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Actors and a talent to speak

The waveguide

The waveguide

Member
Should actors know to talk, in their everyday life?

I just saw "Last Samurai" with Tom Cruise. At the end of the DVD he gave an interview. I thought to myself, "let's see it, he must know now A GREAT DEAL about Samurais and their culture". It went like that:

Tom Cruise; "You know, I played Samurai, you know. Samurai is a warrior, you know. I played in this film, you know". After 10th 'you know" I was about to smash the DVD against the wall, you know. Can't he talk like a human being?! And clearly, you do not learn anything about Samurais from Tom Cruise. I bet he did not understand what he was playing there at all.

Then, there was Julia Roberts. I always was her greatest fan, but she broke my heart. Similar to Tom Cruise, she used every second word: "You know" in one of her interviews.

Then, I bought a soundtrack of "Pulp fiction". As a bonus, this CD features Tarantino interview - Tarantino talks for 16:11 minutes in the CD. Guess what? Yeah, tight. You know. I think to record his interview from this CD and to send to YouTube, this 16-minutes-long "you know" dialogue.

Which made me wonder - who actually writes Tarantino's scripts, with all those brilliant dialogues? From that interview, the guy can't tell two words without "you know" in between!

English is not my mother tongue, but when the (professional!!!) native speakers talk like that, what's the wonder the foreigners never care about the correct, beautiful English?
 
As far as I know, Tarantino writes his own stuff. Perhaps he uses up all of his eloquence writing and has nothing left over for speaking?
 
The waveguide said:
Tom Cruise; "You know, I played Samurai, you know. Samurai is a warrior, you know. I played in this film, you know". After 10th 'you know" I was about to smash the DVD against the wall, you know. Can't he talk like a human being?!
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He's not a human being. He's a Scientologist.
 
If the interviews are not scripted, the actors would have to think for themselves...which brings them down quickly to mortal level.
 
CDA said:
He's not a human being. He's a Scientologist.
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Good one ! :D

abecedarian said:
If the interviews are not scripted, the actors would have to think for themselves...which brings them down quickly to mortal level.
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I also thought so. But Tarantino was the one who destroyed my whole understanding of "Art of Words" and people behind it. How could he, he, who created those brilliant dialogues, not know to express himself in an interview?! - And to sell this horrible speech (16 min. long!!!) in a CD :eek: ?!

May be sparkchaser is right - perhaps he uses up all of his eloquence writing and has nothing left over for speaking...

Jules: Well, if you like burgers give 'em a try sometime. I can't usually get 'em myself because my girlfriend's a vegitarian which pretty much makes me a vegitarian. But I do love the taste of a good burger. Mm-mm-mm. You know what they call a Quarter Pounder with cheese in France?
Brett: No.
Jules: Tell 'em, Vincent.
Vincent: A Royale with cheese.
Jules: A Royale with cheese! You know why they call it that?
Brett: Because of the metric system?
Jules: Check out the big brain on Brett! You're a smart motherfucker. That's right. The metric system.
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Another cause comes to mind..The Game Show Syndrome...game shows are easier to play in one's living room. Put yourself under those lights, in front of a studio audience and all those cameras, and you might stutter and stammer too.
 
beer good said:
Or maybe, just maybe, creative writing and public speaking are two completely different things.
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I don't know... Give Bush a piece of paper, and I am not sure that he will be much better in writing than in talking... Another example - I heard that Winston Churchill was a great speaker, a good historian, and a good writer... (I should put him in TBR, to make sure...)

No-no-no, you can not convince me that those are two different things. Word processing works the same (or at least not very different), whether you write or talk. One just should take care of what he says - it is not possible to press a "delete" key any longer...
 
abecedarian said:
Another cause comes to mind..The Game Show Syndrome...game shows are easier to play in one's living room. Put yourself under those lights, in front of a studio audience and all those cameras, and you might stutter and stammer too.
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Which is why I'm not anxious to try my luck on Jeopardy. I clam up when the pressure is on. I know from experience on a similar quiz bowl team that I used to be on.
 
The waveguide said:
I don't know... Give Bush a piece of paper, and I am not sure that he will be much better in writing than in talking... Another example - I heard that Winston Churchill was a great speaker, a good historian, and a good writer... (I should put him in TBR, to make sure...)
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Give Bush an electric guitar and I'm sure he couldn't play the riff to "Back in Black" either. That a person sucks at two different things (or is very good at two different things) doesn't mean they're the same thing. They're related, yes, but not identical. That should be pretty obvious to anyone who's ever tried to write... well, anything.

No-no-no, you can not convince me that those are two different things. Word processing works the same (or at least not very different), whether you write or talk.
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Sure, but the circumstances, the time you have to put it in words, and the goal are completely different. But if you don't want to be convinced, it's no skin off my nose.
 
The waveguide said:
I don't know... Give Bush a piece of paper, and I am not sure that he will be much better in writing than in talking... Another example - I heard that Winston Churchill was a great speaker, a good historian, and a good writer... (I should put him in TBR, to make sure...)
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Churchill was a great speaker. And he must have been a great writer for the won the Nobel Prize in Literature. But the difference in public speaking and just talking is that speaking (whether it be a speech or a movie monology a la Tarantino) is that the script has been through many drafts and the thought process is never seen. When asked a question and thinking on one's feet, you are grasping for words because you have not had the benefit of ironing out all the words.
 
Perhaps there is a good reason why people like that work in a field where other people write their dialog?
 
I have a feeling that people here are trying to advocate those poor abilities to speak (or simply being interviewed!) by some celebrities.

When I come to my grand parents who watch Russian TV, I have a feeling that the standards in Russia are a bit higher. I do not follow whether those are "stars" or not there, but generally the singers and the actors and script writers do not say the same phrase (like "you know") again and again and again. They are getting americanized too, but still they keep the culture of the WORD at a good level. Same trend is here in Europe where I presently live - when Germans are interviewed, they do not repeat stupidly "weisst du" (some young singers started to do this, though...)

To me it seems a deep shame that people who act and who write do not take care of speaking. It is showing them in their worst light - or is it only me who cares at all?

The one who listens and watches, copies the actors/script writers. So they do carry a responsibility for the culture as a whole. And what to do - English is mainly brought to us, simple people, by Hollywood actors. I just tell - do not be surprised to hear terrible English from us - we actually copied it from the US professionals :)
 
I think it's a bit different than that. It's their JOB to speak and act. When they get done and they're just being interviewed, they don't want to have to work. They want to just relax, get high (you know), and phase out.

As far as listening to actors, I'm amazed at how stupid people are. All the time I hear these actors or musicians speaking out against something or speaking for something, and the entire world seems to buy into it. Absolute crap. These people are hardly ever educated in what they need to take a stand for or against. It irritates me. I don't need to hear Bono speak out against cruelty to animals.

It's good because it at least lets some people buy into it and support good causes. But it's terrible because it lets the same people buy into absolute bullpunkey with whole-hearted conviction.
Which is why I need to become famous and reform the Flat Earth Society.
 
This coversation bring to mind the most excellent tv-programme "actor studio",I have gooze pimple memories of clint eastwood,meryl streep,(spelling),.... The answers are not always at fault,it's very hard to sound clever when a brain-dead journalist ask you stupid question with a frozen smile!It happen to me not long ago,i'm still blushing when i think of what i said!!
 
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