Throughout this essay I'll be talking and explaining very dramatic
and extreme measures actors and actresses are willing to take in order to
secure or become a certain role within the industry. Actors and actresses who
we all love watching and admire on films do things that we never knew about.
When we watch a film/movie we see that the person becomes the character very in
depth, we believe it to be because of all the techniques and things they
studied in a drama school or in their training however that might not be the
case sometimes. There have been times in the past within the golden age of
Hollywood and also the present where professional actors have been deemed to go
further than others in order to become a certain character in a movie, or just
to simply maintain their fame. In addition to that I will speak of the pros and
cons of going the extra dangerous mile for said roles, and how they might lead
to certain conditions such as injuries or illnesses.
In the past there weren't as many movie stars as there are today.
There may not have been a huge number of actors from all over the world but
there were a number of few actors and actresses in Hollywood, California, this
is now known as the golden age. The golden age of Hollywood is when movie stars
were first created which was within 1920s onward which as we know was filled
with gangsters, mafia, drugs and quite a lot of violence. However, the actors
and actresses weren't very extreme but the conditions that they had to follow
were kind of hazardous. It wasn't every single person who worked for Hollywood
it was just some. Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney were apparently given sleeping
pills by their superiors to work long hours although it might have just been
sleeping pills there is the fact that it could have led to an overdose and
could have left them in very serious conditions. As well as that Judy Garland
has said that she was given a very strict diet of soup, coffee and cigarettes
to stay thin, this was because within those times actors/actresses had to look
a certain way and had to uphold an image of thin and slim equals beautiful like
models. In my opinion I believe this to be dangerous because it could lead to a
lot of things hopefully it didn't but she could have gotten diseases like
anorexia or even death from starvation. This wasn't a good diet at all but this
is what people back in the day did to uphold their status, their image. Judy
Garland was also given amphetamines and barbiturates to make it through long
working days the fact that she accepted these terms and conditions just shows
that she was willing to do what it took to just become famous and be the star
that she was back in the day. Fortunately, it didn’t lead to worse fates as
there had been a lot of deaths because if drug usage, such as Wallace Reid who
died because of a morphine addition, Barbara La Marr died as result to drug and
alcohol addiction and Jeanne Eagles died of a drug overdose Hollywood also made
their actors/actresses do whatever they wanted, for example if you were an
actor/actress your manager would tell you who you could or couldn’t get married
to because it could make your image look bad which reflected on you and them,
like Mikey Rooney was told by studio head Louis B. Mayer that he couldn’t marry
Ava Gardner. And what’s worse is that many pregnant actresses would have secret
abortions as well just to maintain their status in the industry. This gives an
image of how stardom was back in the golden age of Hollywood it showed how some
actors and actresses were treated like animals forced to do things that they
probably didn’t want to do but yet they did just to be famous and be part of
the industry, and although some died go through any serious problems others
did. And Although we can’t assume why they got into doing drugs we can try and
imply that being treated like they were back in the day would make you want to
do anything to forget. (https://listverse.com/2017/07/18/10-seedy-stories-from-the-golden-age-of-hollywood/,
n.d.)
the one website I used was this.
The industry hasn’t really changed completely to today, there
aren’t as many actors and actresses that have died from addictions or any other
horrible conditions as the ones from back in the day but there are still people
in the industry that do go over than expected when it comes to being who they
are today. Most of the famous faces all of us see today that have wowed us in theatres
and in movies do things and go the distance to be the amazing actors and
actresses we see now. We see them becoming different characters and taking on
different personas all the time but some of us don’t really know how they do
it. Take for example the actor Daniel Day-Lewis in the 1989 film “My left foot”
the actor plays Christy Brown who is a man born with cerebral palsy in a large,
poor Irish family. The movie was awarded with the “Academy Award for Best
Actor” but did he become this amazing actor some of us know now. The actor
Daniel Day-Lewis took it upon himself to become a man with cerebral palsy, he
did this by staying in character for most of the time meaning staying on a
wheelchair all the time so he could experience this character in more depth, he
was fed by someone else as he refused to do so. You might think what’s the harm
in doing this? This resulted in the actor getting left with two broken ribs,
which is very a server condition but nonetheless he survived and presented an
amazing performance. Another example of this happening is Natalie Portman in
2010s “Black Swan” the film follows the story of a girl called Nina, a
ballerina in a New York City ballet company whose life, like all those in her
profession, is completely consumed with dance. Natalie had to portray the life
of a ballerina however she took it far by going on a diet and rehearsing ballet
for eight hours a day which resulted in her losing 20 pounds but also
dislocating a rib. The actresses commented on this and said “There were some
nights that I thought I literally was going to die” This is a leading example
of how far actors/actresses are willing to go to, that they would endanger
their own lives just to execute a fantastic performance and win awards like she
won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role. There are many more people
that cause themselves to get conditions that will affect them terribly another
example is the actor Heath Ledger in 2008s The Dark Knight. Heath
played one of the characters based on DC comics character The Joker, one of
Batman's villains. The character of The Joker, is the main antagonist
of The Dark Knight. He was a mastermind that presented himself as an
"agent of chaos” the character is described to be insane and mental.
