Becoming Legends: The Power of Biopic Performances

In this episode of The Breakthrough Reel, I'm diving into the power of biopic performances- and what it really takes for an actor to become someone we already know. Because in biopics... it's not just acting it's about transformation.  

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:09

What's up everybody and welcome to the Breakthrough Reel. Thank you for letting me play as always. Thank you for being here with me. I'm your host, James Lee. Um, as always, I like to know what you guys have been up to. How was your weekend? Um, mine's was awesome. Um, I have a son and he turned 11 years old this weekend. And usually we have a big party. He loves parties. He he's for the past three years, he's loved having parties. And a few months ago, I talked to him about a party. He kind of said he didn't want one this year, which to my surprise, I was like, okay. Because I'll tell you what, planning a kid's birthday party, not fun. I don't enjoy planning like things like that. Parties, like when I got married, I did not enjoy the the planning, the wedding part or nothing like that. So I'm just not a party planner at all. So I kept on asking, you know, because I'm gonna do anything he wants. Like, my son is my homie, my best friend, my boy. So I kept on asking as his birthday got closer, did he change his mind? And he did not. So the weekend we really just chilled. Like he, I I even asked him, did he want to go to one of the gaming spots? And we really just chilled in the house. Like, he's a lot like me in that way. He can be fine, and all his fun is all around him in the house. And let me tell you, he's got enough, more than enough stuff to keep him entertained, plus the gift he got this weekend, which kept him very, very entertained and immersed in it. Um, so yeah, that was my weekend, just chilling with my best friend, and I have an 11-year-old, which is freaking bananas, and I I can't believe it. I felt like I just bought him home from the hospital actually. Um, but the day before his birthday, on a Friday, the Michael Biopic was released. Um, my son has been waiting for this movie since he's known about it. He's looked at the production and the teaser trailers and everything. He side tangent. I'm creating a a little me when it comes to my baby. Um, he's really into movies, really into performances, actings, camera shots, beautifully filmed movies, and he likes to chat about them. But you know, like he is the son of a person who loves film and movies and acting and stuff like that. So, of course, like he's so into that stuff, and God, I love it. I love discussing movies with him. I love sitting down and watching movies with him. And he he, like me, is a floor sitter. We have movie nights, we'll sit on the floor, but he'll make a whole thing. He'll make tickets, uh, we'll pop popcorn and he'll spread a blanket out, put pillows on the floor and everything, we'll watch a movie together. But yeah, so yeah, my little son is a little me when it especially when it comes to loving the movies. Um, but like I said, he's been waiting for this Michael biopic. I don't know, since he's known about it. Probably for like the last year at least, he's known about it. And of course, we had to go there. That was a big part of his birthday. Was so excited that it came out the day before his birthday. Um, I'm I'm not gonna lie, like I I like Michael Jackson. I do. I I grew up on Michael Jackson. My mom loves Michael Jackson, she grew up with Michael Jackson, and I, if it wasn't for my son, I probably once wouldn't have gone to go see this film. But you know, him, he's a big Michael Jackson fan. It came out of nowhere since he was a since he was a kid, and I think it was Thriller that really got him. And he he knows more about Michael Jackson than me. He knows most of the word, all the worst to his songs that I don't even know. And I grew up with these songs. That's how much of a fan of Michael Jackson, my son, is so I wasn't, it's not like I was dragged in to go see this film or anything like that, but it wasn't something that was on the top of my lift. I really want to see the drama with Zendaya, like that's on my list. I I really need to go see that before it's out of theaters. But, anyways, um, we go into the movies. I didn't really know what to expect. I saw like a really low Rotten Tomato scores, but I am not a person who listens to rotten tomatoes. Of course, I'll check and everything like that, but I wouldn't let that detour me from seeing anything, you know, because you know, we all have opinions, you know, and that's what these movies are made of. It's subjective, it's it's it's what you want, it's what you like. Um, but I was really, really super impressed by this film. I was. Don't go into this film thinking you're gonna learn anything new about Michael, or it's it's really surface level. It's just a beautiful film. It's more about I heard Coma Domingo, who plays Joe Jackson, say this is Michael's story