1 00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:27,599 Leanne, what exactly do you do for a 2 00:00:27,599 --> 00:00:30,599 living? 3 00:00:32,480 --> 00:00:36,680 Let them see what they've done. 4 00:00:39,840 --> 00:00:41,760 I was just trying to be perfect like 5 00:00:41,760 --> 00:00:44,760 you. 6 00:00:50,640 --> 00:00:53,440 Just take my picture. 7 00:00:53,440 --> 00:00:56,680 Good morning. 8 00:00:58,079 --> 00:01:02,120 He's open the door. 9 00:01:13,520 --> 00:01:17,000 Hello, stranger. 10 00:01:37,040 --> 00:01:39,840 I've been working for 25 years luckily 11 00:01:39,840 --> 00:01:43,200 and I've gotten to see um some great 12 00:01:43,200 --> 00:01:45,439 people and how they work and pick things 13 00:01:45,439 --> 00:01:46,880 up from them. I've gotten to learn from 14 00:01:46,880 --> 00:01:48,880 a lot of wonderful directors. I've kind 15 00:01:48,880 --> 00:01:51,680 of pieced everything I've learned 16 00:01:51,680 --> 00:01:53,840 together, things that work for me, 17 00:01:53,840 --> 00:01:55,600 things that I've seen other people do, 18 00:01:55,600 --> 00:01:58,000 things that I've made up to help myself. 19 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:01,040 It's sort of like having a like a bag of 20 00:02:01,040 --> 00:02:04,320 tricks that I've assembled or bag of 21 00:02:04,320 --> 00:02:06,479 helpful tools that I've assembled and 22 00:02:06,479 --> 00:02:08,720 not necessarily something that's like 23 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:10,399 this is the procedure, this is the 24 00:02:10,399 --> 00:02:12,400 process that I have to do every single 25 00:02:12,400 --> 00:02:16,400 time. We'll talk about the ways you can 26 00:02:16,400 --> 00:02:18,160 do preparation for your character. The 27 00:02:18,160 --> 00:02:20,640 way you can map out your character's 28 00:02:20,640 --> 00:02:22,720 journey, the way you can think about 29 00:02:22,720 --> 00:02:25,040 your character's relationships to other 30 00:02:25,040 --> 00:02:27,599 roles in the film, the way you relate to 31 00:02:27,599 --> 00:02:29,840 your director, the way you audition, the 32 00:02:29,840 --> 00:02:32,959 way you do green screen, the way you can 33 00:02:32,959 --> 00:02:35,120 use your physicality to affect a 34 00:02:35,120 --> 00:02:38,800 character, and also just mainly how you 35 00:02:38,800 --> 00:02:41,200 can create your own set of tools and 36 00:02:41,200 --> 00:02:43,840 your own influences so that you can 37 00:02:43,840 --> 00:02:48,000 uniquely do your job. 38 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:50,160 I'm Natalie Portman and this is my 39 00:02:50,160 --> 00:02:53,560 master class. 1 00:00:06,240 --> 00:00:09,280 Because I started so young, I first of 2 00:00:09,280 --> 00:00:12,960 all understood that no one expected me 3 00:00:12,960 --> 00:00:16,240 to have a lot of knowledge or have a lot 4 00:00:16,240 --> 00:00:21,119 of uh technique. Um, which allowed me to 5 00:00:21,119 --> 00:00:22,880 always feel like I was learning and 6 00:00:22,880 --> 00:00:25,519 continue. Now, I still feel like it's 7 00:00:25,519 --> 00:00:28,640 okay for me to be taking in something 8 00:00:28,640 --> 00:00:30,800 new, a new technique, a new process, a 9 00:00:30,800 --> 00:00:33,920 new idea of how to work. I think that 10 00:00:33,920 --> 00:00:36,000 everyone around you is a potential 11 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:40,000 teacher and you can get so much from 12 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:42,640 when you see someone doing something you 13 00:00:42,640 --> 00:00:47,280 like of meshing it into what you do. 14 00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:50,160 Also, starting really young, I think I 15 00:00:50,160 --> 00:00:53,520 learned that making mistakes is not just 16 00:00:53,520 --> 00:00:56,399 okay, it's the best thing. And the 17 00:00:56,399 --> 00:00:58,559 biggest thing is just not to be afraid. 18 00:00:58,559 --> 00:01:00,160 You can't be afraid. You can't be 19 00:01:00,160 --> 00:01:01,359 self-conscious. You can't be 20 00:01:01,359 --> 00:01:05,600 embarrassed. The whole point is to try 21 00:01:05,600 --> 00:01:08,640 things and just make it all about 22 00:01:08,640 --> 00:01:12,159 exploring, exploring yourself, exploring 23 00:01:12,159 --> 00:01:15,280 the inner lives of other people and um 24 00:01:15,280 --> 00:01:19,560 finding the joy in that. 25 00:01:23,520 --> 00:01:25,840 Your role as an actor is to try and 26 00:01:25,840 --> 00:01:28,640 understand your character and what your 27 00:01:28,640 --> 00:01:31,360 character goes through and what your 28 00:01:31,360 --> 00:01:35,439 character is within the film as a whole. 29 00:01:35,439 --> 00:01:39,759 I like to take my script sometimes, 30 00:01:39,759 --> 00:01:42,720 choose the just the scenes that I'm in 31 00:01:42,720 --> 00:01:47,040 and make a chronological sort of list of 32 00:01:47,040 --> 00:01:49,759 when the scenes happen in time. So I 33 00:01:49,759 --> 00:01:51,520 have a sort of timeline of my character. 34 00:01:51,520 --> 00:01:53,520 And of course, a lot of movies don't 35 00:01:53,520 --> 00:01:55,040 happen in sequence. A lot of scripts 36 00:01:55,040 --> 00:01:57,280 don't happen in sequence. Um, so putting 37 00:01:57,280 --> 00:01:58,960 them in chronological order so you can 38 00:01:58,960 --> 00:02:01,520 kind of understand when things happen. 39 00:02:01,520 --> 00:02:05,119 And then you can kind of choose moments 40 00:02:05,119 --> 00:02:07,759 and name moments specifically when there 41 00:02:07,759 --> 00:02:10,319 is a shift, when there's a change in the 42 00:02:10,319 --> 00:02:13,520 character. And you can try and find one 43 00:02:13,520 --> 00:02:15,840 large shift over the movie. Like if you 44 00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:18,319 had to say what change this character 45 00:02:18,319 --> 00:02:20,000 undergoes from the beginning to the end 46 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:23,440 of the movie or multiple changes, what 47 00:02:23,440 --> 00:02:25,840 are the overarching changes and then 48 00:02:25,840 --> 00:02:28,080 what are the steps in those changes that 49 00:02:28,080 --> 00:02:30,720 you can name like this is the scene 50 00:02:30,720 --> 00:02:34,239 where she finds her voice for the first 51 00:02:34,239 --> 00:02:36,000 time. This is the scene where she 52 00:02:36,000 --> 00:02:38,640 rejects her uh parents for the first 53 00:02:38,640 --> 00:02:41,280 time and then you see this overall shift 54 00:02:41,280 --> 00:02:44,480 from girl to woman. Also, it's important 55 00:02:44,480 --> 00:02:47,519 to only talk about the scenes that 56 00:02:47,519 --> 00:02:51,519 you're in because your character doesn't 57 00:02:51,519 --> 00:02:54,560 know what's happening when they're not 58 00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:57,840 there. So, if two other characters are 59 00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:00,480 plotting about your character and your 60 00:03:00,480 --> 00:03:02,319 character doesn't know, you shouldn't be 61 00:03:02,319 --> 00:03:05,840 including that in your in your arc. 62 00:03:05,840 --> 00:03:09,280 Again, not every story is conducive to 63 00:03:09,280 --> 00:03:12,480 this kind of work. Sometimes 64 00:03:12,480 --> 00:03:14,159 there isn't a change in a character. 65 00:03:14,159 --> 00:03:15,440 Sometimes it's like a character piece 66 00:03:15,440 --> 00:03:16,800 and you're just kind of presenting who 67 00:03:16,800 --> 00:03:19,440 this person is and they're not changing. 68 00:03:19,440 --> 00:03:22,560 They're the same throughout and this is 69 00:03:22,560 --> 00:03:25,360 irrelevant in terms of, 70 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:28,480 you know, them changing as a person. But 71 00:03:28,480 --> 00:03:33,360 it can help give you a kind of map of 72 00:03:33,360 --> 00:03:35,120 what happens to the character, what the 73 00:03:35,120 --> 00:03:37,200 character is doing, how you can show 74 00:03:37,200 --> 00:03:39,680 different sides, and how you can have 75 00:03:39,680 --> 00:03:41,440 variations so you're not just watching 76 00:03:41,440 --> 00:03:45,400 the same thing for 2 hours. 77 00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:53,920 You need to look at your character 78 00:03:53,920 --> 00:03:56,720 in the way they see themselves, 79 00:03:56,720 --> 00:03:58,879 in the way 80 00:03:58,879 --> 00:04:02,159 other people see them, in the way they 81 00:04:02,159 --> 00:04:04,400 know other people see them, in the way 82 00:04:04,400 --> 00:04:06,879 they want other people to see them, how 83 00:04:06,879 --> 00:04:09,040 they are with different people. Because 84 00:04:09,040 --> 00:04:11,439 we're all different in different 85 00:04:11,439 --> 00:04:13,280 situations with different people. We 86 00:04:13,280 --> 00:04:15,840 play different roles in our own lives. 87 00:04:15,840 --> 00:04:18,560 You're different with your boyfriend 88 00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:21,120 than you are with your mom than you are 89 00:04:21,120 --> 00:04:23,040 with your kid than you are with your 90 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:25,680 friend than you are with a stranger. If 91 00:04:25,680 --> 00:04:29,120 there are three or four main 92 00:04:29,120 --> 00:04:31,600 relationships that my character has in 93 00:04:31,600 --> 00:04:33,440 the movie, 94 00:04:33,440 --> 00:04:36,160 I will sort of create different pages 95 00:04:36,160 --> 00:04:39,199 for for them in my in my notebook that 96 00:04:39,199 --> 00:04:40,720 will be this is my relationship with 97 00:04:40,720 --> 00:04:41,919 this character, this is my relationship 98 00:04:41,919 --> 00:04:43,280 with that, this is my relationship with 99 00:04:43,280 --> 00:04:45,919 this person. and think of all of the 100 00:04:45,919 --> 00:04:47,520 different elements that go into a 101 00:04:47,520 --> 00:04:49,919 relationship and the feelings towards 102 00:04:49,919 --> 00:04:53,440 each other and and the specific dynamics 103 00:04:53,440 --> 00:04:55,919 of that relationship because I think 104 00:04:55,919 --> 00:04:59,040 that's a really um important way to to 105 00:04:59,040 --> 00:05:04,120 find nuance in in a character. 106 00:05:08,160 --> 00:05:12,400 The more details about a character's 107 00:05:12,400 --> 00:05:14,639 psyche, the better, and the more 108 00:05:14,639 --> 00:05:18,160 specific and the more unusual, because a 109 00:05:18,160 --> 00:05:19,600 lot of the things that go through our 110 00:05:19,600 --> 00:05:24,160 minds are not just like the big category 111 00:05:24,160 --> 00:05:26,639 classifications that we would normally 112 00:05:26,639 --> 00:05:29,039 put on a person. like that. They're 113 00:05:29,039 --> 00:05:32,240 upbeat or they're, you know, pessimistic 114 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:36,800 or you they're they're they're really um 115 00:05:36,800 --> 00:05:39,360 focused and and serious or they're very 116 00:05:39,360 --> 00:05:42,639 like freewilling and loosey goosey. It's 117 00:05:42,639 --> 00:05:45,759 more specific. What is the thing that 118 00:05:45,759 --> 00:05:49,280 really upsets them or what's their like 119 00:05:49,280 --> 00:05:51,840 pet peeve? What's their what's the thing 120 00:05:51,840 --> 00:05:56,240 that scares them the most? um what are 121 00:05:56,240 --> 00:05:58,880 the kinds of people that they're 122 00:05:58,880 --> 00:06:01,919 attracted to? What is their desire? 123 00:06:01,919 --> 00:06:04,639 Desire is kind of like at the root of 124 00:06:04,639 --> 00:06:06,240 everything. 125 00:06:06,240 --> 00:06:08,160 What do what do they desire? What gives 126 00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:12,960 them pleasure? Um and and and finding 127 00:06:12,960 --> 00:06:15,919 details like that give you very specific 128 00:06:15,919 --> 00:06:18,479 insights that I think give you a key 129 00:06:18,479 --> 00:06:21,280 into a personality. 130 00:06:21,280 --> 00:06:24,479 um versus, oh, she's a very stuckup 131 00:06:24,479 --> 00:06:28,560 character or she's a very rigid person 132 00:06:28,560 --> 00:06:31,600 or she's an alcoholic. Those kind of 133 00:06:31,600 --> 00:06:34,880 general categories aren't as helpful as 134 00:06:34,880 --> 00:06:37,919 finding the very specific there's only 135 00:06:37,919 --> 00:06:44,199 one person like this kind of um details. 