School Ties is a movie about a Jewish senior in high school who gets accepted to a prestigious Christian academy on a football scholarship. The kids there are all rich and privileged with legacies at colleges like Harvard and Yale. David is from a poor town, so he finds it hard to adapt. However, he makes friends quickly, but he gets nervous when one makes a Jew joke. He then decides to hide his religion from them to keep his social status. He dazzles in his first football game, and gains the attention of many important people, he gets a girlfriend, and he becomes extremely popular. However, the Jew jokes continue, and he finds himself getting more and more nervous. Then a drunk man who knows David's secret tells one of David's friends and football teammate. Finally, when his friend discovers he is dating his own long time crush, he snaps and exposes the information to the team. After that, David becomes a social pariah. What happens in this movie is basically Daisy's worst fears in the play. She is afraid she will be treated differently because of her religion so she keeps it a secret until someone finds out and exposes it to the whole school. Great movie, would recommend to anyone who hasn't seen it.
Michael John Douglas was born on September 5th, 1951. He was born in Pennsylvania and lived there for much of his young life before moving out of college. Growing up as a kid he was the youngest of seven children in his family. As a kid in school he was very interested in acting groups such as musicals and plays and other sorts of drama practices. This was considered his first training to the successful actor that he was, and still is.
He went to high school and when he was in it he also was involved with the schools acting projects. It was a big passion for him. A character trait that Michael had was that he was a very funny person and this helped him for his young life and also his career. After high school he went to Kent State which is a college in Pennsylvania and attended there for two years before he had to drop out due to financial reasons and he couldn't afford it. After Michael dropped out of his college, his first career job came from just working at local businesses and public places. This didn't last long. Soon he quit these and started to try his own stand up comedy. This became unsuccessful, he didn't have enough business to continue with it even though it was something he loved. When he quit doing that he got a job working at a TV station in Pittsburgh. The station is called WQED and it was a local channel on the air in Pittsburgh. For a few months he worked here before moving out to Los Angeles. When he got to LA, his career began to finally take off. He auditioned for a multitude of different TV parts on shows. He moved from a comedy role to a actual actor in movies and TV shows. His first show that he actually acted in was called Maude and he had a role in it. It was at this time that he decided that he needed to change his name from Michael John Douglas to a different name. The reason for this was because at the time there was a showtime host who was named Michael Douglas and so he changed his name to Michael Keaton in order not to confuse his fans. After this he began to be a actor for movies which is definitely a big step from working on TV shows. His first major film that he stared in was called night shifts which had him as the co-star and showcased his funny and numerous abilities with it. This was a really good way to get noticed and made him some notability with working on it. A few movies later he found himself in his biggest role of his life. He starred as Bruce Wayne in the famous movie Batman. This was a original hit and sent a lot of fans and fame Michaels way. This was definitely the biggest role of his life. This made him a very famous man because of it and it was got him the popularity that he has today. What I have learned and gained from learning about Michael is that things are not going to come right away. He really worked for what he finally got and he didn't quit along the way. What this tells me is that you cannot quit if you want to make something better for yourself. That is the main point that learning about Michael has taught me. My actor for my actor report is Ian McKellen. He has played many interesting and wonderful part on both the stage and behind the camera. Some of these include Gandalf from Lord of the Rings, Magneto from X-Men, and many major heroes and villains in almost all of Shakespeare's plays.
