Actors Nicolas Cage, Colin Firth, Morgan Freeman, Stanley Tucci, Peter Sarsgaard, and Christoph Waltz debate their answers to the question: "Is acting art?" www.backstage.com
and leave Nicholas Cage alone, he was intrigued by the question and was educating himself by investigating every rebuttal so that he can come up with a possible answer. so he took up some time, he wasn't speaking over anyone he was just digging deeper into the question.
This makes me laugh SO HARD!! Everybody is wearing suites, and then here comes Mr Freeman, who looks like he forgot about this appointment, and was walking his dog when his PA said, "Eeeerm, Morgan? Aren't you supposed to be at x restaurant for the roundtable interview??" And the King gets better, when he nods at what Colin Firth is saying, and then turns around and reprimands Firth jokingly saying, "Whose side are you on??!" I LOVE MORGAN FREEMAN!!!
i agree with Christoph Waltz, i think it's the end result that makes it art. though i think actors are artist too, like Morgan Freeman said, he needs a writer, and a writer needs a director and a director needs a crew. i believe their all artist coming together to create something special. like a band, they all need their unique talents to create this art.
I have to agree with Cage here. I believe that acting is indeed an art. It is not painting a picture or composing music, but it is interpretive art. When I view a film or theatre production and I see an incredible performance, I am looking at an artist who has crafted his or her mind and body into someone that is not themselves. That is a great art
Wow, Nic Cage, Morgan Freeman, Christoph Waltz, Colin Firth, Stanley Tucci and Peter Sarsgaard. It's really cool to see all these awesome legendary actors hanging out together! :D It's pretty interesting because while watching this video you almost forget that they are all famous, rich actors; honestly you just simply see a bunch of humble guys having a fun buddy night out in a bar/restaurant together and chatting with one another about work or something...
He's a deep person with many passions, He may look arrogant or eccentric sometimes but he's still a great actor. I'm sure he will come back with a great role in good movie. And people here need to stop hatin'.
yeah,. the classic difference between american and european actors. the first are just guys who used to serve drinks but had a pretty face so they made it to the movies, the second is really professional artists who take theyr work as a serious form of art( plus alot of theater background and all of that)
Walts was having the time of his life witnessing Cage play the philosophical actor that is just "trying to learn something" through "his own personal relationship with the cosmos".
Those are not HIS films, they're the director's and writer's films. He can be a great intelligent actor, but have terrible movies. Don't blame it on him, man
i have to agree with Waltz here. The others are just trying to describe something highfalutin. The word art simply comes from the root 'ar' which means to bring together or join. There may be good and bad art - badly put together. But it is still 'art.' Science can be an art - when assessed as elements being put together in a certain manner. Anything can be an art in this sense. Fine arts refers to something having to do with more imagination, refined skill. But althought there is an 'artistic' process, you don't say 'a process' of art;' but 'a work of art.' Waltz is correct here.
an artist is simply an excellent observer who converts his observation into an expression that will communicate to the raw emotions of a human being because emotions are strong and what causes people to act, the goal of art is thus to communicate, bad art fails to get across the message good art hits the nail on the head and then some i don't know why people have such a hard time explaining what art is art is also only subjective in its interpretation not its message it is subjective in its interpretation because not every human being is at the same level of thought thus it is interpreted differently by different people
Many artists intend to not demonstrate a clear message, rather leaving it for other people to interpret. Not all 'true' artists have some message toward it. Take Stanley Kubrick, you know he intended to leave his endings to interpretations.. If you dont consider him in your definition of a true artist, then maybe reconsider ur definition of one. (:
shyrebouy1997 i never said the message of art should be clear as crystal if it was it wouldnt serve any social evolutionary function every single piece of art ever made however has a message otherwise its called garbage how clear that message is understood is either due to the complex nature of the art or poor quality of the art Stanley kubrick is an artist obviously the fact that he left movies unexplained doesnt mean there is no message
***** See you contradict yourself when you say "it doesnt mean there is no message" because you state yourself that art is subjective, and by implying that there is a message that comes with all good art is sorta dogmatic, unless of course you say all this as an opinion. Expressionist artists dont seem to primarily have these intended "messages" you speak of..or atleast from what i know, they communicated through emotions and, for lack of a better word: expression. They used colors to convey that. You wouldnt consider expressionist artists like Van Gogh or Francis Bacon, untrue artists. Same would go for interpretive art, which is basically copying something someone else has made or performed but in your own personal interpretation. I know alot of interpretive musicians that emulate Bach, beethoven and all wouldnt have a diminished 'True artist' status. When implied that not all art or artists tend to bring or have a message in mind, i didnt say they hid it, or even acknowledged that there was a message in art as u suggest when u stated that the message isnt "crystal clear" Art is also a broad term, there are shitloads of movements, and submovents and fields of art to even count. So by making the broad implication that this 'message' is compulsory in art to define a true artist could be applied to many, but not ALL art or artists.
