Benedict Cumberbatch (whose name I cannot stop saying aloud) and Martin Freeman recently shared a few of their thoughts on acting with the UK’s Radio Times. Benedict shared his distaste for actors who call more attention to themselves than to the story:
“As an actor, you can do weight loss, weight gain, put on silly noses, crazy accents, move like a dragon, inviting people to look at the fireworks and admire how different you’re being.
“But with acting like that, it’s all about look-at-me, when what you should be doing is helping the audience care about the person they’re watching.”
Disagree not with a man who plays a dragon, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.
Martin joined in the comments, noting that the best actors will always bring something of their personality and experience to the role, rather than becoming something entirely unlike themselves:
“I always think it’s a bit of a red herring, this business of whether you’re pretending to be something different.
“I mean… show me someone who’s being nothing like they are in real life and I’ll show you a rubbish performance.
“In every film (Robert) De Niro’s in, he’s the best actor on God’s earth, but he’ll always pull the same De Niro face at some point. You’re never going to go, ‘Oh, I didn’t know who that was’.”
