Do you agree to have have talent as an actor or actress you have to have substance inside of you?

Question

To inspire your performance???

Answer 1

No I don't agree at all.  And lots of people in the Hollywood 'know' would laugh at this premise.  "Pretending with style" which is what the art actually is, is not synonymous with substance of character and MANY people in Hollywood can fully attest to the shallow types of people in the business.  There's shallow types and folks of character in all walks of life.  Artistic types can be the craziest and most egotistical and shallow.

Answer 2

Yes...just take a look at all those wispy "actors" out there who only think they have talent...better look quickly, though....they're fading already!! (lol)

(C'mon - do we know Lindsay Lohan better for acting, or for exploits?  She's just one example of many...)

Answer 3

I once thought that hollywood actors were pretty people who were lucky enough to get on camera.  It seemed that I'd see the same level of acting at well-directed high school plays that I would on TV dramas.  But a little deeper look revealed that I was comparing apples and oranges--I was comparing (hs) actors who had months to learn to deliver a line and were directed with perfection in mind,  with (tv) serial actors who had days or hours to learn to deliver a line and who were directed with the running cost of the movie as a major factor.  

I have only met one hollywood actor, and he was a pretty amazing person from what the few hours I knew him revealed.  He was friendly and sociable, was able to be great without putting others down, and was even skilled at deflecting negativity and downright meanness that was thrown his way by jealous people who had nothing going for them.  The last may have been what amazed me most--he was basically being attacked for being an actor, and he didn't counter-attack, and didn't fold, and didn't walk off.  He just answered every attack as if it were a neutral question and put great spin on his answers.  

So yes, I'm now convinced that actors have inner strength or beauty as well, though they seem to run the gamut as far as actual personalities--I'm cant say that they are all nice, but most of them are probably very strong people.

Answer 4

Substance not as in drugs either? hah.

oh man you have to have something! Acting scares me endless. I hate everyone looking at me, I hate putting myself out there.

To be an actress I think you have to be very very strong and also very motivated. Imagine if someone bad mouths your performance, you have to be able to take criticism and turn it into a positive.

I believe you have it or you dont. Generally I think if you have a more unique look then you will go further. Not unique as in two noses.....but not your everyday blonde hair big b***s.

You need personality cuz it definitely shines through when ppl act

Answer 5

Talent is something which one characterises for a particular area of topic. So talent hunt is a gushing factor where talent has a chance to survive.  So it is there in everyone lest he should discover or let other discover it for you. In either way it is should have an happy ending...when talent inspires everyone.

Answer 6

Dear RitaAKARena,

I get your question and I won't berate or belittle you for asking it either. What makes a good for a good actor in addition to talent is the rare element called "CRAFT." Period! If you want to know what I mean by the term craft, you need to read Uta Hagen's book "An challenge to the actor." When you finish reading this book, you'll know all about craft, how to develope it, and what to do with it once you've got it.....

And remember RitaAKARena, the only bad question is one not ventured.

Answer 7

NO, talent is a gift or atribute that may appear naturally, spontaneus, but never induced by any substance, otherwise would be artificial or worse, a  temporary reaction with out sense.

Answer 8

Ok, I'm from the old school of acting... The Stanislovsky method acting. Acting ability comes from being able to first  know who you are... that's substance... and being able to draw from the past experiences and emotions and transfer that into your character. The others are character actor that mimic what they picture the character to be, In either case the best usually have good substance ingraded in them with natural talent. Tough combination. To be a good actor, I was taught in college, you must be either extremely stable or extremely crazy. In between those two never works to be the star.

Answer 9

I totally think that you need to have personality to bring to the role that you are playing. You also take away a little from the role as well, when you wrap up a show, play or production - that adds to you as a performer. Part of your "substance" means that you are able to work hard, strive for perfection and truth for the role, listen and take on feedback and feedfoward from your director and other actors as well. It comes down to what you value as a person and you bring that to your performance, even if your role is extremely different from you as a person