Cages acting is 100% art. He has a unique spin and puts his own individual style upon everything he does and he's incredibly versatile with his range and abilities. You could give that same script to many other actors and you're never going to find any actor that is going to do it as uniquely as he does. He's definitely one of a kind and what I love about him so much is he never plays it safe. You're so understands the different genres we've been acting such as naturalism as supposed to surrealism and everything in between. You can tell how much passion he has here as he respectfully hears out everyone's different points of view before he summarises his own which I totally agree with by the way. Cage is a legend. Even in his worst movies, he's always endlessly entertaining to watch. A master at his craft and a passion that allows him to continue to excel and grow and never fall back and just do things comfortably or safely. He's always pushing the boundaries within the craft and art form of acting. Legend.
Again why are people comparing Cage and Waltz? Waltz stated that Tarantino gave back his acting career, meaning he didn't care much for his earlier performances, meaning he's only really done on real film. Cage to this day is still making movies and giving damn good performances. Wikipedia people actually look at what he's done, there is more than just Wicker Man. But than maybe people wont have much of an argument when they realize he's actually a better actor.
@trentkill If you haven't noticed...Nicholas Cage IS expressive. You can't tell from his movies? I highly doubt he "wants to seem"..there is no doubt..he IS the most expressive. And Cage is hit or miss. He needs the right material to be great, and he can be great. Leaving Las Vegas, Lord of War, Adaptation, Matchstick Men, Raising Arizona, Moonstruck, and even BD: Port of Call. Hey, I hate his bad movies as much as the next guy, but you cannot discredit his raw ability.
I don't understand why the commenters are negatively criticizing Cage. He's simply trying to understand what makes acting or a performance an art. Is it because he is talking too much and ruining the "mood"? I quite disagree. There's nothing wrong with engaging in a discussion and wanting to learn something.
Cage hogs the conversation way too much and he's pompous. I can't believe Cage is taking it upon himself to tell them where Morgan Freeman gets his performances from. Freeman is sitting right there, let him speak for his own performances and say for himself where he gets his inspiration.
I don't understand you people. Nicolas Cage was asking and discussing something very interesting. Not a single word out of his mouth was insane or inarticulate. He was asking a really great philosophical question, and he received a few very interesting and reasonable answers from his fellow actors.
Writing is 'without doubt' harder than acting, and more important. How often is it the scrip that really makes the film? Sure the actor brings the script to life (with the help of the director), but the writer paints the canvas. Sometimes it is purely the script that saves a movie. In any event, it can take months and even years to write a script/book, most actors are on set for a few weeks at the least and a few months at the most.
As a lifelong artist (I draw, paint, write songs, stories etc.) that's been recently studying acting I think, and feel that acting is both craft and art. The craft side of it is the technique, line delivery, emotional delivery etc. The art side of it is the improvisation that actors do with lines that add to a writers own art, the choices that the actor makes in delivering their performance, the chemistry they display while interacting with other actors etc.
all of you people who are cutting down Cage sound close minded and naive, i personally love him as an actor. Waltz, Freeman, Sarsgaard, Tucci, and Firth are all great, and they all have valid points. it's all apples and oranges.
Holy shit I never knew Nicolas cage was such a smart guy and had such respect for acting, after all the shit he puts out he kind of seems like one of those guys who's only in it for the money.
An artist draws a river that already exists and an actor makes a character written on a page exist ,, so an actor is an artist just the opposite way round,, although a collaborative artist.. like the artist drawing the river is a collaborative artist...
After Waltz's talking, everybody was like "Are you serious dude, we are just pretending to talk clever because we are celebrities but you just talked something like that? "
Notice how when everyone had their chance to speak no one else had everyone else instantly watching them as Christoph Waltz did when he briefly spoke, they all paid proper attention to him trying to learn because they know he's the closest one to a Thespian there. If I could only give one person in that room the title of an actor it would go straight to Waltz.
is this the oscar worthy? i pick colin firth and morgan freeman, stanley tucci is the new comer for oscar competition we'll see later, i know waltz got the oscar but he and nick cage just not a class!! any real versatile actors maybe, like male version of meryl streep.. hmm i still like daniel day lewis
I agree that De Niro has made many stinkers lately like "Fockers" and "New Years Eve" but he has als made some solid performances in "Silver Linings Playbook" "Everybody's Fine"and "Being Flynn".
I enjoyed those two movies you call "stinkers". Sure they are not masterpieces but not everything has to be a masterpiece. I agree with Colin Firth's view on art, it is subjective.
