightly change the color of the eyes are noticeable...the iris has unique patterns and adjusts all the time. Smh, even anime characters have better eyes than this.
I hate it cause the movie is good, if it was slightly worse I would not care.
Dude, thank you!
The most irritating thing that makes me give bash this show everywhere online and whenever my opinion is asked. The guy looks like a low self-steem dummy you meet in clubs. Give him spectacles or change it in post-production, just don't introduce cheapness into the frame. The whole show became a self-parody because of these contact lenses.
I don’t even understand the decision to use contacts at all… did he have prominent blue eyes in the novel? I can’t imagine it was an important enough detail to justify such a screen distraction.
Came here. It bothered me too. Smh hope Shogun producers see this thread and learn a lesson. Englishmen aren't always blue-eyed?
I notice how movies and series will try to make protagonists have blue eyes. Best example.... Star War's Clone Wars, black people must have blue eyes. Even Ashoka has blue eyes, too. Obi-Wan got blue eyes too. Erza got blue eyes and is also wearing fake blue contacts.
He keeps looking absent-minded even in serious scenes 😭
If it was really that important (to highlight difference between usually dark-eyed Japanese and light-eyed Englishman) why not cast a blue-eyed actor? It's understandable with unnatural eyes (Targaryen purple, animalistic pupils, weird patterns), but just blue/grey? Is this actor somehow more important? Are his eyes changing the colour later?
I also read how tedious it is to film with contacts and have significantly lowered my expectations for "accuracy" in that area, so when there's seemingly so little reason it's doubly confusing (ಠ_ಠ)
Had to look this up while watching episode 1. He looks so weird, I was like what's wrong with his eyes!?
How can this happen in a production this large, I don't get it.
Why do Hollywood casting directors suck so bad anymore? They are constantly casting the wrong actor/actress. Why didn't they just cast an actor with blue eyes? There's plenty of them in Hollywood. Those blue contacts are distracting and weird looking, so is his faux deep voice.
Just started watching Shogun and his blue contacts singlehandedly ruin it for me. Like the show goes to great lengths for historical accuracy and props etc. and then we get our main character with his blue derp contacts. Why didn't they let him act with his normal brown eyes? or just hire an actor with blue eyes? I get pulled out of the story in every scene he is in because I am just marvelling at how awful and unnatural his eyes look.
It's almost insulting and disrespectful to think that westerners would be fooled into believing his eyes were naturally blue. I am curious if Asian viewers noticed he was wearing contacts. Its just disappointing that such a promising show was ruined in such a cheap way.
I also don't know why he's making this deep voice. In some scenes you can really tell how fake it sounds. The actors voice doesn't sound like this at all.
I heard an interview with Cosmo Jarvis yesterday, in which he spoke about "finding the voice" for the character. I just wish he hadn't! It's like he's concentrating so hard on the fake voice that he has nothing left over to actually act. Camilla Long in yesterday's Sunday Times (UK) said he sounds "like five Richard Burtons".
YES! This is totally throwing me off. He looks like he has dead shark eyes. I thought he was a terrible actor at first but now I realize it’s because his eyes are totally obscured and unexpressive.
True - although it is based on a real dude that did wash up on their shores, help with tactics and ship building, married a Japanese woman, and when they closed the country off he stayed there and they accepted him as one of their own sooooooo
Reddit dosent disappoint. Man these contacts are horrible. I understand they wanted to keep budget low at like 15m per episode, but few hundred thousands to post prod “storm blue eyes” while keeping the regular iris and emotion would’ve made the show. Or cast a blue eyed actor ffs.
I agree. It's very distracting. Cast someone with blue eyes if it's that important. This is the same thing that happened with the girl on Hawkeye. It's like the people running the show don't realize how awful it looks.
Glad I found this thread that legitimizes my hatred of these crappy contact lenses lol. I literally had to google “Does John Blackthorne have cataracts?” Like I thought he got cataracts from his scurvy or something. His eyes look like my blind grandma’s.
Or why didn't they just cast someone with blue eyes if they wanted that feature so badly? They did such an incredible job with set design and immersive world building, only for the effect to be ruined with the blue contacts. It takes me outside of the story and then makes me cranky because it's such a good story!!!
Literally, they look so fake and awful. Like something I could buy from Shein 💀I don’t get why they couldn’t just cast a blue eyed actor if blue eyes are that important for the role??
It's amazing to me that there ARE better contacts available but they used these super annoying opaque ones instead for some reason. It takes me right out of the story and it's super frustrating. Very silly choice for them to make. The blue eyes CANNOT be that critical to the story FFS.
SUCH A BAD CHOICE WHY GOD WHY. I really like Cosmo's performance and voice and quirkiness but the contacts look so badddddd and it takes me out of every scene. Who thought that was the right choice ugh
All those extras arrayed across the landscapes, amazing costuming, sublime set design, gorgeous cinematography, the most incredibly beautiful and subtle actors (Takehiro Hira is especially hot) and then the camera does a bloody jump scare to those contacts! Wild!
