The Best Actor in the Vase of Meiyu

Chapter 1812 Nothing

Now, Anson finally understands why there are always some actors who insist on performance-based acting, not only resisting method acting and experiential acting, but also attacking, rejecting, despising and belittling them, to the point of creating a clear partisan struggle.

In Anson's view, different acting methods are just different ways of getting into a role. Everyone has their own method and everyone is looking for their own method. There is no need to limit possibilities because of different schools of thought.

However, within the "Children of Men" crew, Anson seemed to have figured out some tricks of the trade.

Expressionist acting, also known as academic acting, is the orthodox approach. Acting teachers instruct students on "methods of acting," including the coordination of emotions such as joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness, facial expressions, gestures, and body language, as well as the intonation and rhythm of dialogue, and so on. There is a set of techniques involved.

The teacher imparts the skills, and then the students present them according to their own understanding and characteristics.

Truly top-tier performance actors can even control the degree of their performance. 30% sadness is different from 35% sadness, and even adding 1% more expressiveness can make a difference. They can precisely control their performance according to the director's requirements and their own state, like gears perfectly meshing.

From the perspective of the academic school, an actor's job is to perform different roles. An actor needs to be able to perform a thousand different roles, rather than like the method school or the experience school, who delve into a role to the point of madness, are bound to a role for their entire life, and never continue after completing a performance.

Even top method actors like Daniel Day-Lewis and Robert De Niro, while capable of delivering distinctly different yet brilliant performances in five or ten roles and not forever confined to a single character, have excessively long preparation times.

Like Daniel Day-Lewis, he often needs six months or even a year to prepare for a role, and even after filming is over, he can't get rid of the character and may need another three to six months to get out of the role.

Therefore, it is undeniable that Daniel Day-Lewis is a top actor, but he has been very low-output throughout his career, with only a handful of works and roles.

The academic school insists on this view because performance-based acting originated from stage plays—

Television is judged by its screenwriters, movies by their directors, and plays by their actors.

Performance originates from drama.

Imagine a stage play that might be performed five times a week or even more, or an actor who might perform in multiple different plays in a quarter, only to find himself so immersed in a single role that he can't break free, or an actor who needs to spend an entire day getting into character before each night's performance.

That would be a complete disaster.

In the field of drama, actors need to remain calm, be able to enter the role at any time and return to reality at any time, and be able to react promptly to unexpected situations on stage; moreover, actors perform on stage every day, and after the performance, they can also detach themselves from the role and return to reality, without taking the role home.

Otherwise, if an actor playing King Lear couldn't break character and took the role home with him at night, his family and children might have to worry about their lives.

That is why some seasoned enthusiasts often watch a play ten, twenty, or even more times.

Firstly, actors exhibit different styles in different scenes and at different stages, reflecting different understandings and their own states.

Secondly, different actors interpret the same character differently, and the same plot can be interpreted in different ways.

Once you understand the whole context, it's not hard to understand why traditional academic drama schools insist on performance-based acting. Method and experiential approaches are completely unorthodox methods without formal education or theatrical experience, and they not only reject them but even despise them.

However, the Method and Experiential film schools still shine brightly due to the dominance of the Hollywood film system, while traditional performance-based acting seems to be fading from the historical stage.

Now, Anson is struggling to shake off the influence of the character Phil; he can't seem to fully immerse himself in the rhythm of Theo's character.

It's not that his method acting skills are so masterful that he's become so deeply immersed in a role that he can't extricate himself from it. Not at all!
The similarities and subtle differences between the characters Phil and Theo confused Anson's subconscious. In fact, this precisely demonstrates Anson's inexperience; he is still learning, still exploring, and there are still many unknown areas to be explored in acting. Just look at Michael Caine.

This British actor is a graduate of a prestigious acting academy. To the general public, he is best known for his role as the butler in the "Batman" series. In fact, he is a traditional acting talent with six Oscar nominations and two Best Supporting Actor awards, holding a prestigious position in both film and theater.

Just now, Michael Caine said he could get into character instantly, delivering a natural and effortless performance; and he said he could stop filming just as quickly, returning to his true self the moment filming was interrupted.

Actually, that look was very unsuitable for Michael Caine. Whether it was the long hair or the bohemian vest, everything looked very strange, like wearing the wrong size clothes. But Michael Caine didn't panic and still easily controlled the whole situation.

That's ability.

In the past, actors in Hollywood often said that acting is not a switch that can be turned on or off at will. Even getting rid of a character takes time, and it is hard to distinguish between movies and reality.

Anson wholeheartedly agreed with this.

But now, looking at Michael Kane, Anson is uncertain.

Anson is no longer a rookie; he has worked with big names such as Julie Andrews, Tom Hanks, Reese Witherspoon, and Kate Winslet. However, when standing in front of Michael Caine, Anson still feels like a rookie.

He seemed to know nothing about acting.

But isn't that an opportunity?

His expectations are to work with outstanding actors, learn from top actors, and venture out into the unfamiliar and unknown.

"Children of Mankind" is such an opportunity.

The worries remained worries, and the frustration remained frustration, but Anson did not let himself sink into his thoughts and quickly cheered himself up.

Taking a deep breath, Anson felt he should leave the set and get some fresh air.

At this moment, the crew is in Surrey, a small town less than 30 minutes southwest of London. But clearly, they are not planning to enter the town's affluent area. Instead, they have found a valley in the mountains outside the town to film important scenes, with Anson and Michael Caine as the main characters.

Alfonso Cuarón had his own considerations. The entire film would be shot primarily in London, and he needed to present the ruins of a futuristic city within a modern urban setting. This required a lot of work and involved worrying about onlookers, so he needed the crew and actors to get into character first.

So they came to Surrey first and filmed with Anson and Michael Caine as the main characters.

This is a kind of trust.

Unexpectedly, Anson, who was entrusted with this responsibility, messed up. After three days of filming, he was in terrible condition, stumbling and falling, which was quite embarrassing.

The start was unsuccessful, and the atmosphere on set was somewhat oppressive and chaotic.

As Anson left the glass house, he was greeted by a view of lush greenery.

(End of this chapter)