I'm sure we had one of these, but I can't find it...

For the last couple of weeks, I've had a couple of stupid thoughts bouncing around in my head:
1) When actors smoke on set, so they smoke real tobacco, or is it a 'safe' somethingorother?
2) Do sandwich companies hire loads of bread butterers, or do they have machines that butter the bread, or do they not use butter? (I'm using the word butter to mean butter/margarine/spread (like Clover/Can't believe it's not butter/flora/etc)).

I would guess that tobacco is tobacco as any of the 'safe' alternatives I've seen and tried could never appear to be a real cigarette on film or TV.

One film where I liked the way the used cigarettes was the Fifth Element.



I've made a few of these in my time to confuse friends.

Clicky

Mark

I know Pat Butcher in stenders smokes herbals.

generally the cigs smoked on stage or films are of the herbal stuff (as in not tobacco but def not the grass sort ) and not real cigs unless they are smokers, then it doesnt matter or if the actor is of the "method" school and insists its the real deal.
Also there currently is no such thing as a safe cig.

Cool, thanks for that Mark, and to Caz and Matt

Herbal cigs, taste worse and are just as bad. The only thing they have going for them are a lack of addiction to nicotine.

It just seems odd that at a character might have to smoke and an actor would be subjected to that sort of treatment, especially any child actors...

I'm surprised that smoking is still present in many modern films. It does nothing for the stereotypes and situation that couldn't be produced in another way. I wonder sometimes if directors earn extra income from the manufacturers.

Belchingmatt that would be illegal as the Master settlement agreement forbade them to do any product placement.

All actors have to make that choice when reading the script, and if they're not happy with it, they can challenge the director over it's importance.
And yes, some actors use real smokes, some don't. The Cigarette Smoking Man in the X Files was an ex smoker, and used herbals during the filming.
Next time you watch Green Street, look at the scene with Eljah Frodo and Claire Forlani - they're both smoking, but I reckon you can spot who does (or used to) smoke and who doesn't.

Well if professional sportsmen can take black money to influence a game then why wouldn't film directors be subject to the same sort of influence? I wasn't at all suggesting that it was above board.

If you try to Fail and Succeed, does that make you a Success or a Failure?

Is it natural for one armpit to sweat more than the other?

Mark

I would guess yes as a possibility, but not necessarily as the norm. Initial apparent visual symmetry of the human body doesn't take physiological differences into account. Examples of this would be pain felt in the left arm prior to heart attacks, one foot being larger than the other, handedness etc.