In "The Princess Diaries", Michael's total screen time is less than ten minutes. Forget about a character arc, even simple descriptions are limited. He's purely there to "secretly admire Mia" and then "become Mia's dance partner," which basically covers the entire plot.
So, what kind of acting or setup does such a vase need?
The actor just needs to show up, act cool, and then a pre-tax check for two hundred and fifty thousand dollars smoothly arrives.
End of story.
Of course, Anson could do that, sleepwalk through the movie.
But Anson doesn't want to.
Even if not for "The Princess Diaries," for his own future to be able to star in more movies and earn more money, he should seriously study it.
Moreover, Anson has a different understanding of a vase.
A vase is indeed a vase, but is this vase from ancient Babylon or ancient Egypt, a noble's vase or a commoner's vase, a decorative vase or a vase in an escape room that hides clues to clear the level? These are all extremely important and can even change the tone of the movie.
People's impressions of characters have always been limited.
The current prevailing view is that plot, dialogue, and even conflict are needed to showcase a character's edges. Therefore, audiences really like to see "explosive scenes" and watch actors "show off their acting skills." Only when they really "show off" can you see the acting.
However, professionals who understand acting have a different view. Acting that can be "shown off" is relatively simple and superficial; hearing thunder in silence is the highest level of acting.
At this point, without discussing the difficulty of acting, simply discussing character impressions, we can see from the last discussion with Deborah about Paul's look—
The moment a character appears, the impression is actually already formed.
A simple example.
In "Guardians of the Galaxy," Star-Lord's appearance, leather jacket, Walkman, and the constantly playing retro golden oldies, these details have already foreshadowed the character's emotional vulnerabilities, family background, and personality traits. Obviously, this is a different character from Captain America and Iron Man.
Dialogue? Plot? Conflict?
Precisely because Michael has so few scenes, less than ten minutes, Anson needs to seize every minute, every second, and every appearance to add some patterns, lines, and colors to this vase, so that the character can be full and finally become part of the plot.
There are excellent tools and mediocre tools.
In his previous life, the original Michael wasn't bad, just mediocre, successfully completing the basic tasks, but beyond that, there was no brilliance at all.
When the audience finishes watching the movie, no one will remember Michael.
This time, it's Anson's turn. He wants to change the situation. If he wants to open up the situation through this role and win more opportunities for his future, he needs to learn from Sandra Oh, just like in "Grey's Anatomy," creating space for himself in a limited space to make the character come alive.
So, Anson began to research, according to Marcia's suggestion that day—
Hairstyle, Beatles, bowl cut.
If so, then Michael is a fan of 1960s British rock, or rather, not just limited to British rock, but more likes band culture, likes the atmosphere of the 1960s, even the entire cultural trend at the time, thinking about life and society.
For example, The Beach Boys, this band from California, at its peak, was fully capable of competing with the Beatles, even surpassing them.
For example, Bob Dylan, this legendary folk singer pioneered an era. His lyrics have profound symbolic significance and influenced the Beatles' later creative style.
For example, The Grateful Dead, a live rock band from San Francisco. Almost all of their albums recognized by fans are live improvised performances, laying the foundation for later psychedelic rock.
For example, The Kinks, their thinking about social phenomena and their attempts at different sound effects have always been a light in British rock of that era.
"Likes the Beatles" is a very rough setting:
Why like the Beatles? What period of the Beatles do you like? Which Beatles album do you like the most? Which Beatles album do you dislike?
These details are what give the character life. Based on the Beatles, continue to expand your imagination, like the Beach Boys and the Grateful Dead from California. The former represents music as popular as the Beatles, while the latter represents innovation that unleashes imagination on the existing foundation.
Then, expand your imagination from the Grateful Dead, like Bob Dylan and The Kinks, like their love of music, and also like the way they think about life through music, including the social changes at that time.
Clues converge on "Michael" from different directions.
Although he is only fifteen years old, he has a mature soul, thinking about philosophy, thinking about life, thinking about value; maybe he is still too young to find the answer for the time being, and he still has a childish side, but the way he looks at the world is different from other children.
It is because of this that he likes Mia.
When Mia was not a princess, before Mia's makeover, when Mia was still invisible, he liked Mia.
Not because of appearance, but because he saw Mia's kindness, sincerity, courage, and beauty.
This is the pattern and lines of the vase.
In the movie script, the screenwriter didn't mention at all why Michael likes Mia, or rather, why Michael would like the ugly duckling Mia—
Mia's crush is a handsome guy, a popular figure.
This is a matter of course, because in middle school, everyone has more or less had a crush on the popular figures or cheerleaders in school.
But what about Michael?
Of course, the screenwriter doesn't have such space to complete this part of the plot. The script writes that Michael secretly admires Mia, so Michael secretly admires her.
Typical tool person.
Now, Anson will give Michael a reason; moreover, no additional plot space is needed.
The music Michael likes, CDs, Walkman, T-shirts, badges on backpacks.
The books Michael likes, in addition to music, he always carries books with him, philosophy, history, architecture, psychology, and other books.
From appearance to personal belongings, from the inside out, truly "generate" a Michael, fill this cardboard character with color and flesh, and give it life.
It doesn't need to be too complicated or too profound. A vase is a vase, simple and straightforward is good, but such details can bring essential differences.
During this time after the successful audition, in addition to growing his hair, Anson was not idle. He has been collecting information about the 1960s, truly understanding and delving into it, slowly awakening "Michael" in his body.
However, this is not difficult, just collecting information; the final presentation is just the "appearance"; the real difficulty is still in the "inside"—
A question, when did Mia fall in love with Michael?
Second update. More updates in the evening.
