| Does it take talent to be a movie actor?
Posted: 7/1/2008 12:30:58 PM | ... or is it just about the personal habits a person has?... the way they naturally look, speak, move... irrespective of acting?
I've seen so many movies with "action heroes"... like Sean Connery, Clint, etc... where the star hardly has any lines at all... | |
|
| Does it take talent to be a movie actor?
Posted: 7/1/2008 12:48:16 PM | There is a great deal of competition for actors and actresses. So not only does one have to have natural charisma, but also has to be highly motivated to stay in the field.
People tend to thing that acting is easy. A person just has to pretend, and play a part. What they fail to realize, that a movie actor has to be able to play and pretend in the same scene over and over again, and not in sequence to the plot necessarily (since they might shoot different parts of the film at one location while they are there). Each time they deliver the line that they delivered a hundred times before, it has to appear natural, and as if it was unrehearsed. Every movement of their eyes and body also has to follow along, appearing as if done without thought, when in reality it is all pre-planned, rehearsed, and might be done dozens or more times, until the director is satisfied with the results.
A stage actor might perform the same play for years, night after night, yet each time it has to appear that each line is spoken for the first time, while the energy level of the performance is supposed to portray the acton as it is just unwinding now as it is happening.
When a line is spoken by one performer, the others have t respond to it as if it is spoken for the very fist time.
The basics can be taught, but talent cannot.
As for the stars not having any lines at all; that is up to the writers, producers, and the director. It is up to them to decide how their performer is used, and up to the actor to deliver the best product that they are able to. Anyone can go through the motions, deliver the lines, or even stay silent. But not anyone can reach the success of Sean Connery, or Clint Eastwood.
There are millions of very good looking people, with very pleasant voices in the world, but how many of them would be paid Twenty million dollars for a few weeks or months of work? | |
|
| Does it take talent to be a movie actor?
Posted: 7/1/2008 1:31:12 PM | Okay... your comments are very true concerning stage actors. I KNOW they have to be good at their craft...
But it seems to me that many "actors" (quotes are for a reason) don't have to do anything that stage actors do...
they don't have to move a certain way... the camera's right on them.
they don't have to project their voice... the mic hears them whisper, even
they don't really have to memorize lines... you can see them reading from teleprompters MANY times.
so.... My opinion is that in alot of cases, it's got nothing to do with anything other than their looking a certain way... or they might look like some other actor they get cast in the same movies with alot... like Keanu Reeves looks like Al Pacino's son or something...and he's had several roles playing a character like that...
or they look like some other famous star...
jeez... I've read stories where Marilyn Monroe would take a dozen attempts to say two words or something. That's certainly performing...but can we really call it "talent"? | |
|
| Does it take talent to be a movie actor?
Posted: 7/1/2008 2:46:18 PM | film actors have to work hard as well. shooting takes place at all hours of the day, and alot of actors work with little or no rest. Ive done production assistant work on plenty of films to gain a certain respect for actors. Yes, alot of them can just look good and not have many lines, look at how Duane "the rock" Johnson started out in the Mummy returns. Not a single line, just his eyebrow motion.
On camera, every minute detail can be scrutinized. You may shoot a scene 20 times or more before getting it right. blinking at the wrong time could break the scene and cause it to be re-shot. With stage acting, its all done in one shot. if you mess up, to keep on going with the flow until the end of the performance. also, its not right in your face and not every detail is under the microscope.
when it comes to script memorizing, actors have to memorize their script the same way a stage actor does. sometimes, they can use a prompt, but thats very rare because most movies are in constant motion in one way or another, its hard to carry a prompt through a cramped set with a running actor and keep up.
I think its safe to call it talent. working 10-20 hours a day for a month or more straight through countless cuts and re-shoots and still give a believable performance requires some skill. Not everyone can pull it off. Which is why we have our "A" list actors that appear in many films.
Also, keep in mind. alot of film actors are veteran stage actors. | |
|
| Does it take talent to be a movie actor?
Posted: 7/1/2008 4:28:57 PM | | I've worked on both spiderman 1 and 2. Does it take talent?? do not think so..more like being there at the right time. I like acting, but some times it is hard to land roles. | |
|
| Does it take talent to be a movie actor?
Posted: 7/1/2008 4:37:28 PM | being able to work those long hours and pull off a believable performance worthy of awards takes talent.
being an extra or some other random crew, thats all about being at the right place at the right time, or by who you know. | |
|
| |
| Does it take talent to be a movie actor?
