Oscar Crowe's Interview Paper

An actor often has to take on vastly different roles for the production of a large variety of films. In the development of these roles, the actor constructs different sets of personae by the use of specific gestures, vocalics as well as speech content, in order to aid the communication of ideas and thoughts. Hence for an actor whose profession involves the practice of portraying fictional characters with authenticity, it is almost impossible to determine if his persona off the screen is truly authentic. This is especially so for widely acclaimed actors, in particular Oscar nominees, whose portrayals of characters have been done with such expertise that it has earned them accolades. This paper will analyse and compare the personalities of

According to Galati and Brennan (2013), gestures are integrated, co-expressed and coordinated with speech. Hence they often complement speech in the expression or emphasis of ideas and thoughts. Throughout Crowe’s interview, it is observed that he often looked down at his hands (04:15 – 05:15) instead of at the interviewer or the audience (refer to Figure 1). This, paired with a lack of eye contact when speaking, indicated the shy persona (Sathre-Eldon et al as cited by Atkins, 1988) Crowe seemed to portray in the interview. Crowe’s use of hand gestures was also limited, and for long periods of time his hands were placed firmly on his lap (04:20 – 04:50, 05:55 – 06:25) (refer to Figure 1). When gestures were utilised, Crowe used the open hand (refer to Figure 2) most frequently, for instance when he shared about his first experience on a filming set as a child (04:29, 04:35). Open hand gestures invite response; hence by using this gesture, Crowe seemed to be inviting support from the audience (Streeck, 2008). In general, Crowe had only a few gestures which were mostly executed with minimal force, suggesting that he was reserved and shy (Martinec, 2004). In his interview, this persona seemed to be authentic as well. Authenticity was apparent due to the conversationality of talk, which can be attributed to the presence of

This is in contrast to the cheerful persona that surfaced in his interview, therefore suggesting that the persona constructed was inauthentic. Moreover, Sellers was an enigmatic figure who claimed to have no identity or personality outside the roles he played. He was known to role-play obsessively as he was unable to get out of his on-screen persona, and this was especially evident in one of his appearances with ‘The Muppets’. In the video (Bailey et. al, 1978), caught out by Kermit the frog in the dressing room as he was rehearsing his act, Sellers confided that he “could never be [himself], because there [was] no [him]” (00:55). According to Montgomery (2001), a talk is considered authentic if it truly projects the core self of the speaker and his values. For Sellers, because his personae in his interviews were almost always based on his different on-screen roles, it is virtually impossible to find out what his true personality was and hence accurately determine the authenticity of his