Typecasting notwithstanding, I’ve never had the impression that method actors would use the method for only certain types of character. That would seem super weird to me. I don’t really know, though.
If they did, I would expect them to eschew it much more readily for the asshole characters, specifically to avoid being an asshole off-camera.
And if a method actor was playing a nice character, and they were nice to people off-camera… it’s probably not going to make the gossip rags.
Or… maybe most of the non-asshole actors feel they are capable of playing the role of a decent human being without having to inhabit the character’s psyche to that extent, and that it’s only the ‘difficult’ characters which tend to present the kind of challenge which necessitates full method acting…
(All speculation. I’ve never talked to a method actor.)
I think any actor who feels that way is already an asshole, and doesn’t need method acting to assist them with that. And if they’re not playing an asshole character but they’re acting like an asshole, they’re just really bad at method acting.
I don’t know whether he actually did or not, but Laurence Olivier is supposed to have said to an actor he was working with, who was going full method: “My dear boy, why don’t you just try acting?”
I can sort of understand it. When I’m at work and I have to switch between chatty mode and then concentration mode it takes me ages to switch to a correct standard.
This reminds me of Michael Caine’s: “Use the obstacle”
I cannot remember it 100%, but on one of his first performances live on theatre, he had to enter through a door on the stage set, and somebody had left a chair blocking it, so he could not go on stage.
The director or a colleague (sorry, I can’t remember) later told him to use the obstacle. Come barging in a different way complaining about the door if it is a drama, trip on the chair if it is comedy, take advantage of the obstacle. It stuck to my memory because it is pretty useful for life in general as well.
At the risk of an appalling jinx, I’m watching (listening, actually) to New Zealand on the cusp of their first ever test cricket series win against India in India, after winning a test match in India for the first time in 35 years. The previous 12 series between the two nations resulted in 10 wins to India and 2 drawn series. This one is a three match series, and NZ are one wicket away from winning the series, with one test still remaining! And without NZ’s greatest ever batsman, Kane Williamson, who wasn’t available for this tour.
No jinx! The final wicket fell while I was typing this. Well done, the black caps!!!
This ends India’s 12 year streak of 18 test series wins at home, against all countries.
Mitchell Santner surely the man of the match with 13 wickets for the test (plus a run out), and bowling with a side strain for a lot of today.
NZ on top of The Cricket right at this moment, with the women’s team having won the T20 World Cup just a few days ago.
The Dune 2 bluray finally made an appearance here…
So I got to watch the movie again.
And now we can watch the specials. Hans Zimmer is such a nerd. Also his team is full of nerds.
I loved the movie again but I am SOOO glad I saw it on the big screen. We have a good sound system and a not-small TV but it doesn’t compare.
This is the kind of movie cinemas are for.
But it’s not in theaters right now… so I have to make do.
One of my rare excursions into the world of the televisual, catching up with the finale of The Umbrella Academy. Shorter than previous seasons and not quite as satisfying, but still enough of it hit the mark to be worth watching.
Might see where I was up to with What We Do in the Shadows next.
One very good little upgrade to the viewing experience came in the form of the new earphones I bought, a pair of refurbished Apple Airpods which have very effective noise cancellation and a “spatial audio” option. Don’t think that last does much for music, but the effect on TV and film audio is excellent. Really opens things up and introduces a sense of direction, without muddling the sound.
I recently finished that too, and enjoyed it lots even if it didn’t quite hit the heights of previous series, and I do feel the poor Hargreaves family deserved a better ending. Still, overall a great TV show.
That sort of plot has an inherently unsatisfying finish pretty much built in. It’s not quite as bad as “it was all a dream” or “everyone was dead all along!” but still a very difficult thing to handle well.
I think they netflixed it…
Netflix reminds me of how google did lots of prototypes, sold them as products and then was unable to make them good enough to keep them going and canceled them. Anyone remember google-plus?
