I used to not care if actors and actresses were real people. I just loved their characters, what they brought to those intense and emotional scenes, and the villains... There are so many great villains like Hans Gruber (Die Hard), Eric Qualen (Cliffhanger), Kevin Wendell Crumb and all his split personalities including The Beast (Split), and Ozymandias (Watchmen).
Who are these people behind the characters? Sometimes, you can't tell. Sometimes, there is no actor or actress. There is only the character, but these days, we seem to focus on the person not the character. We want to know about them, and I'm curious myself. I would like to look behind the curtain and see what lies inside.
Michael Rosenbaum opens that door to a room decorated with horror posters, and sometimes, I chuckle. Seen it, seen it, didn't see it. Meanwhile, the actor or actress waits on the couch or screen to speak their truth, their past, their struggles and their passion. There is no character. It's just them.
I have watched many interviews and will watch more. It's not because I want to see the face behind the character. It's because I want to see them. I want to know them, and it is better to see and know them in this raw form than on the screen and pages that the media dishes out because maybe the media doesn't get it right. And there is no connection like a small, private space, where they can breathe and live and express, and we watch, I watch and listen, captivated and inspired.
