Addicted to Suffering
Some actors are addicted to suffering. Some actors are addicted to proving themselves to themselves and each other by how much they are willing to suffer and how far they are willing to out-suffer each other in the name of their ‘art’.
It makes me feel ill. It’s not that I don’t appreciate the lengths that they are willing to go to, it’s just that I believe it is unnecessary.
The lengths to which you are willing to go to suffer is not a mark of your commitment, your craft or your professionalism, it’s a mark of your masochism. And it’s true that some will admire that, but only because they also believe in the false myth of acting masochism.
The Oscars, star interviews, press junkets etc are full of the stories of the lengths our favourite actors have been to, the deep research, the training, the stunts, the emotional preparation, the tears they shed, and yes, some of that stuff is very VERY important, but it’s not a badge of honour. Yes, you are committed, I appreciate that, and that you are hard working, I admire you, but it makes young actors to buy into the myth of suffering.
And yes, the Method is probably to blame, but really only because people misunderstood it and believe that to play a Butcher, you must be able to Butcher meat, but that only makes sense if you actually need to butcher meat in a scene, but they wrongly believe that butchering will bring authenticity to the role of the butcher, when all it will bring is a diversion from the tricky job of converting the dead words into living action.
And so all manner of masochists take place to gain authenticity, the wonderful
Tony Sher being driven around in a van and mistreated to prepare for his role as a Concentration Camp survivor in Primo Levi, seems the height of misguided self-abuse.
This manner of preparation is akin to riding the roller coaster to understand what being in a plane crash is like.
Not even close.
It’s time to quit this silly nonsense. We are actors! We have imaginations and we play for a living. Let’s not try to legitimise it with our self-torture.
-COACH-
Mark Westbrook is the Senior Coach at Acting Coach Scotland.