136 00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:51,360 You need to be able to step into any 137 00:06:51,360 --> 00:06:54,479 character's shoes and and not judge 138 00:06:54,479 --> 00:06:57,120 them. You need to be able to really 139 00:06:57,120 --> 00:07:00,000 think the way they do. And I think most 140 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:02,639 people don't define themselves as bad 141 00:07:02,639 --> 00:07:04,639 people. So even if they're doing bad 142 00:07:04,639 --> 00:07:07,759 things, to them it feels justified. You 143 00:07:07,759 --> 00:07:10,000 need to find reasons for for all the 144 00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:13,039 things that you do in the story, even if 145 00:07:13,039 --> 00:07:15,840 the things in the story are not things 146 00:07:15,840 --> 00:07:18,080 that you would do in real life. And if 147 00:07:18,080 --> 00:07:20,479 you really can't get to that, you 148 00:07:20,479 --> 00:07:22,240 shouldn't be doing the part. I feel like 149 00:07:22,240 --> 00:07:24,400 it's it's not something you should do if 150 00:07:24,400 --> 00:07:26,560 you really can't get into the 151 00:07:26,560 --> 00:07:30,759 justification of the character. 1 00:00:12,559 --> 00:00:15,599 Terrence Malik said to me this like Van 2 00:00:15,599 --> 00:00:19,039 Go thing of paint paint from life that 3 00:00:19,039 --> 00:00:21,279 you don't want to be like doing a 4 00:00:21,279 --> 00:00:23,039 version of a character you saw in a 5 00:00:23,039 --> 00:00:24,480 movie. You want to be you want you're 6 00:00:24,480 --> 00:00:26,480 not making a movie influenced by other 7 00:00:26,480 --> 00:00:27,840 movies. You're making a movie influenced 8 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:29,279 by life. If you're making a character 9 00:00:29,279 --> 00:00:31,519 influenced by a human and you want to 10 00:00:31,519 --> 00:00:33,680 think about particular people you know 11 00:00:33,680 --> 00:00:36,480 and make it as as human as possible, you 12 00:00:36,480 --> 00:00:39,200 can be playing a a medieval character 13 00:00:39,200 --> 00:00:42,399 that reminds you of your mom's best 14 00:00:42,399 --> 00:00:46,239 friend and you can take elements of her 15 00:00:46,239 --> 00:00:49,120 behavior and bring it into that that 16 00:00:49,120 --> 00:00:51,520 character. I find that very helpful if 17 00:00:51,520 --> 00:00:56,399 you can identify a person you know that 18 00:00:56,399 --> 00:01:00,399 shares some sort of characteristics with 19 00:01:00,399 --> 00:01:02,399 the character you're playing and you 20 00:01:02,399 --> 00:01:04,320 kind of think of them and channel them 21 00:01:04,320 --> 00:01:08,439 while you're doing it. 22 00:01:11,760 --> 00:01:16,240 Sometimes you can actually use specific 23 00:01:16,240 --> 00:01:17,840 um 24 00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:20,080 you know documentaries to inform a 25 00:01:20,080 --> 00:01:22,000 character. For example, I just did a 26 00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:24,000 film called Vox Lux where I play a pop 27 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:26,960 star, a contemporary pop star. So I 28 00:01:26,960 --> 00:01:28,960 watched luckily there's lots of 29 00:01:28,960 --> 00:01:30,720 documentaries out there about 30 00:01:30,720 --> 00:01:33,040 contemporary pop stars. I watched the 31 00:01:33,040 --> 00:01:34,799 one about Katy Perry. I watched the one 32 00:01:34,799 --> 00:01:37,439 about Lady Gaga. I watched the one um 33 00:01:37,439 --> 00:01:40,799 the older one about Madonna and I found 34 00:01:40,799 --> 00:01:43,840 things like I found details in there 35 00:01:43,840 --> 00:01:48,720 that that I used. For example, the the 36 00:01:48,720 --> 00:01:50,640 fact that there's always this kind of 37 00:01:50,640 --> 00:01:52,560 group around them that they're almost 38 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:54,240 never alone. There's always people 39 00:01:54,240 --> 00:01:56,159 around you. There's always people kind 40 00:01:56,159 --> 00:01:58,640 of taking care of you. um emotionally 41 00:01:58,640 --> 00:02:02,399 what that does to a person details like 42 00:02:02,399 --> 00:02:04,479 Madonna is almost always sucking a 43 00:02:04,479 --> 00:02:09,440 lozenge in um in truth or dare and that 44 00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:12,319 was something I brought into Vox like 45 00:02:12,319 --> 00:02:14,720 the kind of paranoia about your voice 46 00:02:14,720 --> 00:02:18,480 you know taking naps in the makeup chair 47 00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:20,800 that Katy Perry does there there are 48 00:02:20,800 --> 00:02:23,599 little details you can steal like that 49 00:02:23,599 --> 00:02:26,720 for for a character 50 00:02:30,879 --> 00:02:33,840 YouTube is a delightful resource for 51 00:02:33,840 --> 00:02:37,840 actors because you can find anything and 52 00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:43,840 everything you need. Um, from accents to 53 00:02:43,840 --> 00:02:48,080 behaviors to how to learn a skill, you 54 00:02:48,080 --> 00:02:51,680 can really find everything you want. So, 55 00:02:51,680 --> 00:02:56,160 I'm about to play an astronaut, and the 56 00:02:56,160 --> 00:02:59,120 movie takes place largely after she 57 00:02:59,120 --> 00:03:04,239 returns from space. And I think that a 58 00:03:04,239 --> 00:03:06,800 lot of the characters 59 00:03:06,800 --> 00:03:10,800 psyche has to do with how she's how 60 00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:13,360 she's adjusting to being back. And of 61 00:03:13,360 --> 00:03:16,480 course, I can't go to space. So Chris 62 00:03:16,480 --> 00:03:19,120 Hadfield does all these great videos of 63 00:03:19,120 --> 00:03:21,840 the kind of magic things in space that 64 00:03:21,840 --> 00:03:23,280 are actually kind of part of the daily 65 00:03:23,280 --> 00:03:24,720 routine. And so that's really really 66 00:03:24,720 --> 00:03:27,440 helpful. Brushing your teeth or 67 00:03:27,440 --> 00:03:30,159 preparing food to imagine that you're 68 00:03:30,159 --> 00:03:33,120 doing that many times a day and then 69 00:03:33,120 --> 00:03:35,760 coming back and everything you do during 70 00:03:35,760 --> 00:03:38,959 the day has less magic. sort of building 71 00:03:38,959 --> 00:03:42,319 up the life before and the life now is 72 00:03:42,319 --> 00:03:44,879 completely something that I'm working on 73 00:03:44,879 --> 00:03:48,840 based on YouTube. 74 00:03:53,040 --> 00:03:54,959 When you're approaching a real life 75 00:03:54,959 --> 00:03:56,959 historical character, you're so lucky 76 00:03:56,959 --> 00:03:59,840 because you have very obvious research 77 00:03:59,840 --> 00:04:03,040 to do. It's it's there's usually quite a 78 00:04:03,040 --> 00:04:05,840 bit of reading you can do about the 79 00:04:05,840 --> 00:04:09,360 character. There's often if it's a more 80 00:04:09,360 --> 00:04:12,959 recent character, you can get audio or 81 00:04:12,959 --> 00:04:15,920 video footage of of these characters. 82 00:04:15,920 --> 00:04:18,160 So, there's a lot to draw on. You know, 83 00:04:18,160 --> 00:04:19,919 when you're in a moment, it's very 84 00:04:19,919 --> 00:04:21,600 different than looking back on it. 85 00:04:21,600 --> 00:04:23,600 Things are just happening. And so, you 86 00:04:23,600 --> 00:04:25,360 have to remember that when you're in the 87 00:04:25,360 --> 00:04:27,600 moment, it's different than the way we 88 00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:30,080 might look back on a historical moment. 89 00:04:30,080 --> 00:04:33,360 Just as in our lives right now, it 90 00:04:33,360 --> 00:04:35,440 seemed like daily life, but might be 91 00:04:35,440 --> 00:04:37,840 written about as these kind of huge 92 00:04:37,840 --> 00:04:41,199 events um that are happening once 93 00:04:41,199 --> 00:04:42,960 they're able to be framed in a 94 00:04:42,960 --> 00:04:45,440 particular way. reading accounts, 95 00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:49,199 first-person accounts of what people 96 00:04:49,199 --> 00:04:51,440 feel or what their daily routine is like 97 00:04:51,440 --> 00:04:54,240 can inform a lot in Jane Got a Gun when 98 00:04:54,240 --> 00:04:56,479 I was looking at the Western Women's 99 00:04:56,479 --> 00:05:00,080 Diaries or um 100 00:05:00,080 --> 00:05:03,360 Anne Bolin when I was reading historical 101 00:05:03,360 --> 00:05:07,120 accounts of what that life was like and 102 00:05:07,120 --> 00:05:10,000 the courtship with the king and and how 103 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:11,600 you'd have made servants doing 104 00:05:11,600 --> 00:05:14,479 particular tasks for you. Those kinds of 105 00:05:14,479 --> 00:05:18,800 details can give you clues as to what 106 00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:21,039 what that character in that particular 107 00:05:21,039 --> 00:05:23,199 time would be like and what their 108 00:05:23,199 --> 00:05:26,800 physicality would be because um it's 109 00:05:26,800 --> 00:05:29,440 it's not just their emotional life. And 110 00:05:29,440 --> 00:05:32,160 it's it's also, you know, playing women 111 00:05:32,160 --> 00:05:33,520 in different periods and the 112 00:05:33,520 --> 00:05:34,960 restrictions on women in different 113 00:05:34,960 --> 00:05:36,720 periods, whether you would cover your 114 00:05:36,720 --> 00:05:39,520 body or be really free and open and and 115 00:05:39,520 --> 00:05:41,680 all of those little details have to do 116 00:05:41,680 --> 00:05:45,199 with a larger cultural expectation, too. 117 00:05:45,199 --> 00:05:48,560 So figuring that that piece out, the 118 00:05:48,560 --> 00:05:50,400 historical moment, the cultural 119 00:05:50,400 --> 00:05:53,759 expectation on your character, um, is is 120 00:05:53,759 --> 00:05:58,199 is also a piece of it. 121 00:06:01,600 --> 00:06:03,120 When you're playing a historical 122 00:06:03,120 --> 00:06:05,039 character, you obviously want to be 123 00:06:05,039 --> 00:06:07,680 faithful to the things you know. And the 124 00:06:07,680 --> 00:06:10,400 things that you don't know are where you 125 00:06:10,400 --> 00:06:13,520 can be inventive. So you see where you 126 00:06:13,520 --> 00:06:16,479 have latitude and 127 00:06:16,479 --> 00:06:19,120 you you are faithful. 128 00:06:19,120 --> 00:06:21,280 In my interpretation, that's that's what 129 00:06:21,280 --> 00:06:23,840 you do. That you're faithful to facts 130 00:06:23,840 --> 00:06:27,120 that are established and then find these 131 00:06:27,120 --> 00:06:30,160 sort of in between moments of what they 132 00:06:30,160 --> 00:06:32,080 were like when they were alone maybe is 133 00:06:32,080 --> 00:06:34,479 not well documented for a public figure. 134 00:06:34,479 --> 00:06:36,400 Did they have a a problem with their 135 00:06:36,400 --> 00:06:39,759 their sibling or did they have some 136 00:06:39,759 --> 00:06:41,280 interesting thing going on in their 137 00:06:41,280 --> 00:06:44,560 relationship that is maybe suggested but 138 00:06:44,560 --> 00:06:47,600 not confirmed in the in the research? 139 00:06:47,600 --> 00:06:50,319 And so so so you can get a lot of great 140 00:06:50,319 --> 00:06:53,199 details from the research that you find 141 00:06:53,199 --> 00:06:56,400 and then you can also find a lot of sort 142 00:06:56,400 --> 00:06:59,440 of uh substance for your imagination and 143 00:06:59,440 --> 00:07:02,000 what you can't find when what you don't 144 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:05,639 have details for. 145 00:07:09,199 --> 00:07:11,280 When you do all of that research and all 146 00:07:11,280 --> 00:07:13,599 of that work ahead of time, then it's 147 00:07:13,599 --> 00:07:16,080 just in your bones so that when you're 148 00:07:16,080 --> 00:07:20,240 creating, you can really feel like it's 149 00:07:20,240 --> 00:07:22,319 almost just coming out of you, that it's 150 00:07:22,319 --> 00:07:26,080 it it naturally kind of flows. So, I 151 00:07:26,080 --> 00:07:28,240 think the big 152 00:07:28,240 --> 00:07:32,240 the big message really for for you is 153 00:07:32,240 --> 00:07:36,160 that you just do as much research and 154 00:07:36,160 --> 00:07:38,479 thinking about it as you can ahead of 155 00:07:38,479 --> 00:07:41,120 time. And then once you start, you just 156 00:07:41,120 --> 00:07:43,440 let go and you feel free and it's it's 157 00:07:43,440 --> 00:07:46,680 in you. 1 00:00:12,559 --> 00:00:15,280 start from the emotions with a character 2 00:00:15,280 --> 00:00:17,920 to define the physicality when it's not 3 00:00:17,920 --> 00:00:20,960 specific to something like a dancer or a 4 00:00:20,960 --> 00:00:24,160 fighter that that has a very very clear 5 00:00:24,160 --> 00:00:27,599 physical uh necessity of of what you're 6 00:00:27,599 --> 00:00:30,720 going to do. So, for example, um the 7 00:00:30,720 --> 00:00:34,320 character in in Brothers that I played 8 00:00:34,320 --> 00:00:37,520 was uh a military wife in this 9 00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:39,280 community, and I felt like she would be 10 00:00:39,280 --> 00:00:42,239 someone who who went running every day. 11 00:00:42,239 --> 00:00:45,120 Um and someone who was trying to let go 12 00:00:45,120 --> 00:00:47,360 of a lot of tension because her her 13 00:00:47,360 --> 00:00:51,039 husband is um presumed killed in action. 