# 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:** 15\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-mundane-task-for-actors-to-get-right/500796/61 "2009-06-26T02:38:26Z")
As for the coffee-drinking thing, it’s really obvious when they have a Starbucks-style take-out cup. They’ll wave their arm around, and it’s painfully obvious that the cup is empty. You’d think they could make a plastic prop cup that was weighted, at the very least. Coffee mugs are just as bad. They don’t need to have actual liquid in them, but they could at least, you know, \*\*act \*\*like it has something in it. I’ve been watching the _NewsRadio_ DVDs lately, and in one episode, Dave walks into his office, and Beth grabs a random coffee cup off the table with the coffee urn and follows him. She makes this grand sweeping gesture and plops the mug on his desk. I thought there was going to be a joke with Dave trying to drink some and realizing the mug was empty, but he ‘sipped’ at it throughout the rest of the scene. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-mundane-task-for-actors-to-get-right/500796/62 "2009-06-26T05:47:00Z")
> [@lisacurl](#): > > 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. 😉 Decaf, my friend. Or if the liquid doesn’t have to be visible: water. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-mundane-task-for-actors-to-get-right/500796/63 "2009-06-26T05:58:03Z")
> [@SHAKES](#): > > Acting high from smoking weed. > > No, that’s not how adults act when stoned. That’s how teenagers act when they are smoking it. This is what I was going to say. Getting high does not automatically make you laugh. It doesn’t necessarily make you act goofy. It also doesn’t make you hungry two minutes after smoking it, at least not in my experience. During the two or so years that I spent as a regular pot smoker, I would always get very hungry at the tail end of the high as it was starting to fade away. And people frequently don’t get high at all the first time they smoke pot. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-mundane-task-for-actors-to-get-right/500796/64 "2009-06-26T06:47:01Z")
> [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](#): > > 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. People give Richard Gere a lot of shit, but he genuinely learned to play the cornet for [The Cotton Club](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087089/). The end credits list [Richard Gere - musician: cornet solos](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087089/fullcredits). My pet peeve is actors using pretty much any tool. Choking up on a hammer, holding a wrench like a dork, and the less said about how they use screwdrivers, the better. And soldering or welding? Any random primate would be more believable. Pretty much the only actor who uses tools well is Harrison Ford, who made a living as a carpenter during thin spots in his early career. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-mundane-task-for-actors-to-get-right/500796/65 "2009-06-26T07:33:18Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > 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. And playing stenographic court reporters; they treat it like typing when it’s more like playing the piano. I saw one episode of a cop show where the so-called court reporter hadn’t even extended the paper tray to receive the paper as it fed past the keys! Also, horse people can tell right away whether an actor actually knows how to ride or is trying to fake it. The fakers are always stiff and awkward-looking and they don’t know how to hold the reins correctly, and their heels sit higher than their toes. ---
**Author:** ![caligulathegod](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caligulathegod/32/9685_2.png) [@caligulathegod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caligulathegod)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-mundane-task-for-actors-to-get-right/500796/66 "2009-06-26T07:58:20Z")
There’s a scene in Evil Dead 2 where an actress playing a “redneck” character spits and it is obvious that she has never spit in her life. It’s hard to describe, but if you see it you know what I’m talking about. It’s almost like she’s throwing the spittle from her mouth rather than a simple “spit”. ---
**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 26, 2009, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-mundane-task-for-actors-to-get-right/500796/67 "2009-06-26T12:27:27Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > Also, horse people can tell right away whether an actor actually knows how to ride or is trying to fake it. The fakers are always stiff and awkward-looking and they don’t know how to hold the reins correctly, and their heels sit higher than their toes. Okay, two stories I’ve been saving for the retirement home. One of my friends graduated theatre school in the mid '60s, which was the peak for Canadian film and television productions based on Canadian history (the Riel Rebellion, The Last Spike, The National Dream, not to mention a few dozen pale imitations). Just about every actor at the time listed ‘Horseback Riding’ under \ because there was lots of that kind of extra work going around. He tells of many shoots where they’d get up to some conservation area north of Toronto for 4AM, get saddled up, and the Assistant Director would tell everybody “You ride up to the ridge, and go down into the valley at a full gallop. When you get to the stream, stop - you’ll be out of shot.” He’d then go down the line and be able to tell ‘He’ll be okay, he won’t, he’s lucky he’s made it this far, guy in the red shirt knows what he’s doing,…’ Sure enough, they wouldn’t even shoot the first take because they didn’t want to waste the film. Two or three guys would fall off, a bunch of them looked so hopeless there was no point, and the few that remained would have a long day’s ride ahead of them. Different actor friend dropped in on his agent and walked into said agent’s office while the agent was on the phone. He has dined out on the story of the side of the conversation that he heard. A: “Yeah, I think he’d be perfect for the role; the look is perfect. - Horses? No problem. - Western saddle, yeah, I understand, dif - No, I don’t need to run it past him (looks up at David, shakes his head with his finger to his lips) - Okay, run me through the shot - Full gallop, yeah - Two other