through his eyes, and that's exactly how I see it. Um, but what's most important is that Jafar Jackson, um, Michael's nephew, played him in this film, and I was blown away. Like another side tangent, I had a whole nother podcast um recorded, but I was just so inspired by this movie to talk about biopics. And this is Jafar Jackson's first role ever. He even said in interviews that he never wanted to be an actor, he was more into golf and he loved music and dancing, you know, of course, being in the Jackson family. But when I tell you he really put on an amazing, amazing performance, I was really impressed with it. Um, you could barely tell, you got so lost in the performance that he was Michael on screen. Um, I know with the makeup and the costuming, of course, you know, that is an extra plus and it helps. But seeing Jafaro there, just give it his all and just his mannerism, his voice, the way he walked, the way he talked, everything was just extremely, extremely impressive. And as the person who wants to get into acting, and this is his first full performance on such a big stage in a big role like this. That you know, he said he trained for two years. And this is not two years of going into and just practicing for the movies, two years of him learning to act. Hello, two years he said that he, the director, put him through, you know, pretty much acting training so he can do this job. He did scenes from other movies, did acting classes, had acting coaches, and then he went into the audition. Like this guy wanted him to play Michael so bad that he put him through this rigorous training before he could even audition to be Michael. Two years of it. That's acting, man. It's that's so impressive. Um, and then after the two years of training, he went into the movement and the dancing and the choreography, the the facial expressions, the smile, every little thing. This boy, this I cannot call this man a boy. He's 29 years old. This man put on screen was so impressive as just a performer. Um like I said, the moose the movie is mostly made up of performances. It's more like a musical, you know. And you know, Michael Jackson's music brings everybody together, everybody knows his songs. And I was in a pretty packed house. Like I I did not know, I should not be shocked that everybody was so excited to be to see this movie. It was packed, the audience was vocal, there was applause. My son could barely hold himself still the whole time he was in there. Great, great film, really inspirational. Um, one of the things I like about the movie itself was I totally believe in like manifestations, speaking into existence. And Michael did that. Yeah, posted notes everywhere. He would uh do affirmations before he recorded songs. So, so good. And Jafar, wow, like he did his thing in this movie. I was thoroughly, thoroughly impressed. And like I said, it really got me thinking about biopics, you know? It made me think of like what it really takes for an actor to become somebody, you know, specially that is known and beloved, like Michael Jackson. Biopics are just just so different as just getting a role that, you know, of a person we need to discover and get to know. But it's another thing to have to truly become someone else, someone known, someone popular, someone who already has fans. Um, it's like, you know, like I said, when you watch a regular movie, you're meeting the character for the first time. But at a biopic, you already know this person. You know their voice, you know their mannerisms, you know their energy. So the actor's job to me isn't just to like play the role, it's to convince you. That's a lot of pressure. A lot of pressure. I think that would be the scariest thing to do as an actor is to portray someone who's already loved and known because people are so brutal, especially these days on the internet, they will boo you off the stage. I mean, look what happened to and you know, her girl Viola Davis is amazing, like she is elite A-list, elite actress, and her performance as Michelle Obama really got panned by people, which I'm so sorry. I'm thinking of some stuff, it was kind of funny. It was kind of funny, but I understood what Viola was doing. She was really trying to be authentic with the performance, and she she really got attacked for that. And like she said, you can't win them all, you know. We know Viola, Viola's a great actress. Go look up Viola Davis as Michelle Obama, and you judge for yourself. I'm sorry for giggling. I love Viola Davis, by the way. Also, read her biography, her book. It was, oh my God. I I listened to it at work, tears, tears, tears. Okay, but back with the subject at hand. Um, but like I said, you know, the actor's job in Biopics is to convince you, you know. You pretty much have to fall into like you're watching that person again. And when it works, okay. It doesn't feel like acting, it feels like, you know, a transformation. And Jafar did that. Like he transformed into his uncle Michael. Like that was no longer Jafar there. Because