[stlgurl702]

Does it bother anyone else That Tobias is like 10 in the movie?

[Joshua]

No I think it's better. It makes it all the more disturbing later.

[theatre_grl]

He's probably more like 13. I think it makes more sense and has a lot more impact in the last scene. It works very well, IMO.

[pish123c]

Both are effective.


As a child, it is tragic that a naiive little boy can be taken advantage of by Lovett. It also makes the end pretty shocking and heartbreaking.


As a teenager or an adult, certain scenes like "Not While I'm Around" are incredibly creepy. It also makes the audience think about Toby's past...How he became mentally handicapped, how he started working for Pirelli, etc. And if Toby is a crazy teen/adult as opposed to a child, the ending is so much more of a pay-off.


Obviously I prefer him a bit older; It makes him much more fascinating. But both options could work, really.


Geez, I could talk about his character for hours...There are so many possibilities.

[Guinevere]

It doesn't bother me at all. The first time that I saw it on stage I would say that the boy playing him was 13 (MAYBE 14 - I might be stretching it there). I thought that was a fine idea. So this doesn't bother me. I would think this kid was more like 12. I don't know, though. Does anyone know the actor's age?

[DontDoSadnessxx]

i agree with pish. both are effective in different ways.
I think a lot of us (including myself) should try judging the movie for what it is rather than comparing it to the already amazing stage musical.

[YouGotsToLovett]

Ed Sanders is 15. In the script, Tobias was said to be 13 (I havent the exact wordings since they're not on this comp., they're on my own)

I agree, a little older than 12 or 10, and singing Not While I'm Around is pretty creepy.

[Patrick]

[Trevor reincarnate]

He is now. He wasn't then.

[Salome]

It only really bothered me because the kid in the movie was such a bad actor.

[Sweeney Hyde]

If you go back and look at previous Sweeney Todd's not related to the Sondheim version, Toby is often a little boy from the workhouses. The first one that comes to mind is the old black and white film with Tod Slaughter in the lead role.

[bwaydisaster]

[Salome]

[Lara]

We also have to remember that having a child actor in a film is much easier than in a stage show.

[Kragey]

[LittleRedLovesTheater]

YES! it bothered me soooo much!
he comes onscreen & i'm like "who's that random little kid?"
then he starts singing & i'm like [and i quote lol] "THAT'S TOBY? WHAT? LAME!" i was so upset. I liked the idea of him mentally ill rather than little.

[GinnyWeasley201]

Tobias is said to be an adolsecent. 14-18

[theatre_grl]

[LittleRedLovesTheater]

[Dots Parasole]

[EponineBarker]

[Mistress]

I'm sort of in the middle here. I agree with Salome that the kid's acting was bad, at least in Not While I'm Around. He just kind of stood there expressionless and sang, like some kid hiding in the back row of the school choir. BUT as he is a child child actor, I'm willing to forgive that as being a newbie thing.
I'm probably also biased because of seeing it done on stage and in the Hearn/Lansbury film with lots of animation and movement from the actors' faces and bodies, so the kid's performance probably just threw me off because it was so different...

[Salome]

[Flitterbug]

I didn't notice any lapses in accent from that actor... Maybe I misheard or something.

[Salome]

he switches between cockney,brighton and liverpudlian

[Flitterbug]

Will anyone not from England notice?

[Salome]

well i did.

theres always someone who notices. thats why you have to be at the top of your game with every performance.

[Flitterbug]

Or, if we're rationalising... Perhaps it's the upbringing that the character had. Tumultuous, with no stable home, obviously an orphan, thrown in with a mixed bunch of kids from all over the place... He'd probably pick up a few weird quirks of language.

It's quite possible. Accents depend on how you learn to say words. Maybe he just learned some words different from others?

(Yes, yes, I already know you're going to disagree and tell me that he said the same thing/phrase/word multiple times in different ways.)

[Salome]

lol..true.
however even without the accent problem he wasnt a good actor.

[BenStone]

[Mistress]

[dasiy_babes]

I didn't notice any changes in his accent and I'm English! I'll listen again when I have a chance but I'm pretty sure it stayed constant.

I think on the whole he was a god actor, I see peoples points about his expressionless 'Not While I'm Around' but I have to disagree theres something about it rings true for me, and his eyes show emotion really well.

I think however everyone has different opinions on whether they think an actor is good or not because we all see the character differently so we all want to see it played differently. So some of us will like his interpretation but some of us won't.

[Salome]

I hate the role of Toby to begin with and when he is played badly he sticks out.

he and Anthony stuck out as bad.

[actor]

and Johanna.

[Salome]

honestly johanna didnt bother me..but then again she wasnt utilized.

[EponineBarker]

[reedzee]

[BenStone]

[EponineBarker]