Dark Shadows Acting Favorites:Victoria Winters

Bella Heathcote

With the release of Tim Burton's Dark Shadows starring Johnny Depp, we now have 4 sets of actors who have portrayed the residents of Collinsport on screen. The original series (1966-1971), the Revival series (1991) the aborted WB pilot (2004) and, of course, the latest incarnation (2012). I realize there were two previous film versions - House of Dark Shadows (1970) and Night of Dark Shadows (1971) but these contained the same actors as the series so I don't feel any need to list these performances separately from the original show.

For the most part, all the incarnations have been marked by solid acting. Basically for fun, I am ranking all the characters that appear in each (or most) of the various incarnations.

VICTORIA WINTERS
3. Bella Heathcote (2012) TIE
3. Marley Shelton (2004) TIE

Marley Shelton & Alec Newman

We have a tie here for the 3rd and 4th place. Marley Shelton had a brief sojourn as Victoria playing her in only a 40+ minute pilot. However, she had the largest role in the pilot and carried it well. For some reason, some elements of fandom were horrified by a blonde Victoria Winters but she was both modern and retro at the same time, much as Dan Curtis had wanted when he dreamed up Victoria in 1966. Bella Heathcote, in the new Johnny Depp movie, is beautiful, but occasionally wooden. She does do well in some scenes though.

Alexandra Moltke

1. Alexandra Moltke (1966-1968) TIE
1. Joanna Going (1991) TIE

Another tie? Yes indeed!   It's impossible to vote against Alexandra Moltke! It was she who first welcomed us into Collinwood with the memorable words "My name is Victoria Winters. My journey is beginning...." and she basically carried the series before the arrival of Barnabas Collins. She was the right combination of naive and curious, though her character did seem "dumbed down" a bit after so many supernatural visitors were later roaming the halls of Collinwood. Meanwhile, Joanna Going was simply amazing in the 1991 series. She welcomed us into Collinwood in the same way as Alexandra had, but now her character was a little more aware. Dan Curtis romanticized the character even more by implying that Victoria was the actual re-incarnation of Josette and Joanna played it all wonderfully.

Dark Shadows Acting Favorites: Barnabas

With the release of Tim Burton's Dark Shadows starring Johnny Depp, we now have 4 sets of actors who have portrayed the residents of Collinsport on screen. The original series (1966-1971), the Revival series (1991) the aborted WB pilot (2004) and, of course, the latest incarnation (2012). I realize there were two previous film versions - House of Dark Shadows (1970) and Night of Dark Shadows (1971) but these contained the same actors as the series so I don't feel any need to list these performances separately from the original show.

For the most part, all the incarnations have been marked by solid acting. Basically for fun, I am ranking all the characters that appear in each (or most) of the various incarnations.

BARNABAS COLLINS
4. ALEC NEWMAN (2004) The most important character in the series is undeniably Barnabas Collins and we've been lucky to have 4 different actors, who each did a quality job. Newman's tenure was the briefest, with only one 40+ minute pilot to judge by, but this pilot illustrated that Newman would have been an excellent Barnabas.

3. BEN CROSS (1991) Some felt that Cross was too animalistic and didn't display enough sympathy. I will respectfully disagree. His Barnabas loved being in control and the script actually painted him as more blame-less than the original series (witness his willingness to be killed by Jeremiah in their famous duel). He had very tender scenes with Joanna Going and who can forget his wonderfully melodramatic scream "I CANNOT HELP MYSELF!!!"

2. JOHNNY DEPP (2012) Depp waited a really long time to play Barnabas Collins and he did a magnificent job. Unlike previous versions, there was a conscious attempt here to have Depp resemble the original, Jonathan Frid. From his hairstyle to his wardrobe (although the make-up and the fingernails were more vintage vampire than Dan Curtis) and Depp even said some of the exact lines that Jonathan Frid had in the original series. I honestly feel Depp is better than Cross only because he's so clearly loving the material and having the time of his life in the portrayal.

1. JONATHAN FRID (1967-1971) This placement was most likely extremely obvious to everyone reading this blog. Frid took what was meant to be a short-term villain and played him honestly, emphasizing his humanity. When speaking of the monster behind the kidnapping of Maggie Evans, Frid's Barnabas stated that he loathed the man (and Barnabas was that man!!). The writers wrote these lines and many other wonderful ones but if Frid hadn't been such an amazing actor, it's unlikely the audience would've caught on and Dark Shadows would've died a quiet death in 1967. It's not an overstatement to say that Jonathan Frid saved Dark Shadows and his tormented vampire provided the template for dozens of vampires ever since.

HONORABLE MENTION: Andrew Collins has done a great job on the Big Finish audio-dramas, though he always reminds me more of Ben Cross than Jonathan Frid. But this listing was for screen Barnabas' only!!

So what do you think? In what order would you rate the 4 actors who have graced us with their interpretations as Barnabas?