Master Thesbians
ticklejen said:
I watched two different shows on VH1 where they listed the 100 Greatest Kid Stars and another one was the 100 Greatest Teen Stars. While watching those shows, I learned that Henry Thomas who was in E.T actually didn't have any previous acting experience yet he was still in the movie. I REALLY don't understand how someone could be in a movie and not have any previous acting experience and learn all those lines and be very good in a movie. It doesn't make any sense to me. Does anybody know how that could happen or know anything about acting to answer that?
Also, how in the world do actors and actresses memorize all those lines? I mean is it something they learn in acting school or what? Also, I was looking at a thread under tickling scenes in the media or whatever that catagory is called and someone said that Natalie Portman was discovered working in a pizza place. I doubt that she had any previous acting experience but I am not sure.
Hi Jen. Well I will try to give you some answers based on my experience with actors both in my family, my experience in dealing with actors when I got my degree in television and film production and with stage productions I have worked on.
For starters I will correct you on something that will make actors respect you a lot more. Unfortunately Hollywood and even my self occasionally slip on this so don't feel bad... there is no "actress." The term actor refers to both genders and is the proper way of saying it. Yes I know the Academy differs but they should be saying best Female Actor not best Actress. However, 95% of Americans wouldn't understand that. I'm not picking on you, just helping you understand. For those working on the production and getting things together we often use the word Talent to describe the one on screen whether it be man, woman, child, or lemur. Don't refer to actors to their face as talent though.
Learning the part
There are a LOT of different schools of thought to acting. What an actor needs to do is to find the school of thought that works best for them and their goals. Learning lines is difficult for some people and not for others. In theater you need to learn lines because you are on stage and cannot be prompted or get to do "do overs" otherwise known as "takes." What helps you learn your line is first memorization of the line and learning the character. Once you understand your character and your characters motivations it makes things easier. Secondly a lot of acting is not involving monologues. You are interacting with another actor and talking in dialog. The fact that another actor is saying a line before yours helps trigger your memory to your own.
Practice... then practice some more, keep practicing, then rehearse, etc. You need to practice to become familiar with your lines so you have them memorized in relation to the other lines of dialog and then when you rehearse it becomes more ingrained because where you are standing, what you are wearing, how the lighting is set etc. will help you with your lines.
I do think Soap Opera starts have it the hardest as they have to learn their lines fast and production is 14 hours a day 5 days a week for 5 shows.
Many people think the lives of stars are easy on set. Just remember that if you are shooting a day of scenes where you are in nearly all of them you will be on set 12 to 14 hours easily. When I was on the set as an extra for the upcoming movie "The Tripper" I saw Paul Reubens up and getting ready for his scenes by 8am taking occasional naps between scenes and not going to bed until after 10pm. You have some additional luxuries because you are the star, but also because you are the star you have to work harder than the people with the smaller roles.
How does someone be in a movie without previous experience? It is rare, it is talent and it is a great director that can pull it off. What makes that person more talented? It is really hard to say. How do you know if someone has it or not, also hard to say. The idea of being discovered is you may have a look that people want and if you have talent that backs that up great. Just because you look fabulous doesn't mean you can act your way out of a wet script.
For me Dustin Hoffman is one of the greatest actors of our time. I think so because almost everything I see him in I can in minutes forget he is Dustin Hoffman and think of him as the character he is playing. If you can do that you are an amazingly talented actor.
Also keep in mind for film things are not shot in sequence so learning your lines is good to have an idea of what the movie is about but if you are going off other people's queues you will have to study the script ahead of time prior to the next shoot. Also there are usually changes and additions on the fly or just prior to shoot because of how things are looking or not looking and so you must adapt.
In the production of "Haunted House" (a greek play) that I am helping my sweety memorize her lines on I get to watch rehearsals almost every Sunday. There is a great example when two characters are talking and how their dialog evolved.
The Moneylender is ranting about the interest he wants to get paid. "...interest, interest interest, I want my Interest!"
The slave Tranio replies "Interest here, and interest there all this man has an interest in is interest."
What changed was the last word. The last word interest was spoken by the Moneylender.
The Moneylender is ranting about the interest he wants to get paid. "...interest, interest interest, I want my Interest!"
The slave Tranio replies "Interest here, and interest there all this man has an interest in is..."
Moneylender "Interest."
This comes across as much funnier. Often times a director will be open to suggestions from the actors because the actors know their characters well. Some directors want no input from actors.
It is an artform, it is a craft, and therefore what is art to some is trash to others.
I'll probably go get my SAG card soon enough~a lot of filming goes on round here and I could use the extra $! 
