Posted by Marcia on May 06, 1998 at 10:46:25:
In Reply to: Re: LOTM... Cast Quirks and Class System posted by Gayle on May 06, 1998 at 09:40:01:
Gayle wrote:
: Sounds as if DD-L was extending himself almost beyond human bounds to BE Hawkeye - maybe he just needed to draw the line somewhere. Probably setting targets wouldn't have added to the role any, and with all the physical stuff he was doing, the Evian water may have been more necessary than more running and loading. He doesn't sound like a class-conscious sort of guy himself, at least not when it comes to learning a role. Maybe somebody up top told him to act more like a star or something - it certainly doesn't sound like his own style.
: Always sympathetic to Hawkeye - Gayle
Gayle, I too, am always sympathetic to Hawkeye, but even if I weren't, it occurs to me that we are forgetting one very important thing here...contracts vary from film to film. Some studios have pretty stringent rules about what their stars can or cannot do. They have a BIG investment in their actors and they don't want to take risks. It may very well be that DDL's contract with 20th Century Fox precluded him taking part in any physical work not related directly to learning his role. I know that stars are not always even allowed to drive themselves from point A to point B, whether they want to or not. They don't always have any say-so in what stunts they will perform themselves. So, maybe we shouldn't assume this is a "class" thing decided upon by DDL at all. Or maybe, if he did make the decision, like Gayle suggests, he was saving all his energy for what he needed to do to "BE" Hawkeye.
Marcia