Ian McKellen's touching Facebook post on Phillip Seymour Hoffman (RIP)

[Ichingcarpenter]

[sarge43]

1. Ian McKellen, a gentle perfect knight

May Hoffman find the peace that eluded him in this life. He was one of those very rare actors who became one with the character.

[Skittles]

2. I will never forget hearing he was cast for Capote

I adored him but I actually laughed and said, no WAY will he pull THAT one off. But when I saw the movie I said, "He will Best Actor - hands down."

Now THAT is an actor.

[Ichingcarpenter]

5. To pour that much soul into his characters

had to put a toil on him. Robert Downy Jr alsmost bit the dust a while back but luckily didn't.



A psychologist's view


I have often thought about what makes a great actor, not a good one, but a great one. Marlon Brando is one, Gerard Depardieu (France) is another. I think what it involves is those with leaky gates and therefore great access to feelings. They can portray emotions to their depths because they are already awash in them. It makes them great and already out of control. They are impulsive, aggressive, narcissistic, having never enough love and attention, and above all, self referent: that is, everything they say or do is related to them. You say something and they immediately retort, “I remember when I..,……” blah blah. They are always story tellers , and the story is usually about them.

Their whole world is acting and that is where they are real. They can blend into any character and become that character. Reality is not their thing except inside a fantasy character. They have no self-consciousness because the self is in the character; they are not examining the character, they are living it. They are it.


http://cigognenews.blogspot.dk/2013/02/the-psychology-of-great-actor.html

[condoleeza]

10. Great link!

Thank you for posting this link, which led me to Janov's website, where I've been reading and watching videos for 2 hours now. As the Mom of an actress/comic, who is married to a child therapist/comic, this was 2 hours well spent in understanding how my own life experiences in utero and after likely contributed, both good and bad, to her life and why Cognitive Behavioral Therapy didn't work for me.

I think you said it very well that "To pour that much soul into his characters had to put a toil on him. Robert Downy Jr almost bit the dust a while back but luckily didn't." My daughter is a friend/USC classmate of Susan Levy, who is one amazing woman, now his wife, and that we all feel gave him the unconditional love he always needed to finally "FEEL" himself and take control of those feelings.

It's a tough business and although Phillip Seymour Hoffman had an absent Father and a loving Mother, you have to wonder what compelled her, via her own life experiences, to become a Family Court Judge and what influence this may have had on him as a young child. Can only imagine she brought it home from work, whether she realized it or not.

It isn't $ and vanity that leads so many talented and driven people to use drugs and ultimately destroy themselves, they are just people who are different for one reason or another from an early age. They FEEL more, they need a voice, they are trying to heal themselves through their work. Sadly, few do the work they need to do to be a real person and maybe then they couldn't portray the people they do, if they had. I don't know. This instant age of reporting any scandalous news of celebrities is pretty sick.

Very curious now about Primal Therapy.

[Ichingcarpenter]

11. John Lennon did Primal Therapy

His song 'Mother' was an acknowledgement to it... You can hear his primal scream. He said it turned around his life.

I was taken by Ian's observation of witnessing a live performance of Philip in which in described the how deep it had gone into his being. He wasn't just a good actor he was a GREAT actor and Ian knew that. Which lead me to that link.

I think I might watch 'The Master' tonight where he plays a Scientologist..

[sarge43]

6. His Capote is a stunning performance, an acting master class

Then there's Brandt, every sniveling lackey since the beginning of time

[merrily]

3. Great loss for movie viewers.

I hasten to edit to add "as well as for those who knew him."

That was implied in the original sentiment, but I may as well make it explicit, lest anyone mistake my meaning.

[Skittles]

7. I hear you; thank goodness for the immediate edit function

I have used it myself many times for clarification

[xchrom]

4. du rec.

[a la izquierda]

8. I tried explaining this to my husband yesterday...

The most brilliant are often the most tormented.

[malaise]

9. Very nice

Rec

[Egalitarian Thug]

12. A very sad K&R. n/t