14 00:00:51,039 --> 00:00:53,680 She's obviously dealing with this new 15 00:00:53,680 --> 00:00:57,600 young widowhood. And um I imagined that 16 00:00:57,600 --> 00:00:59,840 that was her way of letting this tension 17 00:00:59,840 --> 00:01:03,520 out. And so that informed sort of what I 18 00:01:03,520 --> 00:01:07,119 was doing personally to have the sort of 19 00:01:07,119 --> 00:01:09,760 physical uh appearance for the film and 20 00:01:09,760 --> 00:01:13,360 also gave that sort of physicality a 21 00:01:13,360 --> 00:01:16,240 tension and an emotional connection to 22 00:01:16,240 --> 00:01:18,479 to the rest of the film. When I was 23 00:01:18,479 --> 00:01:22,240 doing and Bolin for example, that was a 24 00:01:22,240 --> 00:01:24,479 person who I felt was very controlling 25 00:01:24,479 --> 00:01:27,520 and very calculated and needed a sense 26 00:01:27,520 --> 00:01:29,360 of order in her life. And during that 27 00:01:29,360 --> 00:01:31,680 time I I was doing Ashtanga yoga that 28 00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:35,280 that that I felt was was very um related 29 00:01:35,280 --> 00:01:38,079 to that sort of mindset of control and 30 00:01:38,079 --> 00:01:40,640 order and um rigidity. So you can kind 31 00:01:40,640 --> 00:01:44,720 of choose things like that that can have 32 00:01:44,720 --> 00:01:46,720 to do with your training in terms of 33 00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:48,960 what your body actually looks like for 34 00:01:48,960 --> 00:01:51,600 for the role. There's so much in 35 00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:54,640 physicality that informs the emotions 36 00:01:54,640 --> 00:01:56,560 and also emotions that inform the 37 00:01:56,560 --> 00:01:58,479 physicality. And you always have to 38 00:01:58,479 --> 00:02:00,479 remember, even though often the camera's 39 00:02:00,479 --> 00:02:02,799 right here, the way you move with your 40 00:02:02,799 --> 00:02:05,200 body is is such a big part of expressing 41 00:02:05,200 --> 00:02:07,840 the character's personality, expressing 42 00:02:07,840 --> 00:02:11,520 their emotion, and um and expressing the 43 00:02:11,520 --> 00:02:16,599 the the way they enter the world. 44 00:02:20,480 --> 00:02:23,680 Then there's just the physicality of how 45 00:02:23,680 --> 00:02:27,120 does your character enter a room? And 46 00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:28,319 this can be different at different 47 00:02:28,319 --> 00:02:30,720 times, of course, you know, depending on 48 00:02:30,720 --> 00:02:32,640 their mood, depending on the person 49 00:02:32,640 --> 00:02:34,640 they're with, depending on what kind of 50 00:02:34,640 --> 00:02:36,080 room it is, if it's a space they're 51 00:02:36,080 --> 00:02:37,920 familiar with or not familiar with, if 52 00:02:37,920 --> 00:02:39,519 it's people they're familiar with or not 53 00:02:39,519 --> 00:02:40,959 familiar with. Those are all questions 54 00:02:40,959 --> 00:02:43,200 you should be asking about. There's how 55 00:02:43,200 --> 00:02:44,640 a character moves, whether they're 56 00:02:44,640 --> 00:02:49,440 confident, whether they're um more more 57 00:02:49,440 --> 00:02:51,519 self-conscious, you know, how you move 58 00:02:51,519 --> 00:02:52,959 through a space, how you assert 59 00:02:52,959 --> 00:02:55,840 yourself, where you lead from in your 60 00:02:55,840 --> 00:02:57,760 body when you walk. If you're someone 61 00:02:57,760 --> 00:03:00,319 who um enters a room and wants everyone 62 00:03:00,319 --> 00:03:02,640 to look at them or is entering a room 63 00:03:02,640 --> 00:03:05,920 wants to hide and and not have anyone 64 00:03:05,920 --> 00:03:09,440 pay attention, that is all all defined 65 00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:13,120 by what your character 66 00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:16,080 wants when they go into a situation. Um 67 00:03:16,080 --> 00:03:17,680 how they want people to look at them, 68 00:03:17,680 --> 00:03:20,239 how they want people to react to them, 69 00:03:20,239 --> 00:03:23,519 um and how they feel inside themselves. 70 00:03:23,519 --> 00:03:25,760 And so you can kind of pick and choose 71 00:03:25,760 --> 00:03:28,560 those things to inform um and think 72 00:03:28,560 --> 00:03:31,360 about what part of your body you're 73 00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:34,080 you're leading with when you enter a 74 00:03:34,080 --> 00:03:37,080 space. 75 00:03:40,720 --> 00:03:42,879 There's always beautiful ways you can 76 00:03:42,879 --> 00:03:45,680 move. and moving with the camera if the 77 00:03:45,680 --> 00:03:49,280 camera is fluid um is another way that 78 00:03:49,280 --> 00:03:52,879 that you can physically affect how the 79 00:03:52,879 --> 00:03:55,360 audience will be experiencing 80 00:03:55,360 --> 00:03:57,760 um the character. Of course, how how 81 00:03:57,760 --> 00:03:59,840 frontal you are versus how much you're 82 00:03:59,840 --> 00:04:01,519 you're hiding yourself while you're 83 00:04:01,519 --> 00:04:03,840 speaking and also how you are 84 00:04:03,840 --> 00:04:07,360 interacting with your fellow actors. Um 85 00:04:07,360 --> 00:04:09,840 because of course how close or how far 86 00:04:09,840 --> 00:04:12,720 you get when you're when you're with 87 00:04:12,720 --> 00:04:16,479 them and how you touch them, how you 88 00:04:16,479 --> 00:04:20,000 gesture with them can say a lot. There's 89 00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:23,520 a lot of physical uh ways you can show 90 00:04:23,520 --> 00:04:26,160 the relationship between different 91 00:04:26,160 --> 00:04:29,880 characters as well. 92 00:04:33,360 --> 00:04:35,120 The things that I notice are things that 93 00:04:35,120 --> 00:04:37,759 surprise me. the things that are choices 94 00:04:37,759 --> 00:04:40,560 that I wouldn't obviously make or that I 95 00:04:40,560 --> 00:04:44,160 wouldn't have thought of myself. Um, and 96 00:04:44,160 --> 00:04:47,759 the in between moments, the moments that 97 00:04:47,759 --> 00:04:50,800 are probably not written down in the 98 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:54,960 dialogue or in the um, actions um, in 99 00:04:54,960 --> 00:04:57,520 the script that are the inventions of 100 00:04:57,520 --> 00:05:01,120 the actor that kind of inform you what 101 00:05:01,120 --> 00:05:03,199 what you can invent and what you can 102 00:05:03,199 --> 00:05:06,000 bring to your work that isn't just 103 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:08,320 performing what's on the page. always 104 00:05:08,320 --> 00:05:10,800 finding something 105 00:05:10,800 --> 00:05:13,759 interesting physically in between the 106 00:05:13,759 --> 00:05:18,160 spaces um that you're speaking 107 00:05:18,160 --> 00:05:21,280 and then in between those moments you 108 00:05:21,280 --> 00:05:24,720 you find something that your character 109 00:05:24,720 --> 00:05:26,800 might be doing. You know, there's 110 00:05:26,800 --> 00:05:29,360 there's people who have repetitive 111 00:05:29,360 --> 00:05:30,800 ticks. You know, there are people who 112 00:05:30,800 --> 00:05:33,919 kind of are always, you know, doing that 113 00:05:33,919 --> 00:05:36,000 sort of thing or there's girls that are 114 00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:38,400 like constantly doing things with their 115 00:05:38,400 --> 00:05:41,440 hair or it can actually be be movement. 116 00:05:41,440 --> 00:05:44,800 I think the more you create the the more 117 00:05:44,800 --> 00:05:47,680 you're emotionally engaged with the 118 00:05:47,680 --> 00:05:51,800 material and it just reads 119 00:05:55,600 --> 00:05:58,560 hair, makeup, wardrobe gives you a lot 120 00:05:58,560 --> 00:06:03,440 of feedback um that you are this person 121 00:06:03,440 --> 00:06:05,360 that you're playing. You know, there's 122 00:06:05,360 --> 00:06:07,600 all of these like psych studies about 123 00:06:07,600 --> 00:06:10,000 how when you just physically are in a 124 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:11,680 position, it makes you feel a different 125 00:06:11,680 --> 00:06:13,759 way. Like if you hold a pencil in your 126 00:06:13,759 --> 00:06:16,560 teeth like this, it makes you feel 127 00:06:16,560 --> 00:06:19,039 happier just because your body is 128 00:06:19,039 --> 00:06:21,120 sending signals to your brain like I'm 129 00:06:21,120 --> 00:06:22,800 smiling. Even though it has nothing to 130 00:06:22,800 --> 00:06:25,440 do with smiling. And it's a similar 131 00:06:25,440 --> 00:06:27,199 thing when you like look in the mirror 132 00:06:27,199 --> 00:06:28,800 and you see yourself as another 133 00:06:28,800 --> 00:06:30,400 character. It kind of gives you the 134 00:06:30,400 --> 00:06:32,000 feedback that you are this different 135 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:34,800 person, that you're not yourself. And of 136 00:06:34,800 --> 00:06:36,319 course, you physically feel different. 137 00:06:36,319 --> 00:06:38,240 You're wearing shoes that are not the 138 00:06:38,240 --> 00:06:40,479 same shoes as you would normally have. 139 00:06:40,479 --> 00:06:43,199 You might have hair falling on your face 140 00:06:43,199 --> 00:06:45,039 in a different way than you usually do. 141 00:06:45,039 --> 00:06:47,360 So, you physically feel very different 142 00:06:47,360 --> 00:06:49,440 and people respond to you differently. 143 00:06:49,440 --> 00:06:51,680 Um, I remember being blonde for the 144 00:06:51,680 --> 00:06:54,000 first time in a character and the 145 00:06:54,000 --> 00:06:57,360 different reactions from people was so 146 00:06:57,360 --> 00:07:00,400 extreme that that it informed the 147 00:07:00,400 --> 00:07:02,560 character in a lot of ways. So, you 148 00:07:02,560 --> 00:07:04,720 really can get a lot of feedback just in 149 00:07:04,720 --> 00:07:06,479 the way you view yourself and in the way 150 00:07:06,479 --> 00:07:08,639 other people view you by changing your 151 00:07:08,639 --> 00:07:12,039 your look. 152 00:07:16,160 --> 00:07:18,560 for a period film. If you're wearing a 153 00:07:18,560 --> 00:07:20,800 corset, it of course affects your 154 00:07:20,800 --> 00:07:22,560 posture. And that's actually a really 155 00:07:22,560 --> 00:07:24,160 helpful thing if you are doing something 156 00:07:24,160 --> 00:07:26,160 that you're going to be wearing a corset 157 00:07:26,160 --> 00:07:28,080 to wear it in rehearsals to start 158 00:07:28,080 --> 00:07:30,160 getting used to it because that can 159 00:07:30,160 --> 00:07:34,479 really affect um how you breathe, how 160 00:07:34,479 --> 00:07:37,120 your voice where your voice is is 161 00:07:37,120 --> 00:07:40,720 located. Um, and of course how you move 162 00:07:40,720 --> 00:07:43,280 or if you have a dress as opposed to 163 00:07:43,280 --> 00:07:47,120 trousers, it can give you opportunities 164 00:07:47,120 --> 00:07:49,440 to move in certain ways but also limit 165 00:07:49,440 --> 00:07:52,639 you in other ways of how you how you are 166 00:07:52,639 --> 00:07:55,919 able to navigate a space. And there's 167 00:07:55,919 --> 00:07:58,000 there are many things that that you can 168 00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:00,560 bring to, for example, the the the last 169 00:08:00,560 --> 00:08:04,319 film I did, Vox Lux. Um, 170 00:08:04,319 --> 00:08:07,759 I chose to have