The Best Actor in the Vase of Meiyu

Chapter 1285: Rendering the Atmosphere
Later, when Meryl Streep was performing "Singing Out of Key", she said that it is not difficult to sing accurately and well, but singing out of tune is the real challenge.

At least, that's the case for the actors.

And Anson now realizes that he needs to sing neither well nor badly, neither out of tune nor out of pitch, but also not inject any energy into his singing. Everything needs to be restrained, so as to present a bland performance. This is the real challenge.

And, that’s not all.

Secondly, he needed to give Johnny Cash's singing a soul, a soul that belonged to Johnny but did not belong to Johnny, but rather came from his understanding and experience of Johnny's life experiences.

It is difficult to reach the sky.

In his previous life, Joaquin Phoenix starred in "Walk the Walk". His performance was undoubtedly outstanding, and one could even see the shadow of the later "Joker".

But Joaquin's performance relied on "crutches", that is, alcohol, drugs, decadence and madness, etc. to explore the dark side and release his emotions, which seemed too much in front of Reese's effortless performance; more importantly, his singing part lacked passion, and not just a little bit.

The so-called timing here does not refer to pitch or rhythm, but a kind of expressiveness.

It cannot be explained, seen or touched, but it does exist; but there is no specific path as to how to adjust and improve it.

It's all up to you to figure it out.

In the movie, the song that Joaquin sang during his audition at Sun Records was not only pitch-stable, but the emotional expression was also a complete mess.

In the a cappella singing without accompaniment, the shortcomings and flaws of Joaquin, a non-professional singer, were fully exposed. Even if we temporarily put aside the technical skills, the performance level was not able to present the level and weight of emotions through singing. If Johnny Cash sang like that in the real world, he would never have been able to get a record contract.

Mediocre, even bad.

Even in the other singing scenes, where Joaquin performed all of them himself, there was an obvious gap between his singing and the real Johnny Cash.

This time, the two James chose Anson to play Johnny Cash, quietly changing the course of history, all because of Anson's musical talent.

In this respect, Anson has advantages that Joaquin does not have, and it should also be an opportunity for Anson to give a new soul to the Johnny Cash biopic. Anson would not say that he has given a better and more outstanding performance than Joaquin, but he looks forward to interpreting a different style of his own.

Anson needs to break free from the constraints of his past life memories and explore on his own.

In fact, Anson remained sober the whole time. He knew that "Sing Along" was, strictly speaking, the first serious test of his acting skills.

In the role of Johnny Cash, he first carries the life and emotions of a real person, and secondly the emotional energy of an artistic character. His complexity is far beyond imagination, which poses a severe test for Anson's performance.

Moreover, in his previous life, Joaquin won an Oscar nomination for Best Actor for this work. It would be a lie to say that there is no pressure at all.

Considering Anson's awkward relationship with the Academy and the lingering label of being a vase, the possibility that the Academy will continue to ignore Anson and refuse to nominate "Sing Along" is rising, which means that Anson needs to work harder and focus more, even if not for the Academy nomination, he should go all out for his own breakthrough and progress.

At least, Anson hopes to be able to dedicate a role that he has no regrets or shame for. That is why, in the past few months, Anson has been immersed in the play and truly experiencing the life of an unknown singer.

There are many reasons for missing the Oscars, a small part of which is because Anson did not want to interrupt the performance flow and temporarily leave the environment created by the crew to enter the world of fame and fortune during the filming process. When waiting to return to the crew, his performance state might not be right.

Anson is trying to follow the ideas and plans of the two James, and is also trying to enter the world of Johnny Cash through what he is good at.

Start with music, touch and feel the soul of Johnny Cash through notes, lyrics and performances.

It was also because of this that Anson did not hesitate to disrupt the crew's filming plan and moved the scene where Johnny Cash went to Sun Records for an audition forward by a full two weeks.

From studio to studio, from the August 31st Band to the Tennessee Trio, including the advance run-in between Larry and Dan John, everything was done to pave the way for the role and connect seamlessly, hoping that through the medium of music, Anson could enter the world of Johnny Cash in his own way.

Obviously, this is a challenge and also a brand new attempt.

Generally speaking, when people discuss a legendary singer, he is first an ordinary person, a natural person, and only secondarily a singer. Singer as a profession is one of the labels of this ordinary person. Only by first understanding his existence as a natural person can one enter his musical world.

This is the normal order.

However, this time Anson disrupted the order and tried to get into Johnny Cash through music, first understanding his music, his performances, and his soul as a singer, and then touching and feeling his scars and struggles through his creations, and finally restoring Johnny Cash as an ordinary person in the world of music.

Is this true?
No, of course not, because this is "Johnny Cash the Music Man," and the image that is ultimately portrayed is Johnny as he was felt through the music.

He is neither real nor complete.

But just as Anson and Edgar discussed the project of "Walk with the Song", from the beginning of the project, this script project had a strong Johnny Cash and June Carter color. What they wanted to present was the image they wanted the public to see, not 100% true.

The two James are no exception. Even though the script shows Johnny Cash's scars and struggles, this is still part of the truth they are willing to show.

Through in-depth conversations with the two Jameses, Anson agreed with at least one point:
What they show is the truth about Johnny Cash as a musician that is seen by the public, and the truth that Johnny Cash bravely shows through his music.

Indeed, such reality is incomplete and has a touch of artistic processing, but at least they are rooted in music and show how musicians transform life experiences into inspiration and finally complete their creations. When the fragments of the soul can be felt in the melody and lyrics, the movie is successful.

Based on this, in Anson's opinion, Joaquin's performance in his previous life... was a failure.

On the actor's level, Joaquin undoubtedly did his job, and an excellent job, in capturing emotions and scars; but on the musician's level, Joaquin's presentation and interpretation of Johnny Cash's music was a failure, starting from the first scene of the Sun Records audition.

If Anson does not want to repeat the same mistakes, if Anson hopes to be able to break away from the memories of his past life and perform his own performance, if Anson hopes to enter the world of Johnny Cash, then the first scene of the Sun Records audition is particularly important.

(End of this chapter)