Ian McKellen was born in1939 in England. During his early childhood, his parents moved with Ian and his sister Jean to the mill town of Wigan. He soon developed a fascination with acting and the theater, which was encouraged by his parents. They went to Shakespeare plays once a week and often brought Ian. He was in many amateur plays during his school days and they helped his growing love of theater. He has loved it ever since. Later in life he began working on movies and TV shows but he would always be a theater lover. McKellen's method is very interesting. He sees his role and thinks about what that character can and would have to do. Take Gandalf. Sir Ian thinks to him self, "How cool would it be to be a wizard. I wonder what I would be like." He figures out what he would do, how he would hold himself, how he would say things, how he would walk and he gives all that to his character. He thinks, "Well, I am in charge of a large party, so I think I will look around a lot to make sure that we have everybody. I am a wizard with a staff so even when I am not casting spells with it I would wave it around, gesture with it. Not too much though, that would look weird." Ian does the a similar thing with Magneto. He thinks, "Well Magneto is a cold and calculating villain so I think that I would use my hands to gesture dramatically when I talk. I would also make no secret that I am the one I charge and everyone should bow down to me." He thinks about what he would do if he were in the place of that character and he had the same powers and abilities. Another thing he does is he dresses in dark colors like black roses and a red suit. I think this could help everyone's acting and they can at least try this method. With my character I could think, "Well my character is a real business man so I think I should straighten my suit and glasses a lot." Or, "My character is dethroned so I think I should sulk around some." In the end I think that this is an face value take on method acting but I think it is nice to know that is how some successful people act. Born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Neil Patrick Harris started acting at the age of 15. He was first discovered in an acting camp in New Mexico, and was cast in Clara’s Heart (1988) as his debut film. After his acting career started, he appeared in productions like Doogie Howser, MD (1989), the Proposition (1998), and How I Met Your Mother (2005-2013). Between films and TV shows, he was also cast in many musicals, like Romeo and Juliet, Rent, and Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Harris also has a love of magic, which is portrayed in his character on How I Met Your Mother, Barney Stinson. He has also hosted many awards shows, including five Tony Awards, and recently, the 87th Academy Awards (he was the first gay man to host).
As Neil Patrick Harris acts, he thinks not through his eyes, but the audience’s eyes. He doesn’t act in a way that pleases him, but he thinks about what would made the crowd/audience laugh. He performs for the people, and not himself. He says acting requires agility, and requires your mind to constantly work. “You have to be a couple of steps ahead in your mind when you're doing it. Body awareness is key” Harris says. He believes in going for it, whether you’re going to make yourself look like a fool or not. “I went for it, and didn't seem to care very much about making an ass of myself, and they seemed to respond to that mentality.” Harris always pays special attention to the audience, and makes sure they they’re never bored. He strives to keep their attention. “On a sitcom, and in theatre especially, you have to really be listening to an audience. And if you're losing them, you can hear the sniffs, and and the playbills shuffling and whatnot. So you have to take an extra-long pause to make them think something's gone wrong, and then try and get them back.” And, when asked about cooperating with the directors, “It's your job to make the most of what material's given to you.” 1.What have you learned about acting from your research? I have learned that acting isn’t something that you can be told to do, necessarily, but you have to feel it, and feel what’s natural. If it’s not natural, then the audience won’t respond well to that. 2. How will you incorporate what you’ve learned into your performance? Instead of being told what to do, I will take my acting into my own hands and think out each scene. For instance, I’ll act like I’m not an actor, but I’m actually experiencing it and my reactions and acting will come from that. 3. What will you change about your performance? Like I said before, I’ll try to have a natural reaction without being told that I need one in the first place. I will also be aware of what’s going on with the audience, so that I can better my performance and stay focused with the crowd and what’s going on in the scene. After stunning everyone in her role as Patsey in 12 Years a Slave, Lupita Nyong'o was truly known as one of the best actresses out their. "There are many roads to Mecca." Lupita says after chatting with the Huffington Post. Nyong'o's way to Mecca was through the Yale School of Drama. After getting accepted to Yale, Lupita worked her way to the top auditioning for many movies and commercials often being denied. "I wasn't denied because I was black, I was denied because I needed to be better." Lupita told herself this for years but finally came across a different type of audition. "As I went into the studio a tall blond man came in. He looked at me strangely to please go out. Naturally I asked why and he said I was too dark for the role." Lupita wants to be the change for black actors.
