PERFORMANCE PERSPECTIVES

"The Contender" and "The Croupier"

OPPORTUNITY TO EXPLORE ACTORS' PROCESS

One of the tenets of acting that The Rehearsal Room constantly explores is the value of externally focused performances. The principle of an active and externally focused subtext is the element that controls the power and purpose of the performance while also guaranteeing it is readable to the audience.

One of the situations which will lead an actor to making internally focused choices is when they are playing an introverted character. CLIVE OWEN plays an aloof character called Jack in "The Croupier". In the first half of the movie it is evident that CLIVE sometimes operates from internally focused needs. This no doubt comes from the belief that Jack is a warily private person who will often reject or deny opportunities to share with others. These choices make good sense for this is an intelligently based and trusting performance designed to evolve with the character's growth - but sometimes CLIVE retreats inwardly to a private world that not only keeps him distant from the other characters in the story but also separates him from the audience. Fortunately he doesn't maintain these circumstances for too long because such inward reflection often creates a vacuum for the audience which removes them from maintaining an understanding of the character's desires. Naturalistic and believable it may be but it also risks being inert and unreadable.

It is interesting to observe this performance to examine where it is inert and disengaging for the audience and similarly where we remain actively engaged while understanding that the character is being distant and aloof to others.

These moments of disengagement become fewer and fewer as the story unfolds and the character moves on to new phases. In fact by the end of the movie not only does CLIVE have some positive and active needs in place for Jack but he introduces warmer colours too.This is a very successful performance and

it's interesting to watch in terms of balancing the forces which actors have at their disposal.

The Contender
Directed by Moke Hodges "The Contender" is an interesting film to view in the light of this debate for it brings an interesting perspective to the subject. The opening of the film is characterized by much moving camera and a single shot approach which helps give the impression that there is an immediacy to the moment, "a happening now" atmosphere to the scenes and yet despite this the performances feel a little confined and unfocused. At the start of the film both JEFF BRIDGES who plays The President and JOAN ALLEN who plays the Vice Presidential contender Sen. Laine Hanson keep us a little mystified as to their real feelings and goals. Like the camera work this creates an air of naturalism but not great clarity of intent.

Taking Risks
All the choices made by the director and actors are intelligent ones designed to support the storytelling. JOAN ALLEN appears to have made a deliberate choice to play Sen. Laine Hanson as someone who is different from the conventional politician - someone who is not aggressively adversarial. But it is also possible that she chose to create a character who retreats inwardly to explore how she feels about the moment rather than to outwardly engage with the conflict. The end result is that not only does Sen. Laine Hanson keep herself masked from the world of politics but JOAN ALLEN also risks not being clearly read by her audience.

It is plain that JOAN ALLEN exhibits great skill in her acting process. She responds wonderfully to both internal and external impulses. She obviously clearly understands the story. She maintains great confidence in her choices and listens well. But she also seems to reduce the potential drama of some scenes by burying her subtext so deep that it risks not being readable to the audience. In doing so she creates not only a very internally focused character but also an internally focused performance.

A Productive Comparison
It is also interesting to watch the performance of MARIEL HEMINGWAY who appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee to explain the breakup of her marriage which had been precipitated by Sen. Laine Hanson actions. Here is a performance that is externally focused on achieving one simple goal - a goal that is inhibited by a number of difficulties/obstacles that emerge as the scene progresses (including the simple problem of constantly having to speak into a microphone). This is also a complex, thoroughly truthful and spontaneous performance which provides an opportunity to assess the balance between internal and external forces. Here the drama is clearly defined and there is a rich complexity and unexpectedness.

All these performance choices are personal ones for the actor and the assessment of their value are subjective for an audience too - so view these films and see how you feel. For actors interested in analyzing this aspect of the performance process these films are worth seeing.

FOOTNOTE: Another factor in tipping the balance towards internally reflective rather than externally active performance can be the pursuit of emotional outcomes by the actor. Consider this quote from David Mamet's "TRUE AND FALSE, Heresy and Common Sense for the Actor"…

"The very act of striving to create an emotional state in one self takes one out of the play."

December 2001

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