I never witnessed an actor, other than Laughton, who seemed to enjoy acting so much. He reveled in the process and execution. The characters he portrayed just oozed out of his pores and shined through his face. He was completely absorbed and present in the moment. Such a wonderful treat to behold.
Hoffman tells the true story of the Olivier incident in his interview at the Actors Theatre. It seems there was a lot of respect between the two of them.
I'll always love Dustin for being honest & unpretentious enough to clarify this: he had indeed been awake two days but not doing anything so noble as trying to "live the part". He'd simply been partying too hard at Studio 54 , probably doing coke (it was the 1970s , after all). Olivier was being almost paternal, not critical .
Daniel Day-Lewis is unfair to Olivier here and doesn’t seem to know the whole story. Hoffman later said that after he asked him the famous question, Olivier said the following: “He laughed, because he said, you know, 'I'm one to talk.' And then he was actually the first one that told me about risking his life every night jumping whatever it was 20 feet in the last act of Hamlet. And the truth of it is I didn't just stay up three days and three nights for the scene; it was a good excuse, because these were the days of wine and roses in Studio 54”
Interestingly enough, his role of Szell the Nazi dentist was his last role for which he got an Oscar nod, whatever your like or disdain of the Oscars might be. Both he and Hoffman were fantastic in those roles, no matter what their methods.
William Goldman who wrote the film remembered Olivier suffering from cancer and Hoffman demanding take after take in a terribly cold and damp location. So much for his method.
@@MouthBreatherGaming My former high school teacher had a non-speaking role in Lincoln - but he was on the set a lot - and he had nothing good to say about the way Day-Lewis treated everybody. Not to spread gossip - but my teacher is the last person to say something negative about someone and it was that bad.
@@mdarrenu My response was crude but I think we give the actors far too much credit, and have always appreciated great writing and directing, and sadly writing is almost non-existent these days. I raved about his performance in 'Lincoln' but I separate the performance from the person and watching this interview I was honestly surprised just how full of himself he seems, start to finish. My gut tells me he had to restrain from taking a shot at Brando in the end. Something about the way it came off.
I was in a film (The Hanoi Hilton) working a scene with David Soul and Paul Le Matt and the scene took place after we (prisoners) were running-so we were supposed to be out of breath. The guy I was teamed up with and I decided to do fast push ups and jumping jacks-to get out of breath...Soul and La Matt walked over, asked what we were doing-we told them and (I forget which one) said, (those exact same words) "Why don't you try 'acting."
Lewis and the interviewer both got the story wrong. Listen to the real story in Dustin Hoffman's real story. Never accept a hearsay version of anyone's statement.
John Barone Can you tell us where the real story is... I'm not going to ask you to send a link because on another Channel today the owner of that channel said that he had to personally go in and unblock someone because when people send links they automatically are coming up as spam
people seem so mad at Daniel here. He responded to the story as presented to him & it wasn't mentioned that Oliver was joking or not. In another interview he said things better. It doesn't matter who is doing what. If it works for Oliver, great. If method works for Daniel & Dustin so be it.
I'm not mad, but I am surprised. DL made a very strong judgment about an actor widely considered the greatest to ever do his craft; maybe on film it might be DL or Brando etc.. But that comment would have been better answered as a proposed question to Olivier posthumously..."If he were here right now, I'd ask him if maybe ....." etc.. IMO, DL was disrespectful, and I am actually quite surprised.
At first glance I did think that was David Byrne 😂… The story about Hoffman staying up for 48 hrs was that he was actually partying at Studio 54 - unfortunately Studio didn’t open until April 1977 and MM wrapped in 1976 but to be fair Hoffman could’ve easily been thinking of another of the many NYC nightclubs of that era.
Hoffman and Olivier were undoubtably good friends throughout 'Marathon Man' you can see clearly in the documentary....The famous 'Why don't you just try acting' quote I believe was more banter between the two that was a usual part of their relationship than serious...Olivier often had a twinkle in his eye in the documentary
i wish more people understood that Day-Lewis' enigmatic 'retirement' was an act of grace from possibly the last truly graceful actor (by this I mean an actor with global fame): art is an action not an activity and when one senses that one no longer has - or for the time being is eluded by - an inherent sense of action, then one must stop. We delude ourselves that forms of artistry are infinite - in scope and in length. Whether or not Day Lewis will return is irrelevant: he has already completed the final journey.
I think the comment section who is missing the point, Daniel responded from the information he was given, in addition to responding in a way that made sense of what happened earlier and after that excerpt in the interview, which was about whether he "He exaggerated in his method"
I think the story about Olivier and Hoffman is wrong. The story I heard was that Hoffman was trying to get into character and kept running around the block to look sweaty, look tired from running, etc... You kept telling the director that he needed to do another lap around the block, and this happened multiple times. In the meantime, Olivier was waiting for Hoffman to do the scene. Olivier got tired of hearing Hoffman say that he needed to run just one more lap because he didn't feel in character yet, to which Olivier famously said: "My boy, have you ever tried acting?"
