📘 Part 3: Actors and acting

This episode's vocabulary

Rehearsal (noun) - a time when all the people involved in a play, dance, etc. practise in order to prepare for a performance.

To nail (verb) - to do something successfully.

Amateur (adj.) - taking part in an activity for pleasure, not as a job.

Taxing (adj.) - difficult or needing a lot of thought or effort.

Window (noun) - a period when there is an opportunity to do something.

Method actor (noun) - an actor who tries to understand and feel the emotions of the character he or she represents.

High-paid (adj.) - used to describe people who earn a lot of money.

To compensate (verb) - to provide something good or useful in place of something or to make someone feel better about something that has failed or been lost or missed.

Hierarchy (noun) - a system in which people or things are arranged according to their importance.

Low-paid (adj.) - not earning or paying much money.

Paparazzi (plural noun) - the photographers who follow famous people everywhere they go in order to take photographs of them for newspapers and magazines.

All and sundry (idiom) - everyone.

To wind up (phrasal verb) - to find yourself in an unexpected and usually unpleasant situation, especially as a result of what you do.

Stand-in (noun) - a person who takes the place or does the job of another person for a short time, for example, because the other person is ill or on holiday.

Stunt man (noun) - a person whose job is performing stunts (= difficult physical actions) that are too dangerous for the actors in a movie or television show to do.

Grievous (adj.) - having very serious effects or causing great pain.

Tremendous (adj.) - very great in amount or level, or extremely good.

Line (noun) - the words that an actor speaks when performing in a film, play, etc.

Close-up (noun) - a photograph taken from a short distance that gives a very detailed picture.

Fitting (noun) - an occasion when someone who is having clothes made for them puts on the clothes before they are finished to make certain they will fit.

Flexibility (noun) - the ability to change or be changed easily according to the situation.

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Questions and Answers

M: Are there many people in your country who want to be actors?

R: How on earth would anyone know the answer to that question? I would imagine they'd like to be rich and famous, but not necessarily becoming so by being an actor or an actress. It's a very stressful and demanding job. So the rewards are definitely earned.

M: What are the differences between acting in a theatre and in films?

R: Well, aside from the physical differences, like having to work on and share one stage versus a variety of sets, I suppose rehearsals are of a very different nature, since you can stitch things together in a film during the editing process. Whereas theatre is usually live, so you really need to nail it the first time, assuming it's a professional performance. I mean, to be honest, even amateur events must be quite taxing.

M: And which is more difficult do you think? Acting in a theatre or in films?

R: Probably theatre, because there's just so much that could go wrong. And there are so few windows for addressing that, that it must be quite stressful.

M: Is it interesting to be an actor?

R: Well, not being one, I wouldn't know for sure. But I imagine the lifestyle it allows you access to is very interesting, since you get to rub shoulders with different kinds of people from the rich and famous to the people who work putting things together like the sound sets and costumes. If you're a method actor, it might get even more interesting.

M: Some people say that actors are paid too much money. Would you agree?

R: Well, how much is too much? I mean, if we take high-paid male actors, for example, they have to train hard for their roles, change their lifestyles, I mean, almost to the extent they give themselves up to the role in order to meet the expectations of it. Well, some people might think they could do that, I think it actually takes a very special kind of neurotic talent to go to that level of self-destructive effort. So according to the law of supply and demand, they're rewarded accordingly for that. It generates content for millions of people to enjoy. So why shouldn't they be compensated fairly for the sacrifices they make?

M: Is acting as a respected profession in your country?

R: Well, that would probably depend entirely on the place in the acting hierarchy the actor occupies. I mean, there are low-paid and general actors who are treated, like and behave like normal people. And then there are highly paid talented people who turn the whole thing into a lifestyle. I mean, assuming they behave respectfully, then there'll be well respected. And if not, then everybody knows about it, and they aren't treated respectfully.

M: Are there any drawbacks to being a famous actor?

R: Well, I imagine it's not fun being chased around by the paparazzi and having every aspect of your life open for all and sundry to see. And of course, you might fall down in the hierarchy and wind up as a stand-in or a stunt actor, then you might open yourself up to financial uncertainty and grievous bodily harm if you manage to get injured. So there's a tremendous amount of pressure to stay at the top in that respect as well.

