MOVIE/ARTICLE: Howl / Allen Ginsberg - Franco on preparing for the Role
For those that haven't heard about the new Allen Ginsberg biopic Howl - here is an interesting article by the actor James Franco from Vanity Fair about how he studied for the role:
AN ACTOR PREPARES
Finding the Beat
Capturing the young Allen Ginsberg, as the author did for this month’s biopic Howl, means tweaked ears, a New Jersey accent, and a thorough understanding of what fueled the Beat poet’s masterpiece—and a landmark 1957 obscenity trial.
By James Franco - September 2010
Allen Ginsberg was a struggling artist until Lawrence Ferlinghetti published his Howl and Other Poems, in 1956. Ginsberg was 30. An obscenity trial in San Francisco, following fast on the heels of publication, served only to bring Ginsberg and his work to wide attention. Fame never made Ginsberg rich, but it did make him a public figure. He read his poetry around the world with his fellow Beats. He became a political activist. Unlike his friend Jack Kerouac, who responded badly to fame and died in his 40s, Ginsberg lived into his 70s, finding a place in the counterculture of the 60s and the punk scene of the 80s. He taught college students until the last year of his life.
But you don’t really need to know most of this to play the young Ginsberg. Young Ginsberg—the Ginsberg who went to Columbia, whose work was read by Lionel Trilling and Mark Van Doren, who was kicked out of college (and institutionalized) in part because he was gay—is not a familiar character. Everyone has an image of the large-bellied, bearded, balding Buddha figure that Ginsberg became. But to play the young Ginsberg, you, the actor, must be slim and clean-shaven and must dye your hair black—your full head of hair. You must wear thick-framed glasses. You must apply prostheses to your ears to make them stick out.
To play the young Ginsberg you will be required to read his poems in character—and will want to catch the distinctive New Jersey accent (he was from Paterson), and the determined lilt that varies in tone from ironic-tragic to wryly comic. So you will need to listen to recordings, and listen to them a lot. There is little film footage of Ginsberg from this time, but there are plenty of audio recordings. Notice how on the earliest ones his delivery is staid and serious—he even tells hecklers to shut up. On the later recordings, 35 years on, he is loose and funny, a practiced performer. If you are going to play the young Ginsberg, you will want to meld a variety of these readings. If you are completely faithful to the early ones, your performance could be flat. Use the early readings as a model for the scenes where Ginsberg is just starting out. Use the later ones to provide a sense of Ginsberg’s evolution. Regardless, listen to all of the recordings, every day, for months. Walk around New York doing this. Put the recordings on your iPod and walk. Get your voice in tune with his. Don’t worry about people looking at you. In New York, this is not weird.
Read the full article here + the film's trailer...
AN ACTOR PREPARES
Finding the Beat
Capturing the young Allen Ginsberg, as the author did for this month’s biopic Howl, means tweaked ears, a New Jersey accent, and a thorough understanding of what fueled the Beat poet’s masterpiece—and a landmark 1957 obscenity trial.
By James Franco - September 2010
Allen Ginsberg was a struggling artist until Lawrence Ferlinghetti published his Howl and Other Poems, in 1956. Ginsberg was 30. An obscenity trial in San Francisco, following fast on the heels of publication, served only to bring Ginsberg and his work to wide attention. Fame never made Ginsberg rich, but it did make him a public figure. He read his poetry around the world with his fellow Beats. He became a political activist. Unlike his friend Jack Kerouac, who responded badly to fame and died in his 40s, Ginsberg lived into his 70s, finding a place in the counterculture of the 60s and the punk scene of the 80s. He taught college students until the last year of his life.
But you don’t really need to know most of this to play the young Ginsberg. Young Ginsberg—the Ginsberg who went to Columbia, whose work was read by Lionel Trilling and Mark Van Doren, who was kicked out of college (and institutionalized) in part because he was gay—is not a familiar character. Everyone has an image of the large-bellied, bearded, balding Buddha figure that Ginsberg became. But to play the young Ginsberg, you, the actor, must be slim and clean-shaven and must dye your hair black—your full head of hair. You must wear thick-framed glasses. You must apply prostheses to your ears to make them stick out.
To play the young Ginsberg you will be required to read his poems in character—and will want to catch the distinctive New Jersey accent (he was from Paterson), and the determined lilt that varies in tone from ironic-tragic to wryly comic. So you will need to listen to recordings, and listen to them a lot. There is little film footage of Ginsberg from this time, but there are plenty of audio recordings. Notice how on the earliest ones his delivery is staid and serious—he even tells hecklers to shut up. On the later recordings, 35 years on, he is loose and funny, a practiced performer. If you are going to play the young Ginsberg, you will want to meld a variety of these readings. If you are completely faithful to the early ones, your performance could be flat. Use the early readings as a model for the scenes where Ginsberg is just starting out. Use the later ones to provide a sense of Ginsberg’s evolution. Regardless, listen to all of the recordings, every day, for months. Walk around New York doing this. Put the recordings on your iPod and walk. Get your voice in tune with his. Don’t worry about people looking at you. In New York, this is not weird.
Read the full article here + the film's trailer...
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