CAPITULO XVIII: LEASING

The thrust of all these alternatives to result direction has been to look for ways to ask the actor to do something rather than to ask him to be something. Because then the actor can concentrate on what he is doing, and allow himself to be in the moment, so his behavior can be natural and spontaneous.

And the simplest thing you could ask an actor to do would be a physical task. When the actor or actors are concentrating on a physical problem or task, their concentration can give the scene a sense of its emotional problem. A physical task takes the actor’s concentration off the lines, because he lets the lines come out of the physical task. Concentration on the lines — on remembering them or on delivering them the “right” way — makes a performance stiff, rehearsed-looking. Concentration on an imaginative task, such as a verb, fact, or image, takes the actor off the lines and into a created reality. The actor lets the lines come out of the imaginative task rather than out of a preconceived idea of how they should sound. But if the imaginative task gets too intellectualized or self-conscious, then a physical task may be useful.

I was told a story of one director of a major motion picture who was having trouble with a direction to an actor: She wanted him to play the scene less seductively. She kept telling him so, to no avail. The scene was stuck, too dead-on to the lines, emotionally stagnant in the actor’s predetermined idea of how the line should be said. Finally (the scene took place in a kitchen) the director said, “Why don’t you go to the refrigerator and look for a snack during this conversation. And let’s let the refrigerator door be a little stuck.” As soon as he had a physical problem — the stuck refrigerator door — to put his attention on, the words were freed from the actor’s preconceived notion, and the scene played simply and naturally.

At this point I ought to talk about verbs again. Verbs are an emotional and imaginative extension of physical tasks. The more physical the verb is the better. If you want to punish someone, getting him to feel punished is a task, like making a sandwich or potting a plant, only it is a psychological task, not a physical one. A measure of how skilled an actor is is how effectively he can make that psychological leap so that an imaginative choice has a sense of task. Even if he is getting result direction, he automatically translates the result into a playable task; for example, if told to be angrier, he starts punishing the other character; if told to be sexier, he seduces the other actor. He works moment by moment, putting his concentration on the other actor. Afterward he feels tired, just like after a demanding physical task.

Whenever actors are struggling, it is helpful to make your direction as simple and as physical as possible. Having a very simple, physical thing to do brings down the level of stress so they can rally their concentration and confidence.

QUESTIONS, QUESTIONS, QUESTIONS

“Do you want it seductive? I can do seductive.”

Directors are not the only ones who give actors result direction. Actors do it to themselves! Actors routinely come into casting sessions and immediately ask, “What’s this character like?” In rehearsal or on the set you might give a solid, specific direction that with care and feeling creates the images and factual circumstances of the character’s situation, only to have the actor respond, “You mean you want it more sarcastic?” or “You want me to pump it up?” He has fallen into “playing the result.”

Don’t be discouraged. Have faith. Don’t allow your idea to be reduced to its lowest common denominator. Look for the experience, the process, rather than the result. When an actor asks you a question, even if he asks you for an adjective, answer with a fact, a verb, an image, an event, or a physical task.

Or a question. Preferably a question.

The very best way to direct is not by giving direction at all, but by asking questions. All the devices I have been discussing — verbs, facts, images, events, physical tasks — function best in the form of questions to the actor: “Do you think these characters have ever pulled off a robbery before?” “Do you think he wants to pick a fight or is he hoping she will stay calm?” “What if the character is lying when she says this line?” “What if she just received a crank phone call?” “What does the image ‘cherry orchard’ conjure up for you?” “What’s important about this scene?” “Do you have any impulse to turn away from her when she says that?”

Sometimes “I don’t know” is the smartest thing a director can say to an actor. Sometimes very smart directors tell an actor “I don’t know” even when they do know. John Cassavetes was like that — notorious for refusing to tell actors how to play their roles — but not because he hadn’t done his homework and didn’t know and understand the characters inside and out himself. Rather because he wanted actors to find the characters themselves, to make them their own. He wanted only fresh, unguarded, and emotionally honest work.

In order to get the use of the full creative potential of your actors you must be prepared for some of the answers to these questions not to be the ones you were expecting. You have to give up your character-in-the-sky and the version of the film you have running on the inside of your forehead. You can learn how to give direction in such a way that the actor ends up feeling that his performance is his own, and yet feels firmly supported by a smart, well-prepared director with an authentic authority, who can offer the crucial “quick fix” because she has done the groundwork.

M

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“Of course the film director should know acting, its history and its techniques. The more he knows about acting, the more at ease he will be with actors. At one period of his growth, he should force himself on stage or before the camera so he knows this experientially, too.

“Some directors, and very famous ones, still fear actors instead of embracing them as comrades in a task. The director must know how to stimulate, even inspire the actor. Needless to say he must also know how to make an actor seem not to act, how to put him or her at their ease, bring them to that state of relaxation where their creative faculties are released…

“All in all he must know enough in all these areas so his actors trust him completely.” — Elia Kazan

These next chapters will be a journey inside the actor’s world, to introduce you to the craft of acting and some ways that actors work. You may feel that I am telling you more than you as a director need to know. Think of it as bounty. I am a great believer in knowing more than you need to know. Creativity is bountiful. If you confine yourself to learning only the things you are sure you will use, you are running amok of the very first principle of creativity, which is bounty.

My approach is intended for directors with a thirst to understand and build a trust with actors. Interwoven with theory, observations, and examples will be specific suggestions of ways directors can connect and collaborate more deeply with actors to make their movies better and their own job more creatively rewarding.