# Most Difficult 'Mundane Task' For Actors To Get Right? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 24, 2009, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-mundane-task-for-actors-to-get-right/500796 "2009-06-24T02:41:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-mundane-task-for-actors-to-get-right/500796/41 "2009-06-25T11:11:05Z")
I always thought that smoking and eating/drinking looked more real if it actually was real. I did a bit of amature theatre and once my character was supposed to smoke a pipe; I don’t smoke, but I decided I should for the scenes with the pipe, looked more real. And I don’t understand why they don’t really drink in movies; when people sit around a table, with water, in real life, they do drink, the water level keeps changing as they drink and refill. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-mundane-task-for-actors-to-get-right/500796/42 "2009-06-25T11:21:40Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > Sex. > It’s always a 10-hour long screw-fest, but she covers her breasts in the morning. This is another thing they’re told to do, though, not something they don’t know how to do right. > [@Zebra](#): > > Which is what makes Peter Sellers talking to the Russian Premier in Dr. Strangelove so awesome. What makes it awesome is that it’s Peter Sellers, who is one of the very few actors who can really be called a genius performer. ---
**Author:** ![emcee2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@emcee2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emcee2k)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-mundane-task-for-actors-to-get-right/500796/43 "2009-06-25T12:23:56Z")
Playing a video game. They never hold the controller right, and they’re always randomly ramming all the buttons as fast as they can. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-mundane-task-for-actors-to-get-right/500796/44 "2009-06-25T13:02:32Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > Sex. > It’s always a 10-hour long screw-fest, but she covers her breasts in the morning. That’s because the faceless body double was paid to show her groodies, whereas the actress who actually reads the lines has negotiated, painstakingly, what she will or will not reveal on camera. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-mundane-task-for-actors-to-get-right/500796/45 "2009-06-25T13:17:58Z")
> [@emcee2k](#): > > Playing a video game. They never hold the controller right, and they’re always randomly ramming all the buttons as fast as they can. The following example’s more of an acting thing, but I remember in the early 80s there was a drama where someone got news of some kind while he was playing Zaxxon, and he _just turned around and left the game_. I’ve never seen anyone do that in my life: it’s a _quarter_! ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-mundane-task-for-actors-to-get-right/500796/46 "2009-06-25T15:43:24Z")
Typing. Apparently I type wrong- all you really need to do is just bang a bunch of keys at random on a computer very quickly and a good CPU will know what you’re trying to type/hack/access and do it for you. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-mundane-task-for-actors-to-get-right/500796/47 "2009-06-25T15:52:04Z")
Another one for the driving scenes where we’re looking in through through the windshield. That much action on the steering wheel would have you veering all over the road and soon pulled over for reckless driving/ suspicion of DUI. ---
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-mundane-task-for-actors-to-get-right/500796/48 "2009-06-25T16:05:18Z")
> [@Projammer](#): > > Another one for the driving scenes where we’re looking in through through the windshield. That much action on the steering wheel would have you veering all over the road and soon pulled over for reckless driving/ suspicion of DUI. So true… although, I’ve noticed it getting better as time goes on. In general, actors “drive” better now than they used to in movies. That and I’ve noticed more actors taking cabs. I don’t know if that’s a real fact or just the movies I watch, but if they’re riding in a cab, you don’t have to worry about the hokey driving… ---
**Author:** ![kingpengvin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9dc877/32.png) [@kingpengvin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kingpengvin)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-mundane-task-for-actors-to-get-right/500796/49 "2009-06-25T16:58:14Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > FOTR has three of these instances, two of which are by Ian McKellen: > > – He stumbles a second before bilbo admits that he has the Ring. > – His eyes light up a second before the Ring’s runes are discovered by casting it into a fire. > – The hobbits suddenly perk up in fear just _before_ The Drums start in the mines.Some people explain these away by saying that the sound was not coordinated with the audio, which could possibly be true as in all these instances you cannot see the (pre)-actor’s face and the origin of the sound at the same time. But some of it could be Ian McKellen’s pantomime creeping in, as you _want_ to overreact in that sort of burlesque environment. I’m confused by this… would these not all be examples of editing errors rather than an actor coming in early with their reaction? Smoking by non smoking actors has been one of my pet peeves… They don’t know how to hold it or use the damned thing right. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-mundane-task-for-actors-to-get-right/500796/50 "2009-06-25T17:05:35Z")
> [@kingpengvin](#): > > I’m confused by this… would these not all be examples of editing errors rather than an actor coming in early with their reaction? Depends on how much time the director wanted the actors to be sitting there with non-reacting time on their faces before the “action” occurred, I guess. If they were supposed to come in a second later than they did, I would still call it a pre-reaction shot: even if the sound editors could have theoretically put the sound in in the right place, it might not be the place that was originally intended. Like I said, it’s debatable for two of the three. But to me, it really does seem that McKellen, even before he pre-reacts, sets himself up for the pre-reaction even before he pre-reacts when he swipes at the air when reaching for the shelf when Bilbo admits that he has the Ring. To me, even with the sound sycnhed it would probably look fully intentional to me rather than a genuine reaction. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-mundane-task-for-actors-to-get-right/500796/51 "2009-06-25T17:12:31Z")
