How To Act Drunk on Stage and Screen
If you have landed a role and it requires you to be drunk, firstly it’s a great idea NOT to actually hit the booze. Instead your ultimate focus is on how to appear not to be drunk rather than emphasis and exaggerate being drunk.
Look a Little Disheveled
Often because people have alcohol swirling in their system, their brain function has been suppressed, so naturally they aren’t aware of overall personal conduct. Often their hair is a little uneven, they may even have food or drink droplets on their clothing. For authentic clothing, you’ll need to think about what you will look like to the audience.
Red Eyes
Often people who are drunk have red or bloodshot eyes. When a large quantity of alcohol enters the system, tiny blood vessels on the surface of the eye (called the sclera) get dilated, causing the red, inflamed appearance. Heavy drinking also depletes the body’s reserve of nutrients needed for eye health, which can lead to a condition known as alcoholic optic neuritis.(Kinglask.com).
So in other words if you want to appear drunk if in a close up you’ll need to make sure your eyes look a little red. You can keep your eyes open until you want to blink, which increases the need for tears to come in. This will make you look glassy eyed and somewhat alcohol enhanced.
You can always rub your eyes which will act as tiny traumas to your eyes and this will also give you that look, just be a bit gentle. And try not to do this every night of a performance.
Act Like your Drunk But You Keep Your Composure.
Most amateur actors don’t realise that drunk people actually try to act sober when they are in fact drunk. Their brain function is suppressed, so they can become hyper focused on one thing,while going very slowly at the same time. They will even be unaware of what other people are seeing as you try to get the keys into the car door.
The best drunk actors as those who act sober and trying to appear normal to other people, but their are always little hints about their overall conduct such slightly slurred voice, their eyes are ‘too’ focused on the listener, their voice can be a little louder than normal, they can walk slower than normal and more deliberate. These are all tell tale signs of a drunk person looking sober.
As an actor you need to get inside the head of a drunk person and or try and remember what it’s like to be drunk. Emotional recall does have its place.
An actor says: “Most actors will tell you that the secret of playing slightly drunk is to approach it as you do in your personal life,” says Mikkelsen, “which is to try your best not to appear drunk. You move a fair bit slower, you’re more cautious, a little more precise.” The next stage of drunkenness is when “nobody’s listening anymore, it’s just people talking very, very loud”. And that’s another reason why actors should stay sober when making a film: “Otherwise you wouldn’t listen to your director, so it wouldn’t work at all.”
Do Actors Actually Act Drunk
In short most actors who are worth their weight in gold do not drink to get drunk and then act their roles. They instead act their role, They will research the effect of alcohol and re-enact how to get drunk and play drunk. Remember most actors know that to play a good role who is drunk, you need to act as if you are actually sober.
If you are drunk and have many lines or have moments where you need to be fully cognisant you need to be sober to do your best.
Of course there are caveats to this. Some well known actors did get drunk for their role, but all in all most actors stay sober for ‘drunk’ roles.
Actors Who Got Drunk During and for Filming
Daniel Radcliff who played Harry Potter in the same series of movies, had a major drinking problem. In many of the scenes he played in, he was drunk. Only he knows which roles he was drunk in and is not overly proud of these moments. He is now sober and on the up and up.
Neve Campbell an actress who played a female character kissing another female ‘Denise Richards.’ They both got drunk to film their steamy love scene kissing each other in a pool. It was their first time kissing someone from the same sex in a movie and they wanted to dull their sense in order to portray it.
Natlie Wood also got drunk in her movie where she played opposite Charles Bronson. She played a women who was drunk and actually was drunk in this particular scene. Many people raved about her acting qualities, and not denying her qualities, but possibly a little method acting was also involved here.
Why It’s a Bad Idea for Actors to Be Drunk While Acting
Generally because you are so imparied physically and mentally, you are unable to fully function as a ‘good’ actor. The effects stay with you for hours and will no only impair an actors’ ability to perform, but also could and has impacted the crew on the set of filming as well. There are actors who have gotten so drunk on the set, that they couldn’t carry out their role properly. They had to come back to the set the next day grovelling for their job back.
It’s also a bad idea because actors think they know what they are doing, but in reality they are not fully cognizant of how they are appearing to their audience, that being in a theater or on screen.
Fellow actors may dislike acting with those who are impaired, because they know they will likely not have actors who are fully committing to the scene. It will almost be as if they are acting with a brick wall and that is one of seasoned actors’ bugbears.
Actors Who Don’t Drink
Most people think it is quite normal that most actors drink, but did you know that there are many actors and celebrities who don’t drink at all. They list: J Low, Natalie Portman, Naiomi Campbell, Shania Twain, Tyla the Creator, Kim Kardashian, Ruma Willis, Tyra Banks, Andy Murray, Blake Lively, Leona Lewis, Pharrell Williams, Sarah Silverman, Chris Martin, Kathy Griffin, Jennifer Hudson, Gillian Jacobs, Ann Hathaway to name a few.
For various reasons these folk have decided that drinking is not for them, so you can assume that they would be fully cognizant and have all their thinking faculties at the ready.
Celebrities Ruined By Alcohol
There are a number of actors who have very bad effects of alcohol whether on themselves physically or with regard to their career.
Ben Afflect hit the booze regularly during the heigh of his fame and especially after his divorce with his famous then wife Jennifer Garner. He has attended rehabilitation twice before going for a third time for alcohol addiction. Affleck was very open about this addiction problems and has been snapped by paparazzi many times entering and leaving rehab.
Daniel Radcliffe famous for his portrayal of Harry Potter in the same named enterprise, hit the booze regularly while on set. He said he did it to counter the feelings from being instantly famous and young at the time. He couldn’t handle the pressure. He felt constantly scrutinized and wanted to turn away from the public gaze. He has since learned different copying techniques and has been open about his experiences with media.
Zac Efron also confessed that being a celebrity at such a young age became unbearable and also got drunk constantly. He entered rehabilitation twice at a young age when filming Rogen’s Neighbors. During his time in Hollywood he has attended many onset and offset parties which also contributed to his addiction behaviors. He believes that alcohol is a never ending struggle. He has attended Alcoholics Anonymous and has been relatively successful with it so far.
In a Nutshell
There are many reasons why some celebrities choose to get drunk and some do not on stage or on screen. More than often if doesn’t go off as expected and a performance which might be considered lack luster by others, may be thought of as an Oscar willing performance by the drunk person. Natalie Wood is one of the few who can pull that off well. But it can also be stated that getting drunk on stage isn’t the best decision to make if acting on stage with others, because anything that could, is more likely to go wrong.
