On my icon and on acting

[chani]

I thought of something I heard on the radio today. It was an actor from Belgium (but mostly working in France), Benoit Poelvoorde speaking. He's starring in an intimist movie these days while he used to overact a lot in comedies until now. I may go to see that film.

He said that the best actors must trust their body, and when they are really into a character they can let their talent go through them and simply ooze and that they can be filmed from behind, and even then, they are great, from the back they are still talented.

I think this applies to my icon. Besides having, obviously, a beautiful back, James Marsters was really talented on this shot.

Comments

[so-sharlemaine.livejournal.com]

I completely concur with this. I think James was so brilliant in this scene, not to mention that specific shot. It's an epic and story told all in one shot. You can so totally see Spike... see all the way through to him, all of him.

Of course, James is a brilliant actor no matter what, but his entire time as Spike I think can be summed up in this scene. It really showcased James' talent, and the other actors on the show should just stand back and watch the master. They really couldn't compare.

Ok.... I'm getting intense, I know, but I feel so strongly about that scene that I just can't help myself.

I think it was one of (if not the) best scenes ever filmed on BtVS.

[pfeifferpack.livejournal.com]

My sister is an actress. She graduated with honors from the American Academy of Film in LA and is not easily impressed (a theater snob *G*). I showed her that scene from BY...that scene alone...no other part of the episode and she was struck dumb. She had never heard of JM or Buffy and was mystified that he had not received an Emmy for that scene alone. Soon after I showed her the whole collection from DVDs and she is now a hard core fan. Yes, it has power.

Kathleen
I can not breathe when watching that scene in fact because of the raw realness of it.

[frenchani.livejournal.com]

Yes that scene was intense. When he's walking towards the cross, it's just awwwwwwwww....I don't think that any other actor of the Jossverse could have showed such talent from the back, not even Alexis Denisof (and he's very good too).

As for me I have a big spot for the William scene in FFL. I mean everything in the BY scene was meant to make the scene intense, to build a dramatic atmosphere: Buffy herself, the dialogue, the set, the light...

But in FFL the scene is so simple...it's just the way William is sitting near Cecily (JM's body language is terrific then), the way he nods at her. All James' talent is in this simple nod IMO.

Now I'm the one getting intense, but I feel strongly about sweet William!

[pfeifferpack.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, one of the things that makes JM a great actor IMHO is his ability to act with his whole body. He can convey paragraphs of messages with a single hand movement or body position....and what he is able to convey with his eyes is incredible. He could do a scene with no dialog at all. That scene you have portrayed in your icon was mesmerizing and not just the words and delivery of the words but his entire being that you can't blink.

Love,
Kathleen

[kazzy-cee.livejournal.com]

And of course that's what charisma is isn't it. The fact that you constantly watch someone who perhaps isn't the major focus of a scene. I used to work with actors when I worked in radio and sometimes there were actors who just 'filled the room' with their presence without saying anything. Stunning.

[frances-lievens.livejournal.com]

I like Benoît Poelvoorde. Didn't he do C'est arrivé près de chez vous as well?

Actors get a lot of classes on how to use their body. You really have to use it all to become someone else. You have to leave your own ticks and little walks and movements behind or you'll be you saying someone else's lines. It's grand when you see someone walking on stage and becoming someone else.
It's also why we don't recognise the actors when se cross them in the street. Not only do they miss their makeup and certain set of clothes, but they behave differently, walk differently, sometimes even more timid. A lot of great actors tend to blend in when they aren't on stage. It is only there that they truely come alive in the skin and mannerisms of another.

[frenchani.livejournal.com]

Yes he did. That film was really something. Never saw anything else like that. I laughed so much until...the rape scene. I think he crossed the line there.

But he never did a film in which he was in love and didn't talk much until "Entre ses Mains" with Isabelle Carré.

[frances-lievens.livejournal.com]

I've actually never seen the complete film. It was on really late and I got tired. And the mussels got to me. It was very funny until the scene where he eats mussels and feels sick after. I don't know why it disgusted me. Very strange.

[frenchani.livejournal.com]

The cocktail scene was hilarious too. You know "le petit Grégory". It's dark humour, not politically correct, but I laughed a lot.