Posted: 7/2/2008 11:47:47 AM | I have a cousin who ended up in a few movies from catching Michael Bay & Jerry Bruckheimer's attention when he was trying to tell his story about being an undercover narc & maybe being a consultant. It was the usual - talked to a guy, who knew a guy, who introduced him to...blah, blah, blah!
But, as a result he ended up in "Bad Boys II" and "The Island" and a few other things. Partly because of the kind of person he is and partly because of his "look" - 6'4", bald head with a long goatee/beard, pierced ears, tattoos & still ripped at 50+. | |
|
| |
| Does it take talent to be a movie actor?
Posted: 7/17/2008 9:30:48 PM | Given the absolute dross that spews out of Hollywood these days I'd have to say "no"
Hollywood could improve drastically if Will Farrell could learn to say "no" to a movie deal... | |
|
| Does it take talent to be a movie actor?
Posted: 7/17/2008 10:58:00 PM | If it were that easy then there would not be acting schools, (which are not cheap) there would not be the multi million dollar contracts because anyone could just stand there. I recall the looks of Lucille Ball. I am not sure of a school that could teach the
"average joe" how to give a look that said so much. Recent article on classes for those auditioning for Reality T.V. One has to take a class to learn how to look realJust for a audition. (and you wonder why they call the media a circus) 
p.s. the same answer to those who watch the Superbowl and yell their hearts out at the players on the field... "if you think it is that easy then go for it try it yourself."  | |
|
| Does it take talent to be a movie actor?
Posted: 8/15/2008 2:23:13 PM | Before I went to the non-creative side of T.V., I was a makeup artist for small, independent films, commercials, music-videos, and stage production.
In shooting with good and bad actors over the years, I found that it is a lot more difficult than it seems to keep the continuity of emotion throughout a scene when everything is shot out of order in the movies.
Example:
You start SHOOT day #1 as, say, a 2p.m. exterior shot of a couple's house that is used for SCRIPT day #22 (as well as others) in the storyline.
The main guy has had a fight on script day #22 in the interior of the house, which is actually on a set on Stage #33 of the Paramount lot --which you don't even START to shoot on until shooting day #12... Follow me...?
On that first shoot day (#1), he is running out of the house after a huge fight with his wife where things have been broken and yelling and hitting has taken place and he, in the end, finally killed his wife after many years of abuse on day #22 of the script...
Now, although that particular fight scene (for script day #22) hasn't even been shot yet (so only so much intensity has been decided or rehearsed for how out of breath/angry/beat up/rumpled/bloody/sweaty/guilty and remorseful this guy is), he is supposed to be BELIEVABLE when he storms out of that house on shoot day #1 and convince you that he is leaving that exact same fight that supposedly just took place on script day#22 when you, the audience, is watching the movie nine months later after post-production has had it's way with the final cut.
WHEW!!!
Good acting ISN'T easy!
...And, having a pretty face can actually work against you.
I can remember a while back there being a little sandwich place in Burbank where there are all kinds of autographed headshots of many different actors all over the walls...
There were many pretty-boys and girls faces on those walls that I'd never seen before, nor will I have seen 99% of them on the big screen anytime in the future.
It seems the character actors, the ones with interesting faces that AREN'T so pretty, are the ones who usually work a helluva lot more often than someone considered more "leading-man" or "leading-lady" beautiful.
You usually don't know their names, but you see them a few times a year, in various roles of various lengths, since --forever.
There are very few leading roles every year compared to hundreds of supporting character roles every year in L.A.
My money is on the weird-looking tattooed guy (or the geeky strange one) over the hunky-looking man-meat-god supporting themselves as an actor any day! | |
|
| |
| Does it take talent to be a movie actor?
Posted: 8/15/2008 10:37:18 PM |
You start SHOOT day #1 as, say, a 2p.m. exterior shot of a couple's house that is used for SCRIPT day #22 (as well as others) in the storyline.
The main guy has had a fight on script day #22 in the interior of the house, which is actually on a set on Stage #33 of the Paramount lot --which you don't even START to shoot on until shooting day #12... Follow me...?
On that first shoot day (#1), he is running out of the house after a huge fight with his wife where things have been broken and yelling and hitting has taken place and he, in the end, finally killed his wife after many years of abuse on day #22 of the script...
Jade, so basically you're saying that it's difficult for an actor to murder his wife on the first shooting day and then have to move to a different location 12 days later to have a rip-roaring fight with her?
