“Your Body is the Actor, Not You”
Paris Hilton’s new documentary promises to reveal the real Paris behind the mask. Charlie “grabs a pipe” and “flies the friendly skies” as he catches up with the new Paris on CBS’ The Talk.
As an actor, I’m constantly exposing myself to different narrative formats. I call it: going on media safaris. In addition to watching all types of movies, I also watch scripted series, sitcoms, magazine shows, variety shows, reality shows, competition shows and even daytime talk shows. In her teachings, acting legend Stella Adler always stressed the importance of doing research into the culture and society of your characters, before even analyzing the lines in the script. I find that consuming such a wide range of media allows me to have a deeper understanding of the world that film characters, being written today, are coming from. It was during one of these media safaris of mine, that I stumbled upon Paris Hilton, on The Talk.
The Talk is a daytime talk show made with sugar, spice, and all things nice. It’s hosted by 5 women — from diverse backgrounds — who sit around a table, have coffee and…talk! In the episode I happen to catch, Paris Hilton was on with her sister Nicky Hilton Rothschild. The matriarch of the family — Kathy Hilton — was in the audience. Paris was on the show to discuss her new YouTube Originals documentary This is Paris set to premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival (2020). While the film’s release has been pushed back due to Covid-19 safety protocols, I’m definitely looking forward to seeing it when it does come out.
In a short clip of the film shown during The Talk, a mysterious “trauma” is referenced as being the catalyst for Paris’ previous incarnation as a high-pitch voiced Hollywood bad-girl. Paris clarified that for the longest time, she wasn’t able to live authentically until she started the healing process, sparked by working on the documentary. In her new, grounded voice (about an octave lower than the old Paris) she stated that confronting the truth of her past helped her learn to express herself authentically. Through director Alexandra Dean’s many questions, Paris was able to acknowledge the mask she had been wearing during her early career. She talked about how the not-yet-disclosed trauma was trapped in her body, causing her to be reactive and defensive in certain ways.
I found that the discussion the women had opened up was so profound, especially as an actor. Our bodies are more than just our instruments — they are our work. When we express emotions on film, we are directing energy through motion. The purpose of all the exercises we do as actors, is to authentically (re)produce rehearsed complex emotions through actions…while hitting our mark and remembering continuity. To do that, we have to acknowledge that before anything else, our body is the actor — not us. My acting teacher, Ms B., used to say that each cell of our bodies has all the knowledge of the universe within it. She trained us to become aware of how our body communicated with us, so that we could be able to communicate back to it; before, during and after a performance.
Living with unacknowledged trauma is anathema to an actor, because you lose control over your body. Essentially, by denying the circumstances and events surrounding your traumatic experiences, you’re distancing yourself from your body. On The Talk, Carrie Ann Inaba mentioned that while we might try to forget the pain, our body remembers everything. That’s why we have physical reactions when we get triggered by something/someone. She even went on to ask Paris where — in her body — she carried her trauma. In the Lars von Trier episode of The Late Flight Show I talk about trauma that I survived as a teenager, and I can clearly tell you that while I’ve worked through it mentally, I can still access it from my body. When I think about it, certain parts of my body light up. It was a horrible experience, yes, but it’s helped me to connect with my body during scene-work and produce some of my best acting moments.
I’m glad that Paris is coming out with her situation and owning it. It’s only going to make her future projects that much more meaningful, for herself and her audience. Our bodies are more than just tools for commercial gain, they are living organisms that carry much more information than our thoughts and ideas can begin to fathom. By learning to listen to ourselves; and openly talking about our traumas, we can connect with an authentic way of being — and acting! Who knew that such a saccharine daytime TV show like The Talk could touch on something so meaningful and true? After the Paris Hilton segment in question, I decided to set the next day’s episode of The Talk to record on the DVR…Of course, that was just a few days before the world shut-down, so I’m stuck in re-runs for now. We’ll talk again soon. In the meantime, grab a pipe; and take a flight.
See You Next Wednesday,
Charlie
#parishilton #cbsthetalk #mediasafari
review
TL;DR
-/10
The film was due to premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, but it hasn’t come out yet due to worldwide health and safety protocols.
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Directed by Alexandra Dean for YouTube Originals, the budget information isn’t available yet.
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Paris Hilton, Nicky Hilton Rothschild, Kim Kardashian
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The film explores how confronting trauma can lead to a more authentic self-expression. Once the film is released it’d be great to see if Paris is more sincere in front of the camera.
Charlie can be seen taking flights and acting like a thespian on Scribblebytes’ The Late Flight Show on YouTube. Click here to subscribe.
Episode referenced in blog: Lars von Trier
The Late Flight Movie Blog 