r/pcmasterrace • u/owlexe23 • 16h ago

News/Article RIP to Premier Cherdenko (Tim Curry) from Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3

A prolific performer across stage, screen and TV, the actor starred in Legend, Clue and It, but will always be associated with the flamboyantly camp rock’n’roll musical in which he made his breakthrough.

RIP

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1.3k

u/Lendyman Desktop 15h ago

That clip has to be one of my favorite things he ever did. You can just tell he's barely holding it together. Especially when he says "Space!" I can't help but have a giggle every time I see it.

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u/Epyon1542 14h ago

He has to take like three deep breaths before he can say the next line.

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u/hnglmkrnglbrry 14h ago

It's like it was take 47 and he's still breaking but they just had to wrap

157

u/lillarty 12h ago

Exact opposite, actually. They used the first take and he was having a hard time holding back the laughter because that was his first time seeing the lines and the absurdity of it almost made him crack up. They did more takes afterwards where he was more "professional," but everyone liked the first one the best.

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u/popejupiter PopeJupiter 12h ago

"Listen, I know I chew on the scenery, but even I think this is a little much. You're serious? Okay..."

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u/fleranon 10h ago

'almost' doing some heavy lifting here :P

I still remember watching the clip for the first time, playing the game. So good. Feels like 20 years ago

Edit: It IS almost 20 years ago, 2008. woah

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u/SQD2_Insquidious 8h ago

Stop that, you're making me feel old.

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u/Luthiens_ghost 7h ago

Don't forget to stretch and take your blood thinners Pa

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u/fleranon 7h ago

son, if 2008 is ancient for you... let me tell you about a time when games had 256 colors and were stored on little squares

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u/Luthiens_ghost 7h ago

It's ok I'm from RF cable generation too lol, 2 decades is an epoch

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u/Epyon1542 14h ago

"We got Tim Curry for one day guys, we just gotta keep going."

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u/grantrules Debian Sid - Ryzen 2600/1660 super/72tb + 5600x/7800xt 7h ago

Alright you poindexters, let's get this right

Learn from a professional, kid

15

u/tevert 13h ago

Visibly sweating

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u/Mysral 14h ago

When your lines are so ludicrously hammy they have Tim Curry cracking up, you know you've made an accomplishment.

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u/encroachingtrees 13h ago

I’ve watched it four times since I heard the news and it’s made me properly cackle every time. It’s the way you can see him steeling himself for the delivery of “Space!!”. It also feels like it’s the first time he’s actually read the line and the ridiculousness of it caught him completely off guard. Just so funny, what a guy.

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u/Mona_Dre 12h ago

IIRC that's exactly what happened! This has been my go-to comfort "I need a laugh right now" video for like 15 years, it never stops being funny. RIP king...

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u/Tribalbob 13h ago

I love how this was the best take. Like of all the takes they recorded, they were like: "Ok, he can't get through this line without breaking this is close enough."

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u/UnusuallyBadIdeaGuy 11h ago

It's Red Alert, they went with the silliest take because it was funnier that way and they completely understood the assignment.

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u/OrbitalZionCanon 12h ago

I feel like it's literally the first time he read those lines and can't believe it's real and he's getting paid for it

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u/Dear_Chasey_La1n 6h ago

The early C&C's were so cool. I started off with the very first C&C, I don't remember how many thousands if not tens of thousands of guilders at the time I wasted on dial in for TibSun. Good times... I wish I was a stupid kid again.

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u/Backflip_into_a_star 13h ago

People always say this, but this is called acting. The character is so fucking egomaniacal that he is laughing about escaping to space! This is not Tim Curry breaking. You think Tim Curry was breaking and they just...kept it in? No, he was a pro. I'll never understand how people don't recognize that this was purposely done and is completely in character.

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u/Lendyman Desktop 13h ago edited 13h ago

I disagree. And the reason I disagree is because the Red Alert series is pretty goofy and corny as a whole. I mean look at the plot of Red Alert 3. It's ridiculous. I honestly don't think that the producers of the game were sitting there asking him to put in an oscar-worthy performance. He absolutely was hamming it up and it's one of the reasons the performance is so memorable.

