The Decline of the American Actor — Page 2

"These days"?!?! I think the only person who could state that seriously would be too young to form sentences. Or perhaps was born and raised in a bunker and only released to the outside world in 2013.

Were you trying to make a point there?

"As opposed to when Hollywood was notorious for respecting talent over beauty, glamour, celebrity and potential profits?"

I understand your point, but at least in the "good old days" Hollywood had respect for character actors. Where in today's plays or movies do you see a Shirley Booth, a Nancy Walker, a Marjorie Main, a Don Knotts? Actors today have looks but they don't have personalities.

Where in today's plays or movies do you see a Shirley Booth, a Nancy Walker, a Marjorie Main, a Don Knotts?

Melissa McCarthy, Seth Rogan, Jason Segel, Rebel Wilson (though not American), Jim Parsons, Mayim Bialik, Jonah Hill, Amy Poehler...too many to name them all.

... or Benedict Cumberbatch and Ewan McGregor in August: Osage County or Alex Pettyfer in Lee Daniels' The Butler.

Updated On: 6/23/15 at 05:34 PM

Perhaps it has to do with the all-import overseas revenue stream.

Denzel Washington's earlier work on screen was not really a huge box office draw overseas despite his success in the US. But, if you pair him with Clive Owen you can expect an up-tick in ticket sales abroad, e.g Inside Man. In that particular flick, both Washington and Jody Foster got a boost from Clive Owen's participation.

And movies with themes related largely to the female experience, African-American experience or featuring a cast of mainly black actors have historically been niche features. But, cast Cate Blanchett, Keira Knightley, Dame Judy Dench, Helen Mirren or the black British A-list actors du jour and the movie's prospects of at least breaking even at the box office increase exponentially.

Tom Ford's foray in feature film the indie flick A SINGLE MAN starring Colin Firth and Julianne Moore brought in the lion's share of its lifetime gross from abroad. In fact, the movie barely broke even domestically.

I've watched a ton of foreign films in which the non-American male lead, often a married straight actor, handled playing a gay or questioning character with ease. Many also appear to be much more comfortable with nudity on film as well. Strangely, it's when I see an American male actor on screen either nude or depicting a gay character that I feel somewhat prudish.

Updated On: 6/23/15 at 07:33 PM

"it is naive at most."

Is that what you meant to write?

In response to the list of actors in post #9 - I can only say that I concur with Sadoski (because I saw him on stage) and Corey Stoll (because he has the range to do Hemingway and HOMELAND). The others - meh. Quito didn't impress me particularly on stage. And every actor named Chris under the age of 40 looks the same to me.

You also have to realize that, at some point in the last 15-20 years, the coveted training for actors in the industry flipped from conservatory-like training to improv training ie. The Groundlings and UCB. Now...there is nothing wrong at all with improv training, but when that's all the training you have, it's going to be hard to expand your range to something that may have a more classical bent. And, because of the language, something like AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY has a more formal feel than any of the Apatow-like comedies being produced. You need actors that can bring heft and gravitas to some productions. The business looks to Britain and Australia for those types of actors. I'm not saying it's because they ARE better trained, but they are most assuredly perceived as better trained.

I've told this story before, but about 15 or so years ago, a friend I went to drama school with was up for a schlocky B-movie. She was not a particularly good actress. At all. But she had gone through the same training I had and she had the same sort of knowledge base. She went to the callback and, instead of having them read from script of the film, the director had them read a monologue from Maggie in CAT... She got the part, not because she was the only one who knew what CAT was, but because she was the only woman of the five who even knew who Tennessee Williams was. I decided I should stay in NYC right then and there.

I don't disagree with you at all. Part of the core training at my university was a full year exploring improve (voice work, text analysis, blah blah blah). I don't consider myself a terrific improv guy, but there are several shows I've done that would have been virtually impossible without some basis in the art. I've worked with a couple of actors that were genius at improv, but when presented with slightly more complex text they were completely adrift. I've also worked with some theaters (Shakespeare festivals and stuff) where the main focus was on the 'bit.' I had never worked that way in my life, so I really had no idea what was happening. The mechanics of the bit became the be-all and, by the time it got to performance, it was a robotic thing that had no soul and no spontaneity.

I guess I don't really know what I'm saying here. Perhaps the training in a smaller theater place like England is more formalized without much variation. Maybe training here is really disparate and uneven. I'm not sure that's a bad thing. It's great to have people who kill at improv and others who can lie back into verse and sell that. And there's a few that can do it all. Maybe it just is what it is and I should stop over-analyzing.

Yeah...'practice' is the key word there. It's one thing to study it...and another thing to do it. I think the best training I've had is working in the indie theater scene. Rehearsal periods are short, previews are non-existent and you have to be opening night ready by final dress. I've done a few shows downtown with folks who were solely doing Broadway or major regional runs and they were astonished by how quickly and smartly we all had to work.

The other advantage the UK has is that the center of the theater and film worlds there is London. It's very, very easy for actors to have access to all kinds of acting opportunities, going from stage to tv to screen with ease.

An envelope-pushing dual role as Big Daddy and Big Momma would be off the charts. Somebody call Ivo Van Hove!!

#galesoflaughter

This argument has been going on since Olivier was cast in Wuthering Heights and his wife was cast in Gone With the Wind that same year. Ridiculous. Directors will cast whomever they feel are best for the role despite their training or lack of it. Sure, coming out of Yale (Streep) or Juliard (Kline) or LAMDA (Oyelowo) might give you a leg up, but it won't land you the role. There are plenty of terrific actors (Jodie Foster, Helen Mirren) who had no formal training whatsoever and plenty who came out of high profile training programs never to be heard from again.