Cole Sprouse Had a Weird Experience While Training For His Role as the Creature in ‘Lisa Frankenstein’
Former child star Cole Sprouse is taking on an unconventional new acting challenge in the upcoming indie film Lisa Frankenstein playing a silent monster role that requires intense physical performance training. Though known for witty, fast-talking characters, Sprouse will portray the creature with zero dialogue. Preparing for the unique part, he worked extensively with a mime coach to master wordless emotional expression and physicality.
The mime had studied under the legend Marcel Marceau and taught Sprouse about “universal languages” of gestures and statuesque poses representing feelings. It was unfamiliar territory for the typically chatty actor, but ultimately a rewarding process. Audiences will soon witness the fascinating results when Sprouse lets his physicality do the talking as a sympathetic, funny monster in this quirky movie homage to offbeat 1990s fantasies.
What Did Cole Sprouse Learn From His Mime Teacher?
While making an appearance on The Tonight Show, actor Cole Sprouse revealed an unusual preparation technique for his upcoming non-speaking part as The Creature in the indie film Lisa Frankenstein training sessions with a professional mime. The experience proved “quite a bit more challenging” yet also “fascinating” for the typically verbose star.
“It was tough,” Sprouse told host Jimmy Fallon about acting without dialogue. “I actually thought it was going to be quite easy at first. I did train with a mime, though.” The experience proved “quite a bit more challenging” yet also “fascinating” for the typically verbose star.
When Fallon asked what he learned from the mime training, Sprouse explained: “You think of miming…it’s a lot of the invisible box or, like, the rope.” But his instructor had studied under the legendary Marcel Marceau and taught Sprouse about Marceau’s “Attitudes” poses.
As Sprouse described, “Imagine you were a statue of rage. What pose would you take? And then we would compare that statue that you would take to what Marcel had come to. And the idea was to try and find a kind of universal emotional language for how we understand physical performance.”
Though the training didn’t earn him money performing on the streets, Sprouse did gain unique preparation for his wordless film role. “It was fascinating,” he remarked to Fallon.
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What Can Fans Expect From Lisa Frankenstein?
Transitioning to discussing the film itself, Sprouse described Lisa Frankenstein as “a camp take on the kind of nostalgic movies of the late 80s and early 90s.”
He cited Tim Burton’s beloved Edward Scissorhands as an inspiration and called the project “a love letter” to quirky coming-of-age films from that era. Sprouse plays a classic monster creation akin to Frankenstein’s monster, although done with a deliberately exaggerated comedic twist.
Even without dialogue, the role lets the actor demonstrate his physical performing talents thanks to mime training. And the movie’s nostalgic style plays perfectly to Sprouse’s roots as a child star looking to reinvent himself in more mature projects.
Why Did Cole Sprouse Take an Unusual Silent Part?
Some may wonder why Sprouse chose such an unconventional non-speaking role for his latest effort beyond nostalgia’s sake.
As he joked to Fallon, “My brother is really excited that I don’t have a single line in the movie.” But professional reasons also drew him to the unusual part. As Sprouse told Fallon, “for every movie, you can just tell the studio, ‘Hey, I really need this kind of training.’ And they’ll front the bill for it. It’s kind of crazy.”
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So if you ever need offbeat lessons from a mime or other specialist teacher, Cole Sprouse recommends just booking a fittingly weird movie role as justification! And the actor’s one-of-a-kind preparation will soon pay off for audiences when Lisa Frankenstein is released theatrically.