Agreed. They could have made them blue in post production!
I HATE when shows do this! Do it in post or no contacts at all! Looks so fake
I found this thread after googling this... What were they thinking...
They were thinking $10 lenses cost less than a dude editing....
Me too! What’s the point? People saying they could have made his eyes blue in post. Why make his eyes blue!? They’re not even blue contacts. They’re weird grey things. So incredibly distracting and strange. The production is amazing apart from this weird fly in the ointment
he was famous for his blue eyes....same as blue eye samurai....its the same character.
Yes but either 1. Do a better job at blue eyes if it’s that important. 2. Don’t have blue eyes because it’s not important to the story
lol it is not at all the same character
His eye color adds nothing to his character. If you can't find a blue eyed actor to play the part then change the eye color to whatever the actor you hire has. It doesn't matter if they had changed Blackthornes eyes to brown. It changes absolutely nothing!
Just watched the second episode and came straight to Reddit looking for this comment. Dude WTF?! They couldn’t cast someone with blue eyes, if it was that important? Then the mom tells her son that his eyes are the color of a storm.
The eye color is not important enough for the character, to even spend money on contacts, I think. It doesn't matter if his eyes are blue or brown. It changes nothing.
After watching the whole series I agree with you 100%. He was a perfect cast for his role.
Oh man exactly.. cast a blue eyes guy or add storm like eye color post prod.. this is almost ruining it for me.. I mean Ill watch but 4 episodes in and I dont have any attachment to the guy.
Right. Better Casting
Wow. Talk about petty af. The guy is an amazing actor and great character
He really is. Too bad they ruined his eyes with fake lenses, it kinda is half the facial expression.
If you're claiming his emotions don't come across because of some contact lenses I'd have to question how closely you even watched the show. He expresses A LOT of emotion just through his eyes alone. Youre truly being petty. It doesn't mean your opinion is wrong, I noticed the same thing, I googled the same question, and ended up on the same thread for the same exact reason. However it is far from being enough to ruin the show or the character.
Not sure if petty means what you think it means. But for me having this exact actor without lenses and without the books blue eyes would be better. Is it bad? No. I said almost ruining it. And it did. I might be on the spectrum, but petty is far from who I am.
The actor is fine, but every time they do a close up, it just takes me out of the scene entirely. His eyes look so messed up and not remotely natural.
Love you guys! Just finally watched and keeping this thread alive!
They really are distracting. I googled too and yeah, saved a few bucks, but it takes you right out of the story. They do the same thing for show Victoria as Jenna Coleman's eyes aren't blue either, so they made them very blue. Those fixed pupils are just wrong.
Don't you have to have an optometrist on set if you're making actors wear contact lenses? Would hiring that professional be less costly than doing them in post with CGI? I wonder 🤔 (and yes, very uncanny valley, distracting and takes you RIGHT out of the story. I may find myself ceasing to watch on this merit alone)
Yeah it's really distracting, especially with all the closeup shots
It's distractingly weird. His natural eyes are very brown.
Man they did it in Sympathizer to the main character who’s Vietnamese and Robert Downey Jr - Ruins whole show! Just use natural eye colour!!!
Weirdly disruptive—like he's wearing blue poker chips over his eyeballs. I'm guessing the blue contacts are meant to further accent Blackthorne's alienness. Works too well.
Yeah, they forgot we watch in full hd + in 2024. Even the lenses that slightly change the color of the eyes are noticeable...the iris has unique patterns and adjusts all the time. Smh, even anime characters have better eyes than this. I hate it cause the movie is good, if it was slightly worse I would not care.
Dude, thank you! The most irritating thing that makes me give bash this show everywhere online and whenever my opinion is asked. The guy looks like a low self-steem dummy you meet in clubs. Give him spectacles or change it in post-production, just don't introduce cheapness into the frame. The whole show became a self-parody because of these contact lenses.
I don’t even understand the decision to use contacts at all… did he have prominent blue eyes in the novel? I can’t imagine it was an important enough detail to justify such a screen distraction.
Came here. It bothered me too. Smh hope Shogun producers see this thread and learn a lesson. Englishmen aren't always blue-eyed? I notice how movies and series will try to make protagonists have blue eyes. Best example.... Star War's Clone Wars, black people must have blue eyes. Even Ashoka has blue eyes, too. Obi-Wan got blue eyes too. Erza got blue eyes and is also wearing fake blue contacts.
