Today I came across the most cliched acting class situation ever.
This one guy and his scene partner were doing a scene from the Departed. The guy playing DiCaprio's character was like really into it and just really going at it. When the scene was over, the instructor told him to relax his jaw, be more natural, and just really let it flow and just some other critiques. The guy goes "But that's not how DiCaprio does it!" and the instructor just went "You're not DiCaprio. You're not doing DiCaprio. You don't want to be DiCaprio. You're doing your own interpretation. Do the role the way you would do it not DiCaprio."
This dude is a good actor, but he's a stage actor. And the class is acting for film. So like he disagrees with some of the methods and rules for film acting and you can see the frustration in his face.
Anyway, that kind of made me laugh. It was really lame and really cliche honestly.
That's why I feel a little conflicted about theatre acting and the kind of praises some people immediatelly throw at the actors who have gone to drama school and so on. A lot of them are incredible actors and artists, obviously, but drama schools and stage acting can be such a 50/50 thing if you aspire to take a chance in the film industry, it can make you, but it can also break you - any kind of subtlety or natural charm you might have could be completely thwarted, depending on where and with whom you train. And some of them won't be able to let go of that. Idk. I'm just slightly put off by that sometimes, I say that as a girl who almost went to threatre like 5 times lmfao, but would always end up running away. I kind of regret it sure, but as I said...
I also don't really like the snobby air some of the theatre people carry, like yea you regard theatre as a much higher achievement than film (which is so wrong...), then why do you still try to go to movies too?
Ruth wrote:That's why I feel a little conflicted about theatre acting and the kind of praises some people immediatelly throw at the actors who have gone to drama school and so on. A lot of them are incredible actors and artists, obviously, but drama schools and stage acting can be such a 50/50 thing if you aspire to take a chance in the film industry, it can make you, but it can also break you - any kind of subtlety or natural charm you might have could be completely thwarted, depending on where and with whom you train. And some of them won't be able to let go of that. Idk. I'm just slightly put off by that sometimes, I say that as a girl who almost went to threatre like 5 times lmfao, but would always end up running away. I kind of regret it sure, but as I said...
I also don't really like the snobby air some of the theatre people carry, like yea you regard theatre as a much higher achievement than film (which is so wrong...), then why do you still try to go to movies too?
Yeah theater acting is really really different from film. With theater, you have to project so a lot of your movements and lines get kind of exaggerated (because people in the back need to see you and hear you). Film acting is way more subtle and you don't move around so much and there are a lot of rules.
The dude in my class seems to be set in the way of theater acting and he is trying to break out of theater acting rules in this class. But he still does ask questions and when he gets an answer, you can tell on his face that he doesn't really like it.
As for why they go to movies, that's where the fame is honestly. And money too. If as an actor you can get a recurring role on a TV show, your finances are pretty much taken care of (that is if you don't splurge it all on drugs and other expensive shit).
