Ethan Gillies
does Sylvester Stallone use of method acting make him an auteur
Item 1: Copland (1997)
This is the first film that i have chosen as in this film we see how Sylvester Stallone uses method acting in the sense of moving out of his normal lifestyle to put himself out there in a role that you wouldn't normally see him in. This is the film that i will base most of my theory on as he goes above and beyond to get in-versed in the role. He does this by putting on 40 pounds and by playing a character that has been described as a doofus, as opposed to his Rambo like heroes.
Item 2: Creed (2015)
I have chosen this film as it shows how even in his years where most actors have retired and are living their later years at home sylvester Stallone is still staying in shape training for his role in creed when he is 69 years of age. He does this by training in the ring behind the scenes with fellow actor Michael B. Jordan. He also does weight training very morning and afternoon in intensive workouts focusing on every muscle group, showing how sylvester has determination even at the later stages of his acting career.
Item 3: Rambo ; First blood (1982)
The final film that i have chosen is the original Rambo as there is method acting present as Sylvester has to put himself into the mind of a Vietnam war veteran named John Rambo. Also he has to traina and have a diverse lifestyle in order for him to physically fit into the role he is playing. To get the ideal body type Sylvester worked with 2 time mr olympia Francesco Columbu.
Interview
Item 4 :
https://www.biography.com/news/sylvester-stallone-biography-interview
Within this interview their is a question asked "A lot of your fans might be surprised to hear you say you can relate with these aspects of Rocky Balboa" Sylvester Stallone replies some of it i relate to and some of it i can understand. he states that when we first see rocky he wants to see Adrienne again and he is ready. Sylvester says he can relate to this as he knows how it is to loose someone you love and to feel like theres no hope for you in this world. This is important as it shows method acting through Uta Hagen where the actor uses his own experiences to build a deeper connection with the character
Item 5 :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JedaPfpQng&t=111s
theres a quote along the lines of 60, what? The significance of this quote from the interview on Creed is that it shows how Sylvester Stallone knows that he is technically past his prime in terms of his fighting ability, yet he is working hard to make films even at his late age. This shows how he has adapted to a new role of being a boxing coach not the fighter himself.
Item 6 :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVLQLaHgFxs
This shows how Sylvester Stallone fits into the role that he once previously played as a fierce fighting machine to now playing him as a sick old man teaching a younger fighter who reminds him of a younger him. This is useful as to play a sick character is difficult enough and made even harder when the character is an american icon. Within this we can see how Sylvester used Stanislavski's techniques in his acting.
Website
item 7 :
https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2016/01/why-sylvester-stallone-deserves-an-oscar/424863/
In this article it states how with Creed, Stallone took his most beloved character and turned it over to a younger generation. In the film Creed he has to make the character in Rocky turn for a lost character to his old self whilst not overplaying the character and being in the supporting actor role. This is method acting in the sense that he has to change from what he knows and what he is best at in order to appeal to a different market. This is useful because it means that Sylvester is able to adapt his acting style to what the role is, rather than being stuck in a one dimensional method as many critics state.
Item 8 :
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/1997/aug/17/fat-role-sylvester-stallone-goes-from-rocky-to/
This is a prime example of Sylvester Stallone's use of method acting to make him an auteur. It shows how people have come accustomed to seeing sylvester Stallone as a man with a body builder type build, however in the film Copland he becomes more relatable to the everyday man. this is supported as in the interview it says he prods his belly and it jiggles just as the average looking men of the world experience. This is a very useful source as it means that Sylvester is able to change from his normal self to fit into a role, and thus showing how his life changes with certain roles in order to get into character.
Item 9 : http://www.ottawacitizen.com/health/After+weight+gain+Sylvester+Stallone+gained+pounds+play+role+overweight+sheriff+drama+Copland/6206107/story.html
This also shows his method acting and the pure extent in which he pursued this role. It shows how he can go away from the norm and his comfort zone in order to exemplify a role and to allow the role be more relatable because there art many cops who are 200 pounds of pure muscle. Overall sylvester gained 40 pounds for the role.
Book
Item 10 :
Book title: On method acting
This book explains that actors are so invested in their roles it means that method a actor it can simply be adding a limp, This is key to sylvester being a method actor as in numerous roles we see him get injury after injury, and we see how sylvester changes his persona based on the film. E.G. in Rambo we see him just shake off injuries like they are nothing but in Copland we see the real effects of this injury throughout the film. i.e deafening gun shots. this is useful as it shows how in every role he plays he does some form of method acting. Whether it be in Rambo where he gets shot or in Copland where he changes his appearance.
Item11 :
Book title: Voice into acting
"In the organic approach to performance we aim to integrate impulse, language, mind, body and voice so that we recreate a human experience in performance that is coming form the whole human being, not just the conscious brain" This is a good quote to us because it explains a kind of method acting in which the actor shifts his daily thoughts and uses past experiences to create a full character performance in which we see Sylvester Stallone do on multiple occasions throughout the films.
Item 12 :
Book title: Method acting reconsidered
"Method actors find characterisation from the text and then fix their performances accordingly" This is a key quote to use as it shows how method acting is used in all films in some way but certain films are more subtle. This is also good quote for the book to use as i can talk about how all method actors interpret text in different ways and thus will reform the roles in their own ways to match how they interpret it.
Rejected items
https://www.popworkouts.com/sylvester-stallone-expendables-workout/
This is a magazine article that describes a workout that Sylvester Stallone was doing for one of his biggest films. This is one of my rejected items as it does not apply to method acting for the films that i have chose as i have chosen Creed, Rambo and Copland not the expendables. This does show Sylvester's devotion to roles that he plays however as many actors would not be willing to do the workouts that he does for roles, however it does not apply to my specific films.
http://www.express.co.uk/celebrity-news/452148/Interview-Sylvester-Stallone-reveals-why-he-is-risking-his-reputation-with-a-one-man-show
I have used this for rejected items as it is not as good for showing method acting in Sylvester Stallone as it is talking more about his life and working with other people and working on films more than walking about how he uses acting techniques or past experience to get a better understanding of his characters. Also i have rejected this item as he talks about how he makes older characters for younger generations which is a form of method acting as he is adapting his films and roles to fit in with a generation 40 years younger than him however i feel that there are better examples of his method acting.