Heath Ledger took it upon himself to act as this character and become him in
order to master the character, Ledger did this by putting himself in danger of
becoming crazy “I sat around in a hotel room in London for about a month,
locked myself away, formed a little diary and experimented with voices, it was
important to try to find a somewhat iconic voice and laugh.” Because of this
Ledger soon started to take drugs and a few months after filming The Dark
Knight Ledger was reported dead due to drug overdose, there are some people who
say that Ledger died because of this role where he pushed himself way too far
which lead him to death. The actor won an Oscar for Best Actor but
unfortunately he didn’t receive the award as this was after he died of a drug
overdose. This is a huge example and even if he didn't die due to what he did,
he could have caused himself to obtain mental conditions and develop mental
health problems from it. I believe that this is a reaction of someone's extreme
actions and sums up that there are times where even going far is maybe way too
much for someone. Others could argue that sometimes you have to put yourself in
dangerous circumstances in order to succeed and master a role and become an
amazing actor, however I would argue that there is a limit on where you put
yourself, even if it's to master a character. There is way more examples those
are extreme weight loss or gain for a role by multiple actors such as Christian
Bale in The Machinist, 50 Cent, in ‘Get Rich or Die Tryin’, Charlize Theronand
in Monster and way more. Another horrible example was Jamie Fox in the film
‘Ray’ where he wore prosthetic eyelids for 14 hours a day to play the part of the
blind pianist Ray Charles. (https://www.vogue.com/article/actors-who-go-to-extreme-lengths,
n.d.)
This is the one website I used all the quotes
and research.
If you were to compare both the past and the present you could
understand that things have changed, before actors and actresses went to the
extremes because of their managers or agents but now they take it upon
themselves to push themselves way too far. This is due to the fact that in past
there weren't as many actors and actresses as there are nowadays which meant
that they were very special to managers and agents and had to be kept a close
eye, in my opinion I believe that they were like slaves to work for the
industry and that the industry owned them which meant they were allowed to tell
their clients which were the actors whatever they wanted and enforce them with
any rule they seemed fit. Although managers still are harsh on some actors in
the present they aren't as harsh as they were in the past, this is also
believed to have been because times changed drastically actors now can do as
they choose and their managers or agent just helps them in process. One huge
difference is that actors and actresses became known globally, even though
there were people who were acting all around the world they weren't as known as
the ones in Hollywood. Hollywood had access to cameras and other film equipment
and they could broadcast it to some places which is why a lot of people refer
it to the golden age of Hollywood only and not the world but compared to the
present people all over the world have access to cameras and can make films and
broadcast it globally and become known and famous. You might think what does
this have to do with going to the extremes and technically because people want
to become famous and known globally they would anything to make it especially
go as far as harming and injuring themselves just make a name for themselves.
This represents how things haven't changed as well, actors and actresses will
do whatever it takes to make it in the industry, secure their place there and
make a name for themselves only in the present actors take it upon themselves
and instead listening to their managers and agents to make themselves known.
Throughout this essay I've explained all the reasons why I
believed it's bad to go to the extremes but there are reasons for going far and
pushing yourself. Within certain characters comes something special or unique
like a talent that a certain character might have if its playing a musical
instrument or a sport. Looking from a different angle Natalie Portman did learn
ballet and a certain ballet dance which she can remember. Another example would
be Margot Robbie in the film ‘I, Tonya’ where she had to take on the character of
the Olympic ice skater Tonya Harding. In order to master the role, she took it
upon herself to learn ice skating, she trained five months, five days a week,
four hours a day learning to ice skate. Although she ended up getting a herniated
disk in her neck she still managed to learn a new skill which she knows how to
do. What we can learn from this is that even though you injure yourself by
pushing yourself while learning something you never knew how to do you can
still benefit from it, one reason is mastering a new skill which you have for
life. As well as that Margot Robbie learnt to hold her breath for 5 minutes when
acting as Harley Quinn in 2016s Suicide Squad, this is quite a long time as the
average person can hold their breath for only 1 minute or maybe even 2 with
training. I believe that it’s a very useful skill to have as not many people
can do that. A similar example is Ryan Gosling in the film ‘La La Land’ he
learnt how to play the piano and dance in order to create a Golden Globe
winning performance. As well as that he learnt to build furniture for the role
of Noah Calhoun in 2004s ‘The Notebook’. This information presents the good and
the positive of pushing yourself, it just shows that sometimes when you go
further than your expected you might gain something from it like new skills you
have for life, and make you into a stronger actor with abilities some actors don’t
have. (https://www.thethings.com/actors-who-learned-new-skills-for-movie-roles/,
n.d.) I used this website for
the research in this paragraph
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Source- (https://listverse.com/2017/07/18/10-seedy-stories-from-the-golden-age-of-hollywood/,
n.d.)
Source- (https://www.vogue.com/article/actors-who-go-to-extreme-lengths, n.d.)
Source - (https://www.thethings.com/actors-who-learned-new-skills-for-movie-roles/,
n.d.)
