Friday 3 August 2012

Gotcha! - The Thrill of Finally Remembering Where You've Seen An Actor Before

When I saw the Aussie comedy "Any Questions for Ben?" (which I reviewed earlier), I was puzzled about one of the supporting characters, Ben's boss Malcolm (played by David James). His face was so familiar, but it was so frustrating that I couldn't place where I had seen him before! The thing is, I forgot the most of the characters' names after the movie, and I had no way to get this actor's name.

I finally stumbled upon this photo here.

David James (the bald guy on the right)

Now that I had a name, I searched through his "filmography" to discover where I'd seen him before. No dice. However, something about the fact that he was an Australian TV actor made me think about ads.

And sure enough, a few more minutes of straining my memory yielded a result. David James was the guy who acted as the banker in the St George Bank ad. This remains one of the most memorable Australian TV ads in recent times. Bankers are deeply unpopular (for good reason), and St George tried to acknowledge the sentiment yet position itself as different from the others. (Well, now that it has been acquired by Westpac,  St George is no different.)

David James as the "good" banker (if there is such a thing)

Well, a mental itch has finally been scratched and it feels so good. Ahhhhhh!

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