I've watched so many interviews. My son especially watched so many interviews with Jafar in it. He's a far cry from his uncle, you know. He's, you know, of course, it's something about that Jackson blood. They all kind of look alike, they all kind of sound alike too. But he is his own person. And for this to be his first film, that's one of the things I love about acting, and why I love acting, like watching actors in interviews, is to see the change up from the role I met them in and Jafar's a far cry from, you know, Michael Jackson. You know, watching someone step into the role like of Michael Jackson, that's it's a responsibility. And he said he felt that he felt a big pressure of it, you know. Him going over and over those moves, him learning the moon walk and really hurting his ankles, had swollen ankles from doing it and practicing so hard because he wants to get it right. That's dedication. You know, Michael is not just a performer, he's like a symbol. You know, everyone all over the world knows who Michael Jackson is. Like my son is was born in 2015 and is a big huge fan. I was born in 1982. I was drugged to this movie by my son. He wanted to see this movie so bad because he's a Michael Jackson fan. Like I said, Michael is just, it's not just like he's just a symbol. And he's R IP, he's not with us anymore. And he still talked about constantly. When you're playing someone like that, like every move matters, every look matters, every little detail gets judged. And what stood out to me wasn't just like the imitation, it was the attempt to capture like the feeling of Michael Jackson. And he did in every way. Soft-spoken, um, just you know, that sweet look that Michael always had on his face, like all his life, just looked innocent for some fucking reason. Jafar called all that. Um, but his job was also making people feel like we're watching him again, and he really, really, really killed that. Amazing. Um, but it also got me thinking about another one of my favorite biopics. And that's what's love got to do with it with Angela Bassett playing the iconic Tina Turner. Now, my mom loved this film. It was on constantly a lot. I remember we had the VHS, and my mom watched this movie so much. I can recite the lines from this movie. I know all the performances, all the things, what scene is coming up next. Big, big, big part of my growing up is watching what's love got to do with it. I feel like I have to bring this up because sitting and watching Jafar on screen really brought me back because you know, what's love got to do with it was really performance heavy. Um, and I feel like one of the best examples to compare Jafar's performance to, not compare, but reminded me of was Angela Bassett as Tina Turner. What a lot of people don't realize is how fast she had to prepare for that role. Um, I was just reading that she there were so many people they want the cast, like Whitney Houston. Um, who else did I see on that list? Janet Jackson, Halle Berry. Come on now. Okay, and that's not a shot at Halle Berry. Halle Berry's amazing, but I can see her playing Tina Turner. She did amazing. That's another, another biopic. Dorothy Dantrich with Halle Berry. Watch that a lot too. Holly Berry's amazing in that role, also. Um, but she had to prepare for it really fast. And if you watched that movie, you would have thought she fucking knew that she had that role a year before the way she put on that performance in, you know, in that movie. Um, this wasn't just this was like I said, it wasn't years of studying. She had to like lock in quick as hell and still deliver something iconic. And what she did wasn't like just an imitation to me, it was another full transformation. The way she walked, her energy, you know. Um, and we all know that. Even Angela said in the interview, like, I can't sing, I can barely dance, but I can act. And she did both those things. She acted like she can sing like hell. Um, what's love got to do with it came out in 1993? And I was what, 11 years old? Yeah, so I probably didn't see the movie till I was about 12, 13 years old. Because we didn't go to the movies to see this. I didn't see it till VHS. And you remember back in the day, it took forever for shit to get to VHS. Um, and I I knew who Tina Turner was, you know. But I promise you, when I think of Tina Turner, I see sometimes I see Angela Bassett's face. I don't, I don't know why. I don't know why. Well, we do know why, because she portrayed her so fucking well. And in my young mind, I was watching Tina Turner. You know what I mean? It's not that I could not differentiate the acting and who the real person was because I knew she was playing Tina Turner. But when I think of Tina Turner, especially as a kid, I saw Angela Bassett, and it's probably because I saw this movie so many times. Um, because she wasn't just playing Tina Turner, the performer, she was playing her like as a survivor of her upbringing, of abusive relationships, of the segregation that was going on back in