If we’re talking about the crew, this kind of behavior is rude, but not necessarily damaging. Crews are inured to being treated rudely by directors. This doesn’t make it right, polite, or even a good practice. Because they need the work, they swallow their pride and press on. Sure, it’s easier — or, more accurately, lazier. But we can get a much better result from people who we treat as individuals, not cogs in the filmmaking machine.
John Woo: I think if you want to work with actors, first you have to fall in love with them. If you hate them, don’t even bother…. I treat actors as though they’re part of my family. Before I start shooting, I insist on spending time with my actors. We talk a lot, and I try to see how they feel about life, what kinds of ideas they have, what kinds of dreams. We talk about what they love and what they hate. I try to discover what each actor’s main quality is because this is what I’ll try to emphasize in the film….
Once we start working, there are two primary things. First, of course, is communication with the actor. To achieve that, I always try to find something more trivial — we both like soccer. It’s very important because often, the whole communication process will rest on that. It’s something you can always fall back on when conflicts arise. The other thing I pay attention to is the eyes. When an actor acts, I always stare at his or her eyes. Always. Because it tells me if he or she is being truthful or just faking it.4
Just by knowing someone’s name and using it on a regular basis, we are making personal contact with them. They become a person who wants to help us get the job done well. They become a person who looks forward to coming to work and who feels part of something worthwhile… even if it’s just a small film or TV episode.
Martin Sheen: I had the joy of working with Steven Spielberg just last year. I couldn’t believe his character on the set. He was so available to everybody. He was so personable. He shared everything about himself and wanted to know, “Where are you from, Martin? Oh, really? I didn’t know you were from Ohio. Isn’t that something? What did your dad do?” I said, “Oh, he worked in a factory.” “I didn’t know that. Really? How many children are in your family?” You know what I’m saying? He genuinely wanted to know who I was when I had only met him socially here and there. I was so disarmed. You watch that set, and it’s not just the actors who will go to any lengths for him. It’s the whole set. The whole crew will break their back for this guy — anything. He sits behind that monitor. He knows exactly what he’s looking for, and he’ll get it in the shortest amount of time, but he won’t leave until he gets it. Then he invites everyone involved to come and look at the replay, and if someone’s not happy? “All right, let’s try it again.”
Whenever I step on a set for the first time, I make it a point to know the names of all the actors, heads of departments, and the names of their “best boys.” I will know the camera operators, their assistants. and their dolly grips — all this without having met most of them. I use mnemonic tricks, rote memory, anything to be able to address them by their first names as quickly as I can. This is not to be popular. This is just good business.
Gary Busey: One thing that’s very important to others is remember their name. You have an ally. The name is so important. People don’t realize how important the name is. Maybe they do, but not so much as to take two seconds to learn one. “I’m terrible with names” is just a lazy excuse for not paying attention.
Get ’Em While You’ve Got ’Em, Before You Get ’Em
How does the director establish a relationship with the actors? When do we get to know them? Is it in the audition? The rehearsal? The shoot?
The truth is, it gets harder and harder every year to create that relationship with the actor before the day of the shoot. At the audition, the actor comes piling into the casting office with the baggage of all the other things they’re doing that day. They grab the script sides and put all their concentration into getting a grasp of the character and how to play it. Called into the audition room, they’re lucky to have a word or two with the casting person about the scene. Then the camera records and they perform it with the casting assistant, who may or may not read well.
What’s wrong with this picture? Lots and lots. In a feature film and most television shows, the director is present and able to give the actor some direction. The smart director knows this is not just time to find an actor for a role; it is a chance to experiment with the scene long before getting to the stage. You have the actor’s attention cranked up full. They wants that job and are focused on the director like a laser.
Eriq La Salle: I find, as an actor, when a director gives me an idea in an audition, if a director gives me something I haven’t thought about, that director has me. Even in the audition process, I’m always impressed when a director says something like, “What you are doing is fine, but let’s try it this way.” Whether I get it or not, I’m glad I went in and I had an interesting time.
Whenever I direct, I’m always trying to find the thing that they haven’t thought about that’s going to give them a greater understanding of the situation, of themselves and the character. That to me is one of the marks of a good actor or director.
Even if the actor isn’t quite right for the role, they can be a source of ideas and will be delighted to try the scene any way the director suggests. I will often tell the actor who is auditioning, “You know, this is a crazy idea that isn’t in the script, but will you try playing exactly the opposite of what you just did? For example, instead of you celebrating getting an engagement ring at the dinner table, try making fun of the proposal. But use the same dialogue.”
Now I can get an idea of what the actor is made of. Now I can see how they respond under a bit of light pressure
Sometimes this works, sometimes not, but one thing is always true: The actor will never forget that you worked with them and asked them to stretch their creative juices. They will always remember you.
What can you learn from this? Plenty. You know now how much the actor can stretch and how they respond under pressure. Do they create something new, or do they just repeat what they did the first time? If the latter, then it probably won’t get any better on the set. It will be the infamous, robotic “office reading,” like a pre-recorded message. It never changes, so you should look for someone else. If the former, and the actor does respond with an unusual or creative choice, the director has also learned what kind of playing the scene will allow. It’s free rehearsal with no pressure.
Martha Coolidge: To me the auditioning process is to search the extremes of what the part might demand and find the actors who are going to bring something beyond whatever I imagined, rather than somebody who has to beat it out of them or manipulate it out of them.
This is why it is so important the director be present at auditions. Otherwise, you only get part of the information you need. Watching recorded interviews only gives you part of the information. It’s like buying a car based on seeing the commercials, but never driving it. Curiously, frustratingly, maddeningly enough, many TV shows manage to skip having the director at auditions. Maybe not by deliberately trying to keep the director out of the loop, but by dragging them off on location scouts and other things that seem more pressing. The auditions are done by the casting director and then show up online on the computers of everyone involved. Choices get made. If the director doesn’t pay attention to when auditions are happening and insist that they be present, the producer and the network subtly hijack the process.
What’s