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Noni Hazlehurst takes a stand for actors

Noni Hazlehurst believes actors deserve more respect, distinguishing their work from those who are celebrities.

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The always-forthright Noni Hazlehurst has spoken up in defence of actors at a breakfast organised by arts interest group Currency House.

She believes actors deserve more respect and discerns them from those personalities who are deemed celebrities (Deni Hines and Polly Porter, we’re lookin’ at you….).

In the wake of criticism of Cate Blanchett’s stance on climate change, the former City Homicide actress also said “Cate [was] defined as a non-voter and not a person of Australia, and she was described in one media outlet as ‘just an actor,’

”I can’t remember who wrote that but I suspect it was just a columnist.”

She recently defended Blanchett when she appeared on Q & A.

She also commented on the government’s plan to raise quotas for foreign actors to work in Australia.

“There is absolutely nothing wrong with having an import if it’s justifiable in the script, and if that person is genuinely going to enable the production to be made,” she says of the foreign performers scheme.”

Hazlehurst herself nearly lost a role on Little Fish to “some very high-profile” names.

“It would have been nonsensical to have had someone American or British,” she says.

The focus on celebrity meant that many people believed that if actors were not on TV, they had retired.

”If you only act in television dramas (and if you are an actor, that will kill you) most of the time you are only called on to act as yourself. You are cast according to your look – not necessarily your intelligence or ability,” Hazlehurst said.

”This is particularly true for young actors, many of whom get away with doing minimal work to develop and prepare themselves, and whose major preoccupation is more likely to be self-promotion. And there’s no one to disavow them of this approach.”

Of course, in the words of that US storytime book she has read, she could have also just told the audience “Go The F*** to Sleep.”

Source: The Australian, smh.com.au

9 Responses

  1. Actors deserve no more respect than anyone else, but they Do deserve more respect than they are given. Did you know that actors like Mel Gibson and Nicole Kidman don’t even begin to scratch the surface of Australian actors? Did you know that most Australian actors aren’t acting for money or fame – most loathe the fame. They act for the same reason that a musician plays their guitar, or an architect draws their plans… or a doctor saves a life. Because it’s What they feel good doing! They may not save a life like Mr Doctor, they may not catch the bad guys like Madam Copper, they may not teach your young ones like Ms Teacher, but every day – if they’re lucky – they go to work like every other Joe Blo and work!

    Imagine what the world would be like without them. No television. No cinema. No theatre. No games. You could argue that it might be a good thing – kids could get off their fat asses and play outside. You could read books again. You could socialise outsi… Wait, Facebook would still exist. Otherwise, the world would be a pretty boring place.

    Back in the Roman days, actors were generally of a lower class, ompman, however theatre was still a form of entertainment widely enjoyed by all Romans, so much so that they held festivals, built many theatres and even when they were taken over by the Christians, theatre – along with the actors – still prevailed, albeit without the God Masks. Acting – artists in general, even – is one of the few occupations that will never cease to be required. People will always have a need for entertainment after they get home from a hard days’ work and need to switch off. We’ve survived since the Ancient Greeks. Not many other industries can say the same.

    As an industry, actors deserve as much respect as anyone else on this earth. It’s as simple as that.

  3. back in the roman days actors where on the same level as prostitutes and thieves these people dont cure cancer or stop wars i would put them on space shuttles to the moon good riddance

  5. Not Happy Sam says:
    October 27, 2011 at 8:35 am
    You lot are nothing special, the world will still go on without a problem if you lot were not there.

    True enough, but without them TV would be wall to wall reality shows. Nightmare!!!

  6. To Not Happy Sam – I don’t suspect Noni was trying to imply that Actors are anything more than anybody else – just that they shouldn’t be degraded by the term “just an actor”. She has made quite valid points about the world of tv casting – that most actors are just called on to play themselves – and unfortunately for a large percentage of the population of this country that is all they see of the actor – they don’t see the actor actually working their craft to its highest levels and in varied roles that really show off the actors skills for example in theatre.

  7. While I’m inclined to agree that “real” actors deserve more respect than talent-free celebrities, the lack of respect arises from so many actors buying into celebrity culture. If you’re going to appear on Dancing with the Stars, sell your stories of weight loss/engagement/childbirth/etc to women’s mags, and appear at every premier & nightclub opening, then – guess what? – you’re more of a celebrity than an actor. This applies to most of the last few generations of TV actors, who really only have themselves to blame.

  9. Well, Noni, sorry to disagree with you, but you lot are just personalities, you just do a job like the rest of us.
    Yes, you lot are just actors, the writer was probably just a columnist just doing their job as well.

    The difference is that you are seen by lots of people when you do your job.
    You lot are nothing special, the world will still go on without a problem if you lot were not there.

    The top 3 groups of workers you deserve respect are (not in any special order)
    Doctors/Nurses
    Police
    Teachers

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