Acting is so over-rated. I played one of the wicked step-sisters in Cinderella when I was in the 6th grade.... and I didn't even have to ACT! | |
|
| Does it take talent to be a movie actor?
Posted: 8/16/2008 12:00:25 AM | "NO talent to be a movie actor. It does, however, take talent to be a GOOD movie actor."
Well said. If the person is playing the same person in every role and I can recognize the person, then I'm not impressed. However, there have been some movies/shows where I heard the names after and reacted with "That was.... I didn't recognize ..." Now for some that might be a matter of stuck in type casting. Clint Eastwood gets Clint Eastwood parts. I have a hard time telling the difference between Julia Roberts and the roles she plays.
However, the greats I don't recognize as easily .... and 80% of their communication is still nonverbal. In my youth I majored in theatre arts and learned as a student director to watch for when the words and the actions didn't match. Alas, I still watch for nonsensical movements and behaviors. | |
|
| Does it take talent to be a movie actor?
Posted: 8/16/2008 7:37:33 AM | Jade, so basically you're saying that it's difficult for an actor to murder his wife on the first shooting day and then have to move to a different location 12 days later to have a rip-roaring fight with her?
Nah.... Leave that up to the ex-football players.
*
*
*
.......I got nothin'.  | |
|
| Does it take talent to be a movie actor?
Posted: 8/16/2008 7:45:38 AM | ^^^ I'd say that was pretty good.
I don't think actors would have trouble with that aspect. I think bad acting - and some of my best friends are bad actors - Wait... I'm not talking about anyone we know here (walking on eggshells) - but anyway - I think bad acting comes from not fully connecting with one's role. I don't know squat about this of course, but I opine that good actors are the ones who "become" their character while bad actors are the ones who "play" their character.
Bad actresses, BTW, are ones that won't let us see their boobs. Julia Roberts...  | |
|
| Does it take talent to be a movie actor?
Posted: 8/16/2008 3:13:23 PM | ^
... but I opine that good actors are the ones who "become" their character while bad actors are the ones who "play" their character.
Brokeback Mountain... Acting? Or playing their characters?
| |
|
| |
| |
| Does it take talent to be a movie actor?
Posted: 8/19/2008 6:04:11 AM | 
I think talent 1925 to 1965 was VERY different than it is TODAY - along with the writers & all others who made up movie making into what it is today...
Apply the same thinking to a TEEN band who can actually play instruments from the heart in their garage & becomes the next ROLLING STONES - Beatles etc... who is still touring today...
TO - Groups that were & are made popular by the record companies because they look a certain way & appeal to a certain crowd...
IF there is a certain "ITCH" in your blood - To: act - sing - paint - sculpt - ART etc... then no one can shake that & or take that away from you... You'll know it...because you'll do it with or without pay to the point of starvation...
I'm sure that "DIRECTORS" are just looking for that certain look & voice...They'll know it when they see it & hear it for "THE ROLL"... (nothing personal if they don't pick you this time)... I'm sure that's why some people start their own little independent companies - (sundance film fest comes to mind - you can be discovered in a short film made from passion? that you wrote - produced - filmed - & stared in ED WOODish)...
etc...etc... etc... | |
|
| |
| Does it take talent to be a movie actor?
Posted: 8/20/2008 5:33:01 PM |
Well said. If the person is playing the same person in every role and I can recognize the person, then I'm not impressed. However, there have been some movies/shows where I heard the names after and reacted with "That was.... I didn't recognize ..." Now for some that might be a matter of stuck in type casting. Clint Eastwood gets Clint Eastwood parts. I have a hard time telling the difference between Julia Roberts and the roles she plays.
It seems though that actors who are considered great actors from long ago to now are basically playing similar roles. They physically look similar and sound similar and move similar. | |
|
| Does it take talent to be a movie actor?
Posted: 8/20/2008 7:09:41 PM | Is anybody here in the pond really qualified to answer that question OP?
There is a common thread that many who make it came from humble means, had a hard childhood, split family, poor, living out of car, time in prison, etc...
almost like fate gave them back their due for hanging in there with a passion for something?..... food for thought regarding many things! (imho)
 | |
|
| Does it take talent to be a movie actor?
Posted: 8/21/2008 12:06:47 AM |
Is anybody here in the pond really qualified to answer that question OP?
Some of us have actually worked in the business. It isn't all that hard to figure out what's going on with actors when one is actually there. | |
|
Home
login 
