Committing To The Role

I'm currently reading a book. A really good book. It's called ‘Leave The Gun, Take The Cannoli' by Mark Seal. The book is all about the making of the classic movie The Godfather.

A lot of things go towards this movie being regarded as one of the greatest ever. The source material (another highly recommend read), the direction, the visuals and of course the acting.

No one wanted Marlon Brando for the role. No one but the director. Even Brando didn't see himself in the role, but when he gave it a go, a transformation occurred. The 47 year old actor became the Don.

Occasionally you'll see someone in an acting role fully commit. Whether it's Sacha Baron Cohen living and breathing as Borat, or Christian Bale losing and gaining and losing and gaining weight for roles, Charlize Theron shunning vanity for her role in Monster, or Tom Cruise in, well, anything.

And that is something that I truly believe is so important as a performer of any kind. I play myself on stage. But with the volume turned up to 11.

I fall about, get attacked by the puppets, and generally act like a fool, but that's kind of what I'm like anyway 😂

I don't think we should pretend to be something a million miles away from the truth. The audience would be able to sense that instantly.

But, you know, be you… just, more so.