nails, like kind of big 171 00:08:07,759 --> 00:08:11,039 nails, and it it just had this effect on 172 00:08:11,039 --> 00:08:13,520 the way I used my hands as a character 173 00:08:13,520 --> 00:08:15,280 that all of a sudden she became a 174 00:08:15,280 --> 00:08:17,599 character that talks with her hands all 175 00:08:17,599 --> 00:08:19,120 the time, which is a very specific 176 00:08:19,120 --> 00:08:22,960 physical thing for a a person to do and 177 00:08:22,960 --> 00:08:25,120 was definitely informed by the fact that 178 00:08:25,120 --> 00:08:26,879 I got these nails and all of a sudden it 179 00:08:26,879 --> 00:08:29,520 was like it was like a prop that I could 180 00:08:29,520 --> 00:08:32,320 that I could use. So there there are 181 00:08:32,320 --> 00:08:33,760 little details like that that you can 182 00:08:33,760 --> 00:08:37,200 pull in from from your wardrobe um and 183 00:08:37,200 --> 00:08:40,560 and hair and makeup that um help inform 184 00:08:40,560 --> 00:08:44,919 the way the way that you move. 185 00:08:48,399 --> 00:08:52,000 on Jackie. I we had this scene where 186 00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:54,880 where I'm going through the cemetery 187 00:08:54,880 --> 00:08:57,040 through Arlington to choose sort of the 188 00:08:57,040 --> 00:09:00,480 location of JFK's 189 00:09:00,480 --> 00:09:05,519 plot. And in the scene, I was wearing 190 00:09:05,519 --> 00:09:08,800 these um these heels that were just part 191 00:09:08,800 --> 00:09:12,320 of the part of the character. Wasn't 192 00:09:12,320 --> 00:09:14,320 really planned. And it happened to be a 193 00:09:14,320 --> 00:09:18,800 very kind of rainy day. And so the soil 194 00:09:18,800 --> 00:09:22,320 was um was really soft and of course as 195 00:09:22,320 --> 00:09:24,880 I was walking through it I was sinking 196 00:09:24,880 --> 00:09:27,040 into it with the heels and it created 197 00:09:27,040 --> 00:09:29,760 this drama. It was unexpected, but 198 00:09:29,760 --> 00:09:33,600 because of the um the heels and falling 199 00:09:33,600 --> 00:09:36,160 into it, it had this sort of physical 200 00:09:36,160 --> 00:09:38,240 instability. And that was a great 201 00:09:38,240 --> 00:09:39,680 example of something that happened by 202 00:09:39,680 --> 00:09:43,040 accident that actually was a wonderful 203 00:09:43,040 --> 00:09:47,760 accident that allowed for a physicality 204 00:09:47,760 --> 00:09:49,839 uh that related to the emotions of the 205 00:09:49,839 --> 00:09:52,160 scene. There are things like that that 206 00:09:52,160 --> 00:09:55,600 are really beautiful um beautiful 207 00:09:55,600 --> 00:09:58,240 accidents physically um that are some of 208 00:09:58,240 --> 00:10:00,000 my favorite things to watch in in other 209 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:03,000 movies. 1 00:00:06,240 --> 00:00:08,639 These are all films that I love and that 2 00:00:08,639 --> 00:00:10,160 are very beautiful, but these are 3 00:00:10,160 --> 00:00:13,679 specific actor moments that show how 4 00:00:13,679 --> 00:00:17,279 physical gesture can be used in 5 00:00:17,279 --> 00:00:19,920 unexpected ways to help character. And 6 00:00:19,920 --> 00:00:22,320 in small moments that that help 7 00:00:22,320 --> 00:00:24,960 character that you can see things that 8 00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:27,119 are not necessarily written on the page 9 00:00:27,119 --> 00:00:29,359 that you bring to the script that will 10 00:00:29,359 --> 00:00:31,920 help enhance the the humanity of the 11 00:00:31,920 --> 00:00:34,920 character. 12 00:00:38,640 --> 00:00:41,280 A woman under the influence is one of my 13 00:00:41,280 --> 00:00:44,960 favorite films. John Civvetes made with 14 00:00:44,960 --> 00:00:46,719 Jenna Rollins. All of their 15 00:00:46,719 --> 00:00:48,320 collaborations are incredible, but this 16 00:00:48,320 --> 00:00:50,160 one particular is very, very moving. 17 00:00:50,160 --> 00:00:53,199 Portrait of a woman who 18 00:00:53,199 --> 00:00:57,600 has a hard time with alcohol and 19 00:00:57,600 --> 00:01:00,719 emotions and is is having a hard time 20 00:01:00,719 --> 00:01:03,039 taking care of her kids. And and this is 21 00:01:03,039 --> 00:01:06,240 there's a scene where her mother is 22 00:01:06,240 --> 00:01:09,280 taking the kids to her house and she's 23 00:01:09,280 --> 00:01:10,560 kind of following them out and getting 24 00:01:10,560 --> 00:01:13,119 them ready and she's kind of a mess and 25 00:01:13,119 --> 00:01:15,280 she loses her slipper. 26 00:01:15,280 --> 00:01:16,400 Come on. Come on, Maria. 27 00:01:16,400 --> 00:01:17,840 Please don't yell. Everybody takes it 28 00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:19,520 out. Maria, get in that car. 29 00:01:19,520 --> 00:01:21,920 Angela, get your shoes. Come on, Maria. 30 00:01:21,920 --> 00:01:24,159 You can't go without your shoes. Here. 31 00:01:24,159 --> 00:01:26,159 Hey, Tony, bring another sweater to a 32 00:01:26,159 --> 00:01:28,479 heavy sweater. Maria, have you got your 33 00:01:28,479 --> 00:01:29,520 pajamas? 34 00:01:29,520 --> 00:01:30,560 I've got the pajamas. 35 00:01:30,560 --> 00:01:33,119 Okay. Oh, Tony, get Angelo's bicycle. 36 00:01:33,119 --> 00:01:34,479 Come in back, too, will you? 37 00:01:34,479 --> 00:01:35,600 I don't think he heard you. 38 00:01:35,600 --> 00:01:37,040 Okay, I'll get it. I'll get it. Never 39 00:01:37,040 --> 00:01:37,920 mind. 40 00:01:37,920 --> 00:01:40,560 It seems like that's something that's an 41 00:01:40,560 --> 00:01:42,880 accident. That's a beautiful accident 42 00:01:42,880 --> 00:01:46,640 that she goes with. And an example of 43 00:01:46,640 --> 00:01:48,799 when something happens in a scene, 44 00:01:48,799 --> 00:01:50,960 instead of saying, "Oh, we have to stop 45 00:01:50,960 --> 00:01:52,960 and start over again. Something, you 46 00:01:52,960 --> 00:01:55,680 know, went wrong." You can flow with it 47 00:01:55,680 --> 00:01:58,799 and turn it into a character 48 00:01:58,799 --> 00:02:02,159 um a a way a character is dealing with a 49 00:02:02,159 --> 00:02:05,840 real life situation that that is that 50 00:02:05,840 --> 00:02:08,319 throws them for a loop. and that it can 51 00:02:08,319 --> 00:02:09,920 even be part of the character cuz this 52 00:02:09,920 --> 00:02:12,959 character is such a mess that actually 53 00:02:12,959 --> 00:02:14,720 running outside and losing her slipper 54 00:02:14,720 --> 00:02:16,160 and trying to get the kids together. It 55 00:02:16,160 --> 00:02:19,520 all goes together and um it's it's a 56 00:02:19,520 --> 00:02:21,360 beautiful moment and and has definitely 57 00:02:21,360 --> 00:02:25,200 informed things that I've uh I've gotten 58 00:02:25,200 --> 00:02:29,599 to do recently. I had a a scene where an 59 00:02:29,599 --> 00:02:31,680 actress I worked with her phone went off 60 00:02:31,680 --> 00:02:34,560 in the middle of the scene and instead 61 00:02:34,560 --> 00:02:36,800 of saying cut, you know, like we have to 62 00:02:36,800 --> 00:02:40,000 start over again, you know, I was like 63 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:42,400 my character is kind of uh, you know, 64 00:02:42,400 --> 00:02:44,160 the boss in the scene and I was like, do 65 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:45,599 you want to get that, you know, in the 66 00:02:45,599 --> 00:02:48,560 scene? So you can flow with things that 67 00:02:48,560 --> 00:02:51,120 that might have otherwise seemed like 68 00:02:51,120 --> 00:02:54,640 mistakes and use it with the character 69 00:02:54,640 --> 00:02:56,640 as opposed to letting it break you and 70 00:02:56,640 --> 00:02:59,680 see see things that are are fun and and 71 00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:01,840 that you can discover within that. And 72 00:03:01,840 --> 00:03:05,280 it's also a great way, you know, if I'm 73 00:03:05,280 --> 00:03:07,200 wrong and that wasn't a mistake and that 74 00:03:07,200 --> 00:03:08,800 was actually something that she the 75 00:03:08,800 --> 00:03:11,840 Jenna Roland chose to do ahead of time. 76 00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:14,400 It's a great idea. That's another thing 77 00:03:14,400 --> 00:03:17,040 that you can see that she brought as an 78 00:03:17,040 --> 00:03:20,159 idea of something physically that she 79 00:03:20,159 --> 00:03:23,040 could do to add to that moment of the 80 00:03:23,040 --> 00:03:25,440 chaos of getting kids together and not 81 00:03:25,440 --> 00:03:28,959 being so together that is expressed 82 00:03:28,959 --> 00:03:32,440 through her physicality. 83 00:03:36,959 --> 00:03:40,959 Phil Hoffman, the great um Phil Hoffman 84 00:03:40,959 --> 00:03:43,440 um in Before the Devil Knows You're 85 00:03:43,440 --> 00:03:46,640 Dead. It was such a a great example to 86 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:51,080 me of how to do things unexpectedly. 87 00:04:15,360 --> 00:04:17,919 We've seen that scene in movies so many 88 00:04:17,919 --> 00:04:21,759 times where in a rage people just 89 00:04:21,759 --> 00:04:24,160 clear off a desk, just throw everything 90 00:04:24,160 --> 00:04:26,479 on the floor very violently, kind of 91 00:04:26,479 --> 00:04:31,360 like extraordinarily angry and overturn 92 00:04:31,360 --> 00:04:35,040 tables and trash a place. Um, and he 93 00:04:35,040 --> 00:04:39,199 does it so gently and kind of carefully 94 00:04:39,199 --> 00:04:41,520 and it gives 95 00:04:41,520 --> 00:04:43,199 something completely unexpected where 96 00:04:43,199 --> 00:04:46,160 you expect him to sort of do it in a 97 00:04:46,160 --> 00:04:49,040 rage and he goes against that. So, I 98 00:04:49,040 --> 00:04:50,800 kind of imagine that, you know, in the 99 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:54,400 script it says like he he he, 100 00:04:54,400 --> 00:04:56,080 you know, crashes everything off the 101 00:04:56,080 --> 00:04:58,240 table. He throws things on the floor and 102 00:04:58,240 --> 00:05:00,960 he kind of very carefully like moves the 103 00:05:00,960 --> 00:05:05,040 lamp very slowly overturns that bowl 104 00:05:05,040 --> 00:05:07,600 that the physicality of it is actually 105 00:05:07,600 --> 00:05:10,400 kind of against the expectation. He's 106 00:05:10,400 --> 00:05:12,880 still doing the same thing, but the fact 107 00:05:12,880 --> 00:05:15,919 that he's doing it in a very strange way 108 00:05:15,919 --> 00:05:17,680 tells you a lot more about the character 109 00:05:17,680 --> 00:05:21,039 than if it was in a more predictable 110 00:05:21,039 --> 00:05:24,520 blind rage. 111 00:05:29,840 --> 00:05:31,600 Merryill Street's walking with Robert 112 00:05:31,600 --> 00:05:34,160 Daer. He's coming back from war and he's 113 00:05:34,160 --> 00:05:35,520 being greeted by all these people on the 114 00:05:35,520 --> 00:05:37,280 street and she's, you know, really 115 00:05:37,280 --> 00:05:38,880 excited and there with him, but she's 116 00:05:38,880 --> 00:05:40,880 also got her own thing. 