the day with musicians, portrayed all that so well. Her facial expressions, the way she smiled was Tina Turner. Like as a person who loves acting and just watching a good performance, like watching it older really put me in the mindset, like ah, like it's such a balance in the brain. Like me learning more and more about acting and you know, scene study and things like that. It's like I I know things are like hut up, you know, into parts when you're filming a movie. It's you'll know what scene you're going into today, but it's such a balance to remember to stay in that character. And I I I don't know, you know, if I'll ever do this, but you know, people really just staying in character like that. I see why, because it's such a balance. Like, how do you snap yourself out of it when you're done? You know, we saw Tina go through the pain, the fear, and the strength, and Angela Bassett just like healed every single scene, you know, like the the dramatic scenes, the performance scenes. She was Tina Turner, you know what I mean? You could feel all that. Um, to me, that's what made her performance so powerful. It didn't feel like acting to me. Like I said, she was Tina to me, especially as a kid. It felt like you, I was watching like someone live, like in real time. Um, and Tina even said, Tina, look at me. Her name's Angela. Angela even said, you know, that year um she was nominated for an Academy Award. And I just seen recently interviewed that someone asked her, Is did that sting that she didn't want? She goes, Yeah. She said, that was the work. She's like, that's probably the most I've ever worked for a film. Um, and really giving it my all, really putting 100% into it, the way to portray this real life person that is iconic to her. Um, she said, Yeah, it stung that Holly Hunter from the piano one who played a mute. And listen, I've never seen the piano, you know what I mean? So maybe she deserved it. I don't know. But Angela deserved it also. And a special shout out to Lawrence Fishburne, who played Ike Turner. Amazing, you know. I know a lot of people make up jokes and stuff about his performance, and not in a bad way. It's just because he played him so well. And I I get the funny in it, you know, in Ike Turner, even though it's such a brutal, horrible character to play, I'm sure it was awful, you know. He even said, like during that horrible scene. And if you've seen the movie, you know what I'm talking about, that the director wanted them after three takes to film that again. And he said he went to the director and said, I think we got it. Because he said that, you know, Angela had to go through this. Like, we gotta protect her mental state. She was so in depth with this character, he couldn't brutalize her like that over and over again. Like he said, we got it. And also, a little fun find I found is that Lawrence Fishburn turned down this role five times. And the only reason he took it is when he found out that Angela Bassett took this role. So to me, that says a lot. So, Angela, thank you so much. Performance of a lifetime, and we just know she's still going. She's a big, big, big inspiration for me. I love Angela Bassett so much. But as I talked about, like two people that are beloved and just big parts of people's lives. People love their music, people love them as performers. There's some people that are in biopics that are just infamous, you know what I mean? And I feel like, and I don't want to say this is easier, but you're a little more looser when you're playing someone infamous. And that brings me to Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf of Wall Street. I did not watch this movie when it came out in 2015. First of all, I was a dad, so I don't think I was even thinking about movies. Came out like December 2015, maybe 2016. I don't know. I just know I had a little baby then, and I was trying to figure out life with a baby. I don't I don't remember much, but just being worried about a baby then. So I did not see this movie. I actually just recently watched it maybe a couple years ago, and then I watched it again for the second time last year. Amazing performance. Like, how could you talk about acting and not talk about Leonardo DiCaprio? He is one of our greats, like he really is. Um, I him in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Jesus Christ. I was like, I feel like that's when I was like, oh, like he's amazing. Like Leo just becomes you know what I mean? He he's he's an actor's actor, he he just chills with his performances. Like if you as an actor, if you want to aspire to be an actor or you aspire to be an actor, Leo is like the prototype, the the blueprint, you know, you want to be as versatile and open as he is. Um one thing people don't always talk about enough is like that accent in that movie. That that's one thing that scares me as an actor. Like, you know, I'm on actor's access and I'm reading, you know, the roles that match, you know, my profile. And every time it says an accent, I'm like, well, not