PERFORMANCE PERSPECTIVES

"Bedazzled"

ALL THE ELEMENTS OF GOOD PERFORMANCE

Bedazzled is a satisfactorily entertaining film. Imbued with a satirical sense of fun it is structured to move along at an energetic pace and despite a slightly moralistic end it is a story that has an optimistic warmth and a sense of hope.

It is also interesting from a performance analysis point of view for side by side we can see here a variety of mixes of all the ingredients of realism and truth in performance both in balance and out of balance. This in itself is immensely instructional for although this is an opportunity to explore the success of one actor's achievements against the less rounded achievements of another there is no doubt that this film succeeds as a whole to successfully tell its story. (See "Jane Eyre" for further exploration of the pursuit of perfection.)

Actors and COMEDY
The original writers credits of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore immediately points to the fact that the intention for the piece was that it be a satirical COMEDY. Actors sometimes think that once the word COMEDY is mentioned they is are obligated to change their performance style. The actor suddenly feels the added responsibility to be funny. This performance pressure often leads the actor into the territory of "acting funny". This is a long-standing performance tradition, recognizable in vaudeville and probably pre-dating that time, which has a lot to do with ego driven showing-off and nothing to do with believable performance. It seems to reflect a belief that some people are 'funny', rather than the view that it is not so much the things people do but the reasons for which they do them that we find amusing.

Bedazzled provides two performances which clearly illustrates both the above alternatives. BRENDAN FRASER who plays Elliott swings between being complexly truthful and 'acting funny' while FRANCES O'CONNOR as Allison always pursues the truth of the moment but is still charmingly entertaining.

FRANCES provides the perfect example of the fact that it is the difficulty of dealing with a given situation which produces both comedy and drama and no degree of 'acting funny' changes the degree of difficulty. However an increase in the difficulty will produce a corresponding increase in both the comedy and the drama.

The scene in which BRENDAN FRASER as the 'star basketballer' meets FRANCES O'CONNOR the 'pretty journalist' in the change rooms after the match is a case where BRENDAN puts a significant amount of effort into acting funny. Here he chooses to 'act dumb' in an endeavour to be funny whereas in fact it is more entertaining to watch FRANCES O'CONNOR deal with the difficulty of lying her way out of a situation she has created herself. In fact the whole theatrical convention of 'acting dumb' has nothing to do with truthful circumstances of life for stupid choices are in fact generally made by people who use their intelligence to assess the wrong information or who fail to assess the circumstances properly because of such influences as fear, ignorance or habit. This scene clearly embodies two different approaches to comedy and performance.

Doing or Illustrating
The most difficult task for the actor is keeping all the elements of a performance in balance. For example it is important for the audience to be able to read the influences affecting the character's choices but it isn't acceptable for the actor to show or act out these elements. Showing leads to over acting. In the opening scenes, BRENDAN FRASER works hard at establishing the audience's view of Elliott. He does this by successfully heightening the problems Elliott has to deal with in his life. It is extremely difficult for this character to achieve the goal of 'being accepted' when the people around him, for a number of very good reasons, actually don't like him. Elliot has a big problem and a desperate need to overcome it. Here, while the audience cringes at Elliott making the kind of mistakes we probably have all made ourselves at some stage in our lives, we are entertained by the heightened nature of his need and the difficulties it creates for him. There is an excessive truth in these circumstances. However in the moment where Elliot makes his first wish, "Dear God, I would give anything to have that girl in my life" BRENDAN FRASER crosses the boundary between doing and showing. It is in this moment where we really see the actor 'acting'. Maintaining the balance is the actor's greatest challenge.

Balancing Levels of Need
Shortly after Elliott makes his first wish he meets the devil played by LIZ HURLEY. Her first assignment is to portray the sexy model and as this relates directly to her original area of professional expertise she has no difficulty in achieving this. There is no complexity required in this moment, as the devil is deliberately being overtly sexual in a predictable and clichéd way. LIZ HURLEY successfully does this with the confidence of a famous model.

But as her performance progresses and she has to use her less experienced acting skills it is not surprising that we can detect her struggling a little to maintain a balance between the fundamentals of the acting process.