Well, before they go about asking whether acting is art, they should in fact define what "ART" means. I doubt they would get an agreeable answer to that either... One should first have a common definition to the parts of the question they are asking, otherwise, they are not going to have the pillar on which to stand their "interpretations"! Personally, I think acting CAN be art because I believe that art is creative creation, it is applying of imagination.
Performing arts are done in the moment; acting, modeling, playing music, sports etc. What the audience usually receives is another artists abstraction of that moment. For example, when a photographer takes a picture of a sculpture, or an audio engineer records a vocal track. It's weird to imagine that one's art is another person's medium.
@90mv Facts that exist about everything in life. And not this agree to disagree nonsense, or hiding behind opinion so no one is wrong. Can't ever get to RIGHT if no one is wrong. Acting is art, but not all of it, all the time.
Why? Seriously WHY? Why is it obnoxious to call acting art? I hate when actors denegrate their own craft to look cool or whatever. You dont look cool, you just look stupid.
Look at Nicolas Cage, who showed up in his little suit to sit amongst those other fine actors. Look at the way he tries to lead the discussion and get everyone to ponder acting as art. And what's this? He listens to violinists play Bach in his spare time? Wow, he must be a VERY cultured guy! Ha ha! He's trying to behave as though everyone's forgotten what's on his resume. We haven't forgotten, Cage. We remember The Wicker Man. "NO!! NOT THE BEES!! NO! YARGHHH!!!"
@deathfromabove77 Wow, you are definitely looking at Christoph Waltz through his English language films, which aren't many. Majority of his work is in German, which unfortunately is not widely available in the U.S. However, in Germany (and Austria) he is considered a grand actor, revered for his eloquence in acting and his roles as the 'bad guy'. You really need to watch more foreign films, 'cause you just made a big mistake on saying 'what has Christoph Waltz done?' He's done A LOT.
Stanley Douchey as i like to call him, was a fucking nobody 10 years ago now he's acting (excuse horrible pun) like he's the shit. He genuinely sucks as an actor. Cage I guess likes the sound of his own voice, but Leaving Las Vegas was awesome so he's earned the right to be there. Skarsgaard is has talent but he looks so out of place there with Cage, Firth and Freeman. Waltz is the man. Django and Inglorious Bastards are stellar
Seeing crap like this just makes me dislike actors even more. I think the reason Waltz was so quiet is because he knows how pretentious that whole scenario is and I think he felt stupid. Seriously, how embarrassing is this? Cage was just making it worse. Waltz was wise to sit quietly and say very little. The ass kissing of Freeman at the end by Cage was the icing on the sponge cake. Cringeworthy!
@malows1234 What Aronofsky film did he turn down? Are you talking about The Wrestler.....in that case it was a good decision...only because he was incable of achieving the physical requirements of the character....and he would still be the second choice....as Aronofksy said by the time he was working on the final draft he had no doubt that Rourke was THE CHARACTER.....but yea....Cage is just doing TERRIBLE films.....and sadly.....it doesn't seem like anything's going to change with him....
I like Nic more than Christoph as well, but please give Christoph a break. He's done brilliant movies in German before "Inglorious Basterds" happened and he's a great actor like all the others around that table. Maybe he just doesn't talk as much because it's difficult to join such a lively discussion when it's not your native tongue. That said, I think those discussions are a brilliant idea and should be done more often, instead of all the rainbow press interviews that happen all the time.
christoph waltz is a one hit wonder...bet you don't remember his name next year...nic cage is the best actor ( apart from freeman and maye tucci) in this group...cage has been around since the 80s ..he has what they call a 'body of work'..Leaving Las Vegas, Wild at Heart, Adapatation, Raising Arizona, Matchstick Men, Vampire's Kiss, Kiss of Death, Bad Lieutenant..these are just some of his great performances..Waltz , apart from "basterds" has done..umm...what has he done?
Haha ya... I think Nicolas Cage is a little out of his league here. I can't understand why Colin Firth and Morgan Freeman are here - they're both fantastic actors being nominated for Oscars this coming year while Nicolas Cage is currently doing a live-action Disney Sorcerer's Apprentice....movie....without any....Mickey....Mouse.......................ok I'm going to go destroy Disney now, excuse me.
@Bunnyontherocks : I'm well aware of Waltz's filmography....and there's STILL no comparison. Regardless of how fond they are in Germany of him, you compare the work, he's not in Cage's league...but of course people like you like to jump aboard the hype/machine, bandwagon..like I said, no one will be talking about him next year
Ah yes, I forgot that's all that women talk about. Silly me. I best just get back to the kitchen with Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, Kate Winslet and Cate Blanchett as I'm sure none of them could contribute anything enlightening, intelligent, challenging or inspiring to the conversation.
