Dear Tipsters, As has been pointed out in this thread, some actors, particularly those who have played nasty characters, have received threats, suggesting that people conflate them with their role. And do you think that some people might have voted for a certain California governor because they thought he was really a tough guy? And what about a certain Republican president?
However, to some extent, and perhaps more so with type casting, people may be selected for roles because of what they are like, perhaps on the assumption if you play yourself a bit, it will appear more authentic. On the other hand, my favourite actor, Peter Sellars, was like a chameleon.......he could play so many roles effectively that you would often not know it was him unless you knew in advance. And here is a psychological question: if an actor plays the same role many times, would the constant practice (and positive feedback if it is done well) start to shape the person in that direction? In other words, given the laws of learning, how separate can an actor keep the role and their self? Sincerely, Stuart ______________________________ "Recti Cultus Pectora Roborant" Stuart J. McKelvie, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, Bishop's University, 2600 rue College, Sherbrooke (Borough of Lennoxville), QC J1M 1Z7, Canada. "Floreat Labore" ______________________________ From: Deborah S Briihl [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Saturday, August 24, 2013 12:53 PM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: Re: [tips] The Character-Actor Delusion Other actors have complained about this. Lenard Nemoy published a book called I am not Spock. Deb Deborah Briihl Dept of psych and counseling Valdosta state university [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> ,Sent from my iPad On Aug 24, 2013, at 11:18 AM, "Mike Palij" <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: I've been a fan of the TV series "Breaking Bad" since its first episode but I was unaware of the degree of negative reaction to Anna Gunn, the actor who plays Skylar White, the wife of the main character of the series Walter White who is played by Bryan Cranston. Apparently, there was dislike of the Skylar character from the beginning which was voiced on the chat boards at AMC and elsewhere as well as on various Facebook pages but has escalated to Ms. Gunn herself, including death threats. Ms. Gunn has written an op-ed piece for the NY Times where she reviews these issues and basically asks "WTF?!" with the haters; see: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/24/opinion/i-have-a-character-issue.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20130824&_r=0 I am unaware of any psychological research on how often or to what degree people confuse the character an actor plays with the actor him/herself but I can think of several instances where people have attributed qualities of characters to the actors. Does anyone know of research on this? -Mike Palij New York University [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13162.50de294b9d4987a3c89b4a5cc4bdea62&n=T&l=tips&o=27301 (It may be necessary to cut and paste the above URL if the line is broken) or send a blank email to leave-27301-13162.50de294b9d4987a3c89b4a5cc4bde...@fsulist.frostburg.edu<mailto:leave-27301-13162.50de294b9d4987a3c89b4a5cc4bde...@fsulist.frostburg.edu> --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13510.2cc18398df2e6692fffc29a610cb72e3&n=T&l=tips&o=27304 (It may be necessary to cut and paste the above URL if the line is broken) or send a blank email to leave-27304-13510.2cc18398df2e6692fffc29a610cb7...@fsulist.frostburg.edu<mailto:leave-27304-13510.2cc18398df2e6692fffc29a610cb7...@fsulist.frostburg.edu> --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=27305 or send a blank email to leave-27305-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