I've probably seen every one of DDL's films but if I passed him on the street I probably wouldn't recognize him. He begins his characters and his own self becomes invisible
@@garyspence2128 Told it how it was; which contradicts the confusion caused by how it's usually portrayed by those who didn't get it from the horse's mouth, like this feller.
For any Actors Dustin Hoffman himself on the JAMES LIPTON interview, said that this story is false. He was "Up for 3 days" preparing for the role wink wink. What he meant was he was partying at Studio 54 and the Times article took liberties to pretend like he meant "Method Acting". Method acting is a myth. Do the work and enjoy the art
1.29- This is fascinating . Out of all those actors , DDL picks out Charles Laughton who was not a method actor . He’s clearly Ddl’s biggest inspiration and he could be talking about himself in a way . And talks about him in a interesting way ‘ He didn’t make a besutiful sound , he certainly didn’t make a beautful picture ‘ I’m not sure I understood . His speaking voice was on par with anyone. Laughton was the blueprint . Doing so much understated work in the 30’s/40’s way before Brando etc
I like Daniel Day-Lewis, but he conveys here as being a bit arrogant and unable to accept someone else's opinion and/or criticism, and Laurence Olivier was one of the greats in acting. Lighten up, Daniel.
I've only seen Olivier in a few films (Spartacus, Boys from Brazil, Clash of the Titans) but I always thought he was excellent. I'm sure there are lots of method actors that stink and lots who aren't method that also stink. I have the sneaky suspicion that there a few different paths to being a good actor but to be a star requires something innate.
Olivier was only a fair film actor, are you kidding me? 10 Oscar nominations says that was just an ignorant statement. Olivier, pound for pound the best actor ever.
I remember this quote verbatum from my theatre 101 class about 20 years ago. Always stuck with me and I've been a bit prejudice against method acting ever since
I'm so glad that Daniel gave such high praise to Charles Laughton. From The Hunchback of Notre Dame, to Witness for the Prosecution, to Spartacus, there was none better.
Trying to rank actors can be fun but never really conclusive. In any case, I think that one may argue about other actors possibly being as good as Daniel Day-Lewis, but I don't think there is any actor better.
Don't you think he was joking? At least a bit? He must have know something about 'becoming the character' himself, but was a little more professional about terminating it as well. Daniel Day Lewis sounds as if reinventing the wheel.
I agree with Day-Lewis about Charles Laughton. Olivier was of course great in many roles but could also be a bit hammy at times. Laughton was the supreme professional, unlike today's "stars" who rely more on looks than talent, what Laughton lacked in looks he more than made up with a talent which for sure has been equaled but probably never surpassed.
Oliver tried something similar in Quo Vadis with Laughton. Laughton told the director he couldn't really get a hold on the character of Nero. Oliver said" Why don't I read the dialogue for you dear boy and you'll understand it better" He proceeded to read the script and when he finished he turned to Laughton and said" Now dear boy do you understand?" Laughton looked at him and said "I understand less now"
Olivier and Laughton are not in Quo Vadis. Peter Ustinov played Nero in that film. I think you confused it with Spartacus, where Olivier and Laughton plays General Crassus and Senator Gracchus respectively. Also, Laughton is nearly a decade older than Olivier, so I doubt he'd call Laughton "dear boy" , specially since, Lawrence greatly respect Charles Laughton.
@@inisipisTV you are correct it was Spartacus, Oliver did refer to a lot of people by calling them "Dear boy" many actors have remarked on this. Laughton could take offence easily and he believed Oliver was being patronising towards him . Oliver was extremely ambitious and did have a tendency to be almost dictatorial. He never really got along with Sir John Gielgud as he saw him as a competition. Gielgud had a wonderful speaking voice and Oliver was always slightly jealous of him. Gielgud was aware of this and mentioned it in an interview to his amusement.
If one is going to speak of Brando and of Olivier, then it should be known that Olivier was a great admirer of Brando and vice versa. Find the Dick Cavett interview of Laurence Olivier where he speaks glowingly of Marlon Brando. Read accounts of Brando's preparation for the role of Marc Antony and how he consulted Olivier and listened to his Shakespeare recordings.
Truth is always in the middle,if you don't bath don't sleep,don't eat for four days,it is easier to "act" that part! But if i am watching a movie and i feel emotions ,i do not think if it is a method acting or else.....
When you make a film about Abraham Lincoln, play the title role, and the thing that people most seem to talk about is what you did while the cameras weren't rolling, what does that say?