I dont know if Nic Cage is being serious. He acts in movies like Ghost Rider and Bangkok Dangerous and he is talking about Bach and how acting is art. He is either a pretentious loser or a very funny guy trying to expose how highly actors think of themselves. Unfortunately I think its the former.
We are all acting. As Shakespeare said 'all the world is a stage and all the people on it are players'. The only trouble I have with acting is deciding on what I want to play but am expected by society's conformists to play. Is acting an art? Well, it is creativity so yes.
@frankthecow13 youre completely wrong. nicolas cage is a great actor.. weather man, adaptation, etc. hes a guy who likes to have fun and he wants to make a lot of money, theres nothing wrong with that. sometimes a bad nicolas cage movie can be a good experience.
Nic Cage should have followed Bad Lieutenant with something special. seriously, THAT WAS HIS COMEBACK! after Adaption, he seemed to have dissapeared. Werner Herzog "let him loose" again, in a good way. maybe after a few years he gives us something special again.
Well, Waltz in the Green Hornet....Yes, good point. But people need to rent some movies of another great actor who made some bad choices. I recommend Ghost Rider or National Treasures. Award Winners getting together. Great stuff, nothing to argue about in my opinion.
Talk about beating a dead horse. All of the other actors look so annoyed and confused. Especially Christolph and Colin. They were probably thinking, "Fuck this L.A. Hippie." lol. Nick Cage has been drinking the kool-aide for too long.
What is different about what an actor does and let's say.....Rhianna? I don't think she writes her own music or lyrics. Someone just hands her a song to perform and she gives her own interpretation of that song. Based on that, would you call her an artist?
now, THIS is interesting. See who is really the person you see on screen vs. those who play different people. What I call "personality" vs "chameleon" actors. Some of these actors I REALLY want to work with. Christoph was fantastic in "Basterds." ~Trav
Christoph Waltz is in "The Green Hornet"..........buahahahaha!!! Reason why Waltz is so quiet at this table is that he does not belong here; Good on him for paying respect to a real actor like Nicholas Cage
You must be joking, right? Million Dollar Baby, Se7en, Batman / The Dark Knight - None of these films qualify as 'good' to you? You don't have a clue my friend.
I think Nicolas Cage needed to shut the fuck up and let Peter, Stanley, and Christoph talk. Christoph looks delicious. I am so glad at least Morgan Freeman got to talk a little so I could look at him. :P
Stanley Tucci is the reason to watch The lovely Bones. Everything else is just Meh. In fact Tucci is the reason to watch anything he does. His roles are awesome despite the movie.
@johnnytastetest hahaha yeah but on his day (Bad Lieutenant) he is one of the most watchable actors around. Just a shame he does so many effin stupid films with him just hamming it up.
What Christopher Waltz said sounds exactly like what his character Landa would say in his situation. Quentin Tarantino casted him perfectly, it's not that he's a great actor.
Am I the only one who absolutely resents the fact that Nicolas Cage is at this table? Like, can he just shut the hell up, please? He's repeating himself and it's unnecessarily annoying.
and leave Nicholas Cage alone, he was intrigued by the question and was educating himself by investigating every rebuttal so that he can come up with a possible answer. so he took up some time, he wasn't speaking over anyone he was just digging deeper into the question.
My guess is there would have been no answers at that table for him after Christopher spoke.
nicola's cage is without doubt the best actor on this planet
The best is subjective.
Cage is a good actor who often takes roles in really bad movies...but he gets huge paychecks!
Waltz had to play diplomat between two superpowers in acting
They are trying to figure out how the hell they are rich and famous while not doing a real days work
No way! I wanna eat dinner with Nelson Mandella!
I'm with Colin Firth, "it's subjective." And then he just dozes off from the rest of the argument.
I totally agree with Nic, and he said it very well.
Haha, they're all unorganized but then Waltz lays the bomb.
Christoph Waltz at 1:35
This makes me laugh SO HARD!! Everybody is wearing suites, and then here comes Mr Freeman, who looks like he forgot about this appointment, and was walking his dog when his PA said, "Eeeerm, Morgan? Aren't you supposed to be at x restaurant for the roundtable interview??"
And the King gets better, when he nods at what Colin Firth is saying, and then turns around and reprimands Firth jokingly saying, "Whose side are you on??!"
I LOVE MORGAN FREEMAN!!!
Nicolas Cage just gets better and better!
i agree with Christoph Waltz, i think it's the end result that makes it art. though i think actors are artist too, like Morgan Freeman said, he needs a writer, and a writer needs a director and a director needs a crew. i believe their all artist coming together to create something special. like a band, they all need their unique talents to create this art.
Collin Firth gets it right from the begining
Acting is definitely a performance art
0:20 Firth: I've seen acting that's definitely not art.
*looks towards Nicolas Cage*
Cage: Yeah ...
Acting gods in one room
Waltz is so humble and respectful.
