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Post by pupdurcs on Apr 19, 2019 23:31:34 GMT
A great story about how Charlton Heston managed to compliment Robert DeNiro as the best film actor of his generation and piss him off at the same time for his unwillingness or inability to do Shakespeare. www.esquire.com/news-politics/a929/esq0701-july-heston-rev-3/"And it just astounds and amazes him that so many of today's greatest actors seem so afraid of stepping into tights. Heston: "A year or so ago, I was meeting my wife in a restaurant down in Santa Monica, and there was Robert De Niro, whom I had never met. I think he is the best American film actor of his generation. So I had the temerity to go over to him, and I said, 'Mr. De Niro, we've not met, but I can't miss the opportunity to tell you that I think you're the best American film actor of your generation.' He said thank you, and I said, 'But you have to do Shakespeare. Those are the best parts.' He said, 'Yeah, people tell me that all the time.' I said, 'They're right. Those are the parts. If you don't do those parts, you're not in the game.' And I realized that I had irritated him, and I had no right to do that. So I said, 'I'm disturbing you. I apologize for that. But I'm right.' "
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Post by stephen on Apr 19, 2019 23:37:01 GMT
De Niro should've listened to Heston. I don't think it's necessarily a prerequisite to have familiarity with Shakespeare to be a great actor, but it certainly is a great tool to have in your arsenal, and with De Niro's last thirty years being comparatively dire to what came before it, I think it would've been a boon to have that to fall back on like Pacino did.
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Post by pupdurcs on Apr 20, 2019 0:00:38 GMT
De Niro should've listened to Heston. I don't think it's necessarily a prerequisite to have familiarity with Shakespeare to be a great actor, but it certainly is a great tool to have in your arsenal, and with De Niro's last thirty years being comparatively dire to what came before it, I think it would've been a boon to have that to fall back on like Pacino did. I agree, but I feel a bit bad for DeNiro in that situation. For all his brilliance as a young film actor and the accolades that followed him, deep down he must have known that there were still many classically trained stage actors out there like Heston, who found him lacking in certain areas as an actor. I can see why being confronted with that would raise his hackles. Even great actors can get insecure as to how some of their peers might perceive them. I feel it's important for American actors in particular to have stage and classics (ie Shakespeare) in their arsenal. Particularly so stage trained Brits can't invoke a superiority complex. It might not matter to many fans, who just want to see their favorite actors in movies, but actors talk about it all the time. Which actors they most respect because they can handle stage, classics, film etc. For all his film legend status, a lot of stage trained actors behind closed doors would dismiss Jack Nicholson as just a talented but limited movie personality. Yeah, Jack's probably wiping his tears will hundred dollar bills and snorting lines of coke off hookers It's one of the reasons Denzel is the most respected living American actor. No one can place those limitations on him. Heston could never step to him with that stuff. Ian Mckellen can't either.Pacino and Dustin Hoffman at least attempted something similar before their Inconsistencies caught up with them. Shame the younger set like Joaquin Phoenix and DiCaprio (Bale etc) don't appreciate the importance of that stage/classical ability completing their careers. One hopes they don't just reach a point like DeNiro where they stagnate because they chose not to diversify their tool box as actors.
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Post by pacinoyes on Apr 20, 2019 0:38:23 GMT
De Niro should've listened to Heston. I don't think it's necessarily a prerequisite to have familiarity with Shakespeare to be a great actor, but it certainly is a great tool to have in your arsenal, and with De Niro's last thirty years being comparatively dire to what came before it, I think it would've been a boon to have that to fall back on like Pacino did. De Niro I'll give a bit of break here - although I always used to take him to task for it with lack of stage work in the IMDB days. I've mellowed a bit. I think De Niro thought he'd have more time and eventually he ran out of it............ He returned to the stage once in a so-so production (didn't see it) in '86 post-movie fame.......that isn't that much less than Hoffman (twice) and it's equal to Hackman/Duvall and more than Nicholson (zero). I think eventually he got diverted - and Pacino did more but didn't do that much in that period either but then went on a kind of insane run in the 90s/00s on stage.........I think De Niro when he looked up saw his window had closed and going on stage was too big a risk to pursue so he pursued something else.......just like say Pacino's (and Washington's for that matter) window closed for leading film comedy..........now not that neither can do comedy, they can and could still do one but they didn't work that vein of their careers like that ...........and De Niro worked it like crazy. I don't think those things are equivalents...........but I think De Niro thought in a way they sorta were - "Al has his Shakespeare and stage work but he'd love to have one of my comedies".......eventually when you get to a certain age you think that I'm sure......we as fans have the luxury to assess it all without feeling what they must be feeling etc.