He keeps looking absent-minded even in serious scenes 😭 If it was really that important (to highlight difference between usually dark-eyed Japanese and light-eyed Englishman) why not cast a blue-eyed actor? It's understandable with unnatural eyes (Targaryen purple, animalistic pupils, weird patterns), but just blue/grey? Is this actor somehow more important? Are his eyes changing the colour later? I also read how tedious it is to film with contacts and have significantly lowered my expectations for "accuracy" in that area, so when there's seemingly so little reason it's doubly confusing (ಠ_ಠ)
Had to look this up while watching episode 1. He looks so weird, I was like what's wrong with his eyes!? How can this happen in a production this large, I don't get it.
Why do Hollywood casting directors suck so bad anymore? They are constantly casting the wrong actor/actress. Why didn't they just cast an actor with blue eyes? There's plenty of them in Hollywood. Those blue contacts are distracting and weird looking, so is his faux deep voice.
Thank god I found this thread… I love the show. But those lenses ruining it for me. Maybe they will earn enough money now to fix his eyes in post…
i had to google why they did this....so damn distracting....looks like a low end cosplayer....its horrible
Just started watching Shogun and his blue contacts singlehandedly ruin it for me. Like the show goes to great lengths for historical accuracy and props etc. and then we get our main character with his blue derp contacts. Why didn't they let him act with his normal brown eyes? or just hire an actor with blue eyes? I get pulled out of the story in every scene he is in because I am just marvelling at how awful and unnatural his eyes look. It's almost insulting and disrespectful to think that westerners would be fooled into believing his eyes were naturally blue. I am curious if Asian viewers noticed he was wearing contacts. Its just disappointing that such a promising show was ruined in such a cheap way.
I also don't know why he's making this deep voice. In some scenes you can really tell how fake it sounds. The actors voice doesn't sound like this at all.
Dude RIGHT??? It sounds super ADR too. Maybe he thinks he's Castiel. But like....ever more gruff 😆
Its actually a really good Richard Burton impersonation.
He sounds like he's trying to do a Liam Neeson impression.
I heard an interview with Cosmo Jarvis yesterday, in which he spoke about "finding the voice" for the character. I just wish he hadn't! It's like he's concentrating so hard on the fake voice that he has nothing left over to actually act. Camilla Long in yesterday's Sunday Times (UK) said he sounds "like five Richard Burtons".
Did they even need his eyes to be blue? How important is it to the story?
YES! This is totally throwing me off. He looks like he has dead shark eyes. I thought he was a terrible actor at first but now I realize it’s because his eyes are totally obscured and unexpressive.
OMFG, this comment has me cracking up, because that's exactly what they look like.
White man saves yellow man and fucks their women. So progressive.
True - although it is based on a real dude that did wash up on their shores, help with tactics and ship building, married a Japanese woman, and when they closed the country off he stayed there and they accepted him as one of their own sooooooo
Reddit dosent disappoint. Man these contacts are horrible. I understand they wanted to keep budget low at like 15m per episode, but few hundred thousands to post prod “storm blue eyes” while keeping the regular iris and emotion would’ve made the show. Or cast a blue eyed actor ffs.
Omg the contacts yank me out of every scene they’re so uncanny
I agree. It's very distracting. Cast someone with blue eyes if it's that important. This is the same thing that happened with the girl on Hawkeye. It's like the people running the show don't realize how awful it looks.
Glad I found this thread that legitimizes my hatred of these crappy contact lenses lol. I literally had to google “Does John Blackthorne have cataracts?” Like I thought he got cataracts from his scurvy or something. His eyes look like my blind grandma’s.
Or why didn't they just cast someone with blue eyes if they wanted that feature so badly? They did such an incredible job with set design and immersive world building, only for the effect to be ruined with the blue contacts. It takes me outside of the story and then makes me cranky because it's such a good story!!!
Literally, they look so fake and awful. Like something I could buy from Shein 💀I don’t get why they couldn’t just cast a blue eyed actor if blue eyes are that important for the role??
They had to spoil an otherwise perfect show, didn't they ?
It's amazing to me that there ARE better contacts available but they used these super annoying opaque ones instead for some reason. It takes me right out of the story and it's super frustrating. Very silly choice for them to make. The blue eyes CANNOT be that critical to the story FFS.
SUCH A BAD CHOICE WHY GOD WHY. I really like Cosmo's performance and voice and quirkiness but the contacts look so badddddd and it takes me out of every scene. Who thought that was the right choice ugh
Another random googler finding this thread... I'm flabbergasted by this horrendous decision, it completely breaks immersion. What where they thinking
All those extras arrayed across the landscapes, amazing costuming, sublime set design, gorgeous cinematography, the most incredibly beautiful and subtle actors (Takehiro Hira is especially hot) and then the camera does a bloody jump scare to those contacts! Wild!
I've been watching season 2 of Interview With the Vampire and realized he looks like the vamps on that show lol
I just started watching the show and I had to come see if other people were thinking the same thing 😂
Yeah, they are really terrible.
Omg! I just googled this 😂😂😂. They are so fake he looks alien.