Amazing actors in one interview and dummies in the comments being cynical and rude as always.
I have to agree with Cage here. I believe that acting is indeed an art. It is not painting a picture or composing music, but it is interpretive art. When I view a film or theatre production and I see an incredible performance, I am looking at an artist who has crafted his or her mind and body into someone that is not themselves. That is a great art
I love how as soon as Christoph Waltz starts talking everybody falls silent, turns to him, and pays rapt attention.
Gotta love Nic Cage.
Wow, Nic Cage, Morgan Freeman, Christoph Waltz, Colin Firth, Stanley Tucci and Peter Sarsgaard. It's really cool to see all these awesome legendary actors hanging out together! :D
It's pretty interesting because while watching this video you almost forget that they are all famous, rich actors; honestly you just simply see a bunch of humble guys having a fun buddy night out in a bar/restaurant together and chatting with one another about work or something...
You can't have a big ego and be a great actor.
He's a deep person with many passions, He may look arrogant or eccentric sometimes but he's still a great actor. I'm sure he will come back with a great role in good movie. And people here need to stop hatin'.
yeah,. the classic difference between american and european actors. the first are just guys who used to serve drinks but had a pretty face so they made it to the movies, the second is really professional artists who take theyr work as a serious form of art( plus alot of theater background and all of that)
Love Colin Firth
What is art?
A word that rhymes with fart. There's your answer.
that's pretty much it
And of course where would be without the blind, or the filler of the world. Meaningless
02:41 - Cage seems like Art itself just totally betrayed him. Love this conversation.
Walts was having the time of his life witnessing Cage play the philosophical actor that is just "trying to learn something" through "his own personal relationship with the cosmos".
Those are not HIS films, they're the director's and writer's films. He can be a great intelligent actor, but have terrible movies. Don't blame it on him, man
Nic Cage takes shit very seriously, that's good and I love him for it.
i have to agree with Waltz here. The others are just trying to describe something highfalutin. The word art simply comes from the root 'ar' which means to bring together or join. There may be good and bad art - badly put together. But it is still 'art.' Science can be an art - when assessed as elements being put together in a certain manner. Anything can be an art in this sense. Fine arts refers to something having to do with more imagination, refined skill. But althought there is an 'artistic' process, you don't say 'a process' of art;' but 'a work of art.' Waltz is correct here.
Before discussing art, it needs to be defined what it is (and agreed upon), otherwise whats the point?
When Tucci goes on about "the technique is the 'craft'" as far as I'm concerned "craft" and "art" are synonyms. What a bizarre conversation.
an artist is simply an excellent observer who converts his observation into an expression that will communicate to the raw emotions of a human being because emotions are strong and what causes people to act, the goal of art is thus to communicate, bad art fails to get across the message good art hits the nail on the head and then some
i don't know why people have such a hard time explaining what art is
art is also only subjective in its interpretation not its message
it is subjective in its interpretation because not every human being is at the same level of thought thus it is interpreted differently by different people
Many artists intend to not demonstrate a clear message, rather leaving it for other people to interpret. Not all 'true' artists have some message toward it. Take Stanley Kubrick, you know he intended to leave his endings to interpretations.. If you dont consider him in your definition of a true artist, then maybe reconsider ur definition of one. (:
shyrebouy1997 *Not all true artists intend to have a message in mind as they create.
shyrebouy1997 i never said the message of art should be clear as crystal if it was it wouldnt serve any social evolutionary function every single piece of art ever made however has a message otherwise its called garbage how clear that message is understood is either due to the complex nature of the art or poor quality of the art Stanley kubrick is an artist obviously the fact that he left movies unexplained doesnt mean there is no message
shyrebouy1997 just remember that every single thing that humans do has a biological evolutionary purpose which is to grow and develop
***** See you contradict yourself when you say "it doesnt mean there is no message" because you state yourself that art is subjective, and by implying that there is a message that comes with all good art is sorta dogmatic, unless of course you say all this as an opinion. Expressionist artists dont seem to primarily have these intended "messages" you speak of..or atleast from what i know, they communicated through emotions and, for lack of a better word: expression. They used colors to convey that. You wouldnt consider expressionist artists like Van Gogh or Francis Bacon, untrue artists. Same would go for interpretive art, which is basically copying something someone else has made or performed but in your own personal interpretation. I know alot of interpretive musicians that emulate Bach, beethoven and all wouldnt have a diminished 'True artist' status. When implied that not all art or artists tend to bring or have a message in mind, i didnt say they hid it, or even acknowledged that there was a message in art as u suggest when u stated that the message isnt "crystal clear" Art is also a broad term, there are shitloads of movements, and submovents and fields of art to even count. So by making the broad implication that this 'message' is compulsory in art to define a true artist could be applied to many, but not ALL art or artists.
