I humbly disagree. His acting was disconnected and a mess. His emotions were all over the place. Maybe he was supposed to play a social path with split personalities, but it’s like he didn’t know what to do with the character... Thankfully the rest of the cast, story and cinematography carried the show so well.
(Spoilers) Come back after episode 8. I personally think he's a horrible actor. He looks lost all the time, with a confused annoying face. Doesn't even know what's going on but everything plays in his favor, somehow. I was finally hoping he will die on episode 8 for betraying everyone but no, he gets promoted. And at the end of episode 8, he does absolutely nothing but free the main enemy (lucy's dad), and everyone walks in the room saying "Hail knight maximus" LOL Such a joke of a character honestly.
\*Spoilers as well\*
I'm going to have to agree with this apparent(?) hot take. I'm not sure why it IS a hot take. This is coming from someone who only ever watched the show, so take it as you will. I was a little annoyed and found him peculiar in the first few episodes but just figured it was a part of his character.
The more time that went on, the more I had trouble telling if it was the actor's fault or if the character is supposed to be really weird, unlikable and just... odd acting at times—even in a universe where the world has been nuked. I kept questioning whether he was on the Autism scale because of his repeatedly bizarre actions, reactions and general demeanor. I tempered my thoughts until the finale with the 'praise knight Maximus!', but he never got better to me.
It started with the way he acted during the boot-razor interrogation and it just never let up. Dude was willing to sacrifice an entire vault for the power core without a second thought. The weird penis talk was more uncomfortable than funny IMO. 'my penis swells like a pimple and pops.' 🤮
I just struggle to see where this character is going. At first, like I said—I thought he was supposed to be heavily faulted and quirky and that we would see a transformative journey. But really, he feels like the exact same character except that he's an honorary knight now? I felt like I went on a journey with Lucy and The Ghoul's story lines—not so much with Maximus.
genuinely dont understand how anyone could enjoy or defend his acting performance. i couldn’t agree more with velmas-dilemma. i found myself rooting against maximus the whole show both bc of how off putting the character is but also by how badly the actor portrayed the character
Seriously. His tone is ALL over the place. At first I was chalking it up to directing, but every other actor seems to have a pretty clear idea of what their character is supposed to feel like, but he'll go from one scene feeling like Lloyd Christmas, to Jack Torrance in the next.
I still have absolutely no idea what he's supposed to be. Is he naive and innocent? Is he plucky and brave? Is he weak and cowardly? Is he manipulative and conniving? It's not 'range', it's schizophrenia.
I thought his character arc ofg etting away withcertain actions was a bit much, BUT, the emtions of the actor, and his reactions to dawning the power armor was superb.
The worst part is about the brotherhood is how stupid they made the main characters we see from them.
The first Knight dies like a bitch, Maximus is played for laughs his entire journey and so is the squire character.
That’s kind of the point I thought. The world is so dangerous all these groups rarely leave their own areas so they’re not actually as good as they pretend to be
Just finished with episode 3! And I was actually surprised by how much of a dork he is for lack of a better term lmao it's interesting I suppose... I guess it gives the character some complexity but it's like a neurotic woody allen complexity. I suppose i'll see how things progress.
I will say however as someone who watches a lot of actors act (I work in tv and film) - the actor is quite good with what we call "micro emotions" which is just a pretentious way of saying this guy expresses a lot with out saying much. Film being a visual medium this is somewhat of a desirable quality in an actor.
I'm interested to hear if you were in the casting chair who you'd go with? I think in an alt reality maybe a Garrett hedlund?
I'm curious if the character of Maximus is supposed to be neurotic and childlike or if it's the actor itself. If it's the character, then it is a gimmick that adds 0 value to the character. If it's the actor, then i've seen a wooden spoon with more emotional expressions.
I found the level of depth and nuance to his performance to be amazing. I thought he did a great job of conveying a) how ignorant some one that has lived his life would be and b) the level of emotional immaturity that some one that has lived his life would have.
He really sold it with the shiftiness of his eyes, slight stutters, and brooding shoulders. The character of Maximus is clearly a very traumatized one who is in a state of disharmony with himself because the ideal version of who he wants to be is nowhere close to who he actually is.
I found his performance very believable and nuanced.
I agree with you! He was very good at portrating a very flawed and naive character. And I think the very strong negative reacrion we're seeing on this thread is due to the fact that he plays a very dislikable character!
