Acting - where's the mystery?

Freelancer

joe_chicken wrote:

Bang on the head...

particularly in Kiss the Girls and Along came a Spider, they are different movies right!?

They're adaptions of the same series of crime novels he's playing the same same character in both*, it's like saying;

"Harrison Ford plays the exact same guy in both Clear and Present Danger and Patriot Games, and don't even get me started on those Indian Jones movies...... "

*doesn't mean they're not **** though.

It's like Mr Hungus says, I can't thing of a performance where Morgan Freeman doesn't appear to be either a jaded loner, a world weary bitter man, or a dignified presence of introspection, or all three in a movie.

Now take Meryl Streep, she plays Ethel Rosenberg (jewish communist), an eldery male rabbi, and a nervous Mormon struggling to accept her daughter in law's insanity and son's homosexuality, all in Angels in America.

I'd like to see Morgan Freeman play a transvesitte cowboy with aids, pull it off and say it was "easy."

The best response to his statement, is "Well Morgan if it's so bloody easy how come I have to watch so many terrible actors?"

Madge

simu wrote:

"There's no mystery to it. Nothing more complicated than learning lines and putting on a costume."

-Morgan Freeman on acting

So, what do ye think about this? Agree or disagree? Is that all that is needed to become a Hollywood star along with a hefty dose of good luck? Is all the talk of charisma or "star quality" nonsense then?

I really need to know what people think about this.

Thanks!

I think its more about learning about the character rather than their lines. Trying to put yourself in the character shoes- understanding their motivations and perspectives.. Some famous scenes have been improvised by actors e.g. In taxi-driver the scene where Travis Bickle is talking to himself in the mirror was completely ad-libbed by Robert De Niro. The screenplay details just said, "Travis looks in the mirror."
Also, actors try to find a piece of themselves in the character they're portraying and try to work around that.
Obviuosly, charisma and looks have a lot to do with it, I'd say 90% of actors in Hollywood have had some sort of plastic surgery

stevenmu

Never having done it, I can safely say acting is incredibly easy. It's something that we've all spent hours doing as kids, playing cops and robbers or doctors and nurses or whatever the game happened to be. We always managed to immerse ourselves in games without any problems at all. But, as we grow up we're given a role to play, that of a 'grown-up', and we play this role so much that it becomes second nature to us and we forget how to play any others. So, it's simple really, people just need to learn how to dream and believe in make-believe again, like a child does, to act.

(possibly why you sometimes get incredibly talented child stars who grow up to be ...erm... less talented and less of a star)

Atrocity

Anyone can learn lines and read them, but not everyone can be a great actor; just turn on Fair City or Coronation Street. The Johnny Depp comments above are accurate, but I don't think any of you have discussed the mountain of a man that is Rob Schneider. In "The Animal" he adopts the mentality of a horse.

what about the drink-driving scene in withnail and i, the park scene in 25th hour, any scene in buffalo '66.. all great acting.

Karl Hungus

joe_chicken wrote:

Bang on the head...

particularly in Kiss the Girls and Along came a Spider, they are different movies right!?

I've avoided seeing Along Came A Spider... Morgan Freeman + Serial Killer Film = tedium.

I'm actually suprised though, I was expecting to have a few angry callers being quite irate with my estimation of Freeman though.

joe_chicken

Freelancer wrote:

They're adaptions of the same series of crime novels he's playing the same same character in both

oops... sorry.... didnt pay attention long enough to get that

and it was a genuine question, i really wasnt sure whether they had just renamed it or something