Deconstruction of actors/characters in drama

Deconstruction of actors/characters in drama

To look at actors in the drama genre I am going to look at a TV programme called 'skins', even though it is not a film it is still an excellent example of the actors commonly used in this genre.

Young people

This programme contains many young actors that are different in each season to show a new generation of people. I am going to look at the first season of actors. Each episode in each season is based around a different character and their individual lives, they are all friends with each other and go to the same school, the kids are all around the age of 17/18.

The first episode is about a boy called Tony played by Nicholas Hoult. Tony sees himself as the leader of the group and tends to mess with people's lives to keep things "interesting" in his opinion. Tony as a character is tall and skinny, he seems to have his life under control, Nicholas Hoult is a good casting choice for this as he is young and has an arrogant look about him that links to the character.

The second episode in the first season is about a girl called Cassie, who struggles from an eating disorder and so this episode follows the story of how she fakes her recovery so that the people at the clinic leave her alone. Cassie is played by Hannah Murray another talented young actress, she is a good actress for this role because she is naturally very skinny so with the addition of make up it becomes very clear what the problem is, regarding her weight.

Episode 3 in this series is about Jal. This episode follows her story and how she gets to the finals of the young musician awards but her family does not seem to care. Jal is played by Larissa Wilson is young so she fits into the age bracket that the characters are in, also her darker skin shows diversity in the casting.

Series 1, episode 4 is about a young boy named Chris. Chris has obviously had a rough past and he does not have a Dad in the house and the episode starts with Chris finding and envelope of money that has been left by his Mum who has left him. Later on in the episode we see Chris' Dad who seems to not care about Chris or his well being, from this moment we find out that Chris also had a brother who died. Joe Dempsie is the actor who plays Chris, he was chosen to play this role because he is young enough to be in college but also looks old enough for his "mum" to think he can manage himself.

The 5th episode in this season is about Tony's best friend Sid. Sid is treated as the loner of the group they tend to force him to do things that nobody else wants to do (e.g. swallow drugs to smuggle them into another country) because he seems to do anything to be accepted in the group. Sid is played by Mike Bailey. Mike Bailey was chosen for this role because of his long hair and glasses that make him look less well groomed than the others adding to his laid back and careless personality.

The next episode is about two people Maxxie and Anwar who are best friends. Maxxie is the token gay character for 'skins' and in this episode he is sharing a room on their school trip (in Russia) with Anwar. After years of friendship it is this that rises issues between the two friends regarding Maxxie's sexuality. Maxxie is played by Mitch Hewer and it is Dev Patel who plays Anwar. Mitch Hewer suits the character of Maxxie because his bright blonde hair contributes to the common representations of gay men in drama. Dev Patel plays Anwar as his darker skin tone is necessary for the background of this character.

Episode 7 is about Tony's girlfriend Michelle who also sees herself as the popular girl in the college. To start with it seems that she feels she has to be with Tony but when Tony starts to mess with Michelle's life and they grow apart we start to see the love she feels for Tony but how he clearly doesn't feel the same back. Michelle is portrayed by April Pearson who was a good casting choice because she is naturally a very pretty girl making her the obvious popular girl.

The penultimate episode in this series is about Tony's little sister Effy. She is not part of the main group but she demonstrates a younger generation of people. To her parents Effy is an angelic perfect school girl, but little do they know Toy helps sneak Effy out of the house in the evening, when she goes to parties with friends, and back in when the morning comes. Kaya Scodelario plays Effy in skins as she looks as if she could be Nicholas Hoult's sister, in addition she looks younger than the other actors and therefore more impressionable, vulnerable and easy to manipulate as she is used in this episode.

The final episode is about everyone as they tie all the individual stories together.

Older actors

The older actors are used to play parents and teachers who try to guide the children through tough times but they pay no attention due to the idea that children of this age want independence and not to have rely on the adults in their lives. The Parents are older and giving up on life which explains why the children. The actors that play these characters are well chosen as the parents are older than the teachers showing the friend like relationship the children have with the teachers at the college.

These are the main teachers we see including the head teacher who is slightly older but tries to act young in order to fit it:

The parents are older and are run down. Except Jal's Dad (bottom left) who tries to up hold his reputation as a rap artist by ignoring Jal's classical music (clarinet) and focus on his sons who are trying to rap with their friend but aren't very good.

Fri=om looking at skins I have discovered that young people are probably best to use for a drama as they are commonly shown as more vulnerable and impressionable so the issues in society that we wish to draw attention to for our piece to be an urban drama will be more important for the younger generation.