TED Talk

As an actor I love to explore all of the different ways to act, whether that be modern pieces, classical, voice work or even movement. I wish to explore all these aspects to enhance my skill set and I think it’s important to look at all of the different aspects of acting. 

This is why I want to talk about the sci-fi side of the acting world. For many years now sci-fi has been one of the biggest genre of movies from ‘Star Wars’ in the seventy’s, to things like the Marvel Cinematic Universe today. It has been one of the biggest money-making genres and had more people in cinema than ever before. The fandoms are massive, and they just keep on going, they will see anything even remotely related to what they like. Even following specific sci-fi actors to different shows or movies. The genre has had some of the best performance in recent cinema history, like the two jokers Heath Ledger and Joaquin Phoenix who have both won Oscars for their performances. Furthermore, some of the biggest names in acting have played in these types of movies such as, Christian Bale, Cillian Murphy, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, and Morgan Freeman and that’s just one movie! All of these really well known and prominent actors, in this one comic book movie.

Yet, there are still people in the industry who look down on these movies, specifically the acting skills required or demonstrated within this genre. In fact, Leonardo DiCaprio has been quoted telling his co-worker Timothee Chalamet some advice "no hard drugs and no superhero movies". Now DiCaprio is known for his amazing performances, and no one can take that away from him. He knows a lot about the acting world, has come a long way and is an Oscar winner himself. However, for him to say this to an up-and-coming actor about an entire genre… Well, I don’t think it’s fair, in the past, acting in sci-fi movies was known to be looked down on and shunned. Whilst this genre may have, in the past meant actors were pigeonholed and the genre was synonymous with wooden or ‘bad’ acting, the argument was that they didn’t really make you a versatile actor and taking on one of these roles could limit a career. However, these days its quite the opposite, a lot of people are making their big breaks in these films and having amazing careers launched by them. For him to say not to perform in these films, I feel is stupid and short-sighted. These days sci-fi films are taken seriously, and they are probably the biggest franchises in film today. They are the highest grossing films, they have the most people watching so, why not do these movies. These movies mean a lot to their audience; they are the most likely genre to have YouTube breakdown videos, or whole channels devoted to them, and events built around them such as ComiCon’s etc. Their fan base is so massive that they have to be taken seriously and the skills required to perform characters shouldn't be looked down on.

Moreover, going back to my previous point of the sci-fi genre having some of the best acting performances. The roles in these types of films are not easy to do, the characters aren’t necessarily normal, they are so different to the role actors may be used to. They prove to be a challenge for actors. I am going to use an example of the role of the ‘Joker,’ yes, he’s psychopathic, but he’s not just a psychopath, there are so many layers to him, the actor has to peel back just to try and discover, to understand, to even begin to start playing the character. These roles like the ‘Joker’ are not simple roles, where you can just pick up a script and have fun with them. This is proved by the success of the two actors I mentioned in my introduction. I would like to offer one scene performed by Heath Ledger in ‘The Dark Knight’ to exemplify my point; This scene takes place in the police cells first with Commissioner Gordon played by Gary Oldman and then replaced by Batman played by Christian Bale. In this scene the Joker has been arrested and he is taunting his interviewers about a hostage situation. Through the use of specific acting techniques Heath Ledger creates a real sense of tension for the audience and draws them into the action. Some of the techniques he uses are, at the start of the scene he is relaxed, and his reclined body language conveys this emotion. His movements are regulated and seem calm, as the scene moves on, he becomes more jittery, he licks his lips, he blinks his eyes a lot more, he leans menacingly across the table toward Batman, thus building tension and suspense for the audience. He also switches between different character type and matches his gesture, facial expression, and body language to these character types in the blink of an eye. He completely creates fear in the audience and in my opinion a true suspension of disbelief. As an audience member, my own body language and emotion change in line with the characters intentions.

Actors should not be stereotyped as not being serious actors, just because they perform in the sci-fi genre. Some very serious actors also play the largest roles in films and Tv shows like this. David Tennant is a classically trained actor from a very prestigious school, he has been in a number of Shakespeare and National Theatre productions. Not in spite of this, but as well as he is also a massive nerd at heart. His decision to take this role may have had something to do with that! He played the titular character of ‘The Doctor’ in ‘Doctor Who,’ a time traveller from an alien planet. He was famed for this role, he brought so much to the character that a lot of people started watching ‘Doctor Who’ again or for the first time and taking it seriously because of him. In fact, many viewers now see him as the ultimate choice for that role and many still see him as ‘The Doctor’ to this day. This level of success could be attributed to his previous training as an actor and his skills in bringing a character to life. However, despite Di Caprio’s damning opinion, since then, he has been cast in so many other what may be described a serious roles, one such being ‘Broad Church,’ where he played a police detective in this drama and another being ‘Des’ where he played a psychopath in a true crime-based drama. Just another critically acclaimed piece this actor has done and proof that his taking on a sci-fi role has not damaged his reputation as a serious and talented actor. Christian Bale is another example of this, when he was set to play ‘Batman’ a lot of people told him not to do it and that it would be the end of his career. In the end Bale simply said, "bring it on", Bale was also filming Batman at the same time as the Gritty film “The Machinist” and I would imagine this switching between two juxtaposed roles demonstrates a high level of skill. That is something I love. You can’t tell an actor not to do a role because it is a certain genre and people shouldn’t look down on Sci Fi films and the skills required to perform in them. Nor should an actor be written off because of a role that may not be seen as serious. They can be as amazing and as impactful as any other. Sci-fi is a brilliant genre of film and tv and I have watched it since I was a child. I still do now. I know millions of other people do as well. So, don’t look down on what other people enjoy and anyway if it brings in millions why do you care anyway!