The film guest I chose to write about is Michael Rapaport. Michael Rapaport is an Actor, Director, and Producer. He acted in such movies like Hitch, Deep Blue Sea and even had his own sitcom The War At Home. He just recently directed his first documentary film Beats Rhymes and Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest. The documentary is about a very influential and legendary underground Hip Hop group called "A Tribe Called Quest". This interview with Michael Rapaport was aired recently on July 20, 2011.
After listening to this interview with Michael Rapaport I learned that his style of acting and the way he portrays himself comes from growing up in the hard streets of New York City. In mostly all of his acting roles, he is actually playing himself. At first I thought of Michael being the typical actor that knows how to do a good New York accent, but little did I know that he grew up in Brownsville and Harlem, and his heavy New York accent stuck with him and landed him the roles he has played up to today.
Michael Rapaport grew up listening to Hip Hop music in the 80's. Hip Hop was apart of his everyday life and influenced him heavily not just as an actor, but as a person. "Hip Hop was apart of my everyday life once I discovered it. If I wasn't listening to it, I was trying to find it. You definitely had to work for it. There was no internet, it wasn't on cable, it wasn't played on MTV, the only time it came on was on late Friday nights and Saturdays". This quote is noteworthy because it describes how passionate Michael was about Hip Hop music while growing up. Remember in the 80's Hip Hop was barely being introduced to the mass majority. Hip Hop was actually looked down upon because of it's topics and use of language. Since Michael was so passionate about Hip Hop music, you can only imagine how passionate he became about acting when he first started.
"Hip Hop and the vernacular of it and just the attitude of it, that's just how I was. It was kind of teenage anxed rebellion and it was really just how we all talked. I never tried to hide or change you know who I am or disguise it. I'd probably be a little further along in my career if I did." This quote is noteworthy because Michael stays true to his roots and culture. He is who he is and does not try to hide it. I do agree with Michael and think he would be further in his career if he actually did disguise the way he is. Michael is known as a Character actor, which means he is only famous for playing that same character he has always played. If he would change up his character for different roles, then I think he would land a lot more roles. But Michael does not want to portray something else and I think he is pretty successful being himself.
Michael never thought about being an actor. "Honestly, before I really started acting, I didn't think about it. You know I wanted to be a basketball player. So when I realized my hoop dreams weren't coming true I started doing stand-up comedy. And even then I didn't think about acting till I got called in for an audition from people that saw me doing stand up comedy. It was the thing for Zebra Head and I read that part. I just knew that was for me." This quote is noteworthy because Michael got his first acting role in a movie from doing stand-up comedy and simply being himself. He never thought about being an actor but because he acts the way he does from growing up where he did put him in the perfect position for the character in Zebra Head. His didn't find his career, his career found him.
I think Michael Rapaport had some very influential things to say in this interview. He contributes passion and realism to the film industry. I think if you're passionate about something keep doing it. You may not find a career or job pursuing it, but somewhere down the line your passion will reward you or even change your life.
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