Lin Manuel Miranda doesn’t get enough credit when it comes to his acting skills. Let’s start with that declaration first. He’s been credited with being an amazing stage performer, singer, writer, and creator. But his acting, it hasn’t been given the time, love, and appreciation it deserves. That’s especially true after His Dark Materials “Theft.”
Lee Scoresby, played Miranda, is on the lookout for Lyra. He’s lost her and cares enough about her that even capture, torture, and isolation doesn’t make him budge. You would think that would change when Mrs. Coulter enters the scene. She’s been known as this calculating and merciless woman who gets what she wants.
That is until she meets Scoresby and in turn gives us one of the best sets of scenes from His Dark Materials. Seriously, game changing and elevating stuff that shows how talented Miranda is. Acting opposite Ruth Wilson, who plays Mrs. Coulter, Miranda flourished into an unforgettable character with love, commitment, and compassion as his guiding light.
Seriously, the way that Miranda delivered his lines. A shiver runs down our spine just at the thought of how he connected with Wilson’s character. Here are these two seemingly completely different people from different walks of life who realize that they KNOW each other because they’ve been in each other’s shoes.
They understand the other’s pain.
They have both experienced that pain.
They are both scarred in invisible ways because of this pain.
And because of this, and the fact that they both love Lyra in their way, they have bonded in a way that is so unexpected but honest and real. One still not sure about her feelings for her daughter but who wants her to be safe no matter who she’s with. And the other a fighter, guardian, and friend who loves Lyra as if she were his own daughter and not just some stranger he just met a couple weeks ago.
Miranda and Wilson absolutely killed it as they circled each other, their characters ready to bite and tear in an effort to free themselves from the confines of their own personal demons that plague them on the daily. And we’re so grateful for His Dark Materials “Theft” for the opportunity that it gave Miranda to flex his acting muscles and show us HOW truly talented he is.
In the words of Thor, “Another!”
*smashes cup*
His Dark Materials airs Mondays at 9/8c on HBO.
