"To be an actor kinda says to the world, I have nothing to say...and I want to become hugely famous because I can say things that other people think of."
Jerry Seinfeld
Some Friday Fun in this three part Jerry Seinfeld and Garry Shandling walk and talk through the streets of New York chatting about acting, writing, comedy, and lost jackets...
PART TWO
PART THREE
It takes a bit to get going, but stick with it...parts 2 and 3 are loaded with insight into the minds and methods of these two comic geniuses.
Because it makes me smile...and go hmmmm.
3 comments:
I just wanna start by saying I couldn't agree more with Jerry. I strongly feel anyone can act. If you get the roll to fit the person you could pull them off the street. I also believe that those people will add a certain flair that will make it only one way. A good actor will always add a flair rather than improve an all ready existing flair ie. audition tapes where everyone has the same character. Also a good actor can change their roll seamlessly.
I also think it is ridiculous the things actors get in this industry. They get paid the most to do the least amount of work and add the least to the project. The money should shift hands and a guy like Dan Wright should see his weight in gold. If we want this industry to live things have to change and this is a good place to start.
Actors do have something to say its just no one cares but if they get caught with drugs or do something stupid they'll care but only about that act and still no one will care what they have to say.
That's it for now. I'm all worked up.
Not everyone can "act", or more accurately, appear to be natural in front of a camera: there are many people who are simply too self-conscious. Having said this, yes, many people can be themselves in front of a camera: the trick is to build a career out of it. Seinfeld did it. The cast of "Fubar", or "American Movie", didn't (so far.) Are you an interesting enough person to compel people to want to watch what you do time and time again? If so, then you can ride this one-trick pony to the bank (certainly no one has accused Jerry Seinfeld of having great range as a performer.)
That's where a good actor comes in, someone who can slip in and out of different personas. And appear totally natural (or at the very least, interesting) when doing it. Or as the exception, be so bang-on with one or two personas that he or she can capitalize on this as a go-to character actor with a solid type.
Ultimately my point is that there are a lot of additional factors involved (luck certainly included) in order to make a living out of simply being natural in front of a camera.
98% of working actors do not qualify as having household names -- or get things that qualify as being "ridiculous", IMO -- and it's been my experience that a good, intelligent actor brings a lot of thinking to the role, and to the film as a result. If an actor is truly the one who does the least amount of work on a film, in a just world that actor is replaced.
I can't speak for your experiences m, but if you've been involved above-the-line with a project that you've been dissatisfied with your actors, I would suggest seeking out a different caliber and personality of performer. I think you'll find it a far more rewarding working experience.
It is the reason I seek documentary which just adds a whole slue of other issues but for me it is less than tolerating/serving actors. Like you said 98% arn't a household name and of those 65% (of what I have seen) are Diva wannbe's for no reason whatsoever. They have no right to be and when it happens I see producers and directors crunch on people who don't deserve it and stress out an entire production because of it. In my mind the actor isuues should not happen and should be a zero tolerance policy after all it is a profession and if a person in any other profession acted the way a lot of actors do there is no way they would last let alone get hired again. Where as those that continue to work and make things happen never see the perks an actor does, this is not to say I think they should I jsut think the Hierachy is we set up is seriously flawed.
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