Facebook or Twitter might not have been much of a concern when Michael Douglas‘ career was first beginning, but the 70-year-old actor says that an obsession with social media is having a damaging effect on the U.S.’ acting youth of today.
“There’s a crisis in young American actors right now,” he told The Independent newspaper. “Everyone’s much more image conscious than they are about actually playing the part.”
The problem, he says, has enabled international actors to gain a bigger hold in Hollywood, with “Brits and Australians taking many of the best American roles” that would otherwise have gone to home-grown talent.
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“Clearly, it breaks down on two fronts,” he said. “In Britain they take their training seriously while in the States we’re going through a sort of social media image conscious thing rather than formal training. Many actors are getting caught up in this image thing which is going on to affect their range.”
Douglas added that Australia had the upper hand when it came to masculinity among its male actors.
“In the U.S. we have this relatively asexual or unisex area with sensitive young men and we don’t have many Channing Tatums or Chris Pratts, while the Aussies do. It’s a phenomenon.”
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