117 00:05:40,880 --> 00:05:43,199 And just that moment of her checking 118 00:05:43,199 --> 00:05:46,320 herself out in the window when I feel 119 00:05:46,320 --> 00:05:48,400 like any other actress would have just 120 00:05:48,400 --> 00:05:51,120 stood there and been looking at Dairo's 121 00:05:51,120 --> 00:05:55,520 character. I love this this gesture of 122 00:05:55,520 --> 00:05:58,000 Merryill Streets because 123 00:05:58,000 --> 00:06:01,039 first of all it reminds you that even 124 00:06:01,039 --> 00:06:02,960 when you're doing just a walk down the 125 00:06:02,960 --> 00:06:04,319 street, you can find something 126 00:06:04,319 --> 00:06:06,400 interesting. Things that seem like kind 127 00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:09,280 of nothing scenes in a movie, you can 128 00:06:09,280 --> 00:06:12,160 make interesting and you can make say 129 00:06:12,160 --> 00:06:13,840 something about your character and how 130 00:06:13,840 --> 00:06:16,160 your character specifically would behave 131 00:06:16,160 --> 00:06:20,240 in that situation. Even if it's not 132 00:06:20,240 --> 00:06:22,800 written in any way that that shows 133 00:06:22,800 --> 00:06:24,319 anything about your character, specific 134 00:06:24,319 --> 00:06:26,400 about your character, you always have to 135 00:06:26,400 --> 00:06:28,080 think about those in between moments, 136 00:06:28,080 --> 00:06:31,759 those those moments that you might just 137 00:06:31,759 --> 00:06:33,759 be like, I'm walking from here to there, 138 00:06:33,759 --> 00:06:35,680 but what is specific about your 139 00:06:35,680 --> 00:06:37,280 character that's walking from here to 140 00:06:37,280 --> 00:06:39,440 there? What are the gestures that you 141 00:06:39,440 --> 00:06:42,639 can add to those moments to make them a 142 00:06:42,639 --> 00:06:44,800 little juicier and a little bit more fun 143 00:06:44,800 --> 00:06:46,720 to watch and a little bit more eccentric 144 00:06:46,720 --> 00:06:49,919 and a little bit more about this human 145 00:06:49,919 --> 00:06:53,639 being you are? 1 00:00:06,319 --> 00:00:12,000 The script for Black Swan was really um 2 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:16,160 was really a a great arc of this young 3 00:00:16,160 --> 00:00:21,279 woman kind of losing her her um her 4 00:00:21,279 --> 00:00:24,240 grasp on reality. But I think what 5 00:00:24,240 --> 00:00:27,199 Darren and I found when working together 6 00:00:27,199 --> 00:00:31,039 was this character that was almost two 7 00:00:31,039 --> 00:00:34,480 selves. Sort of the the one that was 8 00:00:34,480 --> 00:00:36,320 what we called the white swan, which was 9 00:00:36,320 --> 00:00:39,520 sort of this little girl, and the black 10 00:00:39,520 --> 00:00:41,360 swan, which was the woman. And I think 11 00:00:41,360 --> 00:00:45,120 for me it became so much about the girl 12 00:00:45,120 --> 00:00:47,840 that was trying to be perfect for 13 00:00:47,840 --> 00:00:50,640 everybody and trying to be this thing to 14 00:00:50,640 --> 00:00:52,719 the woman figuring out her own desire 15 00:00:52,719 --> 00:00:54,719 and what she wanted and finding her own 16 00:00:54,719 --> 00:00:57,440 pleasure. And all of those 17 00:00:57,440 --> 00:00:59,520 experimentations sort of with her own 18 00:00:59,520 --> 00:01:01,920 pleasure that actually the the head of 19 00:01:01,920 --> 00:01:05,199 the company is is sending her on leads 20 00:01:05,199 --> 00:01:07,600 her to to discover that. and then it's 21 00:01:07,600 --> 00:01:10,080 all about pleasing herself as opposed to 22 00:01:10,080 --> 00:01:12,000 being perfect for somebody else. So when 23 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:13,600 she says it's perfect at the end, it's 24 00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:18,720 really for her. And um figuring out that 25 00:01:18,720 --> 00:01:20,560 it was sort of these two characters was 26 00:01:20,560 --> 00:01:23,840 a real key for for Darren and I because 27 00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:26,560 it affected the voice. So we would say 28 00:01:26,560 --> 00:01:28,560 white swan voice or black swan voice 29 00:01:28,560 --> 00:01:31,040 that she you could hear sort of the girl 30 00:01:31,040 --> 00:01:32,720 versus the woman. And then there was 31 00:01:32,720 --> 00:01:34,479 also a difference in the physicality of 32 00:01:34,479 --> 00:01:36,799 course because of someone who's looking 33 00:01:36,799 --> 00:01:39,119 to others for approval versus someone 34 00:01:39,119 --> 00:01:40,880 who's looking out into the world with 35 00:01:40,880 --> 00:01:43,040 great desire was a really big 36 00:01:43,040 --> 00:01:46,040 difference. 37 00:01:49,759 --> 00:01:52,720 A ballet dancer has such a specific body 38 00:01:52,720 --> 00:01:56,479 and posture and way of walking. Um you 39 00:01:56,479 --> 00:01:58,240 know they they're always kind of turned 40 00:01:58,240 --> 00:02:00,240 out because they start from such a young 41 00:02:00,240 --> 00:02:02,159 age. Even when they walk, you can always 42 00:02:02,159 --> 00:02:04,240 spot a ballerina in New York from their 43 00:02:04,240 --> 00:02:07,200 posture and their turnout. So, how a 44 00:02:07,200 --> 00:02:10,000 character moves, how they walk, and how 45 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:13,760 that might translate in in other ways. 46 00:02:13,760 --> 00:02:16,000 Um, for example, a ballet dancer, if 47 00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:19,599 they're at a at a club dancing, they 48 00:02:19,599 --> 00:02:23,680 don't they don't dance like a like a 49 00:02:23,680 --> 00:02:25,440 another person would dance. They're so 50 00:02:25,440 --> 00:02:28,800 trained in a very specific way. There's 51 00:02:28,800 --> 00:02:31,440 there's definitely ways you can train to 52 00:02:31,440 --> 00:02:33,680 get a specific physique. For example, of 53 00:02:33,680 --> 00:02:36,239 course, with the ballet dancing, um I 54 00:02:36,239 --> 00:02:39,040 started uh almost a year before working 55 00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:41,920 with a ballet teacher 56 00:02:41,920 --> 00:02:44,000 um on that very specific training and 57 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:45,519 working with choreography. 58 00:02:45,519 --> 00:02:48,080 That evil force is pulling you that you 59 00:02:48,080 --> 00:02:50,239 can't escape. That's just like out of 60 00:02:50,239 --> 00:02:53,040 your control. So you you're just you 61 00:02:53,040 --> 00:02:55,040 sense it, you get aware of it more. life 62 00:02:55,040 --> 00:02:57,519 is taking me. It's taking me a little 63 00:02:57,519 --> 00:02:59,200 bit more desperate. 64 00:02:59,200 --> 00:03:01,840 You can use the person who's physically 65 00:03:01,840 --> 00:03:04,720 training you also to get character 66 00:03:04,720 --> 00:03:07,440 research. If you're being trained to be 67 00:03:07,440 --> 00:03:09,440 a boxer or if you're being trained to be 68 00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:10,879 a figure skater or if you're being 69 00:03:10,879 --> 00:03:13,040 trained to be a tennis player, the 70 00:03:13,040 --> 00:03:14,800 person who's training you knows a lot 71 00:03:14,800 --> 00:03:17,200 about that world. So, you need to mind 72 00:03:17,200 --> 00:03:19,440 them for those stories and take 73 00:03:19,440 --> 00:03:21,920 advantage of that time as well, not just 74 00:03:21,920 --> 00:03:24,640 on a physical level. 75 00:03:24,640 --> 00:03:27,360 The moment where she starts getting the 76 00:03:27,360 --> 00:03:29,519 feathers and things in her back, it 77 00:03:29,519 --> 00:03:33,360 really felt like a possession in my 78 00:03:33,360 --> 00:03:36,000 body, I realized I had developed a sort 79 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:38,799 of musculature and and way of moving 80 00:03:38,799 --> 00:03:41,040 that was completely different from from 81 00:03:41,040 --> 00:03:44,239 my own that really felt like a character 82 00:03:44,239 --> 00:03:45,599 and a character going through a very 83 00:03:45,599 --> 00:03:47,840 particular transformation at that time. 84 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:51,519 And that felt like I had been able to 85 00:03:51,519 --> 00:03:53,920 develop something that affected my way 86 00:03:53,920 --> 00:03:58,519 of moving from from all that training. 87 00:04:02,159 --> 00:04:03,840 When you're doing something that's so 88 00:04:03,840 --> 00:04:06,000 physical, you need to trust your 89 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:10,480 director not to um not to take advantage 90 00:04:10,480 --> 00:04:13,760 of it and not to to push you to the 91 00:04:13,760 --> 00:04:16,320 limit but not to go over the limit 92 00:04:16,320 --> 00:04:19,040 because you are so delicate and you have 93 00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:22,479 to be careful with your um with your 94 00:04:22,479 --> 00:04:24,240 physicality because that was one thing 95 00:04:24,240 --> 00:04:26,160 that was so wonderful with the woman who 96 00:04:26,160 --> 00:04:28,240 was training me, Mary Helen Bowers, was 97 00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:30,160 always careful ful about me getting 98 00:04:30,160 --> 00:04:32,080 injured. Like we did a lot of injury 99 00:04:32,080 --> 00:04:34,560 prevention kind of exercises that were 100 00:04:34,560 --> 00:04:37,360 really, you know, not the obvious things 101 00:04:37,360 --> 00:04:38,960 while you're doing such intense 102 00:04:38,960 --> 00:04:41,040 training, but things like strengthening 103 00:04:41,040 --> 00:04:43,199 toes where we would like, you know, like 104 00:04:43,199 --> 00:04:45,280 take our feet in and like kind of bring 105 00:04:45,280 --> 00:04:48,160 them in on the floor to make sure that I 106 00:04:48,160 --> 00:04:50,160 didn't get an injury. That was a big 107 00:04:50,160 --> 00:04:51,840 deal with communicating with the 108 00:04:51,840 --> 00:04:54,880 director when I felt I needed a break, 109 00:04:54,880 --> 00:04:57,120 when I needed to to make sure that I was 110 00:04:57,120 --> 00:05:01,919 warmed up always um before going into a 111 00:05:01,919 --> 00:05:04,080 very physical scene. You know, when 112 00:05:04,080 --> 00:05:06,320 you're dancing, you warm up and then 113 00:05:06,320 --> 00:05:08,240 your muscles are warm and then you 114 00:05:08,240 --> 00:05:11,520 perform or you or you are in class or 115 00:05:11,520 --> 00:05:13,840 whatever. But when you're shooting, you 116 00:05:13,840 --> 00:05:16,160 shoot and then you stop and they reset 117 00:05:16,160 --> 00:05:18,000 cameras or they move cameras or lights 118 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:20,479 or whatever and then you start again and 119 00:05:20,479 --> 00:05:21,840 then you stop and then you start and 120 00:05:21,840 --> 00:05:24,800 then you stop and each time if you're um 121 00:05:24,800 --> 00:05:28,160 dancing you you sit and you get cold. So 122 00:05:28,160 --> 00:05:32,080 um and that's real danger of getting um 123 00:05:32,080 --> 00:05:34,080 getting an injury. So a lot of that is 124 00:05:34,080 --> 00:05:35,759 communication with directors because a 125 00:05:35,759 --> 00:05:36,880 lot of times they're like, "Okay, let's 126 00:05:36,880 --> 00:05:38,560 shoot." And you're like, "But I'm I'm 127 00:05:38,560 --> 00:05:41,440 not ready." You have to you have to be 128 00:05:41,440 --> 00:05:44,000 ready physically to to do it to prevent 129 00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:47,000 injuries. 130 00:05:50,880 --> 00:05:53,840 It was great to have that period of 131 00:05:53,840 --> 00:05:56,720 really working and feeling the ritual of 132 00:05:56,720 --> 00:05:59,440 the training which also informed the 133 00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:02,080 mindset of the character because there's 134 00:06:02,080 --> 00:06:04,240 almost like an obsessive compulsive 135 00:06:04,240 --> 00:06:08,160 nature to the ritual of dance training. 136 00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:10,800 the tying the ribbons on the shoe, the 137 00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:12,479 sewing the ribbons on every day, the 138 00:06:12,479 --> 00:06:14,880 doing the exact same warm-up and exact 139 00:06:14,880 --> 00:06:18,240 same bar and uh exact same pieces over 140 00:06:18,240 --> 00:06:21,280 and over again. So, it was really 141 00:06:21,280 --> 00:06:25,120 wonderful to get the sense of the how 142 00:06:25,120 --> 00:06:28,400 the physical related to the emotional 143 00:06:28,400 --> 00:06:33,039 state that this physical repetition and 144 00:06:33,039 --> 00:06:35,759 uh seeking out perfection was her was 145 00:06:35,759 --> 00:06:38,400 her mental state too. And the line, I 146 00:06:38,400 --> 00:06:41,120 just want to be perfect, came out of 147 00:06:41,120 --> 00:06:43,280 rehearsals. It was not in the original 148 00:06:43,280 --> 00:06:47,120 script. So, uh, that was a real example 149 00:06:47,120 --> 00:06:49,759 of something where you're experiencing 150 00:06:49,759 --> 00:06:51,440 the physicality and then you're saying, 151 00:06:51,440 --> 00:06:53,840 what's the point of all of this work and 152 00:06:53,840 --> 00:06:57,039 you see, oh, they're seeking an 153 00:06:57,039 --> 00:06:59,199 aesthetic perfection 154 00:06:59,199 --> 00:07:01,440 and then putting that into the the sort 155 00:07:01,440 --> 00:07:04,880 of emotional aspect of of the character. 156 00:07:04,880 --> 00:07:08,960 I can dance the black one, too. Really? 157 00:07:08,960 --> 00:07:11,280 In four years, every time you dance, I 158 00:07:11,280 --> 00:07:13,039 see you obsessed getting each and every 159 00:07:13,039 --> 00:07:14,720 move perfectly right. But I never see 160 00:07:14,720 --> 00:07:16,960 you lose yourself 161 00:07:16,960 --> 00:07:18,560 ever. 162 00:07:18,560 --> 00:07:22,599 All that discipline for what? 163 00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:25,280 Just want to be perfect. 