10 Movie Performances That Got Too Real

WhatCulture

19 hours ago

When great acting hits too close to home.

Transcript

00:00It is a truth often spouted that life imitates art.

00:04And while this can be an incredible thing

00:06that can add many layers to an actor's role in a film,

00:09sometimes the stark reality of a performance

00:12can be a little too much.

00:14With that in mind, I'm Will for What Culture

00:15and here are 10 movie performances that got too real.

00:2010. Shia LaBeouf, Pieces of a Woman.

00:22On the night of Pieces of a Woman's release,

00:25Shia LaBeouf's former partner, musician FKA Twigs,

00:28sued him for sexual battery, assault

00:30and infliction of emotional distress.

00:33Netflix pivoted by removing LaBeouf

00:35from their awards campaign for the film

00:37and downplaying his role in the marketing.

00:39But ultimately, there's no escaping

00:41the unfortunate nature of the role itself.

00:43LaBeouf plays Sean, who together with his wife Martha,

00:46struggles to cope with the recent stillbirth of their child.

00:49Numerous subsequent scenes see a frustrated,

00:52traumatized Sean lashing out at Martha

00:54in a manner which proves infinitely more discomforting

00:57given the recent allegations made against the actor.

01:00Though LaBeouf's performance is strong,

01:03many will simply be too preoccupied

01:05with the proximity the role has to his personal life

01:07to accept it as a mere piece of acting.

01:109. Brandon Lee, The Crow.

01:13The Crow was supposed to be Hollywood's coming out party

01:15for Bruce Lee's son Brandon.

01:17Yet, tragically, Lee ended up dying

01:19in an on-set accident after a prop gun misfired.

01:22The director and crew scrambled to complete the film

01:25without their lead actor,

01:27ultimately employing a combination of body doubles

01:29and visual effects to complete

01:31the few remaining days of shooting.

01:33Such an accident would cast a devastating cloud

01:35over any film, but it's especially tough in The Crow,

01:39given that Lee's protagonist, rock star Eric Draven,

01:42is murdered by gunshots early on.

01:44Knowing this doesn't actually detract

01:46from the film in any way,

01:47though it certainly lends it a heartbreaking poignance

01:50it otherwise wouldn't have.

01:528. Kirsten Dunst, Melancholia.

01:54Arguably one of the most underappreciated performances

01:57of the last decade,

01:58Kirsten Dunst is nothing short of phenomenal

02:00in the 2011 drama Melancholia.

02:03Dunst plays Justine,

02:04an unhappy newlywed struggling to make sense of her life

02:07on the eve of an apocalyptic event

02:09which will see a rogue planet collide with the Earth,

02:12ending all of human existence.

02:14Von Trier conceived the film during a depressive episode

02:17and is part of his famed Depression Trilogy.

02:20But the subject matter also proved proximate

02:22to Kirsten's own life.

02:24In 2008, the actress was treated for depression

02:26and has spoken of bonding with Von Trier

02:28over their respective mental health battles.

02:31She said,

02:32We met before I did the movie

02:34and talked about how the light goes out of your eyes.

02:36People don't talk about depression.

02:38So for me, it was really amazing

02:40to see this was going to be portrayed.

02:427. Liam Neeson, The Grey.

02:44Joe Carnahan's thriller The Grey arrived in the middle

02:47of a curious turning point for Neeson's career

02:49as he threw himself into a load of action revenge thrillers

02:53following the success of Taken.

02:54Neeson has spoken extensively about doing so

02:57in order to distract himself in the wake of his wife,

02:59Natasha Richardson's 2009 death,

03:02which makes The Grey an especially heart-rending entry

03:05into his filmography.

03:07In the film, Neeson's protagonist, John Otway,

03:09suffers through the death of his wife, Anna,

03:11and as a result, plans to commit suicide,

03:13though thankfully decides instead to fight for his life

03:16at the film's end.

03:18It's impossible not to view the film

03:19within the context of Neeson's own grief

03:21and consider whether shooting it

03:23was a cathartic experience for the actor.

03:266. Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep, Kramer vs. Kramer.

03:30Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep star

03:31as a former married couple caught in the midst

03:34of a bitter custody battle for their son, Billy,

03:36in Kramer vs. Kramer.

03:37The film is a fiery acting masterclass

03:40and one suffused with even more emotional authenticity

03:43than is immediately apparent.

03:45For starters, both Hoffman and Streep

03:46were working through personal tragedies

03:48at the time of shooting.

03:50Hoffman was in the midst of a divorce from his first wife

03:52while Streep was mourning the death of her partner.

03:55But it goes deeper than the mere anguish

03:57they bring to the parts.

