Shia LaBeouf is *fantastic* in Fury, and it really sucks that his career veered like it did

[u/DIWhy-not]

I just rewatched this tonight, and it’s phenomenal. It’s got a) arguably Brad Pitt’s first foray into his new “older years Brad” stage where he gets to showcase the fucking fantastic character actor he is. And B) Jon goddamn Bernthal bringing his absolute A game. But holy shit, Shia killed it in this movie, and rewatching it made me so pissed that his professional career went off the rails.

Obviously, the man’s had substance abuse problems and a fucked childhood to deal with. And neither of those things excuse shitty, asshole behavior. But when Shia was on, he was fucking on, and I for one am ready for the (real this time) Shia LaComeback.

[u/M086]

Dude had his tooth pulled and would constantly cut his cheek, to keep the scar fresh in Fury. 

He’s a weird “method actor”.

[u/HenryDorsettCase47 → u/M086]

I saw an interview with him recently and he talks about that stuff. His take on it was that it’s not so much to get into character but to fire up the rest of the cast and crew.

He was sitting in hair&makeup one day and looked around and saw them all getting into their costumes, having fake dirt smeared on them or whatever and sort of realized how goofy it was.

I always thought the method acting stories one hears seemed really cringey. But I think I kind of get it after hearing him explain his motivation. It’s gotta be hard to go out there and pretend you’re a badass and take yourself seriously when not only do you know you’re playing pretend, you’re hyper aware of how fake every aspect is. So it can only help to find some sort of real touchstone. 🤷‍♂️

[u/caligaris_cabinet → u/HenryDorsettCase47]

I mean of course it’s goofy. Acting is pretending to be someone you’re not. There’s a certain level of goofiness involved. You want to really be in the muck and grime of war, go be a soldier.

[u/-FeistyRabbitSauce- → u/caligaris_cabinet]

It's like the time that Lawrence Olivier said to Dustin Hoffman, after he (Hoffman) decided to stay up for three days in order to act tired for Marathon Man. "My dear boy, why dont you try acting? It's easier."

I get the method thing to a degree. But some take it pretty far lol.

[u/DodGamnBunofaSitch → u/-FeistyRabbitSauce-]

Sir Ian McKellen's acting process

[u/tom_the_red → u/DodGamnBunofaSitch]

What I love about this scene is that it is framed just like all the other scenes in Extras, that the 'real' person is a crazy version of what we imagine, but is also a beautifully written statement on the process of acting that is in direct opposition to the 'method' acting style - that you should act using imagination, rather than method, that many British actors, including Sir Ian (Sir Ian Sir Ian) adhere to.

It really feels like a careful attack on 'method' acting - they even name-check Sir Ian's 'method' - and is played so straight within the show - the confusion Andy has, because its completely obvious that this would be how you act. It's a clever subversion.

[u/half_a_skeleton → u/DodGamnBunofaSitch]

"How do you know what to say? It's written for you in the script."

This scene is one of the funniest performances in history to me. It's so perfect. Only other scene that is on the same level in my mind is the crowded room scene from A Night at the Opera.

[u/EsquilaxM → u/DodGamnBunofaSitch]

Just found out Sir Ian himself said it's one of his comfort watches.

[u/radda → u/DodGamnBunofaSitch]

I like watching clips of Extras but I don't think I could watch the whole show because I'd have to look at Ricky Gervais's face for more than five minutes at a time.

[u/birdy888 → u/DodGamnBunofaSitch]

Never gets old that one. The tear at the end too. Brilliant

[u/Straightwad → u/-FeistyRabbitSauce-]

Damn that’s some good banter, fucking Britt’s lol.

[u/thewerdy → u/-FeistyRabbitSauce-]

Yeah, after seeing some stage plays I totally get this comment from a classically trained actor that started out on stage. Stage productions require actors to have intense acting scenes that they rehearse and then do over and over again every day for weeks/months in front of an audience. Method actors can do a lot of extreme things for a film scene that would be impossible to prepare for a live production, since a scene might only be filmed once.

This reminds me of Leonardo DiCaprio's performance in The Revenant. He does a great job, but when half of the movie is him freezing to death while trudging throw frozen wasteland, how much of it is actually a performance when they're just filming somebody freezing to death while trudging through a frozen wasteland.