Agreed! He's underrated, but I really love the way he looks at actors as artist, i think he's competently right.
Cages acting is 100% art. He has a unique spin and puts his own individual style upon everything he does and he's incredibly versatile with his range and abilities. You could give that same script to many other actors and you're never going to find any actor that is going to do it as uniquely as he does. He's definitely one of a kind and what I love about him so much is he never plays it safe. You're so understands the different genres we've been acting such as naturalism as supposed to surrealism and everything in between. You can tell how much passion he has here as he respectfully hears out everyone's different points of view before he summarises his own which I totally agree with by the way. Cage is a legend. Even in his worst movies, he's always endlessly entertaining to watch. A master at his craft and a passion that allows him to continue to excel and grow and never fall back and just do things comfortably or safely. He's always pushing the boundaries within the craft and art form of acting. Legend.
Again why are people comparing Cage and Waltz? Waltz stated that Tarantino gave back his acting career, meaning he didn't care much for his earlier performances, meaning he's only really done on real film. Cage to this day is still making movies and giving damn good performances. Wikipedia people actually look at what he's done, there is more than just Wicker Man. But than maybe people wont have much of an argument when they realize he's actually a better actor.
@trentkill
If you haven't noticed...Nicholas Cage IS expressive. You can't tell from his movies? I highly doubt he "wants to seem"..there is no doubt..he IS the most expressive.
And Cage is hit or miss. He needs the right material to be great, and he can be great. Leaving Las Vegas, Lord of War, Adaptation, Matchstick Men, Raising Arizona, Moonstruck, and even BD: Port of Call.
Hey, I hate his bad movies as much as the next guy, but you cannot discredit his raw ability.
I don't understand why the commenters are negatively criticizing Cage. He's simply trying to understand what makes acting or a performance an art. Is it because he is talking too much and ruining the "mood"? I quite disagree. There's nothing wrong with engaging in a discussion and wanting to learn something.
Cage hogs the conversation way too much and he's pompous. I can't believe Cage is taking it upon himself to tell them where Morgan Freeman gets his performances from. Freeman is sitting right there, let him speak for his own performances and say for himself where he gets his inspiration.
I don't understand you people. Nicolas Cage was asking and discussing something very interesting. Not a single word out of his mouth was insane or inarticulate. He was asking a really great philosophical question, and he received a few very interesting and reasonable answers from his fellow actors.
Writing is 'without doubt' harder than acting, and more important. How often is it the scrip that really makes the film? Sure the actor brings the script to life (with the help of the director), but the writer paints the canvas. Sometimes it is purely the script that saves a movie. In any event, it can take months and even years to write a script/book, most actors are on set for a few weeks at the least and a few months at the most.
As a lifelong artist (I draw, paint, write songs, stories etc.) that's been recently studying acting I think, and feel that acting is both craft and art. The craft side of it is the technique, line delivery, emotional delivery etc. The art side of it is the improvisation that actors do with lines that add to a writers own art, the choices that the actor makes in delivering their performance, the chemistry they display while interacting with other actors etc.
all of you people who are cutting down Cage sound close minded and naive, i personally love him as an actor. Waltz, Freeman, Sarsgaard, Tucci, and Firth are all great, and they all have valid points.
it's all apples and oranges.
Holy shit I never knew Nicolas cage was such a smart guy and had such respect for acting, after all the shit he puts out he kind of seems like one of those guys who's only in it for the money.
Playing Nicolas Cage is an art in it of itself.
LoL Morgan Freeman, the class of the class looks here like a hobo who was promised free soup at the end :D :D
An artist draws a river that already exists and an actor makes a character written on a page exist ,, so an actor is an artist just the opposite way round,, although a collaborative artist.. like the artist drawing the river is a collaborative artist...
Keep preaching. Nic Cage isn't a bad actor at all; he just needs to stop agreeing to crappy roles.
After Waltz's talking, everybody was like "Are you serious dude, we are just pretending to talk clever because we are celebrities but you just talked something like that? "
Waltz - The single most overrated actor of the last 20 years.
Notice how when everyone had their chance to speak no one else had everyone else instantly watching them as Christoph Waltz did when he briefly spoke, they all paid proper attention to him trying to learn because they know he's the closest one to a Thespian there. If I could only give one person in that room the title of an actor it would go straight to Waltz.
+Darrenbir Athwal I agree Waltz is awesome, but on the subject of true thespians have you forgotten Firth?
is this the oscar worthy? i pick colin firth and morgan freeman, stanley tucci is the new comer for oscar competition we'll see later, i know waltz got the oscar but he and nick cage just not a class!! any real versatile actors maybe, like male version of meryl streep.. hmm i still like daniel day lewis
I agree that De Niro has made many stinkers lately like "Fockers" and "New Years Eve" but he has als made some solid performances in "Silver Linings Playbook" "Everybody's Fine"and "Being Flynn".
