Michael Shannon: ‘Actors are just glorified models’

Michael Shannon believes actors in the modern film industry are merely glorified models.
The Man of Steel star has little time for the idea that acting is an art form as he believes success in Hollywood today depends more on looks than talent.
In an interview with Britain’s The Guardian newspaper, Michael also slammed the Oscars and criticised the way Hollywood stars are selected by fashion designers to promote their products.
“It’s a visual medium. It’s motion pictures,” he said. “So basically you’re just a model that talks. Look at any actor nowadays – they’re just models. Going to the Oscars is like going to the prom. Everybody dressed up. It used to be that when you went to the Oscars, you’d pick up something nice from the mall. Now it’s this big hoo-ha. It’s off the f**king rails.
“Even with me, when I do some press conference, some designer will say they want to put their suit on me. Put their suit on me! I never in my wildest dreams thought I would be hearing that phrase.”
He is also critical of those who see acting as a therapeutic way to deal with their personal issues by channelling them into a performance.
“I don’t think that acting necessarily fixes your problems,” Michael added. “To me it’s a job. Whatever my personal situation is, if I can extricate myself from it and say, ‘OK, I’m Bob or Tom or whatever’ then that’s great and you can get lots of attention.
“But then you come home at the end of the day and find that you’re still a trainwreck as a human being. That’s the big problem with seeing acting as therapy.”
Despite appearing disillusioned with acting, the 41-year-old is busier than ever, as his latest film, Midnight Special is already his third to reach cinemas this year (16). The science-fiction thriller opened in the U.S. last month (Mar16) and goes on U.K. release on Friday (08Apr16).
The star also has a number of projects scheduled to hit theatres later in 2016, most notably playing rock icon Elvis Presley opposite Kevin Spacey as Richard Nixon in Elvis & Nixon, which will premiere at New York’s Tribeca film festival later this month (Apr16).