Recommended Media
Recommended Media
Students often ask me which performances I admire and would recommend for study.
Below is my list of Movies, TV, and other media that I think exemplify nuanced, believable acting.
Many of these performances have influenced my own personal approach to acting and contain a level of authenticity that I aspire to on a daily basis. Some of these titles may be in storytelling genres that you are unfamiliar with. Depending on your experience with acting, you may even have some difficulty understanding at first why I find them so compelling. But if you take the time to truly study the performances and their subtext, I believe you’ll find them just as instructive and enlightening as I have when it comes to building better acting skills.
One caveat: some of these movies are older and may have different storytelling sensibilities than are currently regarded as politically correct now. You may find certain characters’ values or some story themes upsetting or even offensive. I make no endorsements as to the content or the messages in the titles I might recommend for their acting performances. I’m recommending them solely on the virtue of the acting alone. That being said, many of the films I do recommend are regarded as classics, but I feel it’s necessary for me to make this disclaimer so that there are no misunderstandings. Hopefully my listeners can value the acting in these titles regardless of whether or not they agree with the messages or themes of the stories. I also hope that my list of Recommended Media will be a solid jumping off place for you to discover acting performances that you may not have considered studying before but that are believable and compelling! If you want to work as an actor at the most competitive levels of the entertainment industry, it is vitally important that you are giving performances that are as authentic and nuanced as the best actors out there! Plus it’s fascinating to watch people who are just so good at acting!
If you buy any of the items using the links below, I will earn an affiliate commission from Amazon. The price for you doesn’t change, but each purchase helps support this site and my podcast. Thanks!
Movies and TV
Vanya on 42nd Street
Andre Gregory collaborated with a cast of actors to rehearse Anton Chekov’s famous play, Uncle Vania, over the course of many years in between their other acting jobs. They always rehearsed the play, never “performed” it publicly. They would invite friends and family to see these “rehearsals” which after years had become so authentic that it didn’t even seem like the performers were acting. Eventually, the documentary film maker, Louis Malle, discovered these rehearsals and asked to film them. He starts the film by following the actors as they get their coffee from the local bodega, and continues to follow them into the theater with that day’s group of friends and family who have come to watch.
The result is some of the most nuanced and believable acting every committed to film. In fact, I challenge you to be able to tell when the play actually starts.
Purchase Vanya on 42nd Street on Amazon
Andor
Science Fiction storytelling is not always known for its nuanced acting and the Star Wars franchise has been especially susceptible to less than stellar scripts and performances over the years.
Andor is a huge exception. I have not seen such brilliant acting and writing in a Star Wars show ever. You owe it to yourself to watch this show and study it. It is a tour de force of masterful writing and nuanced acting.
Amadeus
This movie which dramatizes the life of the composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his rival, Antonio Salieri, is not only a compelling story, but F. Murray Abraham’s performance as Salieri is a marvel to watch. He can go from intimate and conversational, to strident and commanding all without leaving a wheelchair. It’s transformational. It’s also an object lesson in how to play royalty and aristocracy, vitally important when working on stories set in a Fantasy setting such as Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones.
Magnolia
Conventional screenplay wisdom states that a movie must have a single protagonist who will be the central figure in the story or else the audience will become confused. Magnolia brilliantly breaks that rule to great effect. It is an ensemble piece with so many fascinating character types, all with deeply rich psychologies and neurosis. It’s vitally important as a voice actor to be able to understand a broad swath of character types and their motivations. Magnolia lets you study so many characters at once, all brilliantly acted.
Betrayal
The playwright, Harold Pinter, was famous for his deceptively simple dialogue which revealed an ocean of sub-text underneath every sentence. Betrayal is one of his masterpieces. It is the story of a an extra-marital affair between two characters played by Jeremy Irons and Patricia Hodge. Patricia’s character is married to a character played by Ben Kingsley, but has been having an affair with Jeremy Iron’s character for 7 years. The entire story is told in reverse chronological order, starting at the dissolution of Patricia and Ben’s marriage and working backwards through time to the point where the affair first began, 7 years previously.
Understanding sub-text is crucial as an actor. It’s one of the things that separates novices from masters. Pinter’s dialogue has so much meaning that is not delivered explicitly, but is rather implied by the subtle nuances of the actor’s delivery and intonation. If you want to watch acting at its most subtle, this movie is a revelation.
This movie is actually difficult to find for sale, but fortunately, it is currently available in its entirety for free on YouTube.