I enjoyed those two movies you call "stinkers". Sure they are not masterpieces but not everything has to be a masterpiece. I agree with Colin Firth's view on art, it is subjective.
For an actor, that was some pretty lame air guitar
This comment just made me laugh so much that my jaw started hurting. lololol
This made me laugh entirely too loud and too long. Thank you.
Well, before they go about asking whether acting is art, they should in fact define what "ART" means. I doubt they would get an agreeable answer to that either... One should first have a common definition to the parts of the question they are asking, otherwise, they are not going to have the pillar on which to stand their "interpretations"! Personally, I think acting CAN be art because I believe that art is creative creation, it is applying of imagination.
Yup.
looking at the other actors reactions when Nic Cage was making his closing remarks was hilarious.
when he says “hiding behind a guitar”. That’s the most ignorant thing I’ve ever heard an acclaimed artist say haha
Performing arts are done in the moment; acting, modeling, playing music, sports etc. What the audience usually receives is another artists abstraction of that moment. For example, when a photographer takes a picture of a sculpture, or an audio engineer records a vocal track. It's weird to imagine that one's art is another person's medium.
too much awesome in one video...I can't go on....
Great ensemble of actors - but were no actresses available?
Christoph Waltz is clearly the wisest guy at the table.
"Give me the man" who's able to define art and acting... and I shall call it God.
Jesus Christ not you again.
This video is basically actors trying to teach Nicolas Cage about acting.
Robert Holik Oh, shut up.
waltz employed most his talking through body language
@90mv Facts that exist about everything in life. And not this agree to disagree nonsense, or hiding behind opinion so no one is wrong. Can't ever get to RIGHT if no one is wrong. Acting is art, but not all of it, all the time.
I love the facial expressions everyone gives when Nicholas Cage speaks.
Peter was brilliant with Carey Mulligan in An Education.
I agree with Heath Ledger when he said it's obnoxious to call acting art.
Marlon Brando said the same thing back in the days.
veda pierce He's my second favourite actor. Heath is first.
Why? Seriously WHY? Why is it obnoxious to call acting art?
I hate when actors denegrate their own craft to look cool or whatever. You dont look cool, you just look stupid.
lol this is awesome.. some of the greatest performing artists discussing what art is.. with a confused look on all of their faces XD
Look at Nicolas Cage, who showed up in his little suit to sit amongst those other fine actors. Look at the way he tries to lead the discussion and get everyone to ponder acting as art. And what's this? He listens to violinists play Bach in his spare time? Wow, he must be a VERY cultured guy! Ha ha!
He's trying to behave as though everyone's forgotten what's on his resume. We haven't forgotten, Cage. We remember The Wicker Man.
"NO!! NOT THE BEES!! NO! YARGHHH!!!"
@deathfromabove77 Wow, you are definitely looking at Christoph Waltz through his English language films, which aren't many. Majority of his work is in German, which unfortunately is not widely available in the U.S. However, in Germany (and Austria) he is considered a grand actor, revered for his eloquence in acting and his roles as the 'bad guy'. You really need to watch more foreign films, 'cause you just made a big mistake on saying 'what has Christoph Waltz done?' He's done A LOT.
Stanley Douchey as i like to call him, was a fucking nobody 10 years ago now he's acting (excuse horrible pun) like he's the shit. He genuinely sucks as an actor. Cage I guess likes the sound of his own voice, but Leaving Las Vegas was awesome so he's earned the right to be there. Skarsgaard is has talent but he looks so out of place there with Cage, Firth and Freeman. Waltz is the man. Django and Inglorious Bastards are stellar
Seeing crap like this just makes me dislike actors even more. I think the reason Waltz was so quiet is because he knows how pretentious that whole scenario is and I think he felt stupid. Seriously, how embarrassing is this? Cage was just making it worse. Waltz was wise to sit quietly and say very little. The ass kissing of Freeman at the end by Cage was the icing on the sponge cake. Cringeworthy!
@malows1234 What Aronofsky film did he turn down? Are you talking about The Wrestler.....in that case it was a good decision...only because he was incable of achieving the physical requirements of the character....and he would still be the second choice....as Aronofksy said by the time he was working on the final draft he had no doubt that Rourke was THE CHARACTER.....but yea....Cage is just doing TERRIBLE films.....and sadly.....it doesn't seem like anything's going to change with him....
I like Nic more than Christoph as well, but please give Christoph a break. He's done brilliant movies in German before "Inglorious Basterds" happened and he's a great actor like all the others around that table. Maybe he just doesn't talk as much because it's difficult to join such a lively discussion when it's not your native tongue.
