Filmmaker Phil Whitehead has compiled together wonderful footage from a vast variety of sources that epitomize the very meta concept of Actors Playing Actors Acting. Whitehead stated that he was inspired by a Nick James article in Sight and Sound magazine about the satirical surreal theater film Birdman
While making this video, I noticed the intricacies of how actors can try, in this situation, to create the sense of spontaneity and therefore reminding us, as viewers, that the film we are watching is also rehearsed and scripted in the same way. This is particularly interesting in Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm. We have Jerry Seinfeld playing Jerry Seinfeld playing Jerry Seinfeld in the Seinfeld clip and then during the CYE clip, Jerry Seinfeld playing a different Jerry Seinfeld playing the Jerry Seinfeld from…. Seinfeld (if that makes sense).