me, because I just feel like I cannot portray that. I how, you know, that that takes a lot of work and I shouldn't run from it. And I actually did do an audition with a British dialect. And the only reason I was able to, and it was it was uh voice recording, actually. So it was even easier not to. I don't know if I could have done it looking at myself in the camera. I probably would have kept laughing, but I plugged it into my chat GPT and it told taught me, it read the script out to me, like my sides, and it phonically told me how to say these words, and it made it way easier. So I just pronounced what I read on screen. Not that I had to completely do an accent, I just read it out. But this, what he did in this movie, it takes fucking skill. It was like a specific, like Queens, like Long Islandy Wall Street typey energy kind of exit. It was like fast talking, super cocky, and crazy persuasive. Um, and I feel like like that's important. He never dropped the ball once with it, like, but it's leaning out of DiCaprio. Like, why would he? Because the accent wasn't just about like where like Jordan Belfort was. Oh, yeah, and that's the that's the guy he was playing. Jordan Belfort. Like, um, it was like uh this movie is like a cautionary tale of how like low a man will go to gain money and power. And it was about this guy who was pretty much stealing from motherfuckers, you know what I mean, and just became a fucking tycoon stealing people's money, making himself richer. Um, and to me in the movie, you know, the way he spoke told you everything. This man who could sell you anything, convince you of anything. That rhythm, that speed, the confidence, that was the character. Like, I just couldn't believe it was him sometimes. And I actually looked up the guy he was playing, and oh my gosh, like it's him. It's definitely him. The way he talks, the way he walked, his swindly kind of ways. Yeah, Leo captured it all on screen. It was such a feast to fucking watch him do all that. Um, one of the scenes that stand out to me is that Quaulous scene. And if you know what I'm talking about, is when he kind of got caught up and he went to the country club. But before he left, he took Quaaludes. And something about it took 90 minutes for him them to hit. So he gets to the country club, he calls the guy on a payphone because the guy don't want him to call or talk to him from his house because they're starting to wiretap his house because they know he's up to no good. You know, they're about to bust his ass. And those Qua Ludes hit hard. And wow. And this is where like acting is on another another level to me. Because what he did in that moment to me, it was a comedic moment. Yes, because you know, he falls, he can barely speak, he can't walk, he's so fucking high, you know. Um, it was like the physical acting, the physical acting, him crawling out there, him not being able to use his hands, the way he was kept trying to talk, all of it was just so fucking amazing to watch. I remember watching this scene, and how can you not believe it? Like, how like I'm like, this man is fucking high of quality for real because how can you portray that? That took so much concentration, and maybe not, maybe he's just loose. Like, but how could you portray something and it looks so fucking real? Him crawling down those stairs and everything like that, and then hopefully that was a stunt double that rolled down those brick stairs. Um, like just a losing control while still being completely in control as an actor. Like, how do that's like a fine line to me? It's just something, of course, I would love to learn. Every movement felt like chaotic, but it was intentional because he choreographed this himself, Leo did, you know? So yeah, it was just so fucking awesome to see. Man, I just couldn't believe what I was watching in this movie. Um, and that's what people don't always understand to me about formus, like that that kind of like messiness, like it takes like discipline to come up with that and make it look authentic and not fake and bullshitty is fucking commitment. Um, I feel like it takes like it takes a lot of letting go of like ego and Like I'm going all the way there. Like you can't like oh what is that line that I keep hearing? Like there is no vanity in acting. And I'm still learning to let that go. Not to worry about my what my face looks like. Not to worry about if I stumble over a word. And I'm just starting trying to understand. I don't even want to say trying to. I'm understanding that acting isn't acting, acting isn't pretending. It's being in that moment and believing what is being said to you, what's going on around you. The words that are coming to your mouth are true. That's the only way. But this scene of him being high level sweet loops was like a masterclass to me because it looks so fucking real. The scene, because the scene could have really been ridiculous, but instead it became like unforgettable to me. So yeah, shout out to Leo for that film. For that