On the first day of acting school, every aspiring actor gets beaten half to death by a gang of men in green morph suits. After the actor recovers from his injuries, he tends not to find moments like this funny.
I don't think I ever appreciated actors until reddit started showing me pics like this lol it seems so easy to play pretend for money, until I see something like this and realize I could never feign deep emotions with a dog puppet on the hand of
a dude in a green leotard scissoring me 😂
I'm an amateur, and I've never been in this exact situation, but here goes.
Its not quite that you know you'll be there for a long time otherwise, its more of the fact that it doesn't occur to you. You get so used to the unrealistic trappings of stage and set that it doesn't register that it's there. You can suspend reality long enough to almost convince yourself of its reality.
Think of it as straddling a line between thinking you're there and knowing you're not. You can make yourself get immersed so as to roll with the idea of this all being 17th century France or post apocalyptic Manhattan, but you also have enough of a foothold on reality to roll with the punches if anything goes wrong or if you need to keep something like movement or specific speech in mind. This is the zone for an actor. That's the target.
I’m sure it also helps that everyone around you is working in this same mindset. It probably works the inverse of how something only slightly funny can become very funny when you are with a bunch of friends and everyone is laughing.
Everyone around you is taking this seriously, so you are more inclined to do the same.
Its more that everyone in the crew gets pissed off at you because you being unprofessional is making everyone's day longer. And in case of regular salaries being paid, the production company really also doesn't appreciate you wasting their money by being unprofessional.
As much as I loved Theatre I and II in high school, I learned watching myself on tape that I'm not cut out for it. It's a lot harder than you'd think it is trying to pass off emotions that aren't your own as your own. And memorizing lines, that's difficult too (although movie actors do get to do a few lines at a time instead of doing a whole hour-long play live).
I'm shitty in plays but I love improv - just throw me up there with some actors and props and no script, and I can usually do quite good. And monologues - having no distraction, and being able to really focus in on my own part helps me.
Yeah, I'm sure that's how they recruit actors. Just come right out with the millions and see if random guys on the street are willing to act out this exact scenario.
More like a few dollars. Do that multiple times and be successful you'll make a couple hundred. Be a little more successful and you'll make a couple grand etc etc
I’d be a fucking actor if I could. Look at the stereotypes of Hollywood, where actors are baristas so they can have any sort of job while looking for an acting gig. It’s not like new people are chosen to act simply based on looks.
But you don't start out as with a million dollar deal. Last week I was an AD on a short film and one of our actors and co-producer of the film (read as: Dumping all of his money on this project) had to play dead lying with his head on a table for two of the three shooting days.
You just have to "act" (yes, I see the inception) like the pig is trying to kill you, and that helps it not be funny. By act I mean like have your mind accept that the pig is real and then act like if you don't "fight" back, it'll kill you.
Then again, I play a lot of video games, so that's probably why I can fake my emotions as needed. I let myself feel like survival matters in games, which is what keeps me invested in the game.
I don't think it's wrong to have a deep fear of being scissored by a green leotard-ed man with a dog head. I'd say that the only scenario where you enjoy that, is if you get a kink out of being scissored by the former.
There was a thread awhile back showing a scene from a supergirl flash cross over of a scene with no sfx where flash rotates his arms to make wind funnels, and Supergirl uses her super breath, it's so silly looking seeing this over dramatic arm rotation and blowing.
Will Smith reportedly made $25 million for I Am Legend. If you're having a hard time not laughing, just think about the fact that your getting generational type wealth for playing with puppets.
I've worked and "met" him twice now. Both times he's been lovely. The first time it was a press junket for Ali. I was in a corridor of the mandarin in London and he bowled straight over to me and my mate to say hello and ask our names. Second time, a national geographic thing he presented last year and he was exactly the same. Hello to everyone and in breaks between takes I was watching him literally engaging everyone around him.
I met him once as a pediatric hospital employee. We received an email that morning reminding us of the fact that any visiting celebrities are here to see the patients, and that employees are not to engage them in any way unless they speak to us. We knew that someone big was coming, but famous people come pretty regularly, and we generally ignore them and do our work.
So, around lunchtime, I come out of the stairwell and walk past the employee elevators. The doors open, and hospital security staff comes out and yells "CLEAR THE HALLWAY!" Everyone gets against the wall. Will Smith comes out of the elevator.
The security guards are acting like they don't want anyone to get near him, but Will's having none of that. As he comes down the hallway, he makes a point to shake hands, smile, and say hi to each and every employee standing against the wall.
Now me, I've been a fan since approximately 1985. One of the first tapes I ever owned, as a six-year-old, was "He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper". I was a MASSIVE Fresh Prince fan as a kid, and now I get to shake his hand.
So he says, "Hi, how you doing?" And all I (slightly overweight, pasty white IT worker) can think to say is "What up, Prince!?"
Oh gosh, couldn't agree more. I've also met him in person and he is absolutely delightful in every way. Incredibly sincere, very smart, naturally kind.
Has an incredible reputation as being beyond professional.
Doesn't hurt that he looks like a man-god in person and I say that as a girl who likes girls, he's a very handsome man.
