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The Enemy Within: new observations

Not the same thing, but Wizard of Oz director Victor Fleming slapped Judy Garland after she kept cracking up at Bert Lahr's performance as the Cowardly Lion.
 
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I can't believe people are defending an actor hitting an actress. Even if she 'liked it'. Its ridiculous.
Would Hoffman or Shatner have slapped a male actor in the same situation?

Are you an actor/actress?

I mean, objectively it sounds dubious, but if it's an accepted thing within context, then maybe we shouldn't be judging from the outside looking in?
 
Just to be clear, Shatner did NOT abuse Whitney. He gave her a sudden but light, careful slap on the check because he knew the surprise, the little dose of adrenaline, was something she would be able to use in her performance. In other words, Shatner read the situation perfectly and helped a less-skilled actor.

The thing with Hoffman was that he blindly or arrogantly misread what his co-star needed, and he acted like a jerk. It's a whole different thing. It's the difference between a great teacher and a bully.
Since none of us witnessed either incident, I'm not comfortable declaring decades after the fact that one was all right and the other one was not.

I've done a bit of acting, and if one of my costars hit me for real in the middle of a scene without any warning, under any circumstances, I'd be pissed. Talk to me like an adult and as a professional and tell me what you need that you're not getting. Then I can adjust my performance accordingly.

It's not supposed to be real, it's just supposed to look real.
 
Since none of us witnessed either incident, I'm not comfortable declaring decades after the fact that one was all right and the other one was not.

I've done a bit of acting, and if one of my costars hit me for real in the middle of a scene without any warning, under any circumstances, I'd be pissed. Talk to me like an adult and as a professional and tell me what you need that you're not getting. Then I can adjust my performance accordingly.

It's not supposed to be real, it's just supposed to look real.

In general, yes. But this was a special case. Grace appreciated Shatner's "input" in the enclosed studio, because without it she was going to look like a terrible actor in front of millions of people. So she felt like he helped her. And that was his intention, to push the button that would help a fellow performer of junior skills. She already knew "in so many words" what the role required. She just didn't have the chops to deliver it by craft alone.
 
Leonard Nimoy said that the actress who played the ditzy Whale lover in Star Trek IV really slapped the actor who played Bob. He took it in good sport and it probably helped his performance.

I think actors should warn each other if they are gonna go for real.
 
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Of course, if an actor is warned then their performance will be less genuine...

Which isn't to say they shouldn't be warned. I have no formal acting experience and I have concerns that we're trying to weigh in on a specialized subject matter.
 
I'm not an actor, nor do I play one on TV, but I have a friend who does off-broadway, and he delights in doing unexpected things on stage to bring out his costars' reactions. In service to the scene, of course.
 
I'm not an actor, nor do I play one on TV, but I have a friend who does off-broadway, and he delights in doing unexpected things on stage to bring out his costars' reactions. In service to the scene, of course.
Doing unexpected things in a scene is fine. Intentionally hitting someone without warning is not.

BTW, TV Tropes has a page of positive and negative examples of this practice, Enforced Method Acting. Sometimes it gets positive results. Sometimes, it just sounds like cruelty.
 
The thing that gets me is when not so good actors do sad, crying scenes it looks like they're laughing and when they're supposed to be laughing it looks like they're crying!!!! :rofl:
JB
 
Leonard Nimoy said that the actress who played the ditzy Whale lover in Star Trek IV really slapped the actor who played Bob. He took it in good sport and it probably helped his performance.

"ditzy Whale lover"? You mean, the respected and caring marine biologist? I don't remember Gillian being portrayed as particularly ditzy.
 
"ditzy Whale lover"? You mean, the respected and caring marine biologist? I don't remember Gillian being portrayed as particularly ditzy.

"Gillian" came across with some of the best acting in that movie, in my opinion. Also very good: the office manager who sold Plexiglass to Scotty.
 
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