164 00:07:25,280 --> 00:07:26,960 You what? 165 00:07:26,960 --> 00:07:30,599 Want to be perfect? 1 00:00:06,560 --> 00:00:09,440 When I work on a film that requires a 2 00:00:09,440 --> 00:00:12,639 dialect or an accent, I usually work 3 00:00:12,639 --> 00:00:15,679 with a dialect coach. And uh Tanya 4 00:00:15,679 --> 00:00:17,520 Blumstein is someone that I've worked 5 00:00:17,520 --> 00:00:19,760 with on the past several films. I 6 00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:21,199 started working with her on Planetarium 7 00:00:21,199 --> 00:00:23,920 when I had to learn French for the role. 8 00:00:23,920 --> 00:00:26,560 and she taught me the French and then I 9 00:00:26,560 --> 00:00:28,080 realized that she also did accents and 10 00:00:28,080 --> 00:00:29,519 then she worked with me on Jackie which 11 00:00:29,519 --> 00:00:32,239 was a very in-depth process. So she is 12 00:00:32,239 --> 00:00:35,040 luckily here with us to sort of discuss 13 00:00:35,040 --> 00:00:37,920 how to find the accent, what the accent 14 00:00:37,920 --> 00:00:40,719 can tell you about the character and how 15 00:00:40,719 --> 00:00:43,200 you can show the emotion through the 16 00:00:43,200 --> 00:00:45,760 voice and and some of the characters 17 00:00:45,760 --> 00:00:48,320 experience or um details about where 18 00:00:48,320 --> 00:00:50,079 they might have come from from the 19 00:00:50,079 --> 00:00:54,120 accent that they have. 20 00:00:57,600 --> 00:00:59,039 Hi, Tanya. 21 00:00:59,039 --> 00:00:59,920 Hello. 22 00:00:59,920 --> 00:01:02,000 We're often in different places, so we 23 00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:04,559 this is the normal way we communicate. 24 00:01:04,559 --> 00:01:06,400 So many things inform what your accent 25 00:01:06,400 --> 00:01:08,159 is like. It's always good to not pull 26 00:01:08,159 --> 00:01:09,920 someone out with the dialect. You want 27 00:01:09,920 --> 00:01:12,400 them to be in the the film or whatever 28 00:01:12,400 --> 00:01:13,840 you're working on and not think, "Oh, 29 00:01:13,840 --> 00:01:15,600 wow. That's that's too much." But 30 00:01:15,600 --> 00:01:17,520 basically for any dialect or even 31 00:01:17,520 --> 00:01:18,880 language, it's just breaking down the 32 00:01:18,880 --> 00:01:22,000 sounds and drilling them and just and if 33 00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:23,840 you can do it without any consonants, 34 00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:25,680 you know, just do the vowels a whole 35 00:01:25,680 --> 00:01:27,600 sentence. That's great gymnastics for 36 00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:29,600 your mouth. It's a good warm-up. And 37 00:01:29,600 --> 00:01:32,320 also um always do massage your face 38 00:01:32,320 --> 00:01:33,840 because you use in different languages 39 00:01:33,840 --> 00:01:36,880 you use different muscles. So um you 40 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:39,040 know for French sometimes people start 41 00:01:39,040 --> 00:01:40,320 to yawn and they're like I don't 42 00:01:40,320 --> 00:01:41,759 understand why I'm yawning because you 43 00:01:41,759 --> 00:01:44,079 use different muscles. We can do French 44 00:01:44,079 --> 00:01:45,040 if you'd like. 45 00:01:45,040 --> 00:01:48,320 Oh my god, I'm ashamed. 46 00:01:48,320 --> 00:01:50,000 When we did a movie in French with 47 00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:52,799 Natalie, um, these were some of the the 48 00:01:52,799 --> 00:01:54,799 sounds that we did and some of the 49 00:01:54,799 --> 00:01:57,600 exercises that we did. 50 00:01:57,600 --> 00:02:00,000 So, S. 51 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:01,759 Repeat after me. Okay. 52 00:02:01,759 --> 00:02:04,759 L 53 00:02:17,440 --> 00:02:19,440 Now this is important because this is 54 00:02:19,440 --> 00:02:22,720 sort of where we see like exaggeration 55 00:02:22,720 --> 00:02:26,959 which is like someone said to me once um 56 00:02:26,959 --> 00:02:28,560 you know you almost want to do it like 57 00:02:28,560 --> 00:02:31,040 you're a cartoon character version of it 58 00:02:31,040 --> 00:02:32,959 when you're practicing and then you dial 59 00:02:32,959 --> 00:02:33,680 it back. 60 00:02:33,680 --> 00:02:35,920 Yes, absolutely. This is getting to the 61 00:02:35,920 --> 00:02:37,680 sound. So these sounds, the French 62 00:02:37,680 --> 00:02:40,400 sounds like the h things that we don't 63 00:02:40,400 --> 00:02:42,480 have in English. So you really want to 64 00:02:42,480 --> 00:02:44,160 exaggerate them because we're not used 65 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:46,800 to placing, you know, in the mouth. The 66 00:02:46,800 --> 00:02:49,840 sound, the sound is very hard to do. And 67 00:02:49,840 --> 00:02:52,959 so you it's good to exaggerate the like. 68 00:02:52,959 --> 00:02:54,879 And remember, 69 00:02:54,879 --> 00:02:56,560 oh my god, that's really hard for me. I 70 00:02:56,560 --> 00:02:57,440 can't really 71 00:02:57,440 --> 00:03:00,440 remember. 72 00:03:01,680 --> 00:03:04,000 So you say, 73 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:06,319 just do the vowel. 74 00:03:06,319 --> 00:03:08,080 So that's another thing dialect 75 00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:10,560 exercise. Take out the the consonants. 76 00:03:10,560 --> 00:03:13,599 Get just to the the vowels and only say 77 00:03:13,599 --> 00:03:17,640 a line with only the vowels. 78 00:03:18,239 --> 00:03:20,000 So your so your mouth so you're not 79 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:21,920 getting the ooh up high enough. So you 80 00:03:21,920 --> 00:03:23,840 want that gives you it's like doing abs 81 00:03:23,840 --> 00:03:25,920 for your pallet. You're trying to get 82 00:03:25,920 --> 00:03:29,200 the sound where it should be 83 00:03:29,200 --> 00:03:32,760 in the right rhythm. 84 00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:36,159 something that um someone told me when I 85 00:03:36,159 --> 00:03:38,000 was working in Israel that was actually 86 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:41,840 really helpful um that the sound that if 87 00:03:41,840 --> 00:03:43,040 you're if you're doing something in 88 00:03:43,040 --> 00:03:45,599 another language, the sound that people 89 00:03:45,599 --> 00:03:49,680 make when they're saying um is very 90 00:03:49,680 --> 00:03:52,400 specific to a language and tells you 91 00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:54,959 where the placement is. So in Israel, 92 00:03:54,959 --> 00:03:58,319 instead of saying um, people go e and 93 00:03:58,319 --> 00:04:00,480 the entire language, that's the like 94 00:04:00,480 --> 00:04:05,439 primary sound. Americans say 95 00:04:05,439 --> 00:04:08,640 and the and it's very like 96 00:04:08,640 --> 00:04:12,400 like jaw slacked um is a big part of the 97 00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:15,799 American accent. 98 00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:22,639 One of the first steps is identifying 99 00:04:22,639 --> 00:04:25,120 where your character is from very 100 00:04:25,120 --> 00:04:27,120 specifically because you can say the 101 00:04:27,120 --> 00:04:29,440 character is from Texas. Like the next 102 00:04:29,440 --> 00:04:30,800 character I'm playing that we're just 103 00:04:30,800 --> 00:04:32,800 preparing for right now is this 104 00:04:32,800 --> 00:04:36,240 astronaut from Texas. But within Texas, 105 00:04:36,240 --> 00:04:39,520 each city has its own and not just city. 106 00:04:39,520 --> 00:04:42,479 City is very different from rural and 107 00:04:42,479 --> 00:04:45,199 rural West Texas is different from rural 108 00:04:45,199 --> 00:04:47,520 East Texas. So you want to be very very 109 00:04:47,520 --> 00:04:50,160 specific. you can identify where they're 110 00:04:50,160 --> 00:04:52,639 from and then watch documentaries about 111 00:04:52,639 --> 00:04:55,199 that region. Um, interview people if 112 00:04:55,199 --> 00:04:57,360 you're, you know, if it's in your city, 113 00:04:57,360 --> 00:04:58,720 um, if it's in a burrow, if it's New 114 00:04:58,720 --> 00:05:00,400 York, you can go to Staten Island or go 115 00:05:00,400 --> 00:05:02,800 to Long Island or Brooklyn. So, that's 116 00:05:02,800 --> 00:05:04,960 that's the first thing that I do even 117 00:05:04,960 --> 00:05:06,960 just to learn what dialect I'm supposed 118 00:05:06,960 --> 00:05:11,039 to then work with an actor for. And also 119 00:05:11,039 --> 00:05:15,199 be aware of your possibility to do 120 00:05:15,199 --> 00:05:18,000 something unusual from that place. There 121 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:19,840 are people from Staten Island who don't 122 00:05:19,840 --> 00:05:22,639 have any accent. There are people from 123 00:05:22,639 --> 00:05:27,199 Texas who might have um an accent that 124 00:05:27,199 --> 00:05:30,320 is uh influenced from television they 125 00:05:30,320 --> 00:05:34,000 watch. So you have choices within the 126 00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:36,160 accent that aren't just the typical 127 00:05:36,160 --> 00:05:37,600 approach. But you also need to ask 128 00:05:37,600 --> 00:05:39,680 what's the level of education? Where are 129 00:05:39,680 --> 00:05:43,520 the parents from? Um you know what what 130 00:05:43,520 --> 00:05:45,360 other influences on their accent might 131 00:05:45,360 --> 00:05:48,600 they have? 132 00:05:52,160 --> 00:05:53,680 Something that Tanya does that's really 133 00:05:53,680 --> 00:05:57,360 helpful for um when you're trying to get 134 00:05:57,360 --> 00:06:00,080 someone who has the accent to record 135 00:06:00,080 --> 00:06:03,440 sounds for you. There are certain um 136 00:06:03,440 --> 00:06:05,280 there are certain like phrases that are 137 00:06:05,280 --> 00:06:07,199 kind of like dialect coach phrases. 138 00:06:07,199 --> 00:06:08,479 Maybe you can talk about some of those 139 00:06:08,479 --> 00:06:10,720 that you can ask someone with the accent 140 00:06:10,720 --> 00:06:12,080 to say for you. 141 00:06:12,080 --> 00:06:14,080 Um like if you're you know if you're 142 00:06:14,080 --> 00:06:16,560 finding a person from East London to 143 00:06:16,560 --> 00:06:18,560 give you their accent, what are the 144 00:06:18,560 --> 00:06:22,000 phrases? Besides, you could also always 145 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:23,759 ask them just to read lines of the 146 00:06:23,759 --> 00:06:26,720 script for you so that you can have your 147 00:06:26,720 --> 00:06:29,440 lines in that accent. But on top of 148 00:06:29,440 --> 00:06:31,280 that, there are certain phrases to kind 149 00:06:31,280 --> 00:06:33,280 of break down the different sounds that 150 00:06:33,280 --> 00:06:34,800 maybe you can talk about. 151 00:06:34,800 --> 00:06:36,639 Yeah. Well, coffee is a, you know, so it 152 00:06:36,639 --> 00:06:39,199 becomes coffee, but we had coffee pot 153 00:06:39,199 --> 00:06:42,160 and so it became o a in rather than it 154 00:06:42,160 --> 00:06:44,800 just being ah a just a basic ah ah, it 155 00:06:44,800 --> 00:06:47,120 became for voxlux it was a for the 156 00:06:47,120 --> 00:06:49,759 coffee and then p. So this particular 157 00:06:49,759 --> 00:06:51,919 person who was Irish Catholic from 158 00:06:51,919 --> 00:06:53,520 Staten Island, we had much more wiggle 159 00:06:53,520 --> 00:06:55,280 room because it's a fictional character, 160 00:06:55,280 --> 00:06:57,680 but I interviewed different people and 161 00:06:57,680 --> 00:06:59,599 the person who sort of seemed to fit 162 00:06:59,599 --> 00:07:03,120 kind of the to the character um had that 163 00:07:03,120 --> 00:07:05,360 shift. Instead of saying pot would say 164 00:07:05,360 --> 00:07:07,360 Pat and so instead of saying mom would 165 00:07:07,360 --> 00:07:10,240 say mom. So it's good to have a series 166 00:07:10,240 --> 00:07:11,919 and you can make them up yourself. You 167 00:07:11,919 --> 00:07:13,680 know, it can be um you know, all I want 168 00:07:13,680 --> 00:07:15,759 is a proper cup of coffee from a proper 169 00:07:15,759 --> 00:07:18,000 copper coffee pot. That's one that I use 170 00:07:18,000 --> 00:07:20,560 a lot for the a sound which shifts in 171 00:07:20,560 --> 00:07:22,800 dialect so much. But you can make it you 172 00:07:22,800 --> 00:07:24,880 can just make them up. Dr. Seuss is an 173 00:07:24,880 --> 00:07:27,039 amazing resource. I use that a lot too. 174 00:07:27,039 --> 00:07:29,039 Green eggs and ham, you know, that's a 175 00:07:29,039 --> 00:07:30,160 really good one if you're working with 176 00:07:30,160 --> 00:07:31,599 Brits and they need to get an American, 177 00:07:31,599 --> 00:07:34,240 just a general American or vice versa. 