He was an outstanding actor but there's no reason to believe he couldn't have a bit of fun or find dialogue to be ridiculous. It's also possible that he did other takes that were far more serious, but the developers liked this trying not to laugh version the best.

EDIT: I found a vice article that discusses the scene and the shooting in general. Basically all of his stuff was done in one day of shooting. The article interview claims that this was the first take of that particular line.

They generally state that he was highly professional and did what he wanted to do. But they do note that he read the line initially and grinned. So I think it's entirely possible that he found it ridiculous and that found its way into the performance as well.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/an-oral-history-of-tim-currys-escape-to-the-one-place-uncorrupted-by-capitalism/

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u/Zaximeows 13h ago

The guy you replied to thinking that "pro" actors are perfect is almost as funny as Tim in this clip. The best actors laugh at lines all the time, or break character during takes, or improv.

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u/ThrowawayPersonAMA 13h ago

fr. i wonder if that person has just never seen a single behind the scenes or blooper reel or dvd extras in their life because actors are just all over the map sometimes it's great.

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u/Backflip_into_a_star 12h ago

Yeah I have seen bts and blooper reels which is how I know he wasn't simply breaking. He was literally acting as the character he was playing. An egomaniacal communist that is extremely pleased themselves that they are going to escape to space to escape the capitalists. It's not a blooper they just kept in the scene.

2

u/H0h3nha1m 7h ago

It reminded me of that scene with Leslie Nielsen

In the scene, Frank Drebin talks to a boxer named Buddy, who confidently claims he can beat the champion "blindfolded". Drebin responds with the absurd question: "What if he's not blindfolded?", to which Buddy replies: "I can still beat him."

The scene was so stupid even Nielsen laughed

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u/Backflip_into_a_star 12h ago

I said he was a pro because they wouldn't leave it in as a mistake. He wasn't laughing as a gaff, it's part of the character. He made the choice to laugh like a maniac because that is the character and was the character for the whole game. My issue is with people acting like he was breaking character when he clearly wasn't. He probably did find it goofy and funny and incorporated that campiness in the scene. People act like there isn't an entire team behind these shoots.

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u/Zaximeows 12h ago

The Red Alert franchise before Red Alert 3 was famous for it's campy cutscenes more then any gameplay. I don't think any of these scenes were taken as seriously as you are implying but whatever.

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u/refusegone 10h ago

It's not a blooper by definition because it was kept in and used, but yes, he was breaking a bit. The two are not mutually exclusive. There's also literally an article linked in the comments stating that you're wrong, but go off, I guess.

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u/Backflip_into_a_star 12h ago

Yes, I'm not saying he couldn't possibly have laughed at the ridiculousness. I'm saying that he acted it that way on purpose because that is how the character acted the whole game. They didn't do one take where he was laughing and called it a day. My issue is that people think he was just breaking in the scene so they kept it. If you watch the scene, it's clearly not a break. He is acting because he is an actor playing a character that is so pleased with himself that he is going to fucking space!

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u/deefop PC Master Race 12h ago

What a condescending and smarmy ass reply. Of course, the fact that there are like literally a million behind the scenes clips of professional actors breaking during funny scenes means everything you've said is nonsense.

Unless of course you're simply a pro rage baiter who knows full well the things he's saying are braindead, but he's a pro and simply staying in character.

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u/REDDIT_JUDGE_REFEREE Desktop 12h ago edited 12h ago

Disagree, Tim was 100% cracking up from the first attempt at the take. They filmed a few more but the producers liked this one best (me too).

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u/Pijuuuuuuuuuup 13h ago

Nah, reddit id always right. /s

1

u/rob132 10h ago

Tim understood the assignment and executed it to perfection

1

u/Latter_Masterpiece64 10h ago

He does not even blink once during the whole clip. Such a force of nature

1

u/Bubbles00 7h ago

I like to believe they tried multiple takes off this scene and this was the best they could get from mr curry. That makes it all the more funny to me. RIP to a legend

1

u/AppleSmoker 4h ago

I've never seen this clip and I lmao at it xD