horses, yeah - Full gallop into town, leading two horses, reins in each hand - Yeah, yeah, but David used to work summers on his Brother in Law’s ranch in Alberta, he’s totally comfortable on a horse, that’ll be no problem - now, let’s talk the money…” Phone gets hung up, the Agent looks David in the eye and says “Get your ass to a riding school RFN, I just got you the role of your life! You ever been on a horse?” Yes, David had been on a horse, but Jaysus! What if he hadn’t?!? The shot was him riding into town at a full gallop, leading a different horse with the reins in each hand, while two friends rode beside him whooping and hollering firing their rifles. ---
**Author:** ![johnspartan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@johnspartan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnspartan)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-mundane-task-for-actors-to-get-right/500796/68 "2009-06-26T13:16:28Z")
Saw an interview with Anthony Stewart Head, who is probably best known for playing Giles on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He said in the real world rarely do people actually _stand around_. If you look at a room when any one person is talking, others will be wiping their glasses, shifting their weight, crossing or uncrossing their legs, etc. It’s rare that everyone in a room is sitting perfectly still, esp. without a given reason to be. That’s why his character always had something to busy himself with. They even reference it in the show sometimes…there was a joke, something like “why do you always take your glasses off when we’re talking? Don’t you want to see us?” Then of course there’s all the usual… surely these people know how riding in a taxicab works. Getting change seems to be something they feel they must cut out. And in honor of being here… are ya’ll really usually reciting out loud everything you type? Even in a room by yourself? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![badbadrubberpiggy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/57b2e6/32.png) [@badbadrubberpiggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badbadrubberpiggy)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-mundane-task-for-actors-to-get-right/500796/69 "2009-06-26T13:59:41Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > Sex. > It’s always a 10-hour long screw-fest, but she covers her breasts in the morning. Or, she wears a bra the whole time, and is still wearing it in the morning. A sexy, lacy, underwire, not a comfy one someone might actually sleep in. And her make-up is still perfect. The coffee cup thing bugs me too. They even do it when it’s a covered coffee cup, where it wouldn’t matter what, or how much, liquid is in it, and you can still tell it’s empty. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-mundane-task-for-actors-to-get-right/500796/70 "2009-06-26T17:09:53Z")
A big downside to putting any liquid, even water, in coffee cups that actors are picking up and moving around is that if it spills then the take will be ruined…AND everyone would have to wait while the mess is cleaned/dried up. It doesn’t surprise me at all that many productions prefer to avoid these potential problems. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-mundane-task-for-actors-to-get-right/500796/71 "2009-06-26T17:20:03Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > A big downside to putting any liquid, even water, in coffee cups that actors are picking up and moving around is that if it spills then the take will be ruined…AND everyone would have to wait while the mess is cleaned/dried up. It doesn’t surprise me at all that many productions prefer to avoid these potential problems. Were I in the props department, it seems an easy fix would be to add a weight to the bottom of an opaque cup to make it feel like a full cup. Even then, it wouldn’t be quite the same, as liquid distributes the weight throughout the cup while a metal weight would sit at the bottom, but it’d make things much easier on the actors. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-mundane-task-for-actors-to-get-right/500796/72 "2009-06-26T17:29:29Z")
> [@Stephe96](#): > > Watch Sam (Dooley Wilson) pretend to play the piano in _ **Casablanca** _. > > Not. Even. Close. Play it [again], Sam, and this time try and keep up, OK? ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-mundane-task-for-actors-to-get-right/500796/73 "2009-06-26T17:48:18Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > People give Richard Gere a lot of shit, but he genuinely learned to play the cornet for [The Cotton Club](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087089/). The end credits list [Richard Gere - musician: cornet solos](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087089/fullcredits). The actors in \*Brassed Off \*did pretty well. Not perfect, but they definitely made the effort. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-mundane-task-for-actors-to-get-right/500796/74 "2009-06-26T17:52:53Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > Were I in the props department, it seems an easy fix would be to add a weight to the bottom of an opaque cup to make it feel like a full cup. Even then, it wouldn’t be quite the same, as liquid distributes the weight throughout the cup while a metal weight would sit at the bottom, but it’d make things much easier on the actors. How about some kind of gellatin? Doesn’t have to be Jell-O where it will melt and/or slosh around. Some kind of silicon gel or something. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-mundane-task-for-actors-to-get-right/500796/75 "2009-06-26T19:25:37Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > Were I in the props department, it seems an easy fix would be to add a weight to the bottom of an opaque cup to make it feel like a full cup. Even then, it wouldn’t be quite the same, as liquid distributes the weight throughout the cup while a metal weight would sit at the bottom, but it’d make things much easier on the actors. > [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > How about some kind of gellatin? Doesn’t have to be Jell-O where it will melt and/or slosh around. Some kind of silicon gel or something. I would think a half-inch of plaster of paris would work. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-mundane-task-for-actors-to-get-right/500796.md?page=3)