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Post by pacinoyes on Apr 20, 2019 9:43:32 GMT
De Niro should've listened to Heston. I don't think it's necessarily a prerequisite to have familiarity with Shakespeare to be a great actor, but it certainly is a great tool to have in your arsenal, and with De Niro's last thirty years being comparatively dire to what came before it, I think it would've been a boon to have that to fall back on like Pacino did. It's one of the reasons Denzel is the most respected living American actor. No one can place those limitations on him. Heston could never step to him with that stuff. Ian Mckellen can't either.Pacino and Dustin Hoffman at least attempted something similar before their Inconsistencies caught up with them.
Shame the younger set like Joaquin Phoenix and DiCaprio (Bale etc) don't appreciate the importance of that stage/classical ability completing their careers. One hopes they don't just reach a point like DeNiro where they stagnate because they chose not to diversify their tool box as actors. Hoffman didn't attempt something similar to Pacino or Washington (Washington has some roles that evoke some Pacino on stage) and Hoffman's inconsistencies didn't catch up with him - rather he just stopped. Two roles to acclaim, stopped, never went back. It should be said also that George C. Scott is the guy that Heston really could never say what he said to De Niro - and who was his contemporary too. Pacino and Washington have both attempted something similar to Scott tbh. As for the younger actors it's kind of exciting to see Adam Driver and Jake Gyllenhaal do stage work and hopefully they inspire something in other actors too. Back to the thread topic though and to tie this together: Here's Hoffman on Olivier - now this is tough to watch because he gets emotional but listen to what he says about what he "had in his head" with plenty of Shakespearean parts ............and how scary it must have been to physically not be able to act - no one dictates their finishes in life - I'm sure Albert Finney envisioned a very different one.............. very moving stuff but this whole video is really something to see.
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Post by pupdurcs on Apr 20, 2019 13:12:24 GMT
It's one of the reasons Denzel is the most respected living American actor. No one can place those limitations on him. Heston could never step to him with that stuff. Ian Mckellen can't either.Pacino and Dustin Hoffman at least attempted something similar before their Inconsistencies caught up with them.
Shame the younger set like Joaquin Phoenix and DiCaprio (Bale etc) don't appreciate the importance of that stage/classical ability completing their careers. One hopes they don't just reach a point like DeNiro where they stagnate because they chose not to diversify their tool box as actors. Hoffman didn't attempt something similar to Pacino or Washington (Washington has some roles that evoke some Pacino on stage) and Hoffman's inconsistencies didn't catch up with him - rather he just stopped. Two roles to acclaim, stopped, never went back. It should be said also that George C. Scott is the guy that Heston really could never say what he said to De Niro - and who was his contemporary too. Pacino and Washington have both attempted something similar to Scott tbh. As for the younger actors it's kind of exciting to see Adam Driver and Jake Gyllenhaal do stage work and hopefully they inspire something in other actors too. Back to the thread topic though and to tie this together: Here's Hoffman on Olivier - now this is tough to watch because he gets emotional but listen to what he says about what he "had in his head" with plenty of Shakespearean parts ............and how scary it must have been to physically not be able to act - no one dictates their finishes in life - I'm sure Albert Finney envisioned a very different one.............. very moving stuff but this whole video is really something to see. Hoffman went to perform Shakespeare on stage in the Lion's Den.....the UK stage. That takes balls.He got a mixed/frosty reception in England (compared to Broadway, where he got a Tony nomination for his Shylock in The Merchant Of Venice), but even if it was brief, the ambition was there for a little bit with Hoffman, and that's more than can be said for most American film actors of his stature (and generation). He had a run at two big plays....Death Of A Salesman & Merchant Of Venice. And he wasn't doing Shakespeare in some LA theatre, almost guaranteed to get you a kind/gentle response from the Hollywood congnescenti (looking at you Tom Hanks!). London and New York. Yes, he's done nowhere near as much Shakespeare (on film or stage) as Washington or Pacino, or as much stage in general as either. But as I said, even if it was short-lived, Hoffman did more than DeNiro, Hackman, Nicholson etc combined.We give Brando excess credit for originating one legendary stage role in A Streetcar Named Desire. But while he did other smaller plays to respectable notices early in his career, what else has he got? Pacino and Washington are more accomplished stage actors than Brando, who may be the most celebrated one hit-wonder on stage in history. So I got no issue giving Hoffman a crumb of credit, if Brando gets treated as a stage legend for one major production essentially.