Nyong'o's method is very simple she says. "To be a great actor you have to enjoy the person you are creating. You have to connect with them in some way." I can apply what Lupita is saying into my acting in many ways. First off I can connect to my character, Jackson, because sometimes I feel as though I have to be mean in order to be liked. Nyong'o says you have to connect with them and thats how I connect with Jackson. "...Also you must remember that your character has the same thoughts and feelings and quirks as a real person. They are not just some shadow you're meant to fill in." Jackson is a very lonely character in the play. He is mean to have friends and he doesn't like to connect. Lupita is saying that you have to realize that you're character is a person too. In conclusion Nyong'o has helped me in many ways. She has made me realize that just like me, my character is a person too and I need to bring REAL emotion to the stage. Lupita has made me understand that I need to fully understand who my character is and how they interact with other performers on the stage. But most importantly, Lupita has helped me understand that I should be confident in who I am and bring my whole personality to the stage. Sir Ian McKellan was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1991 for his extensive services to
drama, alongside his partner in film, Sir Patrick Stewart, who accompanied McKellan in many Shakespearean films. The famous actor who starred as Magneto in X-Men, and took a twist as the magician, Gandalf, in the Lord Of The Rings, was nominated for many awards, and won the Golden Globe as the Best Supporting Actor for the 1996 film, Rasputin. Although McKellan excels in his field of work, when he was interviewed on Inside the Actor's Studio, the actor stated that he had never quite accepted or devised a particular method. All McKellan possesses are tiny pieces and snip-its of multiple methods. The technique consists of a simple base line. To create the illusion that you are the character, you must first imagine what it would be like to be the character. Take Gandalf for example. When Peter Jackson asked McKellan to play the role of Gandalf, the Golden Globe winner responded, "You do realize, that I am not actually a wizard?" McKellan had difficulty, but he eventually conjured up his impression of a wizard, which he then began to impersonate. Step two of the base line to McKellan's technique is to pretend that you are that character. "How do you know what to say? It's written in the script. How do you know where to stand? Someone tells you," McKellan told a student in an acting class. "But you must memorize your lines. Memorize them as fast as possible. With a script on the stage, anyone can break the illusion." After ten years of professional acting, McKellan came to a realization. "What you have to do is to be open to anything. What I mean by that, is that I have to be open to making a fool of myself." According to McKellan, when you achieve the ability to ignore such mistakes, a truth about your character, or even a truth about yourself, may be uncovered. That truth will provide you with a path to follow that will lead to success as an actor. McKellan stated that good acting should be like a sonata. The pianist performing this piece of music is so talented, so talented that the audience is unsure whether the pianist is putting the music into the piano, or taking the music out of the instrument. The actor must be the pianist in that circumstance. Even the less important actors must concentrate hard, for they must be able to transfer the concrete images and metaphors to their mind, which then transfers to the body. Every single element, down to each word, must be equally good to pull together the performance. Otherwise, the illusion will run thin, and will be nothing but a fragile sheet of glass that may shatter at any moment. For example, pantomime is fine, in theater, when the actors are talented enough to convince the audience that they are of the opposite gender. When actors perform cross-gender, or play the role of someone with a contrastive age, the window pane that is the illusion can be shattered. In order to develop skill, you have to focus on repertory theater, a very good place to start as an amateur actor. According to McKellan, any good actor must be able to focus on acting, and live off of their own work to achieve skill. In addition, every actor must know what they're good at, and be able to follow that path, And that is how McKellan achieved success. I will apply this to my acting during the play, which will benefit me by helping me connect to my character. I've learned that in order to truly understand your character, you must get into the right mentality, and imagine what it would be like as that character. I will base my instincts on what I think is right, as McKellan instructed when he was directing a Shakespearean play. What I think is right, and no one else, because as McKellan says, "The person playing the character knows the part best," although, of course, I still have to take instructions. Overall, McKellan has taught me that I must truly learn my character in order to discover a truth about them that will lead me to success. For my Actress method report I studied Jennifer Lawrence. She has won two Golden Globes and an Oscar in the last two years. Lawrence declined being on "Inside the Actor's Studio" because she never knows her lines and has no method. "The 22-year-old beauty told Entertainment Weekly: "Do you know how much that guy would hate me? 'Tell me about your method?' There is no method! I never know my lines! He would be horrified."
