We'll start with the story
I haven't had the chance to call Nr. Nack yet but
I can tell you that story from Gods and Generals.
In 2001 I was cast at Maj. Charles Gilmore of the
20th Maine Regiment of Volunteers in Gods and Generals. It was an American
Civil War film based on a book by the same title. It was the first time since
From the Earth to the Moon that I had been cast as an historical character and
could do some in-depth research to portray him accurately. In a work of pure
fiction, the actor is responsible for making choices about the character that
are based on conclusions drawn from the script. There is great liberty in this
as you are the progenitor of that personality, able to create a 3 dimensional
being with a life for which you create most of the details. Your responsibility
is to be able to support all of your choices by citing something in the scrip.
For instance, let's say your character is walking down the sidewalk having a
conversation. You may decode to make a specific choice to step only on the
solid concrete. Your justification would be that elsewhere in teh script the
character says that he's "always been sort of superstitious." By avoiding the
cracks, though it is never hinted at in the stage directions for the scene, you
are bringing that element of the character's life into the scene. As long as it
does not detract from the action of the scene but is just incorporated into it,
this choice becomes "texture" for the character's
life.
Recreating an historical
character is a different challenge. You can ferret out details of the person's
life, read letters written by and to the character, find accounts of his
personality and actions from others in his regiment, etc. Then you can
incorporate all of this insight into your portrayal. Sure it denies you some
creativity but it provides you with a host of specific details that are
different from choices you might normally make.
So I set off to find as many details
as possible about Maj. Gilmore. I found out where he was from and that he had
been Sheriff of Portland Maine. He was a master at drills and exercises, having
mastered them, and directed troops despotically until they knew them backwards
and forwards. His troops were well trained under his hand. All of this was
consistent with what appeared in the script where he appears training the men
of the 20th Maine. Then... I discovered he started as Captain of the 9th Maine
Regiment training the men, and was wounded in battle when a piece of shrapnel
injured his head. He was sent to hospital and was given leave to recover along
with a promotion to Major and a transfer to the 20th Maine. Here's where
history starts diverging from the script. He shows up, trains the men, is a
taskmaster, but whenever a battle occurs Maj. Gilmore ends up leaving for a
hospital somewhere because his shrapnel wound is causing him problems, or to sit
on Courts Marshall in Maryland, or defend himself in court back in Portland, so
he never actually goes into battle again. I won't say he was a coward but he
certainly appears to have been adversely affected by his experience on the
battlefield in the 9th Regiment. In either case, it conflicts with Maj.
Gilmore's appearance in the script marching into battle aside his troops and his
Colonel Adelbert Ames.
I didn't know
what to do. We were awash in an atmosphere of accurate reenactment, we were
encouraged to investigate the details of our character's lives, we are
surrounded by Civil War reenactors who's passion it is accuracy.... in the midst
of this I am wondering to keep my trap shut or bring these discoveries to the
attention. I opted to talk to the director about it. Ron Maxwell had also
directed Gettysburg and was a Civil War buff himself. When I mentioned to him
that my research had framed Maj. Gilmore in a light more negative than the
script, he was quick to tell me that, in this case, the history didn't matter
and that the script must be served. I took the lesson to heart but made some
mindful choices with the character to include making his anticipation of going
into battle more pensive, a occasional absent minded touching of his head wound,
and other choices that would incorporate the history I had learned but would not
interfere with his function in the dramatic
action.
There are so many lessons I
learned from Gods and Generals that I am sure I will tell you in the future but
I will wait until they are pertinent. I have called Mr. Nack and left a message
and hope to speak to him some time today. More later, of
course.
Posted: Thu - March 23, 2006 at 01:10 PM