Actors Are People, Too

As an actor, I tend to look at movies a little differently than most people. Instead of judging a movie solely on its entertainment value, I take a look at the other elements. The script, the cinematography, the believability. But the main thing I notice above all others is the actors. Not the characters. The actors who play those characters. Because, in case you forgot, the characters are played by real people.

 Sometimes while I'm watching a movie I'm seized with a feeling of awkwardness for those actors on the screen. Why, you ask? Because I think about what it must have been like for them on the set, saying those lines, doing those crazy actions. Most of the things you see in movies would be really odd if they were to happen in real life. So, I've compile a list of just a few movies that have led me to wonder what was going through the actors' minds while filming.

Twilight
I can only imagine writhing on the floor in fake pain while someone pretends to suck on your wrist could get a little awkward. Add that to the campy dialogue, low budget, and entirely unrealistic storyline, and I'm sure at some point the actors wondered what they were getting themselves into.

Phantom of the Opera
While this soundtrack is my go-to sing-in-the-shower music, let me direct your attention to the age of the actors. When this was being filmed,  Emmy Rossum (Christine) was 17, and her love interests were 13 and 17 years older. How would you like to sing a seduction song to someone while being watched by hundreds of extras and a dozen cameras?

X-Men
Umm, she's naked. Like.... naked, and covered in prosthetics. And she's running around fighting people.

Saving Private Ryan
I can just imagine the director's words before shooting the opening scene. "Ok, when I say 'action' we're going to blow piles of dirt into the air, and we need you to run up this hill while we shoot blanks at you out of machine guns. Try to remember your lines."
I think I would call in sick that day.

So, the next time you sit down to watch your favorite movie, think of those actors who bring to life the characters. Think of the words they're saying. Then take it a step further and put yourself in their shoes. Imagine if those characters were real people. Gives you a new perspective of the magic if cinema, doesn't it?