M: What would be the main advantage to being a famous actor? What do you think?

R: Like in a nutshell, power, but, you know, there's power in terms of influence, and there's power in terms of the money that you get. But ultimately, it comes down to the same thing.

M: What kinds of people become talented actors?

R: You need to have a good memory to learn your lines and maintain a reasonable physical appearance for close-ups and costume fittings. I suppose there's a great deal of flexibility involved to play the different roles too. I mean, one day you're Abraham Lincoln and the next you're Adolf Hitler.

M: Do you think acting will become more popular in the future as a job, as a profession?

R: It's difficult to say, I mean, in real terms, there will be more actors, because we're producing more media now than we ever have at any other time in history. But whether it's, you know, an increasing percentage in terms of popular jobs, I have no idea. My guess would be yes, because it's becoming more accessible now. So that should encourage more people to go for it.

M: Rory, thank you for your answers!

R: No problem!

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Discussion

M: A very good strategy is to ask a rhetorical question. So when the examiner asks you a question, you ask kind of a question back, but this is a rhetorical question, which doesn't require an answer. So the examiner asks you a question and you go, how on earth would anyone know the answer to that? So how on earth like, it's like... How? How??? Should I know the answer?

R: But that's just buying yourself time because you still have to go for it. So it's like, I'll just say this is ridiculous. And then guess.

M: Yeah, this is a ridiculous question. Or this is a difficult question. How on earth would anyone know the answer to that question? And then you answer the question. I'd imagine that... Being an actor is stressful and demanding. Demanding, it demands, it asks a lot from you. And Rory, tell me, an actor, is it a he or a she?

R: Well, technically an actor is a he. But I think people use the word actor to mean both men and women these days. There's a word actress, the same as waitress, but I don't think people are going to get terribly offended if you use one instead of the other.

M: Sometimes we say like, she's a great actor, or she's a great actress. But then in plural, we just say actors, like men, women are actors. They are great actors. And actors and actresses, you can say, yeah? And what do they do? They act. So they act in a theatre or in films. Also act at a theatre, yeah? The proposition. You can talk about physical differences. Well, like a film is a film, a theatre is a theatre. And what did you mean by a variety of sets?

R: Well, I mean, in a movie, typically, you have more than one set, which is used for different scenes. So there might be a set for different fights, for example, or there might be a set for a specific place in the movie, and then there'll be is a set for another place in the movie. Whereas in theatre, you only have one stage. And that's it. Like you have to do everything on that stage. You might do workshops for the rehearsals, but for the actual performance, it's... It's in the one place.

M: Yeah. And we usually say that the film is set in the forest, the film is set in the village. And rehearsals are these things when people what? They rehearse, they try to out, you know, and then they go on stage and act. At the theatre, you really need to nail it the first time. So when you nail something, you are successful at it. For example, you go and take an IELTS test. And I say, oh, you'll nail it, you'll be successful, you'll get the score you want. And at the theatre, when we look at the actors, they should nail it. There is no like, oh, no, no, no, sorry. I didn't do it right. Let's do it again. Yeah? So at the theatre, everything is happening live. So yeah, they really need to nail it the first time. Whereas in a film... You see, whereas or while. Is a contrast. In a film, they do it several times, actually many times. Yeah? One scene. It could be quite taxing. What did you mean by that? And you said like amateur events must be quite taxing. Amateur events like you meant performances at the theatre?

R: Well, amateur events can be just those that are not done by professionals. But I mean, even if you're doing amateur theatre, so it's not professional performance, you still have to remember your lines and try your best. It's not, you're just, you might be doing it for fun. But you still want to do a good job.

M: Being an actor could be quite interesting, since... Because. It could be quite interesting, since... Or it could be quite interesting, because blah, blah, blah. You get to rub shoulders with different people. When you rub shoulders with different people, you talk to different people, you meet different people. Usually, we say it about celebrities. Oh, like I want to be a celebrity to rub shoulders with Jennifer Lopez, Messi, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie.

R: Other rich and famous people.

