All language subtitles for 118 - Working with Actors Part 1

there are a lot of very effective

wonderful directors

who make great television shows and great movies

that feature wonderful performances

and they don't really know how to talk to actors

they don't really do much

and the reality is

if you are meticulous in your casting

and you then create an environment where those actors

you know are allowed to bring to the character

that which they understand of that character

um you have a very

very good chance of having wonderful performances

so as much as I love to modulate

experiment uh

and and collaborate with actors

uh it's it is not the most important thing that I do

on a day of directing

the most important thing I do is

the overview of the story

and understanding how to stage it

how to capture it

how to get it within the lens

uh you know

the frames that that

that we're trying to create

and create an environment where those actors

um you know

can give it their best

and then protect them and be there

so that if they are moving off in a wrong direction

that's when you can

that's when

it's imperative that you have the confidence

and the relationship to be able to move in and and help

but it's not essential that you lead them

it's essential that you protect them

I'm very lucky because I

I have a reputation

most people know that I was an actor

and so there's an inclination on most actors part uh

to to trust me so that's

that's a huge advantage

that's always been a kind of a building block of my um

process in my in my

in my career

um so I have a lot of confidence still

you do have to begin to build a working

you know relationship and a collaboration

and it begins with discussion

and beginning to understand

how the actor relates to the character

and how they relate to

what you have to say about the character

because the director is a powerful figure um and um

and so is the actor

and I don't necessarily mean in terms of status

it's that that actor

has to take command over that character you don't

you don't want somebody who just hits the marks

and says the lines

you want somebody who's trying to inhabit it

and bring something to it

uh you you need them to be uh

responsive to directions

so that you know

if you if you uh

disagree with a choice

they have the flexibility to

give you what it is that you think you're looking for

that the script demand

so so you need to find this kind of um

this equilibrium

this given take

different actors approach things in very different ways

and the sooner you can identify that you know

without starting some kind of emotional wildfire

the better sometimes if actors intellectualize too much

they freeze

and you can over discuss something

and there are some actors who really need very

very little direction

and they benefit from the simplest of directions faster

more pace slower

just giving them a result

you know louder

and then there are other actors that

if that's the way you directed them

they would feel like puppeted um

robots and they'd be angry and they'd be

they feel that you're

you're actually

um you know

you're being reductive and they

they operate from a psychological place

and you're you know

you're undercutting that

you're undermining their

their process

they might not say anything

um but they

you know you've

you've you're not helping them

you're not helping them

and so in talking to that actor or actress

if what you need is speed or pace it's

you know it's

the pauses are too long

it's simple

it's as simple as that

but you feel that they

they may not respond to you know

a very simple uh

result oriented direction very well

then you may talk about the urgency of the situation

you may talk about uh

you know how uh

how much time pressure uh

the characters are under right now

or how they don't wanna leave too many gaps

because the other person might start to take the

take charge of the conversation and

you know and you

you you you

you work with it psychologically from a

from a very real world um

kind of a place

and so it's

you know it's

it's a lot of that comes

comes with experience but uh

it's a very interesting for me

and a lot of fun

to understand actors

and understand how to help them really uh

and how to help them help me

help the movie

uh and that's

that's always

uh you know

ultimately the goal

new directors um

who you know

have not been actors

have not particularly been professional actors

or dedicated uh

performers um

I think it is

vital to to take some acting classes

and some scene study classes

and you never have to be in front of a camera

in your life

but it's I think

very important to begin to understand the grammar

the language of acting

acting teachers talking to you

that's just like directors

really uh and

and also understand how terrifying

and anxiety provoking the acting experience can be

so that you can have some empathy uh

for what it is that you're asking

the actors to put themselves through um

emotionally

along with all the

the physical pressures

once you once you understand that

and once they know that you can speak that language

and that you do have empathy

and you do understand

you can also know when to cut through um

the anxiety and

and push them into performing under pressure

which sometimes happens

you know very often

film acting

a lot of the time is

is boils down to

how good can you be

you know when the sun's about to go down

and the director is gonna lose the scene if the

if the moment isn't

isn't right

and you have to do it then

and only then

and it has to work

you know you you need

you need to be able to

with confidence say

I know you're anxious about this

but just trust the material

you know it's your you know I

I've seen what you're doing with the character

it's working

go do it um

and you know

you gain that confidence

by being around a lot of actors

and you know

and actually acting

and I'd say

try to be in plays and things like that

so you actually have that performance anxiety

you understand it

a situation where the actors is really failing

um and and you don't know how to fix it is

to begin with

a failure in the director's preparation

because had there been a proper casting process

had there been a rehearsal process

uh I'm very confident that

you know you

the director

wouldn't be confronting that kind of situation still

with all of it

um you don't always get the luxury of

that kind of time in preparation with an actor

or sometimes you do all that

