NEW YORK -- One of the stranger distinctions made in Hollywood is that between 'lead' actors and 'character' actors, a differentiation made even more bizarre when you consider that the terms are not a reflection of talent. In crass terms, a lead actor is a movie star. And a character actor is not.
A new film called Possession, opening Friday, inadvertently offers an interesting look at this very phenomenon. The film, based on the A.S. Byatt novel, links past and present and tells two separate love stories. Gwyneth Paltrow and Aaron Eckhart play contemporary academics, and Jennifer Ehle and Jeremy Northam play Victorian poets.
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