An Actor Speaks

I somehow tripped over this clip today, of Keanu Reeves appearing on Drew Barrymore’s adorable talk show and it really moved me. He’s so gentle. At first she starts off by telling him of a memory she has with him, something he did for her on her 16th birthday. He clearly doesn’t remember, and is slightly afraid of what she’s going to say, but then she tells this beautiful story, an experience which was her first sensation of real freedom. It’s so cute, watching him take it in (and also try to remember the when and the how of it.)

But then … but THEN … she asks him what in his life makes him feel free like that (good question, Drew!! I don’t think she could have anticipated his gorgeous answer though.)

What then follows is one of the most beautiful – and accurate – descriptions of acting and the love of acting I have ever heard, spoken by him in his calm soft voice, not too many words, zero self-congratulation or self-seriousness, he has this inner space of calmness and authenticity. And his main refrain is that acting is “fun”, which is so transparent! His eloquence is so simple, and yet so specific.

I just saw on Instagram some film critic – and I can’t even remember who it is, I follow him, he follows me – getting really angry at some dumb thing an actor said about the whole Martin Scorsese and Marvel thing. I think it was in response to a Marvel-identified actor saying something like “Scorsese has never made a Marvel movie so what does he know.” I don’t know what the actual quote was because I am so bored of that whole back-and-forth (it’s been a year now! Let it go!) that I purposefully do not read anything about it. Life’s too short. Anyway, this critic was very mad about the actor’s comment, and lectured said actor, his point being that the actor wasn’t a director, didn’t have the responsibility that a Scorsese had, and he summed it up with and I quote, “You’re a fucking actor.”

It doesn’t matter that it was in typeface and I couldn’t “hear” his tone. His contempt came through loud and clear. I am sure that I don’t agree with whatever this actor said, because (again) I think the whole Scorsese vs. Marvel thing is one of the most boring controversies it has ever been my misfortune to even have to be aware of, I can feel myself losing brain cells even discussing it for 30 seconds. What struck me though was the contemptuous summing-up of the situation (according to this critic): “You’re a fucking actor.”

Barely better than a hired hand. HOWEVER, and this is key: every “hired hand” is important to the collaboration. This “auteur theory” shit has given these film dweebs such a skewed sense of what goes on making a movie. They flat out don’t get it. I’ve said it a million times: I would suggest that people who feel this way – who clearly have no experience creating anything – volunteer at a local community theatre production. I don’t care if it’s a Christmas concert or Ibsen. Just sign up to be an assistant stage manager or something. Go through the whole entire rehearsal process. I think it would be very very illuminating. And Making a movie is exactly the same thing, except on a much larger scale. The idea that the director is the be-all end-all is just incorrect. Sure, he/she is in charge. But it’s more like being in charge of a vast machine with multiple small pieces, each of which make up the whole, and if one of these pieces isn’t working, the whole thing falls apart. Every single director – even the ones on a power trip – understand this. Everyone is important. You can’t do the job without the hired hands. And the actors! My God! To think for even one second “fucking ACTORS” are somehow lesser than the God-figure of the director … anyone who thinks this is … there’s no other word for it: It’s fucking ignorant. What is most dismaying about this is how common the feeling is among people who write about movies for a living. Like … you literally spend the majority of your time watching movies, and yet you somehow still don’t understand anything about how it works?

I came late to this film critic thing, and the majority of my life has still been spent in various creative processes, starting when I was a small child, and moving on into my 30s, almost without stopping. So I come into this with a different viewpoint, and I am constantly surprised and alienated by the sneering contempt so many critics show towards actors, people who are so crucial to the pursuit of this thing said critics spend their whole lives droning on and on about.

Back to the clip below:

Keanu Reeves is a “fucking actor” and the way he talks about acting shows, Mr. Super Serious Critic, that this “actor” knows more about the craft of moviemaking and storytelling than you will ever know. You know nothing.

I’m serious when I say that this is one of the most beautifully delivered haltingly spoken sincere monologues about what acting is and why it matters. I love so much how he keeps coming back to how fun it is.

“I recall acting in school, doing Shakespeare, playing Mercutio, that sense of being free was play. It was fun. It was fun. Make-believe but reality. Connection. A group collaboration. And also the imagination. It’s private, it’s public. It’s together, it’s shared. I love stories. Stories help us contextualize the world, help us see it. Things we don’t know, things we can imagine, get advice, whatever, all those kinds of communications. I love that about it. But! It was fun! Somehow, being in the moment – I love what happens after someone says ‘Action!’ It’s the director, or the first AD – ‘Action!’ And then we begin and we’re in the moment. We might have prepared a lot, and we have our past, our history, and what we’re trying to do and the story we’re trying to tell – but that moment of ‘Action!’ Or: ‘Let’s begin.’ [Laughs with glee and excitement.] It’s fun! It’s fun. So I’m really grateful to be able to earn a living and have a career – try and have a career – doing something I love, and it’s a simple thing … just to have fun.”