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Post by pacinoyes on Apr 20, 2019 14:55:54 GMT
Yes, one of the problems with assessing actors (Film actors especially) in relation to Shakespeare is some have a natural proclivity towards it too - and that's one of those things we try to cover a lot in the Best Actors/Actress Across Stage/TV/Film. For example, Kevin Kline an American Oscar winner of course could play so many Shakespeare roles he almost obliterates the whole field of names we've discussed (including Scott) imo but by obliterating the field.............. what does that really say overall anyway? At a certain point lots of it comes down to calculated risk" - ie what does it say about De Niro not doing any Shakespeare - was he not daring ...........or was he really smart not to risk something that he would have (likely, not definitely) failed at anyway............ or would he have had to choose a specific role exceedingly carefully? It's really hard to assess those questions - and the implications are all different - but there's definitely a matter of degree in it where you, me and Chuck Heston are all "right" though its hard to know exactly where we are right a bit...... Kline on Streep - @tyler :
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Post by pacinoyes on Apr 21, 2019 11:01:51 GMT
Very nice story here - I had no idea they went back that far until I saw this ........it's kind of ..........amazing actually how their careers intersected really.
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Post by stephen on Apr 21, 2019 18:33:13 GMT
Spacey idolized Lemmon and it most definitely shows, as there are many performances in Spacey's catalogue that feel not just cribbed from Lemmon's style, but particularly designed to evoke him. American Beauty is a major case in point.
I've always felt Lemmon staked a claim as being one of the all-time greats, who didn't get the respect he should've because he was more well-known for his comic romps, but the man was a devastating dramatic force as well. Save the Tiger is one of the finest Best Actor-winning performances ever, and should be taught in acting schools. For all of Spacey's faults, he's right in recognizing Lemmon's talent and trying his best to emulate it.
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Post by pupdurcs on Apr 21, 2019 22:17:10 GMT
Kevin Costner talking about how Gene Hackman was the best actor he ever worked with, in the context of a cool story about an on set incident.
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Post by stephen on Apr 21, 2019 23:03:14 GMT
On the subject of the Hack Man:
One of my favorite moments on Inside the Actor's Studio was when Morgan Freeman was talking about the scene he shared with Gene in Unforgiven where Little Bill brutally interrogates Ned. Freeman relates that when Hackman leans in close and tells him that he's about to compare Ned's story with the whores' story, and if the stories don't match, "well, I ain't gonna hurt no woman... but I'm gonna hurt you, and not gentle like before... but baaaad." Freeman says in that moment, he forgot he was acting because Hackman was completely convincing.
It's one thing to fool the audience into believing what you're saying. It's another thing entirely to make your co-star, an accomplished actor in his own right, believe it.
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Post by pupdurcs on Apr 23, 2019 19:45:03 GMT
On the subject of the Hack Man:
One of my favorite moments on Inside the Actor's Studio was when Morgan Freeman was talking about the scene he shared with Gene in Unforgiven where Little Bill brutally interrogates Ned. Freeman relates that when Hackman leans in close and tells him that he's about to compare Ned's story with the whores' story, and if the stories don't match, "well, I ain't gonna hurt no woman... but I'm gonna hurt you, and not gentle like before... but baaaad." Freeman says in that moment, he forgot he was acting because Hackman was completely convincing.