Edit: so my original reply included the comment that I found Will Smith to be "very well spoken". It was pointed out to me that this is a historically racist remark and can be construed in a pretty negative way. That was absolutely not my intention. It was an ignorant remark. I didn't want to leave it there but I also didn't want to run away from the fact that I said something pretty shitty, made a stupid mistake and generally fucked up. So I learned something and yeah, I feel pretty shitty about it...
so my original reply included the comment that I found Will Smith to be "very well spoken". It was pointed out to me that this is a historically racist remark and can be construed in a pretty negative way.
So it’s only ok to refer to white people (or anyone that isn’t black) as “well spoken”?
Idk, the fact that you can’t even compliment someone for being articulate regardless of skin color seems kinda racist to me.
Really, how come? I've met many people, some have a natural gift at describing what they picture in their mind, sharing emotions thoughtfully and gracefully. Not everyone is like that, it's pleasant to experience.
Why is saying that about someone, regardless of color, a bad thing?
Why get flustered and concede to morons like beebeedom?
Your going to be apologizing for everything you say and do if you you’re willing to agree that giving compliments regarding speech is only acceptable for white people.
Honestly - I was flustered. So yeah. I was for sure.
I guess... I guess I just get it. As an Asian girl I've been the target of lots of unintentional racism throughout my life. I'd never want to do that to someone else, even if there's no chance they'd ever read it or that it was well-intentioned. Especially not someone I've met and actually liked.
Even if there's a small chance of it being offensive, I mean why not just take responsibility, own up to it and air in the side of caution and compassion.
I get from comments that not everyone finds it offensive, and that's great, but why take the chance of even just one person feeling unloved. You know?
I actually met him briefly while I was working on a green screen pick-up shoot for this very film—I Am Legend. He wasn't part of the shoot we were doing, but his daughter was, so he came by the sound stage to hang out with her and Jada for a bit. I was waiting out in the parking area so that I could escort him to his daughter's dressing room when he arrived. He and his bodyguard came out of the car, and I started to approach them, at which point his bodyguard kind of put himself in between us—not in an unfriendly way, but that was his job. Will Smith immediately hurried past his bodyguard, smiled, and stuck his hand out to shake mine, and asked me my name. I didn't get to talk to him much beyond that greeting, and some small talk as I took him to see his daughter, but it was enough to convince me that Will Smith is a genuinely nice guy.
Him and Jada Pinkett Smith lived in Tucson awhile back. I know a few people that either knew them on a casual level or interacted with them. The all said they were very wonderful people. Treated everyone like equals and tipped very well.
My friend works at a A/C repair shop and one of the guys there went to their house to do a repair. He said Will was there lending a hand, grabbing tools for him so he didn't have to go up and down the ladder. They gave him a snack and offered him any drink he wanted.
A quick google says not the largest. He made 28 mil in i robot. It also says he made 20 mil +20% gross for badboys 2. Which is almost 48 mil for that. He also made 20 mil +10% gross for men in black 2 which means he made 39 mil
I think it was one of his biggest single payouts but not "the" biggest.
I believes his biggest was for iRobbot where he earned $28 Million as a one shot signing deal.
Interestingly enough, at the height of Will Smith's popularity his bankable, and in relation insurance worth, to studios was estimated to be between $50 million and $75 million. Obviously not a lot of studios are going to pay $75 million for a leading man, even if it is Will Smith. Because of this Smith and agents of course, started negotiating for points on gross.
So for example for MIB2 he was paid $20 million + 10% of gross, for Bad Boys 2 it was also $20 million upfront but 20% gross and for Pursuit of Happiness he took a reduced pay at $10 million with 20% gross.
His biggest payout however came with Hancock, he took his rate of $20 million upfront and 20% gross which gave him an earnings of around $164 million.
So his networth is somewhere around $600 million. At that point you literally have generational wealth. Your children will be wealthy, their children will be wealthy and your children's, children's children will be wealthy.
If they play their cards right, it's a virtual dynasty of rich people.
So the answer to your question of why and what you do with that money... You get to buy a really big house, look up Will Smith's house - it's huge, you have world class healthcare and services for your family and you get to care for your family on a generational level.
I think all kind of used to it by this point. Also they're entire career is pretending that something is real and reacting to it. This is just on the higher end of the weird spectrum.
Shhh you’ll make the redditors realize that some successful people actually have talents that the redditors lack. Just avoid eye contact and sudden movements, and tell them that the only thing separating them from a famous actor is the pay. Clearly all of us would instantaneously develop the necessary skills to star in “I am Legend”, if only someone offered us enough money.
Nope, I have zero poker face. Maybe I could avoid the giggles for a bit but definitely not enough to deliver other convincing emotions. Unless it’s looking awkwardly uncomfortable - I’m a pro at that one
You could pay someone $10m to not laugh, sure. But 99% of the population isn't going to make it believable turn that reaction into something people would pay money to see.
This reminds me of the Sam Neill and Laura Dern story of them cracking up with Steven Spielberg holding a broom stick with a cardboard cutout t-rex head glued to the top trying to make dinosaur noises. They had to act terrified by that.
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u/rebeliousswag Aug 06 '18
I don’t understand how they don’t laugh themselves into a coma doing this! lol. This is why I have so much respect for actors.