The Great Acting Blog: “Stick It To Them”

The Great Acting Blog: “Stick It To Them”

Xan Brooks has written a piece in The Guardian praising non-professional actors, noteworthy because it demonstrates once again, the breath-taking ignorance of mainstream media. He does though make some reasonable points, when watching a star such as George Clooney he says he often finds it hard to buy into the character because he is so aware of the actor. He also says that non-actors have given great performances in cinema and this cannot be denied (Florence Delay in Robert Bresson’s The Trial Of Joan Of Arc for one). And I quite agree with his point that inept non-professionals are no worse than inept professionals.

Brooks’ error however, is to divide the acting world into stars and non-actors. But what about the great swathe of other actors who do not fall into either category, most of whom are completely unknown but toil away, dedicated and passionate, without enjoying the preposterous rewards of film stars. These actors, real actors, make-up the vast majority of the profession. Yes, the quality of the work from these performers will vary (this is true of any profession, most certainly journalism), but to deny their existence is absurd.

Unfortunately, this is the way of it at the moment, writers in mainstream media have little clue about acting these days, certainly they cannot write about it’s aesthetics in any meaningful way. As I’ve said before, the value of the craft has declined alarmingly (in what other line of work would non-professionals be made equal to the professional elite), and the value of each individual non-star actor is roughly equivalent to that of a root vegetable.

It is up to actors themselves to change things. If you want more then you’re going to have to fight for it. If you want your work to be treated with more respect then you’ll have to fight for that too. You’ll need to take responsibility and speak out. Become the expert, become the producer, become the author. Create a platform for yourself and shove it right back down their throats.

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