Gorilla training
Sometimes an actor has to wear heavy prosthetic makeup (like a mask) or a complete body
costume, like a monster or gorilla suit. Body
language can have a big impact on a performance, especially when make up limits facial
expressions.
I did a cameo in the film Naked Gun 2 1
/2, playing
a gorilla when Leslie Nielsen comes crashing
out of the zoo entrance in a tank followed by
runaway elephants, giraffes, and two gorillas.
(The gorillas had to be actors in suits because
using the real animals wasn’t safe.) For a week,
I studied the mannerisms and body language of
a gorilla — I was in “gorilla” training!
In a full body suit, an actor has to project his
emotions to reflect how the character is feeling. Robin Williams had to perform as a robot in
Bicentennial Man, and Jim Carrey gave an animated performance under the furry makeup of
The Grinch. Sometimes an actor’s mannerisms
and body language are transferred to a computer-generated character, as was done with
Gollum in Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.
Andy Serkis, acting as Gollum via computer
motion-capture, received a lot of praise for his
performance and garnered a lot of awards.