scene. It it showed me a lot. It just applause. Um and that's where biologics get really interesting to me because not every real person comes with the same expectations. Like the love figures. Like when you're playing someone like Tina Turner or Michael Jackson, there's a responsibility there, you know? You have to like honor who they are, respect who they were and who they are, um, protect their legacy in a big fucking way. The audience, you know, they want authenticity, but they also want care with their person because people don't play, you know. I wonder like what goes through these people. Um I I know fear goes through these people's heads playing these characters and things like that because you can get so much backlash for it, you know? Um, but then there's, you know, like characters like the infamous characters that like um like Jordan Belfort in Wolf of Wall Street. I feel like that's a little bit different, you know. There's more freedom. Um, you can go all the way, you can make it big, you can show the flaws, the ego, like the chaos, like in that fucking Quailute scene. You don't you don't really have to hold back, you know? Um, one requires like restraint. And I'm sure, you know, like look like Angela Bassett locked in and became Tina Turner. Jafar Jackson locked in and became Michael Jackson. There's restraint, but at the same time, what Leo did as Jordan Belfort was fearless. It was fearless as hell because he did some crazy shit in that scene. If you haven't seen Wolf of Wall Street, please watch it. But just know it's a crazy ass movie. It's lots of drugs and sex, by the way. So if you're not down for that, uh, just a warning. Um, but that's what makes like these performances so interesting to watch. Sitting there watching Jafar Jackson, just like took me, you know, on a ride in my head because I just couldn't believe what he was doing on screen. I couldn't believe who he had become. I was watching Michael Jackson, and that's the impressive part. Like as a 44-year-old, and then my 13-year-old self watching What's the Love Got to Do with it as a kid. Um, I was kind of like taking it back to that point where when I watched Angela Bassett all those years ago, I was having the same experience with Jafar, watching him play Michael Jackson. It was Michael Jackson on screen, just like it was Tina Turner on screen for me back in the day. Because it's not just about the person they're playing, it's about like the audience, what the audience expects from that person and how like the actor chooses to like meet or challenge like that expectation. And these two performances I'll talk about today, like they exceeded that. They killed it. So fucking amazing. But before I close out, you know, I always like to talk to y'all about like what these performances like just like really mean to me and what I've learned from them and what they instilled in me. You know, I feel like there's something like super powerful about watching someone step into a like another person's life. And that's why I love acting. You know what I mean? It's like it's the human story, it's something we can all relate to. And it just takes skill, you know, like doing it with care, like with commitment, and most importantly, like with truth. Cause at the end of the day, um, that's what we're all doing. Like I said, living our human experience. We're all trying to become something, you know, we're all trying to step into a version of ourself that feels bigger or stronger or more aligned. And that, you know, and just like the actors, it doesn't happen overnight. It takes work and belief and showing up. And that's what I'm trying to teach myself right now, you know. Even with, you know, podcasting, sometimes I get a little like, do I really want to keep doing it? But I love talking about this stuff and I really want to find like a community that want to chat about it with me. So, um, but even when you don't fully, even when you don't fully feel ready yet. Um, but if you can study and transform and bring these like larger than life people back to life, then maybe, like just maybe, we can do the same thing with our own lives. Maybe we can become the person we've been seeing in our minds, the one we've been dreaming about, the one we know we're capable of we're capable of being. And that's kind of my story right now. Like, that's kind of how I ended the last one. I like this is what movies do. They just like make me self-reflect on following my dreams and believing myself. And especially like these biopics, they you you see these people go through hell and struggles and they still are chasing their dreams at the same time. And to me, that matters a lot. So, yeah, what's some of you guys' favorite biopics? There could have been a ton more I put in here, but just let me know in the comments um what's your favorite biopics? And as always, guys, like keep coming back every Monday. Let's grow this community, let's chat about movies, let's chat about acting. And as always, y'all, thank you.