Fences – First Choices
Why did I choose Denzel Washington as my first actor study? Its very simple, he is a great actor and has been a great actor for a very long time. Also, he has a large body of work to choose from. So the real question becomes, what performance should I choose to emulate?
Denzel Washington has appeared in movies from the very serious:
To the fun:
To the infamous:
To the inspiring:
There are simply too many to choose from. I decided to look at the movies that Mr. Washington directed. To direct requires a huge investment in time and energy. If Mr. Washington devoted those resources to a film, it must have been a project that he deeply cared about. Searching the internet for the films he directed produced a much smaller list.
Of these three films, Fences is the most recent and finding a DVD or Blu-Ray would be straight forward. I would have an opportunity to analyze Mr. Washington’s performance in great detail. However, I did not start by watching the film.
My first step in this process was to think like someone who is at the table making the big decisions. I thought like a producer. The first thing a producer does when choosing a project is to read the script. I walked into my local bookstore and purchased a copy of Fences by August Wilson. I read it in its entirety, three times. I wanted to understand how the pieces fit together, the nuances of the dialog and emotional ride the audience experiences.
With this in my back pocket I reviewed my criteria for the monologues. I needed about two minutes of continuous dialogue. I could not find any that I liked. I decided to improvise. I took three, 30 second, sections and combined them into a minute and a half of continuous dialogue. I typed everything into a file and created a PDF.
At this point, I went to YouTube and watched several performances of Fences. Each performance had a different cadence, tone, air of levity and style. Which one do I choose to emulate? Could I try to emulate them all?
My next hurdle was to memorize the script. (The last time I did that I was in 3rd grade play.) It took much longer than I thought. My mind wandered back to the videos every time. I wanted my performance to be like Denzel Washington’s and James Earl Jones’. I rehearsed the lines for weeks, picturing myself in Mr. Washington’s and Mr. Jones’ shoes. I did voice recordings to understand where my diction was strained, off key, out of character or unintelligible. When I was satisfied, I rehearsed some more. Then, I had that make-it-or-break-it moment. I needed to move forward with the project or abandon it. I needed to up the ante to push the project to completion. I did a screen test – one light, no microphones. I did not like the results.
I did more rehearsals, but with more intense focus on being myself, instead. I realized that being in front of the camera is very much like being behind it. A part of your essence is on display, for the world to see, enjoy, criticize, and berate. If you are not authentic to yourself, your performance, project, art, and creativity is compromised and your audience will notice. It will appear, fake, or forced. This is a lesson I will not forget.
You were born an original.
Don’t die a copy.John Mason