British director Stephen Frears says that American actors are just not that good in comparison to British actors.
“There is a kind of crisis in American acting. It is very noticeable.”
Four years ago, he told a BBC radio audience: “There is a kind of crisis in American acting. It is very noticeable.” He added: “If I were being tedious I would say it’s the lack of a theatre. When you work with someone like Annette Bening or Glenn Close, they are highly trained. It’s like working with Judi Dench. They are the real thing. But a lot of American cinema doesn’t have that background.”
In addition, Spike Lee said that American actors lack training, “is very proper, whereas some of these other brothers and sisters, you know, they come in here, and they don’t got that training”.
The president of the Casting Society of America, Richard Hicks said that a search of new talent has become very problematic. “I went to see a movie,” he told Entertainment Weekly “and four casting directors were sitting around talking about, ‘What’s up with all the Brits and Australian actors snagging all the leads?’”
‘What’s up with all the Brits and Australian actors snagging all the leads?’”
Hicks blames it on the lack of training the typical American actor receives versus their European competition, which is why we are seeing more comedic American actors receiving more dramatic roles.
From The Guardian:
It is by building up a portfolio of cameo roles that a talent can develop, he argued. In answer to the dearth of substantial male talent, his fellow casting directors cast their net wider, giving serious roles to actors who had picked up technique in comic roles. So Steve Carrell was cast in Foxcatcher, Adam Sandler in Punch Drunk Love and Funny People, Ben Stiller in While We’re Young and now Vince Vaughn stars in the bleak second season of the hit television series True Detective.
Others are blaming big budget movie’s ability to audition actors from across the world for productions filming in Los Angeles, New York or Atlanta. As the Guardian points out, “casting directors can afford to look across the English-speaking world for fresh talent.”
“Casting directors can afford to look across the English-speaking world for fresh talent.”
It is important to point out that according to the Department of Homeland Security there is a 500% increase in the number of visa petitions approved for actors and directors from the UK who want to work in the US film industry.
But, this issue of acting jobs is only affecting male actors. In fact, younger American female actresses have not been typically affected by the British invasion.