She was born in Louisville, Kentucky where she grew up on a farm with mom, dad and two brothers. At 14 she convinced her parents to take her to New York City, so that she could pursue her acting dreams and find a talent agent. She graduated two years early from high school with a 3.9 GPA. "Lawrence was recognized as the highest-grossing action heroine in the 2015 edition of the Guinness World Records for the role of Katniss Everdeen in the Hunger Games franchise." Her approach to acting is to "never sweat" and to do as little mental work as possible. She believes that if she learns her lines perfectly that the natural emotion won't be there. I watched "Silver Linings Playbook" where Jennifer plays a crazy yet confident women. She has to switch between emotions quickly and she makes it seem real. J.K. Simmons was born in Detroit, Michigan, on January 9th, 1955. He went to school in Michigan and graduated from the University of Montana in 1969. In college he studied music and knew very little about acting. He studied conducting and he worked in many opera productions. His first experience with acting came when he moved form Seattle to New York in 1983. He starred on the Broadway show A Change in the Heir in 1990 and after that was when his acting career started to become successful. Later that year he landed a permanent role on the he T.V. show Oz. He played the antagonist and was initially worried about playing the bad guy, but soon got comfortable in the role. Oz was when his acting career took a turn and he started to play the villains in many T.V. shows such as Law and Order Special Victims Unit. Then in 1994, Simmons made his first movie debus in the comedy The Ref. Then for several years he did various T.V shows, commercials like the Farmers Insurance commercial and voice-overs.
From around 1995-2011, J.K. Simmons has worked closely with two directors named Sam Raimi and Jason Reitman. He worked with these two directors on films that include the Spider Man trilogy and the paranormal thriller, The Gift. By 2014, Simmons had starred in all of Reitman’s featured films, one of them being the award winning comedy Juno. But perhaps the biggest achievement in his acting career has been when he played the supporting role of Fletcher in the Academy Award winning film, Whiplash. Whiplash is where all the years of playing the villain paid off. His role, Fletcher is a music teacher in the one of the most prestigious jazz school in the country. He used… lets say unorthodox methods of teaching and many people who saw the movie summed up his character as, “one scary dude.” In an interview after the movie was released, he was asked what was it like to play the role of the sadistic jazz instructor, Fletcher. “Fletcher was fun to play, it felt good to let all that anger out.” He admitted that his past experience in music helped him his performance. But perhaps one of the most shocking things about his illustrious career was that he had no real training. Simmons said that the only reason he got is first role in the Montana theater play was because they needed somebody who could sing. “It was horrible!” he said. “I went back there for three years in a row before I left.” But I believe that his great success in Whiplash was from his many years of experience of being the secondary character or the villain, always the one not in the spotlight. I think he used all the anger he had bottled up over the years in the character, Fletcher. Whiplash was J.K. Simmons’s first Oscar nomination and first Oscar win. “Whiplash has been a great experience for me but it has also opened many doors for me. I have a few offers for future movies that I not allowed to spoil and I think Whiplash affected that greatly.” So, even if you remember him as the guy form Law and Order, that guy in spider man and that guy that I see in the background on T.V, J.K. Simmons is a great example of an actor that waited patiently for his time to shine and has always been a helpful member of any cast he has been in. Viola Davis by Kendall Viola Davis is an American actor with several noteworthy awards in her repertoire. She was born on August 11th, 1965. ~As a young girl, she grew up in the small town of St. Matthew’s in South Carolina. In this household, Davis learned a lot about civil right activism from her mother, who was, among other things, was a prominent civil rights activist. This prepared her for the challenges she might face as an African American actor. ~Her love of acting started with her involvement in the acting department at her high school in South Carolina, Central Falls High School. ~
