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Oscars preview: Fact or fiction in film

0 CommentsPrint E-mail CNTV, February 24, 2011
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The brilliance of any actor is convincing the audience what they are seeing actually could have happened. They want you to believe their actions, mannerisms and decisions are real. But what happens when the character is real.

With the Oscars right around the corner, Peter Koveos tries to find out which is an easier role, one based on fact or fiction?

Hollywood movies are often make-believe, and they take through many ups and downs. But this year's Academy awards are more believable. That's because four of the 10 best-picture nominees are based on true stories.

And that has many wondering which is a more difficult role -- one based on fact or fiction?

James Franco, Actor, "127 hours", said, "It is a different situation when the person you are portraying is alive and the incidence didn't happen very long ago, like in '127 Hours.' So that is, in that situation I just look to the director."

Danny Boyle directed Franco in "127 Hours", a film where he portrays a hiker trapped for more than five days.

James Franco, Actor, "127 hours", said, "He wanted us to go through all of the footsteps that Aron went through. All the motions that he went through, short of really cutting my arm off. So that we can have our own experience, so in that way the performance would feel more authentic."

Even during production, moviemakers are cognizant of the people that know the characters best.

Tom Hooper, Director, "The King's Speech", said, "When I made 'The Kings Speech,' in the back of my mind, the Queen is going to watch this. And I don't want to hurt her feelings. I want to find a way of making this film that is respectful to her father. And hopefully she sees something in it that is accurate. And so you end up particularly when you are making a film that is about living relatives of living people, there is a responsibility. And I do care. I do care about accuracy and truth and the record very much."

Sometimes the best way to replicate authenticity is to actually meet the person you will be impersonating on screen.

Bianca Hunter, Actress, "The Fighter", said, "It was definitely a big responsibility portraying someone that had a reputation for being as tough as they do."

Jenna Lamia/Actress: "They had it down to the eye shadow. She said, 'Oh, oh, I don't wear that color. Take that off."

Hunter: "When the girl that I was playing met me, the first thing she said was, she said, 'I would never wear my hair like that.'"

Dendrie Taylor: "But Gail was like, 'I love it, I love it, I love everything you're doing!'"

The Oscars will be awarded February 27th. That is a fact, no storytelling there.

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