Billy Crudup

Started by El Duderino, March 16, 2004, 07:24:25 PM

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soixante

How did Crudup go from "next big thing" to "whatever became of?"

Priceless.
Music is your best entertainment value.

polkablues

Quote from: soixanteHow did Crudup go from "next big thing" to "whatever became of?"

Priceless.

He does more theater than movies nowadays.  Punk.

"Waking the Dead" and "World Traveller" are two Oscar-ignored performances, in my book.  They were also everyone-ignored movies, which is a damn shame.
My house, my rules, my coffee

soixante

I am aware that Crudup does theater, but he also does TV commercials for Visa, which is a sad waste of talent.

I thought Crudup should have won an Oscar for Jesus' Son.  Five years ago, I thought he was going to be the next Daniel Day-Lewis, because of his chameleon-like quality.  But his subsequent film choices have been questionable -- Charlotte Gray, for example, was boring.
Music is your best entertainment value.

polkablues

Quote from: soixanteI am aware that Crudup does theater, but he also does TV commercials for Visa, which is a sad waste of talent.

On the other hand, doing those commercials is what allows him to do all the theater he wants without going broke and dying in a gutter somewhere.

On a related tangent, that first Mastercard commercial where you actually see him, where he plays the convenience store clerk, blew my mind.  I had been hearing his voice in those damn commercials for years and had never made the connection that it was him.

On another related tangent, "Charlotte Gray" was boring.  And "Stage Beauty" wasn't great, either.
My house, my rules, my coffee

soixante

Billy Crudup is not poor.  He doesn't need to do commercials.  I know actors who do regional theater, and they work 40 hour a week jobs and then do theater on top of that.  Crudup can make money doing movies anytime he wants.  I realize the benefit of doing commercials is that much less time is required to do them than to shoot a movie.  But that nagging thing called "artistic credibility" won't go away.  Any time an actor does a commercial, it lessens his credibility.  For example, I have less respect for Gene Hackman after he did the voice over for United Airlines.  

It is strange that I find myself in the position of criticizing Crudup, because I admire his devotion to theater.  He could have just cashed in and done a bunch of cheesy movies after Almost Famous, but he made some low-budget, uncommercial films, and focused on doing plays.  That's great, but I still have trouble with actors doing commercials.  I can understand it if you're just starting out (Dustin Hoffman, for example, did commercials when he was young and struggling).

It is also hard, if not impossible, for me to reconcile Billy Crudup the serious actor devoted to theater and Billy Crudup the corporate shill for Visa.
Music is your best entertainment value.

polkablues

I just have a hard time begrudging anyone the ability to make money doing their job.  Doing the commercials doesn't undo the film and theater work that he's done, and the commercials themselves are fairly tasteful -- nothing embarrassing or disreputable.  So how is it wrong that, in addition to the artistically credible work he does, every once in a while he'll get paid a great big chunk of money for one day's work?  Sure, acting is art, but it's also a job.
My house, my rules, my coffee

soixante

I just don't think serious actors should do TV commercials.  I'm rather old fashioned that way.  Selling out to the highest bidder and prostituting your talent is something to be ashamed of.  I felt the same way when Eric Clapton did Michelob commercials.
Music is your best entertainment value.

pete

for your information, billy crudup is poor.
"Tragedy is a close-up; comedy, a long shot."
- Buster Keaton

jasper_window

Granted this is taken from Page Six, it would be great if it's true...


August 3, 2005 -- FINALLY, Jack Kerouac's "On the Road," the classic novel of the Beat Generation, is coming to the big screen. The men behind "The Motorcycle Diaries" — director Walter Salles and screenwriter Jose Rivera — are working on a script for producer Francis Ford Coppola, FoxNews.com's Roger Friedman reports. Billy Crudup (above) is set to star as legendary speed freak Neal Cassady, with Scarlett Johannson or Chloe Sevigny being talked about as Kerouac's girlfriend, Joyce Johnson.