That said, I think those discussions are a brilliant idea and should be done more often, instead of all the rainbow press interviews that happen all the time.
christoph waltz is a one hit wonder...bet you don't remember his name next year...nic cage is the best actor ( apart from freeman and maye tucci) in this group...cage has been around since the 80s ..he has what they call a 'body of work'..Leaving Las Vegas, Wild at Heart, Adapatation, Raising Arizona, Matchstick Men, Vampire's Kiss, Kiss of Death, Bad Lieutenant..these are just some of his great performances..Waltz , apart from "basterds" has done..umm...what has he done?
Haha ya... I think Nicolas Cage is a little out of his league here. I can't understand why Colin Firth and Morgan Freeman are here - they're both fantastic actors being nominated for Oscars this coming year while Nicolas Cage is currently doing a live-action Disney Sorcerer's Apprentice....movie....without any....Mickey....Mouse.......................ok I'm going to go destroy Disney now, excuse me.
@Bunnyontherocks : I'm well aware of Waltz's filmography....and there's STILL no comparison. Regardless of how fond they are in Germany of him, you compare the work, he's not in Cage's league...but of course people like you like to jump aboard the hype/machine, bandwagon..like I said, no one will be talking about him next year
@90mv Why do people pass off facts for opinion? Is more like it.
Ah yes, I forgot that's all that women talk about. Silly me. I best just get back to the kitchen with Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, Kate Winslet and Cate Blanchett as I'm sure none of them could contribute anything enlightening, intelligent, challenging or inspiring to the conversation.
I dont know if Nic Cage is being serious. He acts in movies like Ghost Rider and Bangkok Dangerous and he is talking about Bach and how acting is art. He is either a pretentious loser or a very funny guy trying to expose how highly actors think of themselves. Unfortunately I think its the former.
We are all acting. As Shakespeare said 'all the world is a stage and all the people on it are players'. The only trouble I have with acting is deciding on what I want to play but am expected by society's conformists to play. Is acting an art? Well, it is creativity so yes.
@frankthecow13 youre completely wrong. nicolas cage is a great actor.. weather man, adaptation, etc. hes a guy who likes to have fun and he wants to make a lot of money, theres nothing wrong with that. sometimes a bad nicolas cage movie can be a good experience.
Nic Cage should have followed Bad Lieutenant with something special. seriously, THAT WAS HIS COMEBACK! after Adaption, he seemed to have dissapeared. Werner Herzog "let him loose" again, in a good way.
maybe after a few years he gives us something special again.
Well, Waltz in the Green Hornet....Yes, good point. But people need to rent some movies of another great actor who made some bad choices. I recommend Ghost Rider or National Treasures. Award Winners getting together. Great stuff, nothing to argue about in my opinion.
these guys are brilliant, and acting most of the time is definitely art
Talk about beating a dead horse. All of the other actors look so annoyed and confused. Especially Christolph and Colin. They were probably thinking, "Fuck this L.A. Hippie." lol. Nick Cage has been drinking the kool-aide for too long.
What is different about what an actor does and let's say.....Rhianna? I don't think she writes her own music or lyrics. Someone just hands her a song to perform and she gives her own interpretation of that song. Based on that, would you call her an artist?
now, THIS is interesting. See who is really the person you see on screen vs. those who play different people. What I call "personality" vs "chameleon" actors.
Some of these actors I REALLY want to work with.
Christoph was fantastic in "Basterds."
~Trav
Christoph Waltz is in "The Green Hornet"..........buahahahaha!!!
Reason why Waltz is so quiet at this table is that he does not belong here; Good on him for paying respect to a real actor like Nicholas Cage
You must be joking, right? Million Dollar Baby, Se7en, Batman / The Dark Knight - None of these films qualify as 'good' to you? You don't have a clue my friend.
I think Nicolas Cage needed to shut the fuck up and let Peter, Stanley, and Christoph talk. Christoph looks delicious. I am so glad at least Morgan Freeman got to talk a little so I could look at him. :P
I like how Christoph Waltz pronounces Bach, after years spent in music school it’s the only way to do it.
i really like all of them, i think they r amazing actors
Stanley Tucci is the reason to watch The lovely Bones. Everything else is just Meh. In fact Tucci is the reason to watch anything he does. His roles are awesome despite the movie.
@johnnytastetest hahaha yeah but on his day (Bad Lieutenant) he is one of the most watchable actors around. Just a shame he does so many effin stupid films with him just hamming it up.
What Christopher Waltz said sounds exactly like what his character Landa would say in his situation. Quentin Tarantino casted him perfectly, it's not that he's a great actor.
Am I the only one who absolutely resents the fact that Nicolas Cage is at this table? Like, can he just shut the hell up, please? He's repeating himself and it's unnecessarily annoying.