Louise Fletcher as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Similarly, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest actress, Louise Fletcher–who so convincingly played the merciless Nurse Ratched character–is now 78 years old. With the passing of time, she finds she can no longer bear to watch this performance anymore as she finds the character too cruel–even though she won an Academy Award for Best Actress unblocked games for the performance back in the 1970s. Indeed, Nurse Ratched has become the stereotype of a formidably aggressive woman, as well as a metaphor for the corrupting influence of power and authority that can occur in various institutions–mental and otherwise. But the superintendent of the hospital used on the set, Dr. Dean Brooks, has described Louise Fletcher as being nothing like Nurse Ratched in real life. In fact, Brooks insists, “I have found her to be angelic.” According to Brooks, Fletcher, whose parents are deaf, took time out from filming to visit students at the Oregon School for the Deaf. Also, she was devoted to her parents, tending to them lovingly as they aged, and when her friend was dying in London, Fletcher dropped everything to be there for this friend. Not exactly the ruthless qualities we immediately associate with Fletcher’s performance!
One might argue that actors should be able to portray characters unlike their true selves; that’s what acting is, after all. But, to pull them off so convincingly especially when you’re so unlike the characters is a true feat! Have you ever been asked to perform a role completely unlike yourself? If so, was it more difficult or was it liberating perhaps to be released of your true nature?
Similarly, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest actress, Louise Fletcher–who so convincingly played the merciless Nurse Ratched character–is now 78 years old. With the passing of time, she finds she can no longer bear to watch this performance anymore as she finds the character too cruel–even though she won an Academy Award for Best Actress unblocked games for the performance back in the 1970s. Indeed, Nurse Ratched has become the stereotype of a formidably aggressive woman, as well as a metaphor for the corrupting influence of power and authority that can occur in various institutions–mental and otherwise. But the superintendent of the hospital used on the set, Dr. Dean Brooks, has described Louise Fletcher as being nothing like Nurse Ratched in real life. In fact, Brooks insists, “I have found her to be angelic.” According to Brooks, Fletcher, whose parents are deaf, took time out from filming to visit students at the Oregon School for the Deaf. Also, she was devoted to her parents, tending to them lovingly as they aged, and when her friend was dying in London, Fletcher dropped everything to be there for this friend. Not exactly the ruthless qualities we immediately associate with Fletcher’s performance!
One might argue that actors should be able to portray characters unlike their true selves; that’s what acting is, after all. But, to pull them off so convincingly especially when you’re so unlike the characters is a true feat! Have you ever been asked to perform a role completely unlike yourself? If so, was it more difficult or was it liberating perhaps to be released of your true nature?