178 00:07:34,240 --> 00:07:36,880 They're just poems and just find things. 179 00:07:36,880 --> 00:07:38,800 have someone um if you're doing a 180 00:07:38,800 --> 00:07:41,199 Brooklyn go and Brooklyn is very vast 181 00:07:41,199 --> 00:07:42,639 and it depends on there's so many 182 00:07:42,639 --> 00:07:44,800 pockets of different accents but if you 183 00:07:44,800 --> 00:07:46,479 they're Italian you know and have ask 184 00:07:46,479 --> 00:07:48,160 them to read it for you and tape them go 185 00:07:48,160 --> 00:07:50,240 to the primary sources you can and then 186 00:07:50,240 --> 00:07:52,319 listen to them see how they shift what 187 00:07:52,319 --> 00:07:55,120 does it turn into how is it different 188 00:07:55,120 --> 00:07:57,759 from what you say and then just drill 189 00:07:57,759 --> 00:08:00,759 that 190 00:08:04,720 --> 00:08:08,080 a lot of you at home might um might have 191 00:08:08,080 --> 00:08:10,960 to prep an accent or a voice by 192 00:08:10,960 --> 00:08:13,759 yourself. Um might not you don't always 193 00:08:13,759 --> 00:08:16,319 have the luxury sometimes you don't have 194 00:08:16,319 --> 00:08:18,479 the luxury of of having a dialect coach 195 00:08:18,479 --> 00:08:20,240 if you're going for an audition or if 196 00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:21,919 the project you're working on is lower 197 00:08:21,919 --> 00:08:24,560 budget. And so we're also going to talk 198 00:08:24,560 --> 00:08:26,240 about some of the things you can do on 199 00:08:26,240 --> 00:08:28,960 your own as well. So, something I find 200 00:08:28,960 --> 00:08:32,240 really helpful, even if you don't have a 201 00:08:32,240 --> 00:08:34,000 dialect coach that you get to work with, 202 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:36,880 to find someone to work with and just 203 00:08:36,880 --> 00:08:38,719 rehearse it over and over again so that 204 00:08:38,719 --> 00:08:40,240 you practice it, so that it's really 205 00:08:40,240 --> 00:08:41,919 second nature, so that when you're doing 206 00:08:41,919 --> 00:08:43,440 it, you're not thinking about the 207 00:08:43,440 --> 00:08:45,920 dialect, but that it just feels part of 208 00:08:45,920 --> 00:08:47,760 you. And I remember just an anecdote 209 00:08:47,760 --> 00:08:50,000 when we were um running because there 210 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:52,000 were just so many lines in this and 211 00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:54,000 Jackie was it's monumental amount of 212 00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:55,839 lines and very little. We had a week to 213 00:08:55,839 --> 00:08:57,680 prep and then it was constant. Every day 214 00:08:57,680 --> 00:09:00,080 there was just monologues and scenes and 215 00:09:00,080 --> 00:09:01,600 I remember once you were cutting up 216 00:09:01,600 --> 00:09:02,720 vegetables and we're like running the 217 00:09:02,720 --> 00:09:04,800 lines. I think it's good regardless if 218 00:09:04,800 --> 00:09:06,640 you're on your own. It's always good to 219 00:09:06,640 --> 00:09:08,880 do something physical so that you you 220 00:09:08,880 --> 00:09:10,399 can really dissociate and you can do 221 00:09:10,399 --> 00:09:12,720 whatever the director is telling you to 222 00:09:12,720 --> 00:09:14,240 do and it's not going to distract you 223 00:09:14,240 --> 00:09:16,560 from your line. So to sort of have your 224 00:09:16,560 --> 00:09:18,480 body do something and still be able to 225 00:09:18,480 --> 00:09:20,880 channel those lines to make the dialect 226 00:09:20,880 --> 00:09:25,480 feel organic in a way. 1 00:00:12,160 --> 00:00:13,920 I feel like maybe we should talk about 2 00:00:13,920 --> 00:00:18,400 how we identify the the specific region 3 00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:20,160 of the dialect to begin with. 4 00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:21,359 Do you want to take Jackie as an 5 00:00:21,359 --> 00:00:23,199 example? Because it was it's a great 6 00:00:23,199 --> 00:00:24,400 example. At the same time, it's very 7 00:00:24,400 --> 00:00:26,640 particular because, you know, she's an 8 00:00:26,640 --> 00:00:28,800 iconic person that everybody, most 9 00:00:28,800 --> 00:00:31,039 people know who she is and what she 10 00:00:31,039 --> 00:00:32,480 sounds like or they think they know what 11 00:00:32,480 --> 00:00:34,000 she sounds like. There a lot of people 12 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:35,600 have preconceived notions of what she 13 00:00:35,600 --> 00:00:37,840 sounds like. Um, we were lucky because 14 00:00:37,840 --> 00:00:39,840 there's a lot of primary sources we 15 00:00:39,840 --> 00:00:42,239 could go to and I think that informed a 16 00:00:42,239 --> 00:00:46,239 lot of um finding her voice. But what I 17 00:00:46,239 --> 00:00:48,399 try and do is create warm-ups, identify 18 00:00:48,399 --> 00:00:50,320 sounds that this specific character 19 00:00:50,320 --> 00:00:53,120 might um say in that region or they have 20 00:00:53,120 --> 00:00:54,800 their own Jackie had a very particular 21 00:00:54,800 --> 00:00:57,600 way of speaking. Um you know, she had a 22 00:00:57,600 --> 00:01:00,640 lot of a breathy voice. Um people often 23 00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:03,199 say dialect is often where the breath is 24 00:01:03,199 --> 00:01:05,600 and for her very much so. I think I 25 00:01:05,600 --> 00:01:06,960 don't know if Natalie would agree with 26 00:01:06,960 --> 00:01:09,040 that but that was something very um 27 00:01:09,040 --> 00:01:11,520 emblematic of her and it was quite 28 00:01:11,520 --> 00:01:14,799 singular ladyified voice um from 29 00:01:14,799 --> 00:01:16,799 boarding school where the young girls 30 00:01:16,799 --> 00:01:18,400 would learn to speak with what people 31 00:01:18,400 --> 00:01:20,159 call mid-Atlantic which is also just 32 00:01:20,159 --> 00:01:22,799 theater standard and so um Natalie and I 33 00:01:22,799 --> 00:01:24,159 would often laugh about there's certain 34 00:01:24,159 --> 00:01:26,080 lines that became emblematic like 35 00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:28,799 there's one I I rather love this hall 36 00:01:28,799 --> 00:01:31,360 I rather love this hall has all the 37 00:01:31,360 --> 00:01:33,280 colors one thinks of when one thinks of 38 00:01:33,280 --> 00:01:34,240 the white house 39 00:01:34,240 --> 00:01:36,479 you have the rather which is more 40 00:01:36,479 --> 00:01:38,159 mid-atlantic and then you have the hall 41 00:01:38,159 --> 00:01:40,159 which is very Long Island and that's 42 00:01:40,159 --> 00:01:43,119 kind of an essence of Jackie for me was 43 00:01:43,119 --> 00:01:45,119 you know that line we would joke about 44 00:01:45,119 --> 00:01:47,040 but it's actually really helped I think 45 00:01:47,040 --> 00:01:49,040 in identifying something that's 46 00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:52,159 characteristic of her that juxosition 47 00:01:52,159 --> 00:01:54,000 and almost paradox you would think that 48 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:56,240 you wouldn't say rather and whole in the 49 00:01:56,240 --> 00:01:57,200 same sentence 50 00:01:57,200 --> 00:01:59,759 Tanya will make like word lists for me 51 00:01:59,759 --> 00:02:01,840 and we can go through some of these for 52 00:02:01,840 --> 00:02:06,000 specific sounds that for example le uh 53 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:08,720 the word that I would say talk in my own 54 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:11,520 accent, Jackie would say talk and that 55 00:02:11,520 --> 00:02:14,959 is for walk and chocolate and water and 56 00:02:14,959 --> 00:02:18,080 we go through all of the words that kind 57 00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:20,319 of would be like that and and so that 58 00:02:20,319 --> 00:02:22,959 sound is very emblematic of Jackie the O 59 00:02:22,959 --> 00:02:26,000 which is normally just um it's not a dip 60 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:27,920 thong but it becomes dip thong which 61 00:02:27,920 --> 00:02:30,480 means two sound elements o you stretch 62 00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:32,879 it out o put together but the thing 63 00:02:32,879 --> 00:02:34,560 about dialect is that If you actually 64 00:02:34,560 --> 00:02:37,920 track um most people it's inconsistent. 65 00:02:37,920 --> 00:02:39,519 Um you know there there are certain 66 00:02:39,519 --> 00:02:41,599 times where Jackie would have very light 67 00:02:41,599 --> 00:02:44,480 Rs um and very little what we call R 68 00:02:44,480 --> 00:02:46,480 coloring and then sometimes every once 69 00:02:46,480 --> 00:02:48,239 in a while they'll be they she they 70 00:02:48,239 --> 00:02:49,840 would be voiced. That there's there's 71 00:02:49,840 --> 00:02:51,360 inconsistencies is one of the things 72 00:02:51,360 --> 00:02:52,879 that you have to remember. It's not in 73 00:02:52,879 --> 00:02:55,360 stone. It has to feel right. Um it's all 74 00:02:55,360 --> 00:02:58,239 about placement. So, normally an O um 75 00:02:58,239 --> 00:03:00,640 sound would be it's a back vowel, but 76 00:03:00,640 --> 00:03:02,400 then when you extend it into a dip 77 00:03:02,400 --> 00:03:05,599 thong, so the O, you can hear that um 78 00:03:05,599 --> 00:03:08,400 it's much more nasalized. So, it's a 79 00:03:08,400 --> 00:03:10,959 different sound that comes out. So, we 80 00:03:10,959 --> 00:03:12,879 just analyze things and then I make 81 00:03:12,879 --> 00:03:15,920 lists of um different sounds and see how 82 00:03:15,920 --> 00:03:18,000 they track and how they shift. And 83 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:19,680 they're not always the same. The O's 84 00:03:19,680 --> 00:03:21,360 aren't always the same, like you said, 85 00:03:21,360 --> 00:03:23,040 depending on performance, what's 86 00:03:23,040 --> 00:03:25,360 happening in the scene. And so analyzing 87 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:28,239 how it shifted for Jackie, um I'd put 88 00:03:28,239 --> 00:03:29,840 them in different categories and we 89 00:03:29,840 --> 00:03:31,599 would depending on the lines run them 90 00:03:31,599 --> 00:03:34,239 accordingly and then Natalie does her 91 00:03:34,239 --> 00:03:36,080 magic, you know, that she always does 92 00:03:36,080 --> 00:03:39,360 and and finds the truth in that in those 93 00:03:39,360 --> 00:03:40,879 sounds so that they don't feel like 94 00:03:40,879 --> 00:03:42,879 they're just, you know, scotch taped on 95 00:03:42,879 --> 00:03:45,120 like this is a sound I should have. The 96 00:03:45,120 --> 00:03:47,120 has to be something that comes from from 97 00:03:47,120 --> 00:03:50,159 the character, from the actor. So um 98 00:03:50,159 --> 00:03:52,400 it's very like there's constant 99 00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:54,400 contradictions. So, even if it's a 100 00:03:54,400 --> 00:03:55,920 Bible, quote unquote, you know, the word 101 00:03:55,920 --> 00:03:58,400 lists, they're ever shifting depending 102 00:03:58,400 --> 00:04:00,799 on the emotion that's happening. 103 00:04:00,799 --> 00:04:02,959 The most famous one, of course, is the 104 00:04:02,959 --> 00:04:05,840 Lincoln bed. It was bought by Mrs. 105 00:04:05,840 --> 00:04:08,480 Lincoln along with the dressing bureaus 106 00:04:08,480 --> 00:04:12,080 and chair and this table. Um, she bought 107 00:04:12,080 --> 00:04:14,400 a lot of furniture for this house, which 108 00:04:14,400 --> 00:04:16,799 made her husband rather cross because he 109 00:04:16,799 --> 00:04:20,639 thought she spent too much money. 