Actors during interviews...

Blade Borge

Blade Borge

Well-known member
Why do you think actors are so good at performing in front of the camera in movies, but when it comes to interviews they can appear so frightened? I'm sure answering personal questions to seemingly millions of people can be a daunting task, but then again, so can carrying a Bond movie yes?

I'm sure it also helps that being in character, you're sort of shielding yourself from letting people know who you really are, but aren't you still being exposed/scrutinized to the world nonetheless?

I've often thought about being an actor, but the stage freight seems too much, just wondered how some people can be intouch and confident in one exposing situation, but terrified in the next.
 
My kids are serious theater kids and we 've talked several times about how they get nervous at auditions and interviews but are completely comfortable on stage. There's no question that for them, the process of taking on a different character insulates them from feeling like they're personally being judged. They're not professionals, but it's consistent with what you've seen and they're pretty insightful kids about stuff like this.

About being an actor - I started taking acting classes a few months ago as a way to learn how to work better with actors. I've also always been interested in acting myself, but I've also been terrified performing in front of people. The classes have been amazing. Not only am I feeling more confident in front of the class, but the training itself has been transformative. Filmmaking is a second, mid-life career change for me and the actor's workshop has given me new energy and has helped to crystallize the direction I want to take with filmmaking. I'm planning to complete the full 6 semester course now. I'm already doing small parts for student filmmakers and I hope to do some theater work by the time I'm done. Cool, huh?
 
It's like any job, when you interview you're nervous, you don't have the job yet. When you are on stage, you're job is already secure, you are now deep into rehearsal, study and honing. The nerves have dissipated by this point. I wouldnt make this too complex.

This is why the stronger coaches in town spend a good amount of instruction on the audition, as that's what truly matters. You can study acting for twenty years but if you suck at auditioning, you'll never apply that training.

Auditioning is a craft unto itself.
 
I think it has a lot to do with the fact that they aren't playing a part, they have to be themselves and they have to be real. That alone can shake your nerves up quite a bit.
 
Blade Borge said:
Why do you think actors are so good at performing in front of the camera in movies, but when it comes to interviews they can appear so frightened? I'm sure answering personal questions to seemingly millions of people can be a daunting task, but then again, so can carrying a Bond movie yes?
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Blade...when you ask about 'interviews', do you mean when they interview for the job or when they do interviews with reporters? In either case...you are going to get some many different answers on this one! It depends on each person and how they deal with it or if they deal with it.

Me...I love the audition and cold reading but doing interviews on talk shows I have had little practice with. A reporter buddy taught me a few tricks and it is easier. I get the idea of 'sound bites' for news crews, and story telling for talk shows.

But you also have to think of your question as it relates to staring in a Bond movie....you shoot the thing in front of hundreds...NOT thousands and millions. You can do a 2nd take or more but not on live TV or even the delayed stuff. That has to be daunting for many people.
 
@Michele, interviews like The Tonight Show etc,

Maybe I haven't been doing it very long, but I feel exactly self-conscious giving a school report as I do reading lines in a play, fear of saying the wrong thing or voice cracking.

What all of you have said is very true, though it just astounds me sometimes to see strong leading actors like Morgan Freeman and Anthony Hopkins cower sometimes.

I guess it also has to do with control, in a movie you know the expected outcome and reactions.

I wonder how many actors 'act' their way through interviews as a defense mechanism.
 
Tom Marshall said:
Quite a few actors are very shy people in real life.
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True indeed, and seemingly implausible to many people who don't know many actors personally. To be sure, lots of actors are highly confident, near-fearless types, but many aren't.

I read in Michael Shurtleff's book "Audition" that Robert DeNiro is actually quite shy. That surprised me. Nicole Kidman and Diane Keaton also come to mind in this regard.
 
when your shooting it's easy to appear confident becuase the people watching arnt criticing the person persay, but the character, and the more a person has studied the motivations, memorized lines, etc the better that perfomance is going to come off and really thats all the audience gets to mull over. However, when your doing a interview you may be asked about the charactor or charactors you've played but they are really talking to the actor, which now means they are exposing thier personal selves to the person doing the interview and it's much easier to shrug off a bad review of the a charactor or movie then a possible bad review of yourself..lol.
 
It also has nothing to do with acting vs. interviewing. You could be a wonderful actor, fantastic interviewer and be a world class prick in your private life..lol. But I digress....
 
In my opinion there are some powerful film industries that arouse a "Star-Cultism" in some peoples minds. Then these people are fans (close to fanatics).

This constitutes for the actor a weight of expectation not to underestimate,
whereupon some actors feel unsecure.
?

just an idee fixe.

I beg your pardon for my slips in the grammar.


greetings
ingo
 
Ingo said:
whereupon some actors feel unsecure.
?

just an idee fixe.

I beg your pardon for my slips in the grammar.


greetings
ingo
Click to expand...

the grammar worked fine Ingo

and most of us actors are insecure and many of us are shy!

i was very shy when i was young. i forced myself to talk to people more and now i am better at it.
 
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