NBC; 20th Century FoxHow do you solve a problem like people hatin' on Maria?
Carrie Underwood was "brave" to take on the role of the aspiring nun-turned-governess-turned singing stepmother of seven in last night's NBC special, The Sound of Music Live!, but that doesn't mean she should have, according to Kym Karath, who played little Gretl Von Trapp in the original film with Julie Andrews.
The all-grown-up actress actually gathered to watch the remake with costars Charmian Carr, who played 16-going-on-17 Liesl, and Angela Cartwright, who was Brigitta—and the reviews were mixed!
"Mystified & disappointed so far by SOM special," Karath tweeted. "So far only happy with Stephen Moyer," who played Georg Von Trapp (and is an accomplished musical-theater star, for those of you who know him mainly from True Blood).
She continued, "Must admit some scenes are actually painful to watch...Love Carrie Underwood but this role is just not right for her. She is lovely her voice is beautiful but acting is wrong."
Not everyone was miscast in Karath's eyes, however, as she added, "Enjoying scene with Captain, Herr Detweiler & Baroness. All excellent actors" and "Loving Laura Benanti's performance. Great job."
Although she certainly wasn't alone in her, um, concerns about Underwood playing Maria, Karath returned to Twitter today to defend her comments, writing, "To be clear I love Carrie Underwood. Just not as Maria. She was brave to take it on. And this doesn't lessen my respect for her talent."
And it certainly didn't affect either people's die-hard love of The Sound of Music or their curiosity: NBC's special was alive with the sound of 18.5 million viewers tuning in, according to Nielsen's preliminary estimate.
"Glory to God tonight...I couldn't be more proud," Underwood tweeted after the broadcast. "What a tough thing to pull off and we did it! I am so blessed!!!"