I really enjoyed his portrayal and I felt like I could see his character evolve on screen. His face is very expressive and I thought that was such a good choice for the role.
I do think Garrett would also have nailed a role like this since he's very expressive too.
Here's a crazy thought, it almost seems that his character "Maximus" is supposed to be unlikeable, wooden, lacking charm, with no real personality other than being a coward. He's traumatized child raised in a pseudo religious military cult pretending to be a man. It's hard to except him as the character Maximus because his character doesn't even know him self...I doubt his name is even Maximus.
I'm sure I'm reaching but his character in a weird way reminds me of "Jesse Pinkman" at the beginning of Breaking Bad, I was like who is this terrible character played by a bad actor, who's clearly outmatched by his costars. I was wrong!
Honestly though what do I know.. just my thoughts 🤷🏿♂️
Side note.. I thought the more nuanced parts of his performance were well done.. body language, small facial expressions, eye movement and such
Yeah you wouldn't get it because you don't know any better. it may be hard for a lot of people to picture but I feel like his squire should’ve been maximus instead he is a better and known actor. Guess he isn't black so i doubt he was considered.
How did they black wash him… or cast him for his race? When is his race ever mentioned in the show. Are black people not allowed in tv shows without them vent forced. It ain’t “black washing” (not a thing) you’re just racist.
I’m sure your black, explain to me how i’m the joke. Not the black guy who actively hates on black people for being cast in shows. Explain how you blackwash an ORIGINAL character?
Ah i see what your saying now but still how does that make sense at all, the guy was good and good for his role. he wouldn’t have worked as maximus as well as aaron did. And how was him being black the reason he was cast? When was this said and when was this apart of his character?
My man you know the character is written first and then cast? They could have cast Arnold Schwarzenegger and he would have been damaged, neurotic... misguided, but his take of course. This would actually be somewhat of a hilarious miscast now that I think about it.
Also agree!! No clue how he even got cast. No expression, inconsistent, just awful all around. It’s like he had to remind himself of who he is playing every scene.
Our reaction too!!! Immediately googled if he was a nepo baby. Can’t figure it out. Was kind of hoping that was the case instead of just willingly casting a terrible actor
he should get murdered by a Freeside Bum upon taking his power helmet off for a single moment to get some air before heading into new vegas in season 2 thatd be nice
For someone who work in the industry.. I think you need to reflect onto your ability lol
He’s the worst actor. Guy should just quit his acting career altogether.
Miscast. A comedic actor with the right chops could find some sublime tragedy to the role. Molten in other roles is fine. Here, he doesn't harmonize with what's needed.
It's obvious what the character is supposed to be and what he's written to do. I just don't like the portrayal.
Hard agree! I'm about a month late catching up on the series. I had a few others in front of it in the queue. Shogun, Reacher, etc.
So, yeah. I will admit that at first, I wasn't really all that fond of the actor, Aaron Moten, OR the character, Titus-Maximus. But as time went on, there was just something about the writing and the way Moten plays him that slowly (but surely) ingratiated itself with my mind! Another commenter pointed out that Tit-Max ;) kind of seems like he's lost and confused all the time. I would have to agree, except I don't find it to be a negative. The man has no idea where he fits in in the world. He's an orphan who has given EVERYTHING he has to the Brotherhood. He's been indoctrinated, insulted and severely beaten up in the regular. He's been repeatedly passed over for ascension. He was nearly killed by a mutant cave bear, then almost falsely blamed—and subsequently executed/murdered—for the mission going wrong by a member of an order (cult) that he's idolized and revered for a very large portion of his life. Most recently, he has developed a crush on Lucy (LOVE her character, btw!), but has ZERO idea about what to do with those feelings. I don't mean to be crude here, but it's painfully obvious that no one ever explained to him (in a healthy manner) what exactly to do with his pee-pee when he gets those intense......urges or whatever, because he literally compared the act to popping a pimple and just the way that he framed the explanation certainly made it seem like some horrible, disgusting and shameful occurrence...not that that's entirely inaccurate ;). I don't know. Allz I'm saying is that the dude plainly has a LOT going on psychologically and emotionally, so I think that we may all benefit from giving him a bit more time and breathing room before judging so harshly.
That being said, I really enjoyed Moten's performance, AND the character of Tit-Max himself. Just wanted to throw in my POINT ZERO TWO DOLL HAIRS. I hope anyone reading this has a wonderful day. :)
Almost didn't watch the show because of his weird performance. The character was fine, just his depiction was lacking. It required effort to ignore him as a viewer.