Davis has starred in several different critically acclaimed films following the work of several different directors. ~She got her first acting award in 2001, aged 36, for her role as Tonya in the film King Hedley II. ~For this, she won a Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award, beating out Johanna Day, Penny Fuller, Marthe Keller and Michele Lee to win this prestigious award. ~She then went on to play medium and small roles in multiple different movies and TV show directed by numerous esteemed directors. ~After this, she played Mrs. Miller in the 2008 movie Doubt and was nominated for several different awards including a Golden Globe Award and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. ~She unfortunately did not win either of these awards. ~In 2009, Viola Davis was inducted into The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science which is an organization made up of over six thousand professionals of motion picture related jobs. ~Then, in 2010, she won her second Tony Award for her portrayal of Rose Maxson in August Wilson’s Fences. ~She was only the second African-American woman to win this award after Phylicia Rashad, who won this award for her role in the 2004 Broadway show Raisin in the Sun. ~In 2011, Viola Davis played one of her bigger roles in the screen adaptation of the novel The Help. ~In this film, she played the role of Aibileen Clark, a lifelong housekeeper for white folks in Jackson, Mississippi. ~For this performance, she became well known as a critically acclaimed actor, winning two Screen Actors Guild Awards as well as getting her second Academy Award nomination (though she did not win this one either, losing to Meryl Streep in the end). ~For this performance she was also nominated for the Golden Globe Award and BAFTA. ~This was one of Viola Davis’ best and most well-known performances of all time. ~Then, in 2012, Time Magazine named her one of the most influential people in the entire world. ~Also in 2012, Davis was selected as Glamour’s Film Actress of the Year Award by Glamour magazine. ~Then, after this, she was awarded Women in Film’s Crystal Award by her Academy Award rival and close friend Meryl Streep. ~In the summer of 2012, it was announced that Davis would be one of a new group of film professionals to be given stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. ~Overall, 2012 was one of Viola Davis’ best years in terms of recognition for her work. ~Now, her main acting job is the lead role as Annalise Keating in the hit TV series How To Get Away With Murder. Also in 2014, it was announced that Davis would be playing Amanda Waller in the upcoming 2016 DC Comics movie Suicide Squad. In terms of her acting methods and goals, Davis has some very specific goals for her performances. ~In an interview about The Help with Christina Radish and the Collider, Davis says that she has always wanted to play a multi-faceted character like the one she plays in this film. ~According to Davis, in order to be a successful actor, you have to be a good problem-solver. ~She says, that when tackling a difficult character or role, it is like solving a large problem. She says that when she solves a large problem or successfully portrayed a difficult and complex character, that she feels great, brilliant. But, as she says, not many complex or challenging character are often available for women, especially African-American women. Davis says that she barely ever gets to feel great about a role she plays because of the limited acting options available to her. "You so rarely get to do that, as an actress in general, but as a black actress, it’s almost never. You’re in two or three scenes, and you maybe have a funny bit, here or there, or you might be sassy and strong or cuss somebody out, and then you’re gone. You don’t really even need a name." This is what Davis says in her interview with the Collider. In The Help, Davis plays a reserved and quiet character, which is quite the opposite of herself in real life. She tries to get into the mind of the challenging character and figure out how that character would react in different situations, not how she herself would react. Overall, Viola Davis is a very inspirational and diverse actor who has had a great acting career. Her methods of acting seem to work for her and have helped Davis to become the great actor she is today. Overall, I have learned a lot ab out how to get into the mind of the character I’m playing in our class play. I have learned that, in order to successfully portray my character, I have to figure out how my character would react in different situations. Hopefully I will be able to use this method and information to better act in our class. Overall, this research has helped me understand how to improve my acting. |