An Actor Uses Accent to Flesh Out His Character

[maxx02]

I am completely geeking out. An entire article talking about Rufus accent in Rock 'n' Roll:

Actors often use accents. But what Rufus Sewell does in his superb performance in "Rock 'n' Roll" is in a different realm.


tinyurl.com/2f6qog


lol, Rufus makes me laugh sometimes... He refuses to share his 11 herbs and spices.

[pendarim]

Thanks for this, maxx. If you're geeking out, I'm not too far behind you--and I haven't even seen R'n'R !

Pen

[ree]

Is the fact that I didn't realize my interests are geeky
a testament to the degree of my geekiness??

I've long been interested in hearing what Rufus has to
say about his use of accents, and I can't believe no one
has asked him about it before! I surmised that it must
be a mostly instinctual process. How else could he switch
from one to another so naturally, even when doing a cold
reading of a novel. I think he is wise not to attempt to
analyze his creative methods. He just does it, and he does
it very well.

[rufluvr]

Rufus said he likes to be in the moment. That is what I enjoy so much about his acting--he portrays his characters in a real, alive way that appeals to me. I abhor aloof and overly self-conscious or methodical acting--something Rufus naturally eschews, I think.
I want to see him portray Jan as he sees-feels him in the moment, not with concieved notions of trying to remember how he has "decided" to play him accentually or otherwise.
For example, for us, as real people living our lives, if we are given the same situation (for arguments purposes happening again for the very first time) we wouldn't necessarily react exactly the same way. That's interesting that Ruf does that on stage with Jan to some degree every night. Cool.

One could see how concentrating on getting an accent just right could detract from the more important aspect of playing a person emotionally as one sees him. Haven't we all seen movies where an actor does get the accent down pat, but where's the personality? Dry as toast. I am thinking of someone in particular, but he is probably getting busy in an airplane loo right about now. Sorry, that was mean. Even if true.

Thanks for posting this article, I don't fish around the internet much, so I depend upon and appreciate you generous geeks that find and share the goods.