The actors I chose to acknowledge are Sigourney Weaver, Bill Paxton and Jeanette Goldstein who stared in the 1986 sci fi horror classic Aliens. These three actors played a great role and provided their own personalities on the set.
Bill Paxton was more of a cocky and comedic relief in Aliens, which actually helped me sit through such a terrifying film. He has been known as the actor who completely merges himself in his roles, and it’s quite difficult to fit him into a single category, making him the wild card. Most cases in the film he was scolded for his tongue and quick witted remarks, to include the briefing scene where he asked Lt Gorman, his superior officer, “How do I get out of this chicken s*** outfit?”
Goldstein was an athlete turned actress and made her debut in Aliens as Pvt. Vasquez. The part of Pvt. Vasquez required a tough marine with a take no prisoner attitude, better suited for a male to play this role. Cameron thought a female would be more interesting to play this role, and Goldstein adapted to this. Goldstein said in an interview of Aliens that she thought the movie was about immigration. Though she had very little experience as a macho Latina female with no dialect training, she played an amazing role as Pvt. Vasquez, which is why I would categorize her as a character actor. Vasquez was the quiet type, only saying something if it was necessary, and she was tough as nails when it came to the action scenes, as she was the marine who would shoot first and not ask questions, example in the rescue scene when the aliens are closing in on them in the atmosphere processor. The marines detect movement, but due to the explosions and smoke from the fire, they couldn’t see anything. Suddenly Vasquez yells, “Lets Rock!” and begins firing in all directions, as the marines make an attempt to fall back to the APC. Her no fear attitude during this scene complimented this action scene quite well.
Through the years of film Sigourney Weaver has leaned more towards a more drama type character than a gun toting actor, and playing this part was well out of her realm of experience. Though she returned to play the sequel, the original Alien film was less action, more horror. In the prequel film she was a prominent leader, and played her role as one who was fearful yet courageous when the pressure was on. In the sequel you see her once again fearful, but grows to face this fear head on, and James Cameron allows the audience to watch that unfold. In the Aliens film you watch her as a fearful advisor in the beginning to become a solid leader when the marines lose more than half their team. It would be very easy to categorize Weaver as a star, because you recognize just who she is, and though she isn’t in the Hollywood limelight a lot of people are very fond of her, and in every film she has starred in you cannot help but notice her powerful feminine spirit and persona. However, in her more recent films, Weaver has had the opportunity to reveal to fans she is more of a personality actor, as the majority of her films she has been more of a drama actor than any, which allowed her persona to flourish. In sci fi fantasy comedies Ghostbusters (1984) and Ghostbusters 2 (1989), Weaver played the role of Dana Barrett, a soft hearted and gentle character. In Avatar (2009) she plays a cunning scientist wishing to make peace with the local natives of Pandora. In a more recent film, Rampart (2011), Weaver plays the role of a strong willed therapist.
The actor categories seem a bit vague and in some cases rather unfair to me, as anyone can be a star if they’ve been in several amount of movies, and for some films the actor must lose his or herself to the persona of the character, which our textbook says is demeaning for impersonator acting (Goodykoontz and Jacobs 2009). I believe any actor should be allowed to present their own personality to whatever character they play without being categorized. Some actors have specific strengths and are suited for certain roles and genres. Does that make them weak or close minded? By no means. It merely shows that they enjoy certain roles and have the ability to flourish in them.
References:
Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2014). Film: From watching to seeing (2nd ed.). San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc
Wikipedia.org. (n.d.) Aliens(film). Retrieved from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aliens_(film)
Internet Movie Database (n.d.). Sigourney Weaver. Retrieved from: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000244/?ref_=nv_sr_1
Internet Movie Database (n.d.). Bill Paxton. Retrieved from: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000200/
Internet Movie Database (n.d.). Jenette Goldstein. Retrieved from: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001280/?ref_=nv_sr_1
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