Why not try acting?

This is a fairly well-known story within the acting world and beyond. During the filming of Marathon Man, Dustin Hoffman, who was starring alongside Sir Laurence Olivier, in order to enhance his performance and being a true Method actor, stayed up for three nights, to make his character more believable. When, on the the day of the shooting, Mr. Olivier asked him why he looked so tired, Hoffman explained the theory behind his actions. And the ever-so-exquisite Mr. Olivier dryly replied "My dear boy, why not try acting?"

Dustn Hoffman being cheeky and Sir Laurence Olivier NOT entertained.

Acting is a fascinating art. One could say that acting is like a living organism. Ever evolving. It goes back thousands of years, all the way to ancient Greece, where the first plays were written and the first roles were born. Even the word "thespian", which is a term used to describe actors - sometimes the more serious ones - derives from that time, where a man named Thespis took the stage and for the first time in history spoke words in character instead of as himself. Since then, acting has evolved and changed and progressed and has seen dark days and glory days. But none more glorious than the past 120 years, give or take five, when the first movies were created. And hence, movie stars were born.

Georges Mellies: the father of VFX.

Movie stars are fascinating creatures. I mean, there you have Dustin Hoffman, one of the truly great actors, being told off by the even greater Sir Laurence Olivier, probably the greatest stage actor ever. And there are so many greats. Character actors, method actors, stage actors. Marlon Brando, Katherine Hepburn, Sean Penn, Judi Dench, Christian Bale, Cate Blanchet. Generation after generation producing acting prodigies that leave audiences in awe. People who live several lives in one lifetime and yet, most of them cannot enjoy the one life that has been given to them. Always under the limelight. Always under scrutiny. Stalked, envied, adored, idolised, carrying a burden many of them never asked for. Living the life most of us dream of. And what we always tend to forget as fans is that it's just a job. A beautiful, creative, cutthroat, cruel yet awarding line of work that has these people constantly worrying if and when they will ever work again. Worrying if they are still good looking enough. Young enough. Fit enough. If their next movie will flop or succeed. If what they said in an interview will be misunderstood or not. When all they should really be worried about is whether they performed well. Because, after all, that is what they are. Actors.

Cate Blanchett as Katherine Hepburn

Who is the best actor ever? Who is better, Robert De Niro or Al Pacino? Is Daniel Day Lewis the male equivalent of Meryl Streep? Why hasn't Leo won an Oscar still? (Hopefully, this last one will soon be rectified.) Which acting method is best? Are British actors better than Americans? Has Shia Labeouf lost his mind? Is the star system destroying actors? Are the Oscars fair? One quick search on the internet, will leave you even more confused and dumbfounded than before.

We fans, tend to take the art out of acting just by posing all these questions. I could even say, it is really unfair to do so. But, I reckon it is the nature of the art that does it. After all, we are the judges of their work. Fair or not fair. For now, the only thing I am going to say is that between him and Pacino, Bobby De Niro is by far the better actor.