AUDREY REED
A&E Editor
Watching “The Tonight Show” always points out the same thing to me: some actors do not act. The way they behave in movies on television is the same as their actual personalities. This is a problem that not only damages the reputation of acting but depreciates a film’s quality.
Serious actors fear typecasting. They dread getting the same role over and over, based only on previous roles. However, if a relatively talentless person has an interesting personality, typecasting is a dream.
Hugh Grant is a classic example. In real life, he had a beautiful girlfriend, Elizabeth Hurley, and was caught with a prostitute. That sounds suspiciously similar to the plot of “Bridget Jones’ Dairy.” In many of his other movies, he plays a jerk, who then changes his attitude on life. For example, “Two Weeks Notice” or “About a Boy” fit the Hugh Grant plot line, or perhaps, personality.
Hugh Grant is kind of an easy one, though.
After watching some of the post-“Friends” specials with the cast, Matthew Perry also fits well in this group. Among the “Friends,” in real life, he’s still the guy jumping in with quick jokes and making everyone laugh.
He uses the same kind of words, the same sense of humor and same gestures and movements as the character Chandler. Perry, however, has branched out some into other movies, such as “The Whole Nine Yards.”
But the entire film and television industry is not at fault.
One could argue Ashton Kutcher has a gift in television. Anyone who could make “Candid Camera” en vogue again is talented. “Punk’d” may not be uncovering world injustices, but it does demonstrate Kutcher’s creativity. Then, he surprised everyone with “Butterfly Effect.” The plot line may have been far fetched and overdone, but Kutcher never seemed out of character and certainly wasn’t acting like his “Punk’d” self.
Another amazing actress is Charlize Theron. She fits right into action movies like “The Italian Job” and “Reindeer Games,” but in her career thus far, “Monster” exemplified her most convincing work.
In this movie, Theron stars as a serial killer and prostitute in a story based on the real life of Aileen Carol Wuornos. Not only does Theron physically look like Wuornos for the film through movie make-up magic, but her voice and accent changed, and she never seemed to force the character. To look like the real life serial killer, Theron had to gain weight as well as cover her face with a mask.
Theron is beautiful. She could easily pull off the female love interest in many situations. But instead, she tested her acting ability by choosing a character far different from her own personality and physical features.
This is what a true actor does. As their job title implies, actors are supposed to act. When someone acts, they are not themselves. Rather, they are what the writer and director tell them to be.
In our pop culture of reality television, acting is a lost art. We would rather see how people are in their homes, instead of what talents they possess.
Maybe this is where these “non-actors,” as I like to call them, should go. I heard they still have openings on the VH1’s “Surreal Life.”
08-30-2004