Hi And then there's Mark Wahlberg and 9:11.
http://www.debbieschlussel.com/46157/idiot-marky-mark-wahlberg-says-hes-better-than-911-passengers/ Take care Jim > -----Original Message----- > From: Mike Palij [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: August-24-13 1:48 PM > To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) > Cc: Michael Palij > Subject: RE: [tips] The Character-Actor Delusion > > On Sat, 24 Aug 2013 10:14:26 -0700, Stuart McKelvie wrote: > >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. > > Perhaps but there are different schools of acting that train actors to play > roles > based on different criteria, such as "classical acting" > (Alec Guinness and Laurence Olivier are examples) see: > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_acting > And "method acting" (Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro are > examples) see: > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Method_acting > There are other approaches as well. In all cases, I believe, the actor > attempts to > bring a character to life even if that character is nothing like the actor in > real life > (one hopes this is especially true for actors that portray serial killers > ;-). I believe > it was Olivier who, when asked a question by someone who assumed he was a > method actor about how he got into his character (method acting is where the > infamous "What's my motivation?" comes from), he replied that he didn't, he > used "acting" instead. > > > NOTE: some directors may cast people with no acting experience into certain > roles because the person's actual personality captures the essence of a > character's personality or style of response. This is rarely done with > characters > that have major roles but a notable exception is the movie "The Jackie > Robinson > Story" which starred Jackie Robinson as, well, you know. In these cases, the > actor's and the character's personality are essentially the same. However, > even > in cases like this, is a person really playing themselves? Or is their > behavior > affected by the fact that they are being observed and playing a role -- what > role > does the director's and other actors expectancies play in altering what the > actor > does? > > >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. > > Alec Guinness is a comparable actor. In the movie "Kind Hearts and Coronets" > he plays 8 different characters including a female; see: > http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041546/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1 > And his roles in different films show tremendous range, from Fagin in "Oliver > Twist" to Ben Obi-Wan Kenobi in "Star Wars" and so on. > Laurence Olivier is similar but I think that one might see him as a more > "formal" > actor because of his Shakespearean roles but one should also keep in mind the > characters he played in "The Entertainer", "Marathon Man", "The Boys from > Brazil", and "Sleuth". > > >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? > > This is an interesting nature-nurture question about the stability of a > person's > personality. Depending upon one's definition of personality, an actor's > personality should remain relatively stable over time (if my reading of the > personality research lit is correct) but the characters that one plays does > not. > Does a person's personality change towards the personality of the character > that one plays or does the characters one plays become more like the actor's > personality? > > Consider Sean Connery in the movie "The Hunt for Red October" > where he plays a Russian and speaks Russian with a Scottish accent -- Connery > is > playing Connery playing a Russian. Compare this to the actor Kelly Macdonald, > specifically, in her role in the Robert Altman movie "Gosford Park" where she > speaks with a natural Scottish accent (she is Scottish) and her role as Carla > Jean > Moss in the Coen brother's "No Country for Old Men" where she nails the West > Texas accent; see: > http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/no_country_for_old_men/news/1704043/ > kelly_macdonald_on_no_country_for_old_men_the_rt_interview/ > In Macdonald's case, she is clearly acting her roles. > > One final comment: consider the following quote from IMDB about "No > Country for Old Men": > > |When Joel Coen and Ethan Coen approached Javier Bardem about playing > |Chigurh, he said "I don't drive, I speak bad English, and I > hate > |violence." The Coens responded, "That's why we called you." Bardem said > |he took the role because his dream was to be in a Coen Brothers film. > http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0477348/trivia?ref_=tt_trv_trv > > Like I said above, it's a good thing actors playing serial killers don't take > on the > character's persona. ;-) > > -Mike Palij > New York University > [email protected] > > > --- > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. > To unsubscribe click here: > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13251.645f86b5cec4da0a56ffea7a891720c9&; > n=T&l=tips&o=27306 > or send a blank email to leave-27306- > [email protected] --- 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=27308 or send a blank email to leave-27308-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