It's one thing to fool the audience into believing what you're saying. It's another thing entirely to make your co-star, an accomplished actor in his own right, believe it. Apparently, Meryl Streep just said she had a similar experience working with Nicole Kidman on the set of Big Little Lies. They were doing a scene so intense that Streep truly believed she might be harming herself to manifest these emotions and asked the director if it was safe to keep doing it. She thought it was real. Streep said she's in awe of Kidman. toofab.com/2019/04/23/nicole-kidman-acting-intense-meryl-streep-thought-she-was-harming-herself/
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Post by pacinoyes on Apr 23, 2019 20:06:56 GMT
Here's one for DDL - now, I would love someone to tell me - he's supposed to be sooooooooooo great but I acted opposite him in The Crucible, or Nine or Stars and Bars and ............well......he kinda sucked....(kidding, kidding, sorta) Still a good one about the aura an actor puts out over his peers.
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Post by pupdurcs on Apr 28, 2019 1:24:17 GMT
Very interesting and talented character actor James Badge Dale talking about working with Denzel Washington for one day on the set of Flight. Says he always admired Denzel (particularly for The Hurricane), but he became his acting hero on that day because he saw the "blue collar" work ethic Denzel showed, even though Denzel had almost no lines and it was mainly Dale's scene. Dale says that's the kind of actor he wants to be, though he admits he's unlikely to ever be as good. Story starts time stamped from 20:20.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 28, 2019 12:32:07 GMT
From set of Machete:
Trejo glowed with pride when asked about De Niro's involvement in the film. The two previously worked together in 1995's Heat. "When I first saw Robert De Niro on the set, he came up and his first words to me were, 'Don't make me like this, homes,'" Trejo told press. "You know, that was my line in Heat. And I kind of laughed, and he said, 'Man, Danny, I'm really proud of you. You're the lead. This is it, this is you!' And I looked him right in the eyes and I said, 'Can I get some coffee, Mr. De Niro?'"
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Post by pupdurcs on Apr 28, 2019 12:44:19 GMT
From set of Machete: Trejo glowed with pride when asked about De Niro's involvement in the film. The two previously worked together in 1995's Heat. "When I first saw Robert De Niro on the set, he came up and his first words to me were, 'Don't make me like this, homes,'" Trejo told press. "You know, that was my line in Heat. And I kind of laughed, and he said, 'Man, Danny, I'm really proud of you. You're the lead. This is it, this is you!' And I looked him right in the eyes and I said, 'Can I get some coffee, Mr. De Niro?'" Great story
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Post by pacinoyes on Apr 28, 2019 13:21:51 GMT
Here's John Ortiz telling a great story about Pacino and Carlito's Way - not his talent or hard work (lots of boring stories about that are out there obviously) - but his kindness. Random act of kindness really starts at 1:15 - this is kind of an amazing story in a way:
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Post by Deleted on Apr 29, 2019 13:08:14 GMT
- DDL Spielberg always called DDL Mr. President on set of Lincoln.
- David Lynch Critics may have been initially cool on Lynch’s first feature film, but it garnered some famous fans. Stanley Kubrick called it his “favorite film” and Mel Brooks liked it so much, he gave Lynch a job. The story goes that when Lynch’s name was floated as a director for The Elephant Man, Brooks—the film's producer—had never heard of him. So Brooks went to see Eraserhead. After he got out of the theater, he went right up to Lynch and said, “You’re a madman, I love you, you’re in.”
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Post by Johnny_Hellzapoppin on Apr 29, 2019 13:19:16 GMT
I love that story of when Meryl Streep wasn't even famous, feeling sad about not booking roles and thinking she wasn't pretty enough to make it in Hollywood. One day, she was crying at a café with 99 people who didn't believe in her, when a huge, acclaimed actress bumped into her and told her to follow her dreams. That woman was MsMovieStar , a charitable diva. I am officially moved.
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Post by Viced on May 2, 2019 16:12:42 GMT
No lame actor stuff, but a great story (if you ignore Kimmel and the audience):
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Post by pacinoyes on Sept 5, 2019 10:29:49 GMT
Usually I don't like actors going on about each other without any detail but I like how much Hardy loves Oldman and he sums it up in 17 seconds
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Post by pacinoyes on Sept 16, 2019 13:48:15 GMT
This is a great clip so I thought I'd share it - in this clip McKellen eloquently talks about movie, tv, stage - why TV isn't the movies particularly why plays on TV aren't like plays in movies. That's why it really is at times movies/TV/stage and not just film/stage.......and at the end when talks about Hopkins too and you can tell he respects him so much he doesn't have to say much - he's just great that's all.
