Acting : Directors On Working With Actors by Tammy Hunt

Tammy Hunt

Directors On Working With Actors

“It’s incumbent upon a director, if you want to pull the best performance out of an actor, you have to really work to who they are and how they work, and not just expect them to hit a mark every time. You have to be very adaptable in the approach that you use with every different actor.”

– RUSSO BROTHERS Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War

“Be honest. If you don’t know the answer to something, own up to it. By doing that, you’re displaying openness and a lack of fear. That’ll make actors feel very comfortable because the miracle of acting, to me, is the total lack of fear they have to have. When they sense that lack of fear in somebody else, they recognize it and appreciate it.”

– CURTIS HANSON L.A. Confidential, 8 Mile

“You have to shoot the shock. Because even the most talented actor will have trouble being shocked twice. Because the timing of that is so instinctive, to reproduce it is almost impossible. I’ve worked with fantastic actors, and that’s the hardest thing, surprise. So if there is a surprise, you’ve got to shoot the surprise, which means you can’t show them the whole script before you start.”

– KEN LOACH The Wind That Shakes the Barley, I, Daniel Blake

“I think directors should at least take acting lessons to see what’s going on. And I think all actors should direct to see what a director has to go through.”

– PENNY MARSHALL A League of Their Own, Riding in Cars with Boys

“Performers are so vulnerable. They’re frightened of humiliation, sure their work will be crap. I try to make an environment where it’s warm, where it’s OK to fail — a kind of home, I suppose.”

– JANE CAMPION Bright Star, Top of the Lake (TV)

“The director’s job is to know what emotional statement he wants a character to convey in his scene or his line, and to exercise taste and judgment in helping the actor give his best possible performance. By knowing the actor’s personality and gauging his strengths and weaknesses a director can help him to overcome specific problems and realize his potential.”

– STANLEY KUBRICK The Shining, Eyes Wide Shut

“I don’t work with actors that are fearful.”

- LEE DANIELS Precious, Empire

Rebecca James

Great read - thanks for posting!

Darasimi Ibrahim

I have nice nollywood movie’s story lines but I don’t know how to work on them

Loren E Chadima

this is great thank you for posting.

Randall Paul

Wow great points. Stanley Kubrick's comment on not working with fearful actors hit home. I've seen it when he's working, he was so engrossed with the filming, it wasn''t a question in his mind that he hired a fearful actor. That would have disrupted his whole sphere on set. It takes a special kind of individual/actor to be fearless.

Mark W. Travis

Randall Paul. I think that quote was from Lee Daniels (Precious, Empire) and not Stanley Kubrick. Regardless, it's a great quote. From my experience fear is a constant aspect of every actors world. The question is how do we recognize it and (a choice here) either use it to enhance the performance of the character (remember, the characters are always dealing with fears) or how to we work with the actor to navigate around the fear?

I highly recommend that directors learn the fine and delicate art of "Directing the Characters, and Not the Actor" which will almost automatically bypass whatever fears the actor may have simply because the emotional state, needs, desires and fears of the character take over.

Just a thought.

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