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Very few bosses encourage employees to look drunk, but actors have a unique gig. So it makes sense My Weekly reader Lori from Houston had to Ask us: “Is it difficult for actors to play drunk characters and be believable?”
On screen, the audience watching drunken escapades (think: FriendsRoss and Rachel’s boozy night in Las Vegas) might think that a credible good buzz is not easy to pull off. But for Rivals star Aidan Turnerwhose Declan O’Hara gets spanked in episode 5 of the Hulu drama, playing drunk proved to be a challenge.
“Our director, Elliot Hegarty“, he said: “You have to do more. You’re on a seven and I need a nine,’ and I’m like, ‘I can’t!'” Turner, 41, said exclusively. Our. Turner ended up upping his performance to 11 – and the results surprised him. “I was like, ‘This is crazy. It will never work.”
The Poldark alum said the key to creating a believable performance was trusting his director. “When I look back at that scene, I have mixed feelings because it’s very, very drunk,” Turner said. “I think as a person (in real life) I don’t get that wiped out or that crazy drunk, so it always felt like a big deal. But I suppose it totally fits the show and you have to trust your director at that stage. He or she will give you what you want and guide you through it.”
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Turner generally considers a solid drunken performance a fairly impressive feat. “There are a lot of great drunken performances. I like sophisticated drunks,” explained the Irish actor.
When he’s not being asked to turn his performance up to 11, Turner believes the key to playing drunk is to make the actor look like he wants to be sober.
“It’s almost like any drunk person you meet – they’re trying not to be drunk,” he noted. “You’re trying to straighten up somehow. You try not to curse and try to correct yourself. So there’s that moment. You don’t lean into a drunk, you try to lean away from that. So in the shows where I see that happening — where you can actually see (the actors) really work to not be (un)drunk — I always find (the shows) the most interesting to watch.”
If you have a burning entertainment question for our team of experts, email us at AskUs@usmagazine.com.
Report by Yana Grebenyuk
