View Single Post
Old 12-08-2009, 03:49 PM   #8 (permalink)
oliver9184
Psycho
 
The way this could be approached maybe is to consider which of these actors that are being suggested - Laurie, Depp, Ford and Nicholson - have a physical presence that seems almost to overwhelm what they're saying. What do you notice more, their physical actions or the words they say? When (if) you try to copy them what's harder to do accurately: their movements or their words?

Jack Nicholson acts with his marvelous face and voice but not really his body. I don't think he ever needed to because that was always enough. Harrison Ford, though he may chase down baddies and rescue family members fairly often, isn't a great physical actor. Plenty of actors do that. Sylvester Stallone does that but I wouldn't class him as any kind of actor - he's basically the opposite of acting, physically and otherwise.

I think it's interesting that Ford was suggested, because out of all the actors that do that sort of action movies I'd put him forward as one of the least physical actors. Is he ever flamboyant? No, he's always the opposite - reserved. Is his action ever unnecessary? Does he ever gesticulate or move his body more than is absolutely necessary? - almost all actors do at one time or another but Ford hardly ever seems to. He's a star but in a way he tries to deflect attention. It's what he's known for - he's a cool dude who gets the job done with minimum effort. Has he ever lost his temper? No, because he's the modern equivalent of Gary Cooper. Doesn't want attention, just does what's right because it needs doing and no-one else will. Compare him to Mel Gibson - another action star whose career has been roughly contemporary with Ford's. See the difference? It's my opinion therefore - and this not necessarily a positive or negative observation - that Ford is one of the least physical actors. The same goes for Robert De Niro I think - surely one of the most respected actors but one accomplished at the sort of acting that doesn't require physicality.

I can't make any informed comments about Hugh Laurie because I haven't seen him properly in House and I'm still trying to figure out Johnny Depp's physical merits. He's an odd one. I'll do so and report back later. In the meantime enjoy this clip of Jim Carrey being both Nicholson and De Niro!

oliver9184 is offline  
 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360