M: If you are a method actor, who is a method actor?

R: A method... Well, my understanding and maybe I've got this wrong is that a method actor lives the life of their character. So if you're playing a drug addict, then you become addicted to drugs in order to understand what it's like and be able to portray it more faithfully. That is a very extreme example. Obviously, you know, people wouldn't normally do that kind of thing.

M: Yeah, so actors, they portray a character. Portray, so they show this character. When the examiner asks you something about money, you can say how much is too much?

R: There's lots of rhetorical questions in this.

M: Yeah, like, is it too expensive? Well, what is expensive? How much is too much? And then we have an "if sentence". If we take blah, then blah. And we talk about high-paid actors. Can I say highly paid actors?

R: Yes. They're both the same thing. It's like rich people.

M: So highly paid actors have to train hard for their roles. So the roles they play for the characters they have to portray. And they give themselves up to the role, right? So they give their whole selves up to the role in order to meet the expectations. So we do have certain expectations. And we want to see certain things from this character in a film, so, yeah. So they have, they are under a lot of pressure. The actors. Huh?

R: Um, yeah, but then I imagine everybody who wants to be at the top of something is under a lot of pressure.

M: And then they are rewarded for that. To be rewarded for something. So highly paid actors are rewarded for their efforts. Or compensated, you used another synonym, which is a nice one. They're compensated with large sums of money. Acting hierarchy. So there is this acting hierarchy?

R: Oh, there's a hierarchy for everything. The hierarchy has got different levels to it. But if you're at the top of the hierarchy, then you're doing very well. And if you're at the bottom, then you're probably not doing very well.

M: So they're highly paid talented people. There are low-paid actors, there are general actors. So different types of actors.

R: And we talked about a few more, we talked about stand-ins or stunt actors. So a stunt actor does all these dangerous parts of the performance, so they could get injured. And if you're a stand-in, then you're called in when maybe the actor's not available for a particular scene, and you look quite like them. Or maybe they're unable to take the role, so you take it on their behalf.

M: And some of the drawbacks to being a famous actor will include being chased around by paparazzi. So to be chased around, because paparazzi chase famous actors, and we can use the passive voice here. So famous actors, celebrities are usually cheesed by paparazzi. And my favourite expression all and sundry. Not Sunday, no. Sundry.

R: That's like all the people, like, it's like everyone. It's another way of saying everyone, you know. Just all and sundry. Like everything and everyone.

M: Well, famous actors have every aspect of their life open for everybody or for all and sundry to see. That's a nice one. So there is a tremendous pressure. So there's a huge pressure, there's a lot of pressure. There's a tremendous pressure to stay at the top. At the top, you know, to be a top actor. So talented actors do have a good memory to learn their lines.

R: And that's a topic-specific phrase. You've got to learn your lines for actors and actresses.

M: Yeah. Yeah. So they don't learn their words, they learn their lines. How do you think they do that? They say so much. Like how, how do they remember the lines?

R: Well, imagine if all you had to do all day was just sit and remember things, you'd probably get quite good at it. I mean, I'm not saying it's like an easy process for them. But it still would be easier than you or I having to go around doing our daily jobs and then coming home and learning them.

M: Wow. Yeah, for me, it's like rocket science. Then they maintain a reasonable physical appearance. So talented actors, they usually look good. So they have to maintain, keep a reasonable physical appearance for close-ups. For close shots, and also costume fittings, right? And also, like we know, stories, when actors have to lose a lot of weight and then gain weight. Some actors actually have to gain a lot of weight, because they need to be in scenes where they have to be quite fat, you know? And then they have to lose this weight. So this is amazing. So they actually have to change their bodies. This is just unbelievable. Rory, do you think in the future we'll have some new Brad Pitts and DiCaprios? Because they're quite old now. We need something fresh. So would there be another DiCaprio?

R: Well, I think the person who is the next DiCaprio will be themselves rather than the next Leonardo DiCaprio. But time will tell. We will see.

M: Lovely. Thank you very much for listening! And we'll get back to you in our next episode! Okay? Stay with us.

R: But right now it's time for us to exit stage right. Bye!

M: Bye!

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