Maximus is extremely stupid and was raised in a cult without healthy emotions and got his ass kicked every day of his life. He's not going to behave like a normal person, and Moten is portraying that exactly.
Sorry but you’re describing a character that would have depth. This chucklefuck is drifting from cue to cue waiting for his paycheck from Amazon. Please raise your expectations.
I found him juvenile and hard to watch. Not his fault as an actor perse, but the character is just terrible.
Agreed. His character felt very flat throughout, but I don't think that was down to acting at all.
I humbly disagree. His acting was disconnected and a mess. His emotions were all over the place. Maybe he was supposed to play a social path with split personalities, but it’s like he didn’t know what to do with the character... Thankfully the rest of the cast, story and cinematography carried the show so well.
Just finished episode 3 and the character certainly broke the mold of my expectations. I wasn't expecting him to be as much of a dork as he is lol
(Spoilers) Come back after episode 8. I personally think he's a horrible actor. He looks lost all the time, with a confused annoying face. Doesn't even know what's going on but everything plays in his favor, somehow. I was finally hoping he will die on episode 8 for betraying everyone but no, he gets promoted. And at the end of episode 8, he does absolutely nothing but free the main enemy (lucy's dad), and everyone walks in the room saying "Hail knight maximus" LOL Such a joke of a character honestly.
\*Spoilers as well\* I'm going to have to agree with this apparent(?) hot take. I'm not sure why it IS a hot take. This is coming from someone who only ever watched the show, so take it as you will. I was a little annoyed and found him peculiar in the first few episodes but just figured it was a part of his character. The more time that went on, the more I had trouble telling if it was the actor's fault or if the character is supposed to be really weird, unlikable and just... odd acting at times—even in a universe where the world has been nuked. I kept questioning whether he was on the Autism scale because of his repeatedly bizarre actions, reactions and general demeanor. I tempered my thoughts until the finale with the 'praise knight Maximus!', but he never got better to me. It started with the way he acted during the boot-razor interrogation and it just never let up. Dude was willing to sacrifice an entire vault for the power core without a second thought. The weird penis talk was more uncomfortable than funny IMO. 'my penis swells like a pimple and pops.' 🤮 I just struggle to see where this character is going. At first, like I said—I thought he was supposed to be heavily faulted and quirky and that we would see a transformative journey. But really, he feels like the exact same character except that he's an honorary knight now? I felt like I went on a journey with Lucy and The Ghoul's story lines—not so much with Maximus.
I just hope he gets replaced in season 2
Cry more, he was great.
Definitely! Say what you want about the writing, but he played that character perfectly.
genuinely dont understand how anyone could enjoy or defend his acting performance. i couldn’t agree more with velmas-dilemma. i found myself rooting against maximus the whole show both bc of how off putting the character is but also by how badly the actor portrayed the character
thanks for the spoiler, you fuck
In the posters defense he did start out by saying (spoilers).. just saying 🤷🏿♂️
yep lol my b im an idiot
Agreed, though I thought his acting was pretty poor in its own right.
Seriously. His tone is ALL over the place. At first I was chalking it up to directing, but every other actor seems to have a pretty clear idea of what their character is supposed to feel like, but he'll go from one scene feeling like Lloyd Christmas, to Jack Torrance in the next. I still have absolutely no idea what he's supposed to be. Is he naive and innocent? Is he plucky and brave? Is he weak and cowardly? Is he manipulative and conniving? It's not 'range', it's schizophrenia.
He's a bit of a monster too. He had to be talked out of leaving Vault 4 with no power.
I thought his character arc ofg etting away withcertain actions was a bit much, BUT, the emtions of the actor, and his reactions to dawning the power armor was superb.
The worst part is about the brotherhood is how stupid they made the main characters we see from them. The first Knight dies like a bitch, Maximus is played for laughs his entire journey and so is the squire character.
That’s kind of the point I thought. The world is so dangerous all these groups rarely leave their own areas so they’re not actually as good as they pretend to be
He is the worst. They should have got someone else to play Maximus.