As an undercurrent when he talks briefly about Hopkins here - who he's maybe overtaken (or not) as the greatest of his UK generation note that we in America have no corollary to these 2 actors in this specific way to Hopkins-McKellen and their first time collaboration. If McKellen did overtake Hopkins he did it at age 70+ which is very rare - usually actors do not overtake other actors that late in life .......or on the other hand actors aren't usually "challenged" that late either.
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Post by futuretrunks on Sept 16, 2019 22:58:43 GMT
De Niro should've listened to Heston. I don't think it's necessarily a prerequisite to have familiarity with Shakespeare to be a great actor, but it certainly is a great tool to have in your arsenal, and with De Niro's last thirty years being comparatively dire to what came before it, I think it would've been a boon to have that to fall back on like Pacino did. I agree, but I feel a bit bad for DeNiro in that situation. For all his brilliance as a young film actor and the accolades that followed him, deep down he must have known that there were still many classically trained stage actors out there like Heston, who found him lacking in certain areas as an actor. I can see why being confronted with that would raise his hackles. Even great actors can get insecure as to how some of their peers might perceive them. I feel it's important for American actors in particular to have stage and classics (ie Shakespeare) in their arsenal. Particularly so stage trained Brits can't invoke a superiority complex. It might not matter to many fans, who just want to see their favorite actors in movies, but actors talk about it all the time. Which actors they most respect because they can handle stage, classics, film etc. For all his film legend status, a lot of stage trained actors behind closed doors would dismiss Jack Nicholson as just a talented but limited movie personality. Yeah, Jack's probably wiping his tears will hundred dollar bills and snorting lines of coke off hookers It's one of the reasons Denzel is the most respected living American actor. No one can place those limitations on him. Heston could never step to him with that stuff. Ian Mckellen can't either.Pacino and Dustin Hoffman at least attempted something similar before their Inconsistencies caught up with them. Shame the younger set like Joaquin Phoenix and DiCaprio (Bale etc) don't appreciate the importance of that stage/classical ability completing their careers. One hopes they don't just reach a point like DeNiro where they stagnate because they chose not to diversify their tool box as actors. As someone who agrees that Denzel is a titan, I don't see how prioritizing doing stage work from time to time is any more laudable or wise than prioritizing trying to maximize the achievement of one's filmography (in DiCaprio's case).
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Post by pacinoyes on Sept 18, 2019 13:09:46 GMT
This isn't a story but just a sort of wtf - the GOAT female mentions the 2 greatest living American males (because they are) .........and um.......... Bradley Cooper Meanwhile she mentions no females at all - what a total bitch! ..............Kidding.......... "The American actors she admires are “the great [ones]: Robert De Niro, Al Pacino. Bradley Cooper.”
Perhaps her failure to mention any actresses finds its roots in an earlier answer about the difference between working with male and female directors: “Sometimes women don’t get on so well together, even not as well as women and men [do].” She adds with her characteristic simplicity, “I like good actors in good roles, in good movies.”notofu.com/home/isabelle-huppert/
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Post by pacinoyes on Oct 6, 2019 9:45:06 GMT
Ellen Burstyn on the near 80 year old midget Al Pacino - their Inside The Actors Studio airs in November - should be great to see. Co-Actors Studio Presidents, and Triple Crown Winners, but never co-stars He’s so brilliant, and he’s just a genius. I just saw the film that he did with Marty Scorsese that’s going to open soon, called The Irishman. That is staggering, it’s so brilliant. Al’s playing Jimmy Hoffa in it. Marty very graciously gave us a scene from it to show last night. Al is just a genius! He’s a little unusual, shall we say. He talks brilliantly, but [in conversation] he comes to many crossroads and takes them. It’s kind of my job to to wrangle him back. It was fun and deep and wonderful, and I just love it. They said they’re going to make two shows out of it. www.vulture.com/2019/10/ellen-burstyn-has-the-greatest-line-in-lucy-in-the-sky.html
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