Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by Bulkington (A) on February 06, 2004 at 13:11:33

In Reply to: Ahhhh, right, right... posted by rhizomatic on February 06, 2004 at 09:06:50:

Good characterization of him. He is one of those many over-rated cult-honored actors who play the same character film after film. Truly good actors can assume different identites or personae, but the public tends not to give them their due. Actors like Malkovich act only within the limits of their own personalities. They perform, role after role, as you or I might successfully lie--we can lie successfully, particularly to people who know us, if the lies we tell, no matter how outlandish or dramatic, are consistent with our personalities. Bad liers fail when they forget themselves. On those more narrow terms, some actors, like Malkovich, can be said to be quite exceptional. I don't quite want to say this, but I think it can be boiled down to their being exceptional liers (as well as exceptionally good looking or charistmatic, of course). I just don't think many people recognize how narrow the terms are, and I think this is largely because personality-driven actors are inherently more visible: the limits of their skills make for better self-marketing and amplify the same essential performativity with each successive performance. True actors are comparatively less apt to be noticed because of the variety of their work. Something like that.