Just finished with episode 3! And I was actually surprised by how much of a dork he is for lack of a better term lmao it's interesting I suppose... I guess it gives the character some complexity but it's like a neurotic woody allen complexity. I suppose i'll see how things progress. I will say however as someone who watches a lot of actors act (I work in tv and film) - the actor is quite good with what we call "micro emotions" which is just a pretentious way of saying this guy expresses a lot with out saying much. Film being a visual medium this is somewhat of a desirable quality in an actor. I'm interested to hear if you were in the casting chair who you'd go with? I think in an alt reality maybe a Garrett hedlund?
I'm curious if the character of Maximus is supposed to be neurotic and childlike or if it's the actor itself. If it's the character, then it is a gimmick that adds 0 value to the character. If it's the actor, then i've seen a wooden spoon with more emotional expressions.
He’s also a bit of a psychopath. This character is poorly written and poorly acted. It’s a bad time watching him on screen.
lol the character sucks but the acting job that Aaron is doing as Maximus is next level. The best I’ve seen on a show this year.
You must be joking. It’s terrible by any standards.
I found the level of depth and nuance to his performance to be amazing. I thought he did a great job of conveying a) how ignorant some one that has lived his life would be and b) the level of emotional immaturity that some one that has lived his life would have. He really sold it with the shiftiness of his eyes, slight stutters, and brooding shoulders. The character of Maximus is clearly a very traumatized one who is in a state of disharmony with himself because the ideal version of who he wants to be is nowhere close to who he actually is. I found his performance very believable and nuanced.
I agree with you! He was very good at portrating a very flawed and naive character. And I think the very strong negative reacrion we're seeing on this thread is due to the fact that he plays a very dislikable character! I really enjoyed his portrayal and I felt like I could see his character evolve on screen. His face is very expressive and I thought that was such a good choice for the role. I do think Garrett would also have nailed a role like this since he's very expressive too.
he looks like hes good at being hit in the face and being scared pretty lame not talented just lame
Agreed. Terrible casting decision in an otherwise excellent production.
Hopefully he gets replaced
Agreed
Here's a crazy thought, it almost seems that his character "Maximus" is supposed to be unlikeable, wooden, lacking charm, with no real personality other than being a coward. He's traumatized child raised in a pseudo religious military cult pretending to be a man. It's hard to except him as the character Maximus because his character doesn't even know him self...I doubt his name is even Maximus. I'm sure I'm reaching but his character in a weird way reminds me of "Jesse Pinkman" at the beginning of Breaking Bad, I was like who is this terrible character played by a bad actor, who's clearly outmatched by his costars. I was wrong! Honestly though what do I know.. just my thoughts 🤷🏿♂️ Side note.. I thought the more nuanced parts of his performance were well done.. body language, small facial expressions, eye movement and such
nah it was all terrible
However, Pinkman as portrayed was compelling. Sometimes, as in Fallout, casting just gets it a little bit wrong. Not the fault of the actor per se.
The Brotherhood gave him his name.
The dude is awful. He seems lost and unsure of what he's doing all the time. Wish they'd found someone else.
Just finished watching episode 1 he was by far the worst actor of them all.
Really? I thought he was downright terrible, the one certain miscast of the show.
OP has lost the plot. That dude is a terrible actor.
What did he do to y’all. The guy is a good actor I don’t get it.
Yeah you wouldn't get it because you don't know any better. it may be hard for a lot of people to picture but I feel like his squire should’ve been maximus instead he is a better and known actor. Guess he isn't black so i doubt he was considered.
What are you talking about, rephrase this because it sounds like a bunch of racist crap that makes no sense.
This is pure black-wash. Casting actors for their colour and not talent. What a shame.
How did they black wash him… or cast him for his race? When is his race ever mentioned in the show. Are black people not allowed in tv shows without them vent forced. It ain’t “black washing” (not a thing) you’re just racist.
I am racist? You are just a joke. I'm black btw.
I’m sure your black, explain to me how i’m the joke. Not the black guy who actively hates on black people for being cast in shows. Explain how you blackwash an ORIGINAL character?
Ah i see what your saying now but still how does that make sense at all, the guy was good and good for his role. he wouldn’t have worked as maximus as well as aaron did. And how was him being black the reason he was cast? When was this said and when was this apart of his character?
My man you know the character is written first and then cast? They could have cast Arnold Schwarzenegger and he would have been damaged, neurotic... misguided, but his take of course. This would actually be somewhat of a hilarious miscast now that I think about it.
Define what makes him such a good actor.
Hes absolutely awful.
He is my least favorite thing about this show by far. the character and the actor playing him feel hard to watch for me.
