Are they really acting ..?

With the awards seasons upon us people are taking a closer look at the promising nominees.  Variety writer Andrew Barker calls into question the acting ability of many of the favored honorees this year including George.  The main gist of the whole article is basically that they are just playing themselves and not really acting.   George himself points out the parallels of his “Up in the Air” character Ryan Bingham and his self in this weeks issue of EW. (You can read the scans here)

“Jason came to my house and brought the script and I read it,” Clooney says.

“There were some things that sounded like they were taken from a Barbara Walters special that I had done. I’m not completely unaware of people’s perceptions of me. I sort of felt like, if you were ever going to deal with it, this is probably the best way to do it and the best person to do it with. If you can’t point at what people think are your shortcomings, then you’re boxing yourself in.”

Here’s the portion of the Variety Article concerning George and you can catch the complete article on the Variety website here.

Even well-known marquee thesps like George Clooney face similar issues. In this year’s “Up in the Air,” Clooney plays a suave, lifelong bachelor who jet-sets across the country lounging in chic hotels. As the actor himself exhibits all these qualities in real life, viewers can’t help but wonder how much he is simply playing himself. Yet in Clooney’s case, as a major star, that similarity may well have its advantages.

While Jack Nicholson may have nabbed a nomination for a performance in which he strikingly de-emphasized his signature rakish charm (“About Schmidt”), he won for “As Good as It Gets,” in which he channeled that charm and recontextualized it into something new and strange. And last year, Mickey Rourke secured a nomination for a role that not only hinged on a priori knowledge of his personal life, it practically seemed to mirror and comment upon it.

For Clooney, the fact that his performance ultimately explores the loneliness and alienation inherent in a lifestyle similar to his own may improve its stature with voters. Whether that’s fair or not is an open question. Should performances be judged in a vacuum?

Perhaps. Or perhaps an actor’s public persona (or lack thereof) is simply another tool to wield. Perhaps Sidibe has learned to utilize her disarming ordinariness just as cannily as Clooney flashes his devil-may-care grin. That’s the thing about great actors — you can’t always tell when they’re on.

Thanks to Nelly, Carol and Sara for the headsup!

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