Mad Ramblings of a Movie Geek 03.04.09 Embodying The Subject

Posted by Jordan Bruns on 03.04.2009

Every now and then, actors play famous people. Some of them give such amazing performances that the line between reality and drama becomes blurred...

Welcome to this week's Mad Ramblings of a Movie Geek! Every now and then a really good actor can pull off a performance so grand and so convincing that he or she completely embodies that character, in some instances "becoming" the role. As impressive a feat as this may be, it's even more impressive when they embody a real life subject. It's easy to argue that it mimicking a famous person isn't acting, but that's exactly why it's so magnificent when an actor nails it. I'm not actor, so I don't presume to be an authority on the subject, but I think it would be harder to mimic someone whose characteristics are so well-known, than to create a fictional character based around words on a paper. That could be why so many actors, when portraying real life figures, will simply present their own interpretation of the character. However, for that bold group of actors who choose to simply "act like" the person they're portraying, the results are sometimes pretty amazing.

Here are five shining examples of actors who proved to be masters of Embodying The Subject…

Dustin Hoffman/Lenny Bruce





My Mad Ramblings
Hoffman played the controversial stand-up comic in Bob Fosse's Lenny. He had the part down so cold that if you watch the stand-up segments with your eyes closed you'll swear you're listening to the real Lenny Bruce. To prepare for the role, Hoffman spent hours listening to and watching Bruce's stand up performances, as well as rehearsing in front of a mirror. The hard work paid off. He completely became Lenny Bruce.


Jim Carrey/Andy Kaufman





My Mad Ramblings
Carrey's performance in Man On The Moon was so eerily convincing that even his cast mates remarked that he was "channeling" the spirit of Andy Kaufman. Although he showed a true appreciation for Kaufman and an expert's knowledge of his personality and mannerisms, he's really just a lifelong fan who did his homework. Or is he? Some diehard fanatics say Kaufman's still alive, though if that were the case he would have played the role himself. Still, Jim Carrey seems to have really gotten inside his subject's head. He not only nailed the role of Kaufman, but also excelled in his portrayal of Kaufman's abrasive alter ego, Tony Clifton. Unfortunately, the majority of moviegoers found the movie and its subject a little too strange, and as a result this brilliant performance was little seen at the box office.


Will Smith/Muhammad Ali





My Mad Ramblings
After playing himself in the 1974 biopic The Greatest, Muhammad Ali found himself being played by none other than the Fresh Prince himself. Smith learned how to box and studied Islam in order to accurately depict the former Heavyweight champion. The resulting performance is the best acting Will Smith has done to date. To play such a universally recognizable and loved sports figure was a daring move, and might have sunk the career of a lesser actor, but in this case, they picked the right man for the job.


Val Kilmer/Jim Morrison





My Mad Ramblings
While preparing for the lead role in The Doors, Kilmer sent Oliver Stone a tape of Doors songs that he claimed were alternately sung by him and Jim Morrison. Stone was fooled. It turned out that every song on the tape was sung by Kilmer, whose untrained vocalizing was eerily similar to that of Morrison's. Onscreen, Kilmer completely transforms himself into the late rock idol, capturing not only his voice and his swagger, but his stoic and often incoherent ramblings. Why this performance is rarely ever recognized, and was largely overlooked at the time, I'll never fully understand. Val Kilmer masterfully pulls off the performance of a lifetime, successfully emulating a man who is hard to depict as anything other than a caricature.


Jamie Foxx/Ray Charles





My Mad Ramblings
The legend himself gave Foxx his blessing shortly before his death, and the two even met and jammed together during pre-production of Ray. Once again, here is an example of an actor who played the part so convincingly that it's hard to believe it's not actually Ray Charles onscreen. Foxx was so dedicated to his method approach to the role that he even wore special contact lenses during filming that blinded him, so that he could properly get into the mindset of a blind man. Foxx was honored with an Academy Award for Best Actor for this amazing transformation.

Who will be the next actor to play a famous person and pull it off impeccably? Only time will tell.

That's it for this week's Mad Ramblings. Until next time…