Film question

HKB

HKB

Well-known member
Sorry for being so vague with the title. I know Vittorio De Sica made some films with unknown and inexperienced actors, but have any American filmmakers attempted this with the same success? If so, what are they?
 
There are a lot of those. Frank Coppola did his "Outsiders" and "Rumble Fish" with mostly unknown casts. John Hughes "brat pack" films had some veteran character actors but the leads were generally unknown. Ditto for the "Porky's" style comedies or the slasher horror flicks. Mind you, Hollywood has a lot of little known names who are accomplished professionals.
 
Harmony Korine and the Safdie brothers have used a mixture of genuine non-actors and professionals in their casts.

While not American, the name must be mentioned: Robert Bresson. Apart from his first couple films, he exclusively utilized non-actors, or "models" as he referred to them.
 
I believe cyclone is referencing Clint Eastwoods grand Torino where he used many non actors and the Paris train movie where he used the actual guys who subdued the terrorist.
 
schizopolis and bubble from Steven sonderbergh have many non pro amateur actors. not particularly successful but I always looked at them as palette cleanser films, films that scratched a creative itch.
 
If unknown, that's one thing. Someone could have gone to Juilliard and then for 10 years worked away in plays and low-budget movies. The examples are endless, because every star was once "unknown". Then they had their big break.

If you mean inexperienced or amateur, that's a different matter. Someone who hasn't even dedicated themselves to acting as their primary profession, hasn't gone to acting school. They just got snatched up by a filmmaker because they are acquainted or something. If that's what you mean, then it's hard to think of examples. Even movies where I thought they used amateurs, it turned out that they actually were people who had at studied it in college and were trying to make a go of it.

I can't remember a movie where the cast was all amateur and I liked it.
 
You will find the use of non-actors more often in arthouse/avant-garde/independent cinema, but if you broaden the definition of "non-actor", mainstream Hollywood has a long tradition of finding talent who are by no means classically trained thespians.

An interesting recent example is Uncut Gems. (While technically an independent film, it did have a wide release in multiplexes and a lot of press.) In Uncut Gems, the Safdie brothers cast 4 different types of non-actor:

- Jewelers; realism. Using real people doing what they do in real life, often without dialogue, in an effort to portray a specific setting/sub-culture as truthfully as possible.

- Julia Fox; beauty. Casting someone due to fairly obvious aesthetic "assets", ala Marilyn Monroe.

- Kevin Garnett; celebrity. This is a large category, but nevertheless the use of recognizable figures either playing themselves or a variant of their persona is commonplace, such as Andre the Giant, Jim Brown, Schwarzenegger, etc.

- Adam Sandler; vaudeville. Casting those who can sing, dance or make you laugh. Yes, Sandler has developed some dramatic chops, but like Frank Sinatra or Fred Astaire or Peter Sellers, some people simply entertain audiences ... highfalutin acting technique be damned.
 
Chloe Zhao more recently launched her directing career working with real people acting as themselves.

Her film "The Rider" did really well. Good film too!
https://www.indiewire.com/2018/11/chloe-zhao-the-rider-the-eternals-1202020696/


and looks like she rebased another film this year using real people along side excellent actors:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCauQhxMF-s


Another newer director used primarily real people and unknowns:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RR_9aVcQVo

But George Lucas in the Prequels can show you the limits of putting unknowns in an industrial style workflow. They just can't perform reliably.
 
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I saw Nomadland at TIFF this year, which was virtual. Good film. The non actors never made me forget they were non actors but it did give the film an authenticity. David Stratharin impressively blends in with the no names, never sticking out as an 'actor' against his unpolished co-stars. The Florida Project is another example of a film cast largely with non actors. I was especially impressed with Bria Vinaite as the white trash mom. Willem Dafoe however did stick out in that one and they should have cast a no name in that part.
 
Batutta said:
I saw Nomadland at TIFF this year, which was virtual. Good film. The non actors never made me forget they were non actors but it did give the film an authenticity. David Stratharin impressively blends in with the no names, never sticking out as an 'actor' against his unpolished co-stars. The Florida Project is another example of a film cast largely with non actors. I was especially impressed with Bria Vinaite as the white trash mom. Willem Dafoe however did stick out in that one and they should have cast a no name in that part.
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Thanks!

I felt similar with William Dafoe in TFP. Actors seem to be so realistic in movies until they are paired up with real people, and then the whole performance aspects of their delivery start to stick out. Although, acting is far more naturalistic than it used to be, it is still a performance.
 
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