WHEN DRAMATIC actors “do comedy,” it’s no big deal, since the line between drama and comedy, in literature as well as in real life, isn’t all that pronounced. But, when comedians “dare” to “go dramatic,” it’s deemed much more unusual and difficult.
Why the difference in perception? Because comedians have traditionally been regarded for the most part as “clowns,” who will stoop as low as needed to get a laugh, no matter how cheap or even vulgar.
So, when a comedian turns serious and even tragic, it’s supposed to be a much more significant and admirable achievement, because he has to practically create a new kind of artistic sensibility and sensitivity that enables him to plug into a new and deeper level of human experience and its attendant insights.
Versatile
Once in a very rare while, a comedian turns out to be a great tragedian—as in the case of Charlie Chaplin a long time ago, and much more recently, the versatile likes of Robin Williams.
On the local film scene, only Dolphy has managed to feelingly go dramatic, in memorable movies like “Ang Tatay Kong Nanay” and “Cyrano de Bergerac.”
We express these observations now, because a number of other comedians have more recently gone dramatic—like AiAi delas Alas and Pokwang. In both instances, however, the attempts have left a lot to be desired. Which makes us ask the 64-centavo question: Why do some comedians make such a big show of “proving” that they’re great dramatic actors—even if they really aren’t?
Awards
Some comedians do drama not just to show their ostensible versatility as thespians, but to win acting awards. They know darn well that most awards are won by actors in dramas, so award-hungry comics make the key shift—with generally unsuccessful results.
We’ve seen both AiAi and Pokwang go dramatic on anthology TV dramas, and they can both be complimented for being able to dig deeper into their emotions. But, they have tended to make a great display of the big shift, not realizing that less is more.
The result is a self-conscious verbosity and excessive “seriousness” that forgets to remember (perhaps they don’t even know?) that the deepest moments in drama are sometimes those that are seemingly offhand and unplanned. Why so? Again, life’s sometimes like that, too.
Another fly in would-be great dramatic actors’ sticky ointment is the fact that most dramatic vehicles on TV are really just melodramatic riffs with a “serious” face and intent plastered on them. They dispense emotions for the sake of emotionalizing, so they aren’t very deep or significant.
Intention
So, even as an actor is “going to town” in an emotional scene, its effect is ultimately shallow and limited, because both its premise and its intention are wrong-headed.
The big difference: In melodrama, the focus is on emotions for the sake of emotional display; in drama, the emotions are there not to impress viewers, but to get to the heart of why the story is being told in the first place.
Many actors can’t get that key difference, so failure is most often the result. All told, therefore, comedians who “dare” to go dramatic would be best advised—to not even try.