What confuses me about the whole ‘Hollywood’ way of TV acting is the supposition that as an actor (one who takes action, doer) we are first and foremost concerned with emotion. We’d be called ‘emoters’ if we were. That misdirected focus, from action to emotion, is the result of the focus on results rather than cause and the intimacy creating confinement of the closeup. Look in a view finder long enough and you think acting is all about how it looks, the tears, the furrowed brow, the grit teeth, the clenched jaw, the meaningless huff and puff of imposed emotion. Tell enough great actors to “throw it away’, “be natural”, “feel angrier” and their skills fulfill those vague and result oriented directions, not because of the insight of the direction, but rather because of the skill of the actor to take an action. I understand the existence of this result oriented directing and writing. [...]
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