Acting And Reality
In this article we're going to examine the fine line between
acting and reality and how the two coexist
together.
People watch TV, go to movies or theater to be
entertained. The truth is, everyday life can be rather mundane
and boring. Imagine watching a film of somebody going through
their typical day. You'd probably fall asleep before the first
10 minutes were up. The fact of the matter is, people's lives
are dull, at least most people's.
This brings us to the
problem of entertainment, especially in the movie or TV business
and most especially in the theater. We need our entertainment to
be just that, entertaining, yet at the same time we need it to
be based in reality. If you were watching a cops and robbers TV
show and suddenly you saw your favorite police officer pull out
a skate board and chase the criminal down brandishing a laser
gun, well, your reality would pretty much be shot to heck and
the credibility of the show itself would be destroyed. The shows
must be based in reality and yet must still be entertaining.
This is a very hard line to walk.
Actors have the hardest
job when it comes to bringing reality to a part without putting
an audience to sleep. The above example is extreme but the
problems can even occur with more subtle things.
Let's
take a scene where the hero cop is interrogating a suspect. For
starters, he can't go throwing him around the interrogation
room. There are certain rules cops have to follow and failure to
do so can lead to a case being thrown out of court, or worse, a
lawsuit against the department. But during the interrogation the
suspect finally admits to the crime, most likely a savage
murder, and even smiles about it. The hero cop is outraged and
he wants to just take this slime and wipe up the floor with him.
Realistically he can't do that. But he doesn't have to. A good
actor can convey that emotion and desire by the look he gives
the suspect. Maybe he even starts to go after him but then stops
himself, the look of pure hatred for this person in his eyes.
That is great acting and how you bridge the gap between dull
reality and exciting drama. Mixed in with a tense score and the
scene will probably have more impact than if he punched the guy
out into next Sunday.
In order to pull off this kind of
reality the actor must imagine how he would truly feel if
confronted with such a person. Many actors think of things when
playing scenes like this that truly do get them angry. Just like
when an actor needs to cry he or she thinks of something that
makes them very sad. This is a common practice among your more
versatile actors.
The truth is, all entertainment, even
science fiction, is based in some kind of reality, even if it is
the reality of emotions, which we all have. The ability to
display those emotions in a realistic, yet entertaining way, is
what makes a great actor and a great performance, the kind that
we don't soon forget.