Ultimately who cares what technique a particular actor uses to bring out their best performance? Method acting can be extreme, but this is *art* not an efficiency contest. If the director, fellow actors and crew are willing to accept the challenges introduced by a colleague using "The Method" then they've made their choice.
Olivier created way more truthful profound mesmerizing timeless moments in his acting and more organic vital stunning moving characters than all these self-indulgent self-important fragile pretentious actors combined..
didn't happen like that. Real story - Hoffman didn't sleep for three days and that meant during the close ups he had no 'life' in his eyes... do they had to reshoot it... watching the rushes with the Director was John Schliesenger, and he commented to him in a throw away fashion, "Why doesn't he try acting." Olivier respected and like Dustin and vice versa.
Michael Caine, while working with Olivier told a story between takes, Michael was in his trailer watching Wimbledon Olivier knocked on the door and said how can you do that Michael between takes I have to remain in the character Michael then said I know my lines I’m just relaxing and Olivier found this very difficult to accept but from then on joined him in his trailer, relaxing and watching the tennis?
Olivier was not being judgmental...after asking Dustin why he didn't just try acting, he added that he too at one time, had run himself into the ground for a scene...
The interviewer’s point about the difference between American vs. British actors may have been true decades ago, but has ever watched Gary Oldman or Christian Bale?
And who was Olivier to tell another actor how they should do the work? Whatever gets each individual actor where they need to go to play their role should be respected as long as they consider the other actors as well.
Day-Lewis should have known that Olivier was kidding Hoffman AND he was fully aware of the things he did in the name of acting on stage that were of the same kind. It says more about Day-Lewis that his response takes the story at face value. Charles Laughton was okay but not in Olivier's class.
The story is mistold. Get it from the director, John Schlesinger. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-itz5kArG538.html It's not simply about method acting. Dustin exhausted himself to the point he could not emote. There was nothing left to bring out the character; nothing in his eyes. They had to reshoot. This is different from method actors being difficult to work with-that's seems not to be rare. There are many odd situations where "Just try acting" might improve the experience though one might question if the method improves the product. Jodi Foster didn't speak to Anthony Hopkins outside of the takes. Meryl Streep felt obligated to distance herself from the cast of The Devil Wears Prada. That had a negative impact on her experience. Could Andy be intimidated by Miranda without Anne being intimidated by Meryl? Meryl says she feels she missed out on the fun.
Being British, Day-Lewis (one of the finest actors alive today) should understand that the comment was likely a joke, completely in line with renown dry British humour.
It's actually only partly true and taken completely out of context. Hoffman himself says that and that it was a joke and taken as a joke by him. He and Olivier had a very good, respectful working relationship, according to him - and he was there, so i'll take his version.
Several comments in this thread make various attempts to downplay the core of what Daniel Day-Lewis is getting at with his defense of the method. Regarding the Oliver/Hoffman story, it does not matter that they were friendly, or that they thought their conversation was a joke. DDL gets to the heart of the matter about the divide between the method and the older acting establishment. Several others in the old guard from the UK or Hollywood have either directly criticized the method or have described acting in very simple terms implying that the method is not necessary. In the end, with the expansion of film acting, the method has become dominant in the US and in much of Europe. The reason for that is the point that DDL was trying to make.
Daniel Day is the GOAT in my opinion, completely subjective debate, but I will NEVER understand the respect Brando gets, he would chomp scenes, and never brought a naturism to his work that other great method actors do. That emperor is naked!
Hoffman and director Schlesinger have both said this is an exaggeration story by the newspapers 😊 maybe Hoffman was covering 😂 himself. According to Schlesinger (interview on YT), he had to reshoot some close-ups of Dustin in the dental scene I believe, because he had his eyes closed or something similar. As we know, Olivier was struggling at the time with his disease, that's when he allegedly said the famous sentence
Daniel Day Lewis remains the greatest actor of his generation. I would LOVE to hear he and Olivier chatting about acting. I suspect they would disagree wildly, and have enormous respect for each other (and would laugh at non-actors who “take sides” on the issue).
The golden age actors hated method acting, they came from learn ur lines, show up and perform. I'm sure they were exhausted by my method actors who didn't turn off, great actor Brian Cox said it's not difficult, no ur craft, be prepared, simple.
@@merlinsrobe4621 watch any other too my left foot and there will be blood and phantom thread And gangs of New York . He's not an overactor at all. And many method actors(if you mean method can't be true to life) are great like Gary Oldman who's very real and naturalistic , Marlon Brando ofc , robert De niro Al Pacino many more . You might be saying that ddls performances are overdone but no mate like in there will be blood the whole time is realistic except that bowling scene but that's the point the man was supposed to go crazy you know what I mean.
