Forest Whitaker just might be crazy
I have to caption the "Inside the Actor's Studio" of Forest Whitaker, and he's been spitting out a lot of sentence fragments, and things that don't make sense. Here is a transcript of the final two minutes of the show:
Student:
HI, MR. WHITAKER, MY NAME IS HANK CHEN,
AND I'M AN ACTOR WITH THE M.F.A. PROGRAM,
I FOUND YOUR PERFORMANCE TO BE EXTREMELY, UH,
TERRIFYING BECAUSE IT WAS SO GOOD,
AS WELL AS VERY HONEST.
AND MY QUESTION IS,
HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT IDENTIFYING WITH--
SO DEEPLY WITH SUCH AN INSANE CHARACTER,
AND DO YOU-DO YOU EVER GET SCARED TO APPROACH A ROLE,
OR DO YOU SEE IT MORE AS A CHALLENGE?
Forest:
IN APPROACHING A CHARACTER LIKE THIS,
YOU-YOU NEVER WANT TO LOOK AT IT
LIKE YOU'RE PLAYING A-A DARK FIGURE, OR A DARK CHARACTER,
OR MAYBE THAT'S THE ENERGY, BUT YOU REALLY WANT TO UNDERSTAND
WHY--HOW HE THINKS, AND WHAT MOTIVATES HIM,
AND WHY HE FEELS THIS WAY.
BECAUSE THERE'S ALWAYS REASONS
SO I-I KEEP SEARCHING FOR THOSE REASONS
TO COVER UP WHATEVER IT WAS.
AND-AND-AND THAT'S HOW I-I FIND IT.
UM, AS FAR AS, LIKE, BEING AFRAID OF GOING,
I'M ALWAYS AFRAID, I'M-- WHEN I APPROACH A CHARACTER
MOST OF THE TIME,
I'M ALWAYS AFRAID AND IF I'M NOT,
THEN THERE'S NO POINT IN ME EVEN PLAYING THE PART.
I'M LIKE, "CAN I DO IT?"
"WHAT DO I NEED TO KNOW?
"WHAT AM I GONNA LEARN?
"OKAY, I'M GONNA PLAY HIM,
"I DON'T KNOW IF I CAN PLAY HIM."
AND IT DRIVES ME, BUT SEE THE THING IS THAT
FEAR FOR ME IS NOT DEBILITATING.
FEAR FOR ME IS--IT'S NOT-- I RECOGNIZE LIKE FIRE--
WALKING THROUGH FIRE, IS MORE OF A LIGHT.
MORE LIKE I'M WALKING THROUGH THE LIGHT,
IT'S LIKE MY ILLUMINATION
TO BRING ME TO WHERE I'M GONNA GO,
AS OPPOSED TO SOMETHING THAT'S GONNA BURN ME UP.
BUT IF I LOSE THAT THOUGHT OF, LIKE, YOU KNOW,
I HAVE TO GET HERE THROUGH THERE,
YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN,
THAT'S WHEN I'LL BE CONSUMED.
I WISH I COULD FIND OUT A WORD FOR IT OTHER THAN FEAR,
BUT-BUT I STILL SAY I'M AFRAID,
BECAUSE I-I AM,
IT DRIVES ME.
PUSHES ME HARDCORE.
I understand what he's saying, but it took me several times reading it through. Were I the student and just listening, I'd think he's crazy. Also the last word is my favorite part. I hope I don't get sued for this.
Student:
HI, MR. WHITAKER, MY NAME IS HANK CHEN,
AND I'M AN ACTOR WITH THE M.F.A. PROGRAM,
I FOUND YOUR PERFORMANCE TO BE EXTREMELY, UH,
TERRIFYING BECAUSE IT WAS SO GOOD,
AS WELL AS VERY HONEST.
AND MY QUESTION IS,
HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT IDENTIFYING WITH--
SO DEEPLY WITH SUCH AN INSANE CHARACTER,
AND DO YOU-DO YOU EVER GET SCARED TO APPROACH A ROLE,
OR DO YOU SEE IT MORE AS A CHALLENGE?
Forest:
IN APPROACHING A CHARACTER LIKE THIS,
YOU-YOU NEVER WANT TO LOOK AT IT
LIKE YOU'RE PLAYING A-A DARK FIGURE, OR A DARK CHARACTER,
OR MAYBE THAT'S THE ENERGY, BUT YOU REALLY WANT TO UNDERSTAND
WHY--HOW HE THINKS, AND WHAT MOTIVATES HIM,
AND WHY HE FEELS THIS WAY.
BECAUSE THERE'S ALWAYS REASONS
SO I-I KEEP SEARCHING FOR THOSE REASONS
TO COVER UP WHATEVER IT WAS.
AND-AND-AND THAT'S HOW I-I FIND IT.
UM, AS FAR AS, LIKE, BEING AFRAID OF GOING,
I'M ALWAYS AFRAID, I'M-- WHEN I APPROACH A CHARACTER
MOST OF THE TIME,
I'M ALWAYS AFRAID AND IF I'M NOT,
THEN THERE'S NO POINT IN ME EVEN PLAYING THE PART.
I'M LIKE, "CAN I DO IT?"
"WHAT DO I NEED TO KNOW?
"WHAT AM I GONNA LEARN?
"OKAY, I'M GONNA PLAY HIM,
"I DON'T KNOW IF I CAN PLAY HIM."
AND IT DRIVES ME, BUT SEE THE THING IS THAT
FEAR FOR ME IS NOT DEBILITATING.
FEAR FOR ME IS--IT'S NOT-- I RECOGNIZE LIKE FIRE--
WALKING THROUGH FIRE, IS MORE OF A LIGHT.
MORE LIKE I'M WALKING THROUGH THE LIGHT,
IT'S LIKE MY ILLUMINATION
TO BRING ME TO WHERE I'M GONNA GO,
AS OPPOSED TO SOMETHING THAT'S GONNA BURN ME UP.
BUT IF I LOSE THAT THOUGHT OF, LIKE, YOU KNOW,
I HAVE TO GET HERE THROUGH THERE,
YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN,
THAT'S WHEN I'LL BE CONSUMED.
I WISH I COULD FIND OUT A WORD FOR IT OTHER THAN FEAR,
BUT-BUT I STILL SAY I'M AFRAID,
BECAUSE I-I AM,
IT DRIVES ME.
PUSHES ME HARDCORE.
I understand what he's saying, but it took me several times reading it through. Were I the student and just listening, I'd think he's crazy. Also the last word is my favorite part. I hope I don't get sued for this.