03:58The two actors clashed extensively throughout the shoot,

04:01largely due to Hoffman's commitment to method acting

04:04and various attempts to antagonize a, quote,

04:06better performance out of Streep.

04:08It doubtless all adds up to make the final film

04:10feel incredibly raw,

04:12even if that's a lot of emotional baggage

04:14for two actors to carry around with them

04:16during a film shoot.

04:185. Nick Nolte, Warrior.

04:20Nick Nolte received a well-earned

04:22Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination

04:23for his heart-wrenching performance in Warrior,

04:26playing Paddy Conlon,

04:27the recovering alcoholic father

04:29of protagonists Tommy and Brendan.

04:31Nolte's depiction of a man

04:32whose life is defined by his battle with the bottle

04:35has undeniable allusions

04:36to the actor's own lifelong substance abuse issues.

04:40Nolte said of his performance,

04:42because I have a drunk driving record

04:44and I have not been silent about my own addictions,

04:47it was a perfect vehicle.

04:48I understand addictions.

04:50I understand how destructive they are

04:52and how difficult they are to break.

04:544. Elsie Fisher, 8th Grade.

04:57In a just world,

04:588th Grade would have been nominated for a pile of Oscars,

05:01especially for 14-year-old lead Elsie Fisher,

05:04who proves so jaw-droppingly convincing

05:06as high school protagonist Kayla.

05:08Elsie's performance is thoroughly authentic,

05:11perfectly conveying the anxieties

05:12of those awkward adolescent years

05:14precisely because she literally experienced them

05:16in real time while making the film.

05:18Though 8th Grade is awash in heart and humour,

05:21its more awkward passages

05:22are what makes it feel so relatable,

05:24Kayla's discomfort in her own skin

05:26being both crushingly recognisable

05:28and unmistakably drawn from her own experiences.

05:31She may not have captured the Academy's attention,

05:33but at least she did receive

05:34a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress.

05:373. John Wayne, The Shootist.

05:39In his final film role,

05:41John Wayne plays aged gunfighter J.B. Brooks,

05:44who, in addition to being a quaint relic

05:46in a world moving on without him,

05:47also has his days numbered

05:49by a terminal cancer diagnosis.

05:51Wayne's casting is incredibly poignant,

05:53both for the fact that his brand

05:55of grizzled Western hero was falling out of favour

05:57in the 70s and that Wayne had himself

06:00suffered with lung cancer years prior,

06:02leaving his breathing and physical movements

06:04incredibly limited.

06:06Three years after the film's release,

06:08Wayne passed away from stomach cancer,

06:10ensuring that The Shootist

06:11is a near-literal cinematic eulogy

06:14for one of the most statuesque movie stars of all time.

06:172. Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler.

06:20As a self-contained performance,

06:21Mickey Rourke's naked vulnerability

06:23in The Wrestler proves tremendously affecting,

06:26though his turn as a broken-down, washed-up wrestler

06:28has an undeniably self-reflexive quality to it.

06:32The Wrestler is a not-so-subtle meta-commentary

06:34on Rourke's own acting career,

06:36for after establishing himself

06:38as a household name throughout the 80s,

06:40Rourke developed a reputation for being difficult

06:42and even quit acting for several years

06:44to become a boxer.

06:45When Randy launches into his

06:47I'm an old, broken-down, piece-of-meat speech,

06:50the scene which basically got him the Oscar nomination,

06:52it's tough to view it through anything

06:54but an entirely self-regarding lens.

06:56Painful, but brilliant.

06:581. Gloria Swanson, Sunset Boulevard.

07:02It's safe to say that many people

07:03watching Sunset Boulevard today

07:05won't appreciate the full, devastating context

07:08of Billy Wilder's ingenious 1950 film noir.

07:11Gloria Swanson stars as Norma Desmond,

07:14a mostly forgotten former silent film star

07:16whose depleted fame has brought her to the brink of suicide.

07:20Like Desmond, Swanson was a celebrated silent film actress

07:24who struggled to transition into talkies

07:26and eventually fell into obscurity.

07:28The delicious irony of Sunset Boulevard

07:31is that this was Swanson's first movie role

07:34in around 20 years,

07:35and like her character in the film,

07:37she was mounting an attempt at a Hollywood comeback.

07:40Thankfully, in her case, it worked,

07:42as she netted herself a third Best Actress Oscar nomination,

07:45and unlike the character she played,

07:47she didn't end up losing her mind or murdering someone.

07:50In this case, Too Real was basically the point,

07:53and it worked out splendidly.

10 Movie Performances That Got Too Real

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