Olivier was the best pure actor ever, none of that method acting crap and don't get me started about how he could act circles around any of the actors then and now on the stage. Don't get me wrong, Daniel Day-Lewis is 2nd best actor ever, but I don't don't consider that acting, when you become the role.
Remember Olivier did Shakespeare twice a day on stage on matinee days. Some of his plays were three hours long. Othello twice in one day! Day-Lewis couldn't stand the pace of small parts on the stage. He was a lightweight. All we can say - at best - was that he was the best of the current lightweights.
You missed the point of difference he was making. He mentioned the difference between film acting and stage acting and yes he called Brando god. But for why and what? Because he was the best there ever has been at doing both.
MerkinMuffly Olivier was great but he was much more theatrical. While guys like Brando and Clift brought a greater sense of realism which was due to the method approach
I think Day-Lewis is the one who's missing the point here. It was a lighthearted quip from Olivier telling Hoffman that there's a much easier alternative.
Don't challenge another master of the craft, whoever you are. And I've seen Marathon Man. Hoffman and Olivier are both excellent, no matter what path they took to get there. Daniel has also proven his mastery. Nuff said...
@@garyspence2128 Don't lecture me when you haven't read my comment properly, whoever you are... 'Hoffman and Olivier are both excellent, no matter what path they took to get there.' *EXACTLY!!!* And Olivier was lightheartedly pointing out that there is a much easier path. *DO YOU GET IT NOW???* (FFS...)
@@garyspence2128I don't question DD skill and his abilities, which are phenomenal. I question his understanding of the context of the story, which in an Hoffman's interview was friendly jest by two friends, after Dustin has been actually partying for 48 hours straight, not really doing the "method" thing. Sir Lawrence is very much aware of the Stanislavski, a method of acting really made for theatre, specially Sir Lawrence is one of the first to truly bring Shakespeare's work onto the big screen. I think Daniel-Day was being too defensive on the Method way of acting, that it's bordering on insecurity, when he shouldn't be, considering his great ability. Perhaps, he's more into giving the audience, who we can assume are ignorant on the teachings, a more basic understanding of the technique so they can understand better, and not as a direct opinion on the story.
Brilliant analysis of method acting by naming Charles Laughton as an early forerunner. The difference between Olivier and Hoffman in terms of acting styles is craft vs reality. Method tries to make the process of acting as real as possible not just a well-crafted guise.
If you've ever seen the clips from the never finished "I, Claudius" with Charles Laughton, he was very much an early Method actor. He irritated his directors. Many actors felt acting was more of a trade or an entertainment, and not something as important as an art. Directors and actors like Olivier want to be efficient, not waste time, and have respect for the other actors and actresses instead of making them wait around. It was a craft, not an art. Laughton, in the one movie he directed, "Night of the Hunter" was absolutely cherished by the actors in the film. He was patient and kindly, and kept the budget down, as I recall. Actors who can just remember their lines and jump into the part are craftsman. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-uPf4kbZFT10.htmlsi=nXOviBhSPKu4FRkP&t=1487 This is the thing about Laughton that bothered his fellow performers, like Merle Oberon....
Daniel Day Lewis didnt laughat the Dustin Hoffman comment like the INterviwer and many in the Audience. That is because DDL would have done the same exact thing that Dustin Hoffman did
I disagree with Daniel Day Lewis about his take on what Lawrence Olivier said. I get more as much out of Bogart and Cagney as I do the method actors like Deniro. Making things as real as possible to me is a stylistic choice not a superior one.
Ian McKellan's process is that he pretends to be the person he's portraying in the film or play. He played Gandalf in Lord of the Rings WITHOUT BEING A WIZARD AT ALL - he made this clear to Peter Jackson. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-m5CX00i4uZE.html
Charles Laughton directed his only film Night of the Hunter and it was so panned at the time he never directed again, it's now considered a classic film. Shame.
Today the director has all his supporting cast go to ''boot camp'' if they're making a war film. They seem to think acting is a thing of the past. When they made The Longest Day, or A Bridge Too Far, they sure as hell didn't make those guys go to some pretend actor's basic training. For one thing MOST of the cast had already served in the military and some even fought in the battle they were pretending to fight on screen. But the idea that an actor today has to spend a week or a month living in a hooch just to seem like he's in Vietnam is ridiculous. The Tropic Thunder cast didn't do this, and that was as good a war flick as has been made by anyone else.
If Olivier is "acting" the stress felt by Dr. Szell it is even more amazing ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-07IEVbjHIrE.html Olivier sent his children, Richard and Tamsin at least, to Daniel Day Lewis' school.
I think in a way Daniel Day Lewis has done more harm than good for acting. Now everyone is trying to imitate him and the process had become more popular than the result.
