Are you a Natural?

IN MY OPINION:

WILLIAM REYNOLDS;

GETTING INTO AND 'STAYING IN CHARACTER"..

The Cast of Saving Private Ryan

Steven Spielberg wanted a movie that portrayed the absolute terror that comes along with war. How do you get all-star actors such as Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, and Vin Diesel to realistically portray the intense death and destruction that comes along with war? You find a way to make it realistic. Incidentally this was an ACADEMY AWARD WINNING FILM.  So, in order to prepare the cast, Spielberg put them through their own private hell. Cast members were put through a 10-day boot camp with Dale Dye, a retired marine, whose job was to make their lives completely and utterly miserable. Dale Dye is a man with a mission and we were the subjects … make that victims,” Hanks said to the Chicago Tribune. “It was very cold and it was very miserable. Things were demanded of us as human beings that are rarely demanded of actors. Our hands were raw. They were like hamburger by the time we were finished.”“The experience gave us a heightened awareness of how human behavior is conditioned to accept something like war,” he added. “Our job as actors was to imagine [that] a man with a weapon is behind that rock and he’s going to kill you.”

Way too many actors, at least beginners, think they are naturals. Yeah right!

It's hard to imagine being eaten by a bear, unless of course you actually have been eaten. So don't try that one. But say,

playing a world class athlete, that's  a different story. You can start working out today. Talk to some professional athletes,

do some homework. You may find that it was actually worth it.