> [@Small\_Hen](#): > > Real dead people look waxy. They should nix the actors and make wax replicas. Just cover them an eighth inch deep in wax and give them a straw to breathe through. It would make it so more realistic. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-mundane-task-for-actors-to-get-right/500796/52 "2009-06-25T17:22:34Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > Sex. > It’s always a 10-hour long screw-fest, but she covers her breasts in the morning. Or keeps her bra on the whole time? Or is it that after the lovin’ she puts her bra back on?! ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-mundane-task-for-actors-to-get-right/500796/53 "2009-06-25T19:01:31Z")
Since I don’t play guitar or violin or any other stringed instruments or piano myself, is it easy to tell if the actor can’t play the instrument his character is playing? ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-mundane-task-for-actors-to-get-right/500796/54 "2009-06-25T19:04:06Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > Or keeps her bra on the whole time? Or is it that after the lovin’ she puts her bra back on?! I kind of liked Revolutionary Road for the scene where Frank Wheeler has sex with one of the secretaries at her apartment and afterward she’s covering herself up all shy/awkward and we see her breasts at one point (she’s covering up with the blanket). It felt real because obviously she’s naked but she clearly doesn’t do this very often, so there’s a good reason why she’s covered for most of it. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-mundane-task-for-actors-to-get-right/500796/55 "2009-06-25T19:09:21Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Since I don’t play guitar or violin or any other stringed instruments or piano myself, is it easy to tell if the actor can’t play the instrument his character is playing? Ho, f@ck yeah!!! The list is huge, but that’s more something it would take a musician (not necessarily a musician who plays that instrument, mind) to notice. First examples that come to mind - Sean Penn in the Sweet and Low Down, Hell, he couldn’t even hold the thing when he walked around with it in a way that any sane guitarist would hold it. Miryam D’Abo, who was supposed to be a cellist in some James Bond movie, I forget which one, I don’t know what she was supposed to be doing but it had nothing to do with playing the cello. I think that’s why for “Round Midnight” somebody insisted on getting Dexter Gordon cast as Dale Turner - he at least looked like he was playing, even when Dexter on screen wasn’t playing the same notes as Dexter on the soundtrack. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-mundane-task-for-actors-to-get-right/500796/56 "2009-06-25T19:39:01Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Since I don’t play guitar or violin or any other stringed instruments or piano myself, is it easy to tell if the actor can’t play the instrument his character is playing? Watch Sam (Dooley Wilson) pretend to play the piano in _ **Casablanca** _. Not. Even. Close. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-mundane-task-for-actors-to-get-right/500796/57 "2009-06-25T22:59:58Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Since I don’t play guitar or violin or any other stringed instruments or piano myself, is it easy to tell if the actor can’t play the instrument his character is playing? My stringed instrument experience was minimal (a couple of years of strings class in school), but I sometimes notice that actors pretending to play strings aren’t even bothering to move the fingers on their left hands. Sometimes they’re just sawing away with the bow at random, although I think most actors do manage to follow the rhythm of the music. I don’t think this is a “mundane task” at all though, playing a musical instrument does take practice! Even faking it well takes practice. I was impressed by Daniel Brühl in _Ladies in Lavender_ – I thought he actually was playing the violin. I would not have known he was faking except that in the DVD extras Maggie Smith and Judi Dench said how impressed they were by the devotion to the role Brühl showed by practicing and practicing the fingering so he could look like a real violinist. ---
**Author:** ![breezman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@breezman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/breezman)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-mundane-task-for-actors-to-get-right/500796/58 "2009-06-26T02:04:32Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > In most TV and probably movies, continuity is important. So the level of liquid in a glass can’t go up. When I was a kid, I always hated it when I’d be watching a (cheaply animated) cartoon, and a character would be eating something (like an ice cream sundae) and they just looped the same frames together so that the amount of food never changed. ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-mundane-task-for-actors-to-get-right/500796/59 "2009-06-26T02:13:05Z")
> [@emcee2k](#): > > Playing a video game. They never hold the controller right, and they’re always randomly ramming all the buttons as fast as they can. I dunno, that’s how I play fighting games. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-mundane-task-for-actors-to-get-right/500796/60 "2009-06-26T02:30:36Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > A lot of people, including me, get annoyed when an actor is obviously drinking from an empty cup. But I understand why they do it, at least on film: if there’s liquid in the cup, somebody has to make sure there’s a consistent level of liquid and it doesn’t change from shot to shot, since if it does, somebody in the audience will notice and find _that_ distracting. So they skip the whole thing since it’s never really important. It’s not that they can’t do it, it’s that they don’t bother. I didn’t even think about continuity… I thought it had more to do with the actors drinking 10 or 15 or however many takes of half-cups of coffee and then either being wired or having to constantly break to go pee. 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-mundane-task-for-actors-to-get-right/500796.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-mundane-task-for-actors-to-get-right/500796.md?page=4)