Very few bosses encourage employees to look drunk, but actors have a unique gig. So it makes sense that Us Weekly reader Lori from Houston had to Ask us: “Is it hard for actors to play inebriated characters and make it look believable?”
Viewers watching drunken escapades unfold on screen (think: friends(Ross and Rachel’s booze-fueled night in Las Vegas) might think it’s easy to achieve a believably good buzz. But for Rivals star Aidan Turnerwhose Declan O’Hara gets spanked in episode 5 of the Hulu drama, playing drunk proved to be a challenge.
“Our director, Elliot Haggertywas saying, “You have to do more. You’re seven and I need nine,’ and I was like, ‘I can’t!'” Turner, 41, exclusively said us. Ultimately, Turner turned his performance up to 11 — and was surprised by the results. “I thought, ‘This is crazy. It will never work.
The Poldark Alum said the key to creating a believable performance is trusting his director. “When I look back on that scene, I have mixed feelings because he’s very, very drunk,” Turner said. “I think it’s because as a person (in real life) I’m not that wiped out or that crazy drunk, so it’s always felt really big. But I guess tonally it fits the show and you have to trust your director at this point. He or she will give you what you want and walk you through it.
Virginia Sherwood/NBC After so many hours of marathoning “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” viewers finally start to wonder: How do actors convincingly play corpses? And do they get breather breaks? Fortunately, Ask Us is here to help you find the answer. It turns out that it is not easy to control the twitching of the eyelids, the slight inhalation or even, (…)
All in all, Turner considers a solid drunken performance a pretty impressive feat. “There are a lot of great drunken performances. I like a little drunkenness,” explained the Irish actor.
When he’s not being asked to turn his performance up to 11, Turner believes the key to playing drunk is for the actor to look like he wants to be sober.
“It’s almost like any drunk person you meet — they’re trying not to be drunk,” he noted. “You try to stand up somehow. You try not to mumble and try to correct yourself. So that’s the moment there. You don’t lean on drunks, you try to lean on yourself away from him. So, in shows where I see that happen – where you can really see (the actor) actually working to not (be) drunk – I always find that (the performance to be) the most interesting to watch.
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Report by Jana Grebeniuk
