Emilia Clarke claims there’s a “stigma” about green screen acting
Game of Thrones and Secret Invasion star Emilia Clarke disagrees with people who think that acting in front of a green screen isn’t “real”. She says there’s a “stigma” about the approach. Notably, the British actor has used green screen at different points in her career, including on the aforementioned shows and blockbusters such as Terminator Genisys and Solo: A Star Wars Story.
“The stigma is that people don’t do any acting in these shows,” Clarke tells the Los Angeles Times regarding acting using green screens. “[But] then you’re like, ‘Well, then why are they asking all these great actors to do it, and why are they saying yes?'”
The actor said that if using green screens wasn’t acting, then greats such as Samuel L. Jackson and Olivia Coleman, both of whom star alongside her in Marvel’s Secret Invasion, wouldn’t sign on to productions that use it. Of the new show, Clarke explained that the cast was enough to make her sign on. “The cast is ridiculous,” she admitted. “I was like, ‘Where do I sign?'”
Clarke’s comments come after Anthony Hopkins, one of the stars of the Thor films – part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe alongside Secret Invasion – appeared to discredit green screens in a 2021 discussion with The New Yorker. He called it “pointless”.
During the interview, it was noted that Hopkins wrote ‘N.A.R’, which stands for ‘No Acting Required’, on his Thor script after reading it.
Asked how he knows when acting is required, Hopkins replied: “I try to apply it to everything I do: no acting required. On Thor, you have Chris Hemsworth – who looks like Thor – and a director like Kenneth Branagh, who is so certain of what he wants. They put me in armour; they shoved a beard on me. Sit on the throne; shout a bit. If you’re sitting in front of a green screen, it’s pointless acting it.”
Watch the trailer for Secret Invasion below.
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