Unit 11

Unit 11: Is age a barrier/problem for newer actors?

Intro: I am writing this essay due to a question that interested me about the acting industry. Is age a barrier for newer actors of the black gender. Since the day I took an interest in drama, I thought how hard it may be to become an actor and as the years passed, I found that 75% of black people  who enter the acting industry are under the age of 45. What of the older black generation? In films, it has been rare (to me) to see any new older and elderly black actors. I feel that by seeing a wide age range of new actors of the race it would be inspiring to collect new types of skills, wisdom and characteristics. In this essay I will not be ranting that the younger generation of black actors should be minimized. Though only to get my point across of the advantages and disadvantages of both the young and older generations acting in the professional industry.

In the industry or in fact any business I understand that the smart approach to making a good business is by keeping it with the trend. They are stronger, intelligent and inspirational to future actors. They can also bring any new knowledge of trends young people spend most of their time on. Also black movies have been constantly produced in this century and they are with younger black people. It is very known opinion that (1) "the roles the African-American community were generally offered usually fell into three themes; a tale of rags to riches, thug life, or segregation". Its is still the same till this day. 

(2) "The late 1950s is a influential moment in the development of black British theatre in the UK, with the Royal Court theatre company playing a significant role in the establishment of this wave of new writing. Three playwrights in particular – Errol John, Barry Reckord and Wole Soyinka (images above in exact order)– standout for their achievements at the Royal Court, and for the position they would come to occupy in the canon of black British theatre". In the 90s, black people brought in 'rapping' a new style of music, which is has been famous to this day. And shall hopefully live on to the end of time. Then it was possible for more black actors to be born because they could inspire any new young black actors in that century to try and overcome the power of discrimination. Rappers would make their songs and to become more famous they made their own movies. For example (3) 

"Tupac Shakur, an American rapper and actor who came to embody gangsta rap in the 1990s and was embroiled in a feud between the east coast and west coast rappers. Who was then murdered in 1996 by a drive by shooting, leaving behind an influential musical legacy at age of 25". There are also more black rappers and artist who were chose to go into the acting industry. Though what they all have I common is/was there fame before doing acting. As the years went by some were either born into acting or were lucky enough to get into it. Now the flaws of this generation is somewhat to do with mainly their social life. What comes with being a professional actor is that the world wants to know you and that means the media getting into you personal life. No matter what happens actors whether they are new or old will be ridiculed/criticized by the media. Now that could put a toll on anyone, even people who aren't in the acting industry. My point is that for new young black actors this can go one way or the other, as they already had to deal with the stress of entering the industry and now they have deal with staying in the industry. When young actors receive a lot of money and a but of power, it gets to them causing them to do rebellious things for their own personal reputation and status. Reputation is a big thing in this world but it can easily be minimized/destroyed by one bad rumour. It's just some young black actors may not have integrity and so they go over boundaries of their own. Another thing is the mental state of younger actors. (4) "A study of 782 actors shows a quarter of them having experienced ‘debilitating performance anxiety’ at some point in their career and many have relied on alcohol and drugs to cope with the pressure and burden of their roles". Young actors are very emotional and could cause some trouble in the industry.

Now for new older actors is it a problem for them to join the acting industry? I feel that it might because due to the fact that younger actors are what come into the fray it's harder for older ones to bring their style and originality to the acting world. For instance say Will Smith. 

(5) "Willard Carroll "Will" Smith, Jr. (born September 25, 1968) an American actor, comedian, producer, rapper, and songwriter. In April 2007, Newsweek called him "the most powerful actor in Hollywood". Now say he didn't have any of that. All his fame, reputation status and ideas where never real. He had start from scratch at the age that he is now. How would that work out? It won't be good. I mean the industry can give him a chance and all but due to his acting experience and skills from the past was he able to make his legacy. If he started now it would be for about a decade before the industry decides he can't go on any longer. I just feel like that by giving them an equal chance as of the younger actors, we can learn more and gain new information from a real perspective and not a fake one. What I mean by that is say a soldier who has been through and understands them events of war killing were to become an actor. He obviously wouldn't while at war so he'd have to retire at say the age of 50. Now if he were to join the acting industry using his knowledge of war and put it into his acting. That would be interesting. He could use all his emotions and characteristics from being a soldier and transfer it to his acting. Now I understand what I'm saying is overwhelming and off topic but its was the only way of giving a good enough example to show my point of bringing new older actors in the industry. The flaws of having new actors of the older generation is that there might not be a lot that they can do. These days physicality is a big a thing in the industry. The stronger you are the less money is wasted to boost the appearance of your body. In theatre if you were an older generation actor does a fight they would have to be strong willed and physically capable otherwise it can't be done. Whereas in film if you can't do a fight scene the filming industry you the actor hires a stunt double to fight for you and they edit the person's face to look like you due to technology. Older actors have it tough with physical acting so most of the time they are giving characters that are easier to play. They are mostly put in family films, comedies or both. Then there are actors in the theatre industry who can do the physical acting as they have to work on there body every day to keep up.

A good example is Patrick Stewart, (6) "Stewart has been a prolific actor in performances by the Royal Shakespeare Company, appearing in more than 60 productions. His first appearance was in 1966 in The Investigation and in the years that followed he became a core member of the company, taking on three or four major roles each season". I understand that he's not black but he's an actor of old age who I see as a model in theatre and I see him as a good example. Anyways, some of the generation may not manage with any mental health problems. They can't use drugs because that will harm them physically but drinking is way for them which still isn't good. That is why some are given lighter characteristics. As for them being patronized by the media they can handle it professionally because they may have dealt with such things in the past.

Conclusion: in the end I have come to the fact that the answer comes from simplistic reasoning and logic. For actors, there is no age limit. Anybody at any age can start training or working as an actor. What changes is your approach to the acting craft and the acting business. Each group has their flaws that can/can't be changed and they both have unique qualities that can be expressed in different ways from either side. With age comes new things bringing new entertainment for the future that shall satisfy everyone.

All references: all links taken from websites are a display of all the quotes and evidence I've recorded and written in my own way. You will see them with numbers *(1)* before some quotation marks "".

1: (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/African-American_representation_in_Hollywood)

LAST EDITED 4 MONTHS AGO BY UNKNOWN USER ON WIKIPEDIA

2: (https://www.bl.uk/20th-century-literature/articles/black-british-theatre-1950-1979) PUBLISHED: 7 SEPTEMBER 2017, WRITER: NATASHA BONNELAME

3: (https://www.biography.com/musician/tupac-shakur) UPDATED: SEP 11, 2019 | ORIGINAL: DEC 4, 2017, publisher: A&E television network

4: (https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2015/09/14/demands-of-acting-hurting-performers--mental-health.html) PUBLISH DATE: 14 SEPTEMBER 2015, PUBLISHER: UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY

5: (https://m.imdb.com/name/nm0000226/) PUBLISHER: IMDb PUBLISH DATE: unknown

6: (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Stewart) LAST EDITED: 21ST DECEMBER 2020

WRITER: FAMA CLAMOSA