25-11-20
Anthony Hopkins said, “The art of acting is not to act. Once you show them more, what you show them in fact is bad acting.” Dylan Bruce remarked, “I think sometimes soap acting gets an unfair label for being bad… you learned from it what worked and didn’t work, what was bad acting and what wasn’t.”
In Hong Kong, there is a well-respected actor Shek Sau(石修) who has had a good reputation for his natural acting since 1956 when he was a child star. His other reliable reputation is that Shek Sau stays young-looking and charming forever. His age betrayed him and he should keep his age secret.
There is no shortage of stars to be found amid Shek Sau’s family members. His father Chan Chik-Hong (陳直康) was a famous film producer in the 1950s. His son Sam Chan(陳宇琛) is now an actor and director. His daughter-in-law Camille Lam(林佑蔚)is a former TV program anchor. Shek Sau himself is an unspoiled celebrity. He is always well-mannered, sincere and responsive. The flower of this gentlemen’s smell is invariably shy and lowly.
I asked Shek Sau, “What is your good memory of being child star?” He laughed, “The initial one was an unforgettable memory. When I was 8 years old and first performed in a film, I got no dialogue or monologue. They just covered my face and body with some dirty linen. The remuneration was a bowl of spicy noodles. I worked actively till I was 13. Honestly, I did not know how to act. The assistant director told me what to say and I just followed. The movie world is like a tango, but I was not a dancer with any skill at that time.”
I was curious, “When did you seriously learn to act?” Shek Sau recollected, “I stopped acting when I was in high school. My father took me often to watch Hollywood movies. My idols were such as Errol Flynn and Gary Cooper. I observed them carefully. I thought facial expressions and body language were something that came naturally and should remain natural on the film-screen. After 19, I re-entered the acting profession. With the rapid decline of Hong Kong Cantonese movie in the late 60s, I decided to join HK-TVB to be a TV actor and from then on, I appeared mainly on television and my blossoming career included successful TV drama roles to a significant degree.”
I asked Shek Sau, “So, how did you act naturally?” He was modest, “I did not go to any training school. My theory is based on my personal experience: avoid the superficial, presentational and performative style of acting. Bring a sense of realism to your role. I read the script 3 times in order to consider a character’s given circumstances incorporating who he is, what he does, what he wants in life and how he expects the other characters to look at himself. After that, my focus is how to deploy an actor’s instrument—facial expression, eyes, body, voice and body language. After all, I want my performance to be emotionally as realistic as possible.”
Some actors like to mark a script: writing down melodic vocal changes, underlining words that need more stress, deciding where to pause for breath and picking up the right point for a smile. Shek Sau commented, “I desire to be more human. I may make a hundred preparations but once when I start to act, I often think about something else. I like to listen to that something else. Talent is an accident of genes and impulses.”
Much bad acting in Hong Kong is the result of actors being unimaginative. They simply copy others. Shek Sau said, “Acting truth surpasses the imitation. If you copy, it may mean you are working without any real feeling or passion.”
Actors worry about bad look, age, weight, receding hairlines and wrinkles. The real threat is actually bad acting: Most believe the tricks of tears and cry too often. Many think loud facial expressions will attract. For the young actors, to be natural is often a very difficult pose to keep up. Let us mention a few examples. Shoulders are always turned and chin is always forward. Quite a number of actors do not act consistently too. They mourn the death of a lover one moment and can be super-happy the next moment. Some simply want the audience to go crazy about him for his manly voice or her for the sexy voice. Voice becomes a superstition. Finally, some fail to develop a 3-dimensional character and their flaw in acting is the monotone.
Shek Sau concluded, “In Hong Kong, TV is taking a nosedive and we do not have enough resources to refine things including acting. Right now, we are trapped in a tiny box of 7 million people as a city market.”
Good acting comes from experience, and experience comes from bad acting. Shek Sau smiled, “I was never taught how to act but I am always ready to learn. Learning is a lifelong process.” Perhaps some actors did not learn it from Shek Sau.
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