The Actor’s Book Of Movie Monologues is, as its title suggests, a book of monologues from films. But it also contains an introduction about going on auditions, as well as advice from actors, directors and casting directors on auditions. And the book contains several Shakespeare references. The first two are in the introduction, written by Jeanine Basinger, and both are to Hamlet. Basinger writes, “And no actor expects a great many ‘to-be-or-not-to-be’ speeches in his film career” (p. xix). Then: “More people have probably watched Mr. Smith Goes To Washington in the past year than have gone to a production of Hamlet in the past ten. This doesn’t downplay ‘to be or not to be,’ but it does suggest that what Mr. Smith has to say is every bit as meaningful, as powerful, as moving, as entertaining, and as challenging to hear performed as anything else ever written for actors” (p. xxi). I could not disagree more, of course. Enough of Jeanine Basinger. The next references come in an interview with Nikos Psacharopoulos, the artistic and executive director of the Williamstown Theatre Festival. Psacharopoulos says: “If, in an audition, somebody wants to do Hamlet as a comedy or as a drama or as a tragedy or as a melodrama, I don’t really care. I only care about how they use their emotional, vocal, and physical equipment, and if those three things go together” (p. xxiv). A little later in that interview, Psacharopoulos says, regarding an audition by Frank Langella, “At that time he hadn’t done anything, but after his four lines from Richard II I knew I wanted to use him” (p. xxv). Psacharopoulos refers to Shakespeare several times in this interview, actually. He says: “What really makes a good monologue, such as one by Shakespeare or Chekhov, is that there is a moment of a certain intensity which becomes personal and transcends the public event. So, if Hamlet is going to say, ‘To be or not to be,’ if he is going to ask, ‘Do I kill myself or don’t I kill myself,’ he has to do it alone, right? There’s no way around it” (p. xxvii). The last Shakespeare reference in this interview is also to Hamlet, with Psacharopoulos saying “People don’t realize that in an ideal world people should see six actors’ Hamlets” (p. xxix). Oh, at least that many, don’t you think?
Throughout the book, there are a few more Shakespeare references. The next comes in the description of Jules And Jim: “Catherine, a Frenchwoman, teaches Shakespeare” (p. 85). Then in the monologue chosen from Harry And Tonto, we have a reference to Shakespeare: “It was like living in Shakespeare’s London. Bristling with energy” (p. 130). There is also a monologue from The Goodbye Girl, and in the description of the film, Smith and Schewel write, “Eliot, in his thirties, is an actor from Chicago who has moved to New York to play Richard III Off Broadway” (p. 147). Then, in the monologue, Eliot says, “And because of a mentally arthritic director, I am about to play the second greatest role in the history of the English-speaking theater like a double order of fresh California fruit salad” (p. 147).
Then in the afterword, the section of thoughts and advice offered by various people, there are a few more Shakespeare references. The first is to Richard The Third, with casting director Deborah Brown saying, “The actor proceeded to take off all his clothes as he did a monologue from Richard III” (p. 221). Austin Pendleton, an actor/director/teacher, says he prefers “When the actor talks to the audience and doesn’t involve another character, e.g. Shakespeare, Williams, Wilder’s Skin Of Our Teeth” (p. 227). He adds, “I was always doing Shakespeare and other ‘speeches’ that were delivered to other people” (p. 227). The book’s final Shakespeare reference is to Julius Caesar, in an anecdote regarding actor Paul Sorvino: “Marlon Brando’s rendition of the ‘Cry havoc’ speech in the movie version of Julius Caesar inspired Mr. Sorvino to try the same speech at an audition for the Broadway show Viva, Vivat Regina” (p. 230).
The Actor’s Book Of Movie Monologues was published in 1986.
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