Bob Morley plays Bellamy Blake on CW’s
The 100 and whether you love the character or hate him you have to commend the actor for all he has done with this character. Morley has taken Bellamy from a pompous jerk of a character to a multidimensional character who always believes he is doing the right thing even if it looks like the wrong thing to those around him. Bellamy loves his sister fiercely and wants to protect his people at any cost. When we picked up with him at the start of the season he was trying to honor Clarke’s request to look over their people while she was gone. As the first episode of The 100 aired in January we got to see Bellamy spar with Lincoln and we got a reminder of all they had to survive to get to this point. Most critically for his story in the long term is we got to see him in love with Gina and experience their supportive relationship. This was the man we all knew Bellamy could be and he was in a good place. Sure some of the old pompous Bellamy lived on but he was on the right track to being a man the fans could root for and his people could look up to. January also saw Morley be able to take Bellamy on an action packed adventure to find and retrieve Clarke.
It was during this action packed journey that we got to experience the side of Bellamy that still cares about Clarke. Sure he has Gina and he loves her dearly but he will always carry a small part of Clarke in his heart. Whether these characters are ever meant to be anything beyond friends is a secret only Jason Rothenberg and the writers know but no matter their ultimate fate it was a joy to watch Morley take Bellamy through the tedious and emotionally draining journey of searching for her. During the journey Bellamy was hurt and the way Morey played it was heartbreaking because through him you could see how badly Bellamy wanted to reach her and bring her back home safely. Being injured made the journey harder and yet he still didn’t give up. Through every painful grimace Morley brought us deeper into Bellamy’s determined mindset. This is a character that when he sets his mind to something he will do just about anything to see it through to the end.
Morley uses his eyes and body in unison with his outstanding ability to deliver dialogue in meaningful and powerful ways. While some believe that’s just the job of an actor not every actor is capable of delivering the dialogue and simultaneously using their body’s to convey a moment. The sole job of an actor is to not just spout off dialogue written for them. They have to make the audience believe every word their character is speaking and believe every moment of pain and joy is real. This isn’t a gift that every actor possesses and when an actor like Morley taps into how to use his body in a way equal to his ability to portray words it’s a truly beautiful thing. That combination allows an actor to fully embrace the character which means when we see Morley performing we see the character long before we realize the man behind him. Morley puts his entire being into this character causing some viewers to almost lose sight of the amazing talent behind the character which in reality is a great compliment to Morley because it means he’s put so much heart and soul into Bellamy that he’s made him a real living breathing man to many viewers. When a show has a performer of Morley’s caliber it makes it so easy for the show to then suck viewers into the world of this character for an hour and escapism is one of the biggest draws of television. Without Morley there is no Bellamy Blake and that would be an awful thing because Bellamy is the kind of emotionally complicated and morally challenged character that makes television so much fun. He makes stupid choices sometimes. He doesn’t always do the right thing. He is loyal to a fault. He loves with his whole heart. Morley brings Bellamy’s best and worst qualities to life week after week and for that his talent should be respected and rewarded because he is truly a gifted actor.
Going forward things have changed for this character and while this is meant to honor Morley’s performances in January I must take a second to commend him for the work he has done since. Bellamy seems poised to travel a very long and complicated path this season and in the skilled hands of the very talented Bob Morley I’m confident it will be a very engaging journey.
Bob Morley was your fan pick as the most
Outstanding Actor Of January 2016. Hit the comments below to tell others why you think he earned this title and what you most enjoyed about his January performances.
PLEASE READ: This is an article to recognize Bob’s work and to honor his performance in January on The 100. Shipper related bashing will not be tolerated in the comments even from Bob’s fans. Honor the performer and his performance. Have fun and be kind to one another.
About the Author - Aimee Hicks
Aimee works for a newspaper in North Carolina and has a BA in Broadcasting and Cinema. She has been a TV lover since before she really understood what TV was. She has a long list of shows that she loves to watch and can be found on twitter (@ahicks83) live tweeting about each new episode whenever she can. If the show is sci-fi, fantasy, comic book based, drama, or action the odds are good she watches it or has at least watched a few episodes of it. She also has a love for comedies 2 Broke Girls and Mom. She was the original creator and co-founder of LOST Video Island (lostvideo.net) which is still operating under the management of the very capable and skilled group she turned it over to.
You can email her at aimee@spoilertv.com.