The first thing it is possible to observe is that although she has acquired a clear understanding of the acting process of owning a "need" for her character and she focuses this purpose very strongly on BRENDAN FRASER it is evident that she is not yet confident enough with her acting skills to allow herself to simultaneously listen. Although having an active "need" in place is the first fundamental of an interactive performance process, if the actor then fails to listen there can be no on-going assessment of whether there is any hope of their "need" being fulfilled. The assessment of whether the character is achieving their need or not is in fact the active ingredient of any performance and this element is often missing from LIZ HURLEY'S acting. This ingredient can only be generated through real listening. However having a "need" operating for a character generates focus and a sense of purpose in the performer and LIZ has these elements firmly in place.

Confidence and Relaxation
But the above circumstances are however not always the case. Fairly early in the movie when Elliott and The Devil emerge from the MacDonald's food outlet LIZ HURLEY achieves a very comfortable level of truthfulness. Here she manages a wonderful balance of purposeful "need" and good listening. Perhaps it is significant that she is also very relaxed in this scene. Here, not only does she have a "need" in place but she is also listening to herself as well as listening to him. This is elegantly simple but highly successful performance process at work.

The scene ends however with another very instructional performance moment. Here Elliott is astounded to discover the sort of car The Devil drives. This is a moment where BRENDAN FRASER'S performance again topples over into demonstration or showing rather than experiencing and doing. Scripted moments of big surprise are always very challenging for the actor and Bedazzled provides us with many examples to consider. Although this particular surprise is not a very truthful one, earlier in the movie when LIZ HURLEY announces, "I'm the devil!" BRENDAN'S surprise is fabulous. Here he is complex, truthful, subtle and funny. He achieves these goals with great simplicity and trust.

Forcing the Comedy
There are numerous examples of very funny comedies where truthful performances have been the foundation on which the comedy is built. So it is a well-documented fact that actors don't have to 'act funny' to make audiences laugh. FRANCES O'CONNOR in this film provides firm evidence for this. She is entertaining, actively engaging, at times likable and sometimes manipulatively unpleasant but always operates from within the circumstances and choices which envelope the character. She never lets the fact that the outcome of any particular moment may be funny, affect her choice. Despite this she often makes us smile. FRANCES O'CONNOR is the performance to watch in this movie.

GABRIEL CASSIUS, who towards the end of the film plays Elliot's Cellmate, also gives a performance worth watching. He manages in his one scene to maintain the balance between all the elements of performance with the result that we cannot detect any acting but just enjoy the elements this character so successfully brings to the story.

So why don't you have a look at Bedazzled and see what you can learn to improve your trust, relaxation and confidence in the essential ingredients of your acting process. It is an informative as well as entertaining exercise.

Cast: Elliot BRENDAN FRASER; Allison/Nicole FRANCES O'CONNOR; Dan/Esterban/Beach Jack/Sports Caster/African Party Guest ORLANDO JONES;
The Devil ELIZABETH HURLEY; Jerry/Alejandra/ Beach Jack/Sports Caster /Lance TOBY HUSS; Bob/Roberto/Beach Jack/Sports Caster/Lincoln Aide PAUL ADELSTEIN; Elliot's Cellmate GABRIEL CASSIUS.

See also "Meeting Venus" & "Lost in Translation"

Copyright © The Rehearsal Room 2001. All rights Reserved.

HERE IS A SIMPLE EXERCISE TO CONSIDER.
As you can see from the cast list a number of the actors played multiple characters in this film. FRANCES O'CONNOR for example plays two characters, ORLANDO JONES plays five.

Select an appropriate and probably short text and then play it a number of times on each occasion being an entirely different character. Make sure you create a complete world for your character and understand the difficulties that affect their choices. The aim is to allow the character to simply be who they are and not to fall into the trap of 'showing' or 'acting'. Perhaps you should make sure that you give yourself plenty of time to prepare for each character. Maybe even try this exercise over a number of days.

Understanding, trust and relaxation are your main tools here.

© The Rehearsal Room 2001. All rights Reserved.