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Well, Dramatic Miss, it's been 7 months since you first posed the initial question regarding whether or not Ted Levine is a smoker or a non-smoker (or possibly just a former smoker who has dropped the habit). Everything from toothpicks to an Mk 48 Mod 0 7.62 51mm machine gun has been discussed. I am totally suprised that a "smoking gun" theory didn't develop after a lifetime college student introduced us to the Mk 48 Mod 0 7.62 51mm machine gun. I'm also suprised that nobody mentioned anything about "some" lifetime college students enjoying "smokers" of a totally different kind (which have most typically been partaken of at "some" fraternities during rush week). In any event, did you ever get the answer to the question you originally posed?

if you look closely in the first episode (or was it the second?) of Monk, you see Stottlemeyer smoking. in the all the subsequent episodes, he is chewing a toothpick. perhaps the toothpick was Levine's personal touch on a character who has quit smoking (as well as a way to deal with it in real life).

lol
I love the idea that an actor is trying to get people to stop smoking through his roles
good post, its interesting, you have done your research

the METAL!!!
it comes from HELL!!!

But as Capt. Stottlemeyer, would you want to smoke with that amount of hair on your upper lip!!!
(and yes, it's a great comic moment, flicking the cigarette out of Disher's mouth!)

I think he used to be a smoker (look at his roles in the 1980s and early '90s) and then stopped. Some of his more recent roles seem to reflect his battle with smoking (anyone remember the nicotine patch that he removed from his arm and gave to a strait-jacketed mental patient in the canceled series "Wonderland"?). He gave a young cop an anti-smoking lecture in "The Fast and the Furious," and in some of the "Monk" episodes, he chews mints or toothpicks (cigarette substitutes?). There's a great comic moment when Stottlemeyer flicks Disher's cigarette out of his mouth. It's as if the fight against smoking has become a personal crusade for Ted.
Carol, who is only drawing inferences from Ted's acting, not speaking from personal knowledge

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Geez! Get off your cross much?! Maybe the reason the person was asking is because of Ted Levine's deep voice?

WHO CARES! Why are there so many questions about whether someone is a smoker or not? Does that make them a bad person? NO IT DOESN'T! I guess it's OK if someone is a serial killer, child molester or if they club baby seals with new born kittens, but if you are a smoker.well then you are an evil criminal!

He smoked a real lot in the tv series Crime Story. I would put my money on him being a smoker, definantly.

Hello, this may be a little strange, but does anyone know if he's a smoker or has ever been a smoker?
Yes he is (or at least was).
Anil nathrach, ortha bhis is beatha, do chal danaimh

As a smoker who's watched many an actor totally mangle it, apparently it IS a difficult accomplishment. You can usually tell, real fast, which actors have actually smoked in real life and which haven't.

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You are a complete idiot. Look at John Travolta in Broken Arrow terrible smoker, looks forced and not true, then look at Freddy Rodriguez in Planet Terror, looks like he's been smoking 3 packs a day like a pro. Same as action movies. "how hard is it to pick up a gun and point it" People make tasks look believable and some don't. And you may be a smoker but you don't know what you're talking about.

Yeah, but boy can Travolta smoke some pole.

Can I just interject into this year old argument and say that I think John Travolta is a really bad at 'portraying a smoker'. I can't remember if it was in 'get shorty,, be cool, or 'pulp fiction'. I think it was 'be cool', and everytime he lit up he looked really unnatural at smoking.
having said this I bet some know it all will tell me he has smoked for 30 years or something.
I know what jonaswo was talking about when he said some actors do a good job of smoking when they don't smoke in their day to day lives!

My parents were both heavy smokers but I don't smoke as i couldn't inhale the smoke! That's a way i use to see if anyone is a smoker in real life. A smoker will inhale the smoke and relish 238it, sometimes blowing it out of the nose whereas a non smoker just takes the smoke into their mouth and blows it right our again.
I could be wrong here, but I don't think so (sorry).
I know the actor Jameson Parker doesn't smoke but he had a scene in a movie where he smoked and it was obvious he was just blowing the smoke out of his mouth.
Hope that helps.

@Jonaswo
Ahh. I know what you're saying. For example, I will try to remember the movie but it had an asian guy (in a big modern highrise mobsters office) who had to make a cool statement and then take a tough guy drag on a cig and he botched it completely. He held the smoke up to his mouth and awkwardly paused and tried to kind of aim or set it up in his mouth and take a drag and it looked totally phony. It was funny if you noticed it.
@Dramatic Miss
Also maybe the question was referring to his breathing style which does sound as though he is or was a smoker.
Jason

If an actor is playing a character doing "something" that the actor is not used to doing, the actor will have to learn to act like he/she is used to it, or it will look obvious to people who is.
It doesn't make a much of a difference if it a difficult accomplishment or not; if the actor hasn't learned to act like it, it will show.
I would go so far as to call it the pretty much foremost definition of an actor!
You can replace "something" with smoking, handling a fancy gun or actually reading forum posts before replying to them. Take your pick.
I hereby retreat. Reply what you want.

WHAT THE HELL IS AN ALUMINUM FALCON??

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Perhaps I was being unclear. Let me put my view like this:
If an actor is not used to handle weapons (could even be toy weapons as a kid), he/she will have to learn to act like it, or it will look obvious.
If an actor is not used to hand-to-hand combat, he/she will have to learn to act like it (often by a choreograph), or it will look obvious.
If an actor is not used to smoking, he/she will have to learn to act like it, or it will look obvious.
Obvious to me, in any case.
I apologize fo2000r jumping the gun by saying that you don't know what you are talking about. It was presumptuous of me. I was triggered by your sarcasm, which I found rude and unnecessary.

WHAT THE HELL IS AN ALUMINUM FALCON??

Really, jonaswo? Which actors are "BAD" smokers in your opinion? Which actors have done such an UNBELIEVABLE job of smoking in their films? Hmm? I beg of you to please enlighten me. I am, unfortunately, a smoker and I DO know what I'm talking about.

Nobody said anything about it being a difficult accomplishment. Often smokers can tell if a non-smoker pretend to be one, especially on film. Non-smokers are not likely to be able to. Perhaps you are a non-smoker, who just don't know what you're talking about. Or perhaps you are a smoker, or previous smoker, and I still think you don't know what you're talking about.

WHAT THE HELL IS AN ALUMINUM FALCON??