and there's still

you know a moment of where it's

where it's frozen

and this is why you try to operate with efficiency

when you're working

it's not because it's cheaper

it's because you can buy more time to

to stop and deal with um

those kinds of

of of problems during the course of a shooting day

you you can you know

you can find a way to get the 45 minutes you need

to stop now and and

and really you know

achieve a moment

help the actor get there

I would say that if an actor was struggling

say with something really difficult

emotional say

I would suggest

you know slowing it all down

and taking a moment and having a private conversation

and again if you've already Learned how your actor

uh responds to direction

it may be as simple as

I'm not feeling the emotion

you're not going far enough

um and then letting them talk about that and

and you know

you turn it into a discussion

and have the crew standing by

in the minute

you think that it's that

that that person has come to some sort of epiphany

or understanding

you try it again

you roll it

some people

um might need

you know a deeper sort of psychological discussion here

um sometimes a great thing to remind the actor is what

what their character is going through

it sounds rudimentary and basic

but sometimes

if you if you say

what do you

what do you think

your character

why is your character in this position now

why why why

you know why

why is he or she emotional and

and then they say

well because my

you know my my

my you know

because my child is missing

well but how do you feel about your child missing

why is it that upsetting

well because

of course I miss my child yeah

but should what

well I should have been watching my child oh

guilt you know I I don't

I think we need to add that to this

I'm not feeling that um

now they've got an idea

a word to hang on to

um very often

if an actor can give you the word

and you can say ah

that's the feeling

go do that then

you know that's a

that's a bridge for them to

um to get to

to get to that moment um but the

the best thing is to have had a lot of conversations

not so much about the result

but about the process

uh so that you

you know how to talk to your actor at a given moment

I have to tell one story here

um I was probably still 34 years old a young

young director

but an experience director at that point and uh

and I was working with the great American

character actor and stage icon

Jason Robards Jr

won many awards

Oscars Tony's

you know Emmys

and he was in um

had a very important scene in

in Parenthood

he was a key character in the movie Parenthood

which was a comedy

but there were some very dramatic scenes as well and

um he didn't have a chance to rehearse on the movie

I I didn't know him very well

and unfortunately

we had to shoot the most dramatic scene first

so I didn't have a chance just really get to know him

so we're doing this scene

it's a scene where his son

played by Tom Halls

is disappointing him

Tom Halls has always been his favorite son

the youngest who he adored and

and the Tom Halls character is a bit of a screw up

and this is a scene where he really has to

as a parent

come to terms with his shortcomings

his disappointment and all of it

and we're shooting it

and it's the

an angle on favoring um

Jason and it's important

this is really gonna be the performance angle

and I didn't

I didn't wasn't feeling you know

the level of emotion or hurt or pain that I expected to

or that I thought was right

and yet I didn't know really how to talk to Jason

so I went up to him and I said you know

I assumed you didn't want just a quick

piece of direction you know

just result oriented piece of direction

that he'd wanna you know

talk about the psychology and emotion of it

and so I was saying

you know this is

after all of these years

and all the times that you stuck up for him

finally seeing it right

and he reached over and

and touch my hand

and um in here

he was in his mid 60s or something

that's formidable

and presence

and he said Ron

do you do you want a sadder face

and I really just thought oh okay

here's the veteran just you know

making the young director feel like an idiot

um but I don't know what else to say

I'll call him on it and

and then my Assumption was

he would pull some sort of ridiculous face

and then we'd come back

and it would sort of begin a calibration

and a negotiation

and we would

you know we get to something that was better and

and I said well

yeah I maybe

maybe it's just that

maybe it's maybe a sadder face

let's try take like that

and I went back and cameras rolled

a scene developed

and that moment came

and it was so full of truth

and so full of honesty that I

I was moved watching it

and it's the take that's in the movie

uh and it's a wonderful performance

and I realized that for 60 something Jason Robards

after a lifetime of acting

he he no longer needed a lot of conversation

to get to a different level of emotion

whatever that might be

he just needed to identify

it was like punching in a number

it was put in the word

and that gear was there

he knew where it was

now I guarantee you

he wasn't just putting on a mask

he knew how

to get to the place

actors can be stunning

my wife Cheryl

has a degree in psychology

and in her senior year at Cal State Northridge

in order to get her degree

she needed to

to do an experiment

and in the class

they had said that um

people could not really um

control their emotions

that if you hook them up to the

sort of like a lie detector test they they

they couldn't significantly

um sort of clinically

uh statistically

move the needles

and I said I don't think that's true

I bet actors can do it

and she said

they say actors can't

and I said well

you wanna try the experiment

so we got 20 actors and 20 non actors

and let them have 15 minutes of just

summoning up emotions

to see whether they could get a reading

and three of the 20 non actors could make it

the needles move

17 couldn't

seventeen of the 20 actors could make a move

like a house on fire

they had them going all over the place

uh so it wasn't enough for her to go and write a paper

and get credit for it

uh she would

that would have been a longer experiment

but I think that experienced actors have a kind of

access to facets of their personality and emotions that

really other people don't

um non actors just don't appreciate

they don't understand

does also make them

you know um

sensitive people and um

and and rather unique individuals