The acting lesson Michael Caine taught Aubrey Plaza: “It works every time”
In the public persona of Aubrey Plaza and in the many characters she has played across her career so far, there lies a sardonic wit and charm quite unlike any of her contemporary actors. With such an approach, Plaza has established herself as one of the most memorable and hilarious actors of her generation, becoming a true Hollywood icon in the process.
Of course, Plaza’s actual on-screen efforts have also widely contributed to the acclaimed position she has found herself in. From her excellent performance as April Ludgate in Parks and Recreation to her mesmerising turn in the second season of The White Lotus via beloved movies like Safety Not Guaranteed and Child’s Play, Plaza has always captivated an audience’s attention.
Throughout her career, Plaza has been fortunate enough to work with some seriously significant actors, including Michael Cera, F. Murray Abraham and Jennifer Coolidge, but few of Plaza’s co-stars will ever match the time that she got to feature alongside the true icon of British cinema, Michael Caine.
Caine and Plaza are perhaps one of the strangest acting pairings ever conceived, but in 2021, the comedy-drama Best Sellers, directed by Lina Roessler, arrived and saw the two very different actors team up. Best Sellers had Plaza playing a young publisher who inherits her father’s publishing house. She contacts an old writer, played by Caine, who still owes them a book, having not published a work in 50 years.
Speaking with GQ and responding to a Reddit post that claimed that Caine and Plaza starring together is “random”, to say the least, Plaza simply responded, “Why? We’re both actors?” Perhaps this is an instance of both parties being right – the commenter is certainly correct in pointing out the odd pairing of the two actors, but after all, Plaza and Caine are just two performers, so really, the match-up is no more odd than, say, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman in Eyes Wide Shut.
Plaza proceeded to speak of the important lesson that Caine taught her about acting, revealing the British actor as something of a mentor to his younger co-stars. “I hate to say it because I don’t want any of my competitors to know this trick,” the actor began to explain, “but I’m just gonna do it.”
Plaza then noted, “Michael Caine taught me that when you’re in a closeup in a movie, look at the camera with only one of your eyes and then the audience is left ‘for the audience.’” Employing her usual sarcasm, Plaza then proceeded to try the technique out and said, “Did I win an Oscar? It works every time.”
That’s what Caine taught Plaza, but what did Plaza manage to teach the Zulu, The Ipress File and The Italian Job star? Well, Plaza admitted that she didn’t manage to actually teach Caine “anything”, but she did “roast him an entire turkey – and that was a real interesting night,” with Caine having to climb several flights of stairs in the dead of winter in Montreal just to get his dinner.
The moment between Caine and Plaza shows that the English actor was keen to pass on his years of wisdom in front of the camera to those who will still be acting long after he has gone. With more than a few tricks up his sleeve, countless actors have profited from learning from Caine, most notably the brilliant Aubrey Plaza.
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