The television program Inside The Actor’s Studio hosted by James Lipton is part of the course for students who study acting at Pace University. At the end of each interview, the students get to ask questions to the celebrity actor/director. When Steven Spielberg was answering the questions, one student asked him, “What is your definition of acting?” Spielberg was taken aback. Incredulous, he asked, “You want me to define acting?” In the end, he gave a stock feel-good answer, “Acting to me is about courage.” I wish he would have gone deeper into it – what does he expect from his actors, what criteria does he apply for good and bad acting and so on.
I think about this incidence many times, especially when I am watching movies. My views on which type of acting I enjoy most have changed quite a bit. Once upon a time, Robert De Nero, Al Pacino and Meryl Streep were my idols. Now I am beginning to think differently. I should stress here that this opinion does not, in any way, reflect the quality of acting of these actors. They are very, very good in their craft. And perhaps, that is my problem. They are too good.
I loved Robert De Niro in Raging Bull. By the way, I hated him in Godfather II. There, I said it. His Italian accent and gestures are too exaggerated. If you want to see an authentic American Italian, watch Fanucci or Clemenza. The other complaint I have about this movie is that it set an irritating trend of how Italian Americans talk – in all the following movies and even sitcoms like Seinfeld. Anyway, to get back to the point, when I see De Niro or Pacino, what I perceive is these actors giving a great performance. I can never forget the actor behind the character.
Contrast this to British actors and the difference is remarkable. Ben Kingsley immortalized Gandhi but in his later movies, I do not see Ben anywhere. I see the character he is playing. Or take my current favorite – Daniel Day-Lewis. Nowhere do I see even the hint of the actor. I see Abe Lincoln – how he walked, how he talked. Or I see the vicious gang leader. When I watch Steve Jobs, I have forgotten about the actor called Michael Fassbender. All I see is the ambitious entrepreneur. This goes for actresses as well. I watch The Iron Lady and I think to myself “Wow! Meryl has really outdone herself this time!” But in Steve Jobs all I see is Joanna Hoffman. In fact, I did not know that Kate Winslet was in the movie and it took me quite some time to identify her.
Why does this happen more frequently with British actors compared to their American counterparts? There are exceptions of course. Leonardo Di Caprio was exceptional in The Aviator. Morgan Freeman is just amazing in his range – from a convicted felon in The Shawshank Redemption to Nelson Mandela in Invictus. I love the way Matt Daemon manages to portray the character without much change in his appearance. Exceptions like these aside, I find it difficult to appreciate performances of most of the American stalwarts.
Maybe it has more to do with Hollywood. These icons are in limelight so much that they have become bigger than the movie. The moment you see them on the screen, you have so many preconceived ideas about them that you fail to appreciate the character they are playing. Take the case of The Revenant. The publicity machine went full throttle much before the movie was released. How Leonardo Di Caprio painstakingly worked for his role, ate raw bison meat, drank Unicorn milk and so on. All this built up such a huge mountain of expectations that when I watched the movie, I hardly gave a thought to the character. All of my attention was on Leonardo – the supreme actor – delivering an impeccable performance, with the nagging question at the back of my mind – will he get the Oscar this time?
Coming back to Pacino, I remember reading somewhere that there are two Pacinos – the early Pacino and the later Pacino. I like the early one. Unfortunately, it’s a pain to watch the later one. Is there any movie where Pacino does not have an angry, yelling scene? Watching him has become such a bore that I simply skip the movie if I see his name. Probably, I am not alone in this. The latest Pacino movie called Misconduct, with Anthony Hopkins, failed to earn even £100 at the UK box office.
So, these days I enjoy watching mostly British actors. I cannot get tired of watching Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Or, I go for movies where the actors are talented but not so well known. Take for instance, In My Father’s Den, a movie from New Zealand. Matthew Macfadyen and Emily Barclay give a splendid performance. You don’t know much about these actors so there are no preconceptions. Nowhere do you get the feeling that they are trying to pull off the role of a lifetime.
It’s just story telling at its best.
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Dear American readers, “googly” has nothing to do with Google. It’s a cricket metaphor and it means to face something surprising. As Neil Gaiman said,
We put up with your fire hydrants, congressional committees, and all the other American usages that we pick up. It’s about time you got something back.