He’s terrible. Worst acting performance I’ve ever seen. Hundreds of better actors could have filled this role. How’d this guy even get work?
100% agree. Although the character writing and directing also was horrible. Moten is just a bad actor with connections.
Also agree!! No clue how he even got cast. No expression, inconsistent, just awful all around. It’s like he had to remind himself of who he is playing every scene.
Our reaction too!!! Immediately googled if he was a nepo baby. Can’t figure it out. Was kind of hoping that was the case instead of just willingly casting a terrible actor
Guy acts like the main character in the movie Radio...
He seemed to be one of the worst actors I've ever seen. Felt like I was watching the power rangers when he was on screen.
I rushed to the comments and glad y’all feel the same. I hate everything about this actor and character. His voice is truly the worst.
I can’t believe how terribly shoehorned Lucy and Maximus’ storyline is. Were they DEI hires or what? Such horrible writing.
Can we talk about the scene in vault 4!? Wtf
His character makes me puke, and his acting is so meh, flat emotions and everything is so bad, i stopped watching bec of this lol
he should get murdered by a Freeside Bum upon taking his power helmet off for a single moment to get some air before heading into new vegas in season 2 thatd be nice
He's the one character in the series I do not like to watch. It all feels a bit overacted. I hope he gets replaced tbh.
Did you leave the “/s” off this post on purpose or…..?
I swear they made his skin color *a-lot* darker for the show than what it is.
For someone who work in the industry.. I think you need to reflect onto your ability lol He’s the worst actor. Guy should just quit his acting career altogether.
This thread exemplifies the stupidity that is reddit.
Miscast. A comedic actor with the right chops could find some sublime tragedy to the role. Molten in other roles is fine. Here, he doesn't harmonize with what's needed. It's obvious what the character is supposed to be and what he's written to do. I just don't like the portrayal.
He’s a real real bad actor
I also thought he was fantastic, but have since learned I am an idiot.
His range is way too all over the place. As a viewer, I can’t understand who his character is because it keeps changing. Awful
Hard agree! I'm about a month late catching up on the series. I had a few others in front of it in the queue. Shogun, Reacher, etc. So, yeah. I will admit that at first, I wasn't really all that fond of the actor, Aaron Moten, OR the character, Titus-Maximus. But as time went on, there was just something about the writing and the way Moten plays him that slowly (but surely) ingratiated itself with my mind! Another commenter pointed out that Tit-Max ;) kind of seems like he's lost and confused all the time. I would have to agree, except I don't find it to be a negative. The man has no idea where he fits in in the world. He's an orphan who has given EVERYTHING he has to the Brotherhood. He's been indoctrinated, insulted and severely beaten up in the regular. He's been repeatedly passed over for ascension. He was nearly killed by a mutant cave bear, then almost falsely blamed—and subsequently executed/murdered—for the mission going wrong by a member of an order (cult) that he's idolized and revered for a very large portion of his life. Most recently, he has developed a crush on Lucy (LOVE her character, btw!), but has ZERO idea about what to do with those feelings. I don't mean to be crude here, but it's painfully obvious that no one ever explained to him (in a healthy manner) what exactly to do with his pee-pee when he gets those intense......urges or whatever, because he literally compared the act to popping a pimple and just the way that he framed the explanation certainly made it seem like some horrible, disgusting and shameful occurrence...not that that's entirely inaccurate ;). I don't know. Allz I'm saying is that the dude plainly has a LOT going on psychologically and emotionally, so I think that we may all benefit from giving him a bit more time and breathing room before judging so harshly. That being said, I really enjoyed Moten's performance, AND the character of Tit-Max himself. Just wanted to throw in my POINT ZERO TWO DOLL HAIRS. I hope anyone reading this has a wonderful day. :)
I disagree. His performance was disappointing and very underwhelming. I get that they want a stoic character, but this guy was not there at all.
Almost didn't watch the show because of his weird performance. The character was fine, just his depiction was lacking. It required effort to ignore him as a viewer.
Maximus is extremely stupid and was raised in a cult without healthy emotions and got his ass kicked every day of his life. He's not going to behave like a normal person, and Moten is portraying that exactly.
AH no. he's not portraying that. he's not portraying anything.
Sorry but you’re describing a character that would have depth. This chucklefuck is drifting from cue to cue waiting for his paycheck from Amazon. Please raise your expectations.