Emilia Clarke Denounces The Stigma Of Green Screen Acting
The actress brought up the unfair prejudice that such a technique doesn't require any acting skills.
Many actors and even moviegoers have expressed their regret that the age of practical effects and sets seems to be almost completely over.
Veteran actors such as Anthony Hopkins, Ian McKellen and several others have expressed their disappointment or even stated outright that standing in front of green screens doesn't require any acting talent.
And while hybrid shooting tactics are still being used, it seems that we will never return to the days of purely practical sets built from scratch.
However, it seems that not everyone agrees with such a depressing point of view, as Emilia Clarke, best known for her appearances in the TV series Game of Thrones and Terminator Genisys, recently came out in defense of the use of green screens.
While discussing her latest project, the TV series Secret Invasion, in an interview with Los Angeles Times, Clarke addressed "the stigma [...] that people don't do acting in these shows."
She pointed out that if that were the case, no great actors would have agreed to such roles, as for her, Secret Invasion's star-studded cast, which includes Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Olivia Colman and Don Cheadle, was one of the reasons she agreed to participate in the first place.
Fans agree with Clarke's arguments, because it's not as if green screens are acting instead of the actors, and on the contrary, make it even more difficult because they have to use their imagination to immerse themselves in the scenes.
And this has never been a problem for Andy Serkis or Benedict Cumberbatch, for example, who have given incredible performances while playing characters created entirely by CGI.
Fans also point out that given the fact that it is mostly older actors who complain about the use of green screens, there may be a simple bias at play.
Many of them also perform on stage, and theatrical sets and props are usually quite minimal, but no one has ever claimed that theater is not real acting.
Episode 4 of Secret Invasion will premiere on July 12, 2023.
Sources: Los Angeles Times, Reddit