Peter Sellers & Daniel Day-Lewis - A Final Reflection

Hello yet again, you guys!

We have come to the end of the English 3210: Advanced Composition writing project, and what a journey it has been! In completing the project, I've come to admire the two men mentioned in the title even more than I did previous to this project's inception, and I've certainly grown as a blog author. And, it is because of this growth that I have decided to continue with blogging even after the completion of this project.

In the rubric I created for myself, I said with confidence that, as the final piece of my project, I will provide a detailed juxtaposition of the careers and styles of the two men I have chosen to profile, so as to gain further insight into the "different types/branches" of method acting. However, after extensively writing for three weeks now, I have decided this is not something that can be done. What can be done, however, is to make an assertion about method acting and its seeming "Genre-Specific" style: It is not genre-specific. In fact, method acting, like most other styles, is largely indifferent.

Peter Sellers and Daniel Day-Lewis, for all of their artistic differences in genre focus, are largely similar actors. Each man refused, more often than not, to be referred to the character name during film shooting on and off set. Both men created voices from their own, giving an individuality and uniqueness to each role. Peter Sellers was once quoted as saying, "I used to have a 'real me,' but I had it surgically removed." But, most importantly, each man found the art in entertainment while still remaining entertaining. The "method" is something that, while sounding official and legitimate to tell people that it is something you might be studying, is a mere tool to help actors prepare for roles.

De Niro in "Taxi Driver"

Hoffman in "Marathon Man"

Some actors - like Dustin Hoffman and Robert De Niro - can be as intensely in character as both of these men while the cameras are on; however, once they've turned off, they have their own personality and "character" that they revert back to. In the world of acting and performance, this is widely known as "having an off switch." Actors like Dustin Hoffman and Robert De Niro, while brilliant, have the ability to turn "ON" and "OFF" whenever they please. With this being said, however, they (and most performers) do have idiosyncrasies and practices that help them get "in character"; for example, to prepare for the movie "MARATHON MAN" (1976) in which Dustin Hoffman plays a marathon runner, he began to train and prepare for the role by running. Whilst filming, during each take that called for him to be "out of breath due to running," he would run before each take, so as to help him settle into the mindset that he was a runner who was winded from having just come from a jog. Robert De Niro, similarly, to prepare for his role as a taxi driver in the film "TAXI DRIVER" (1976), he undertook the rigorous night job of a New York City taxi driver to gain insight into the intellect, struggles and triumphs one might experience.

While this is excellent and works for performers like De Niro and Hoffman, some men - Daniel Day-Lewis and Peter Sellers - are absolute perfectionists by nature, and cannot resort to this. They would be the students who would not turn in their research paper until the very last possible second, meticulously combing each page for any mistake, and eventually turning it in still not completely satisfied. It is because of their natural perfectionist dispositions that each dedicates (and dedicated) himself fully to a role. Each might have idiosyncrasies in order to prepare for a take, too, but it wouldn't be the actor's own idiosyncrasies; these would be character-motivated idiosyncrasies, or something the character would do to prepare for what ever the following scene's theme might be.

Put simply, the "method" is a tool to help get in a believable mindset for the audiences who will be viewing. This desire for a "believable mindset" should be the end-goal for any performer; if you do not believe in what you are doing, how is the audience expected to? Peter Sellers and Daniel Day-Lewis used this technique to both bolster the comedic value and intensify the dramatic value of each actor's respective films. Both techniques described (Hoffman & De Niro vs. Sellers & Day-Lewis) are widely respected and recognized, but the work of Day-Lewis often stands out because of the extra mile each has been known and was known to go. Every performer is individual and different, and ultimately, it is up to them to decide what works and what does not.

Thank you guys for reading through my project - I can't tell you how much I appreciated it. Below I will list the sources I consulted for the past posts concerning Peter Sellers & Daniel Day-Lewis:

(1.) "Mr. Strangelove: A Biography of Peter Sellers" -- by Ed Sikov
(2.) "Peter Sellers: The Authorized Biography" -- Alexander Walker
(3.) "An Actor Prepares" -- Constantin Stanislavski
(4.) http://movies.yahoo.com/blogs/movie-talk/abraham-lincoln-surprising-strength-220542759.html
"Abraham Lincoln's Surprising Strength" -- Vera H.C. Chan
(5.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BERKF9rnBcQ <-- "Lincoln Q&A: Full Interview (2012) with Steven Spielberg & Daniel Day-Lewis" -- Conducted by journalist Mark Harris (Entertainment Weekly)


NEXT UP!
Goodness, audience, you guys are chomping at the bit!... And I don't blame you. Just kidding.
I haven't decided what'll be coming next, but I do imagine there will be a bit of a break between now and my next post... as mentioned previously, I have my first ever scholarship audition coming up in about a month for the Kennedy Center of Performing Arts, based in Washington D.C. I'll be going to Saginaw Valley State University in Michigan for my regional audition, and on the very off-chance I were to advance, I would go to Washington, D.C. in April for nationals. I'll be busy prepping during the next couple weeks, but I'll probably stop in and say hey and give updates out for absolute free!

As always, you guys, I can't thank you enough for reading! I will certainly write soon.

Twitter: Chris_0Reilly

All of the best,
Chris O'Reilly