A new generation of actors can no longer remember their lines, Bill Nighy said, as he criticized the “discourtesy to their fellow professionals.”
Bill Nighy has a long history in Hollywood working on some of the biggest movies including Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean and Hot Fuzz. In fact, a brief look at his IMDB page you will see probably one of the hardest working actors in the game. That said, he is not impressed by his fellow actors.
Award-winning actor said it has become cool for actors to deliberately refuse to learn their lines ahead of time, mistakenly believing it will improve their performance.
Arguing actors must refocus their attention on performing properly. Nighy said the trend has been pushed by actors who “don’t want to do their homework.”
Asked for his advice for young actors, he said:“If you’re doing anything, whether it’s a play or a film, learn every single word that you have to say backward forwards and sideways before you go into a rehearsal room and before you go on a film set.
“That might sound like an obvious thing, but it’s not currently: there is a fashion for not knowing your lines.
“It’s been invented by people who don’t want to do their homework, even as a creative choice.
“You will not become imprisoned by intonations, and therefore it’s a discourtesy to your fellow professionals. “That’s a piece of bull—t from people who don’t do their homework.
“That’s an important thing to know. That’s as important a thing I could possibly say.”
He added: “You can’t rehearse with a book in your hand. And you can’t go and be on the sides of a film set and not know your lines until someone turns the camera.
“There is no lightning. Nothing’s going to strike.
“Rehearsal is not the enemy of spontaneity. The idea is the process is you say the lines over and over and over and over and over again until you can give the impression that you’ve never said them before and it’s just occurred to you. That’s the gig.
“It’s entered the language in a very deep way. Professionals will advise young actors not to learn. It’s got that bad.”