110 00:04:20,639 --> 00:04:22,639 And also think about what the accent 111 00:04:22,639 --> 00:04:24,400 tells you about the person. Like for 112 00:04:24,400 --> 00:04:26,960 example with Jackie, the fact that she's 113 00:04:26,960 --> 00:04:29,280 got this Long Island in her voice, you 114 00:04:29,280 --> 00:04:34,560 know, you see this sort of um 115 00:04:34,560 --> 00:04:36,560 new money, 116 00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:40,880 wealthy New York society existence. And 117 00:04:40,880 --> 00:04:43,440 then you hear the Miss Porters and you 118 00:04:43,440 --> 00:04:45,600 get that feeling that she was taught how 119 00:04:45,600 --> 00:04:48,080 to be like a proper lady and and sound 120 00:04:48,080 --> 00:04:51,919 like these debutons and um you know 121 00:04:51,919 --> 00:04:56,400 these these sort of hints of um almost 122 00:04:56,400 --> 00:04:59,199 film actresses from the time that 123 00:04:59,199 --> 00:05:02,080 breathy batting eyelashes kind of 124 00:05:02,080 --> 00:05:04,720 presentation shows what maybe she 125 00:05:04,720 --> 00:05:06,800 aspires her public image to be. very 126 00:05:06,800 --> 00:05:09,120 feminine sounding, purposefully feminine 127 00:05:09,120 --> 00:05:10,400 sounding almost. 128 00:05:10,400 --> 00:05:14,560 So the dialect can inform character 129 00:05:14,560 --> 00:05:16,320 choices and then the character choices 130 00:05:16,320 --> 00:05:18,800 can inform dialect too. So that 131 00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:22,160 the character uh where where they are 132 00:05:22,160 --> 00:05:26,160 emotionally can show what aspects of the 133 00:05:26,160 --> 00:05:30,120 dialect come out more. 134 00:05:33,600 --> 00:05:36,479 When you see where the breaths are, you 135 00:05:36,479 --> 00:05:41,280 can read so much into the the the 136 00:05:41,280 --> 00:05:43,520 thought process that's going on 137 00:05:43,520 --> 00:05:45,840 underneath the lines, which is obviously 138 00:05:45,840 --> 00:05:47,680 what you're always looking for is what 139 00:05:47,680 --> 00:05:49,840 is sort of happening underneath what the 140 00:05:49,840 --> 00:05:52,320 person is saying. And so, for example, 141 00:05:52,320 --> 00:05:54,560 in the in the White House tour, when 142 00:05:54,560 --> 00:05:57,280 they ask her about the performances in 143 00:05:57,280 --> 00:05:59,919 this Grand Ballroom, and she's talking 144 00:05:59,919 --> 00:06:01,680 about how they're inviting these 145 00:06:01,680 --> 00:06:04,080 artists, and she kind of catches herself 146 00:06:04,080 --> 00:06:06,400 saying, "Oh, well, we invite them. 147 00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:07,919 Sometimes they're American, sometimes 148 00:06:07,919 --> 00:06:09,840 they're not American, and she realizes 149 00:06:09,840 --> 00:06:11,919 that the American president maybe 150 00:06:11,919 --> 00:06:13,360 shouldn't be inviting artists that 151 00:06:13,360 --> 00:06:15,280 aren't American, but that's of course 152 00:06:15,280 --> 00:06:16,720 what she's doing, and that she's been 153 00:06:16,720 --> 00:06:18,720 criticized for and that she's trying." 154 00:06:18,720 --> 00:06:20,479 and she's saying, "Well, just as long as 155 00:06:20,479 --> 00:06:22,319 it's the best." And you kind of see all 156 00:06:22,319 --> 00:06:25,600 of that thought process under the the 157 00:06:25,600 --> 00:06:27,840 dialogue in her hesitations, in her 158 00:06:27,840 --> 00:06:30,240 breaths. And so, it's always important 159 00:06:30,240 --> 00:06:34,560 to notice where the breaths are um and 160 00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:36,319 how that affects the the thought 161 00:06:36,319 --> 00:06:39,440 process, why why there are those moments 162 00:06:39,440 --> 00:06:42,880 of pause, of thinking, um of 163 00:06:42,880 --> 00:06:45,600 self-editing. This administration has 164 00:06:45,600 --> 00:06:48,639 shown a particular affinity for artists, 165 00:06:48,639 --> 00:06:51,600 musicians, writers, poets. Is this 166 00:06:51,600 --> 00:06:53,520 because you and your husband just feel 167 00:06:53,520 --> 00:06:55,919 that way? Or do you think that there's a 168 00:06:55,919 --> 00:06:57,840 relationship between the government and 169 00:06:57,840 --> 00:06:59,680 the arts? 170 00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:02,800 That's so complicated. I I don't know. I 171 00:07:02,800 --> 00:07:04,560 just think that everything in the White 172 00:07:04,560 --> 00:07:06,160 House should be the best, the 173 00:07:06,160 --> 00:07:09,280 entertainment that's given here. And if 174 00:07:09,280 --> 00:07:12,080 it's an American company that you can 175 00:07:12,080 --> 00:07:14,560 help, I like to do that. If it's not, 176 00:07:14,560 --> 00:07:16,800 just as long as it's the best. 177 00:07:16,800 --> 00:07:18,720 When she talks about, you know, the she 178 00:07:18,720 --> 00:07:20,880 says that's so complicated. I I don't 179 00:07:20,880 --> 00:07:22,400 know. The way she pauses and like you 180 00:07:22,400 --> 00:07:24,400 say the in we tracked the inhales, the 181 00:07:24,400 --> 00:07:26,479 exhales because Natalie, you know, had 182 00:07:26,479 --> 00:07:28,880 to match it. Pablo was replicating the 183 00:07:28,880 --> 00:07:31,919 exact White House tour. So, um, every 184 00:07:31,919 --> 00:07:33,840 single syllable, every breath, every 185 00:07:33,840 --> 00:07:35,840 inhale, exhale had to be exactly the 186 00:07:35,840 --> 00:07:37,680 same. And it did reveal a lot about 187 00:07:37,680 --> 00:07:39,759 where she was, her insecurities, and 188 00:07:39,759 --> 00:07:42,000 that she said, you know, and if and then 189 00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:44,720 she inhales, it's an American company, 190 00:07:44,720 --> 00:07:48,400 so that you can help. I like to do that 191 00:07:48,400 --> 00:07:50,479 if it's not. And then she pauses just as 192 00:07:50,479 --> 00:07:52,160 long as it's the best. So it really, 193 00:07:52,160 --> 00:07:54,319 like you said, reveals a lot about the 194 00:07:54,319 --> 00:07:56,479 little gap she kind of made there. 195 00:07:56,479 --> 00:07:59,199 Where you find the stumbles are often 196 00:07:59,199 --> 00:08:01,840 where the gold is. It's where you find 197 00:08:01,840 --> 00:08:03,360 someone 198 00:08:03,360 --> 00:08:06,879 making a mistake or tripping on a on 199 00:08:06,879 --> 00:08:10,240 their words. That's often where 200 00:08:10,240 --> 00:08:11,919 something else is going on underneath 201 00:08:11,919 --> 00:08:13,440 and so they're messing up what they're 202 00:08:13,440 --> 00:08:16,160 saying. Um, and it gives you a lot of 203 00:08:16,160 --> 00:08:20,199 character insight. Often 204 00:08:23,680 --> 00:08:25,520 there was some footage we found before 205 00:08:25,520 --> 00:08:28,879 Jackie was first lady. Um maybe you you 206 00:08:28,879 --> 00:08:30,639 can tell us about that. 207 00:08:30,639 --> 00:08:32,320 There was an early interview with Arlene 208 00:08:32,320 --> 00:08:35,279 Francis. It was 1957 when she was he was 209 00:08:35,279 --> 00:08:37,680 a senator, Jack Kennedy, and and so she 210 00:08:37,680 --> 00:08:40,479 was a senator's wife and it's footage of 211 00:08:40,479 --> 00:08:42,240 her walking the dog, getting her 212 00:08:42,240 --> 00:08:45,279 laundry, going to the store, and and 213 00:08:45,279 --> 00:08:47,600 then there's an interview, you see her 214 00:08:47,600 --> 00:08:49,279 in voice over, you see her doing all 215 00:08:49,279 --> 00:08:51,200 those things, and then at the end she's 216 00:08:51,200 --> 00:08:53,519 with Jack in there talking and it's it's 217 00:08:53,519 --> 00:08:55,920 it's quite um it's more relaxed. It 218 00:08:55,920 --> 00:08:58,560 feels so that we we listen to that a lot 219 00:08:58,560 --> 00:09:01,760 for a more relaxed less formal voice. 220 00:09:01,760 --> 00:09:03,839 Will you tell us about what uh some of 221 00:09:03,839 --> 00:09:05,920 the things are that you have to do? 222 00:09:05,920 --> 00:09:08,000 I suppose it is like being married to a 223 00:09:08,000 --> 00:09:10,080 doctor in that they have such late 224 00:09:10,080 --> 00:09:12,480 hours. They go away at a moment's 225 00:09:12,480 --> 00:09:13,120 notice. 226 00:09:13,120 --> 00:09:13,600 Uhhuh. 227 00:09:13,600 --> 00:09:14,480 Quickly. 228 00:09:14,480 --> 00:09:16,480 Uh-huh. And you are alone a good deal of 229 00:09:16,480 --> 00:09:17,600 the time then. 230 00:09:17,600 --> 00:09:20,240 Yes. you get these kind of very natural 231 00:09:20,240 --> 00:09:23,680 reactions that the later 232 00:09:23,680 --> 00:09:25,279 footage that we watched with the White 233 00:09:25,279 --> 00:09:27,120 House tour, she's so much more polished 234 00:09:27,120 --> 00:09:31,200 and rehearsed and um we were able in the 235 00:09:31,200 --> 00:09:33,279 Arlene Francis to really see kind of 236 00:09:33,279 --> 00:09:36,240 more of a glimpse of of who she was 237 00:09:36,240 --> 00:09:38,959 before all of that schooling. 238 00:09:38,959 --> 00:09:40,720 It's true if you juxtapose that with the 239 00:09:40,720 --> 00:09:42,720 the interview with Sandra Vanoker which 240 00:09:42,720 --> 00:09:45,440 was in ' 61. So she had just become the 241 00:09:45,440 --> 00:09:47,519 first lady. Um I think it was in March. 242 00:09:47,519 --> 00:09:49,600 it was very soon after the inauguration 243 00:09:49,600 --> 00:09:52,480 and she um she's she's definitely more 244 00:09:52,480 --> 00:09:54,800 poised and so it's interesting to watch 245 00:09:54,800 --> 00:09:57,360 those a few years apart from 57 to 61 246 00:09:57,360 --> 00:10:00,560 and see how she's transformed and she 247 00:10:00,560 --> 00:10:02,480 still has her soft intimate speaking 248 00:10:02,480 --> 00:10:05,040 voice but like she has more confidence 249 00:10:05,040 --> 00:10:06,560 talking about Caroline and how she's 250 00:10:06,560 --> 00:10:08,560 going to protect her daughter and she 251 00:10:08,560 --> 00:10:09,760 you know wants her to have a normal 252 00:10:09,760 --> 00:10:12,320 childhood and so we it was it was very 253 00:10:12,320 --> 00:10:13,839 interesting to it informed the character 254 00:10:13,839 --> 00:10:16,320 also seeing how her voice shifts her 255 00:10:16,320 --> 00:10:19,519 confidence than who she is as the first 256 00:10:19,519 --> 00:10:20,959 lady now. 257 00:10:20,959 --> 00:10:22,560 Do you think that Caroline, for example, 258 00:10:22,560 --> 00:10:26,160 who's older than John Jr., has she been 259 00:10:26,160 --> 00:10:28,240 changed much by the attention she's 260 00:10:28,240 --> 00:10:29,440 gotten? 261 00:10:29,440 --> 00:10:32,640 No, because she's still too little. But 262 00:10:32,640 --> 00:10:34,160 someday she's going to have to go to 263 00:10:34,160 --> 00:10:35,680 school. 264 00:10:35,680 --> 00:10:38,640 And uh if she's in the papers all the 265 00:10:38,640 --> 00:10:40,079 time, that will affect her little 266 00:10:40,079 --> 00:10:41,680 classmates and they'll treat her 267 00:10:41,680 --> 00:10:44,240 differently. That's what I'm so anxious. 268 00:10:44,240 --> 00:10:46,079 We always treat her the same, but it's 269 00:10:46,079 --> 00:10:47,600 how other people treat her because 270 00:10:47,600 --> 00:10:51,399 they've read about her. 1 00:00:06,240 --> 00:00:09,280 When you finally get to set, 2 00:00:09,280 --> 00:00:10,960 you've done all the work. So, the 3 00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:14,320 important thing is to relax, be 4 00:00:14,320 --> 00:00:17,760 confident, and just try and be as 5 00:00:17,760 --> 00:00:20,160 fearless as possible and have as much 6 00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:22,240 playfulness as possible because I think 7 00:00:22,240 --> 00:00:25,439 that's what allows you to create a a 8 00:00:25,439 --> 00:00:27,599 person that feels like like a person. 9 00:00:27,599 --> 00:00:30,240 And then just trying to be fluid and 10 00:00:30,240 --> 00:00:32,399 flexible and listening and aware and 11 00:00:32,399 --> 00:00:34,800 have your your nerve endings out so that 12 00:00:34,800 --> 00:00:36,960 you're you're reacting to everything 13 00:00:36,960 --> 00:00:40,840 that's going on around you. 14 00:00:44,480 --> 00:00:47,760 The worst thing you can be on film is 15 00:00:47,760 --> 00:00:49,360 self-conscious. 16 00:00:49,360 --> 00:00:52,160 uh you don't want to seem like you're 17 00:00:52,160 --> 00:00:54,000 aware that people are looking at you 18 00:00:54,000 --> 00:00:55,520 unless you're of course playing a 19 00:00:55,520 --> 00:00:57,680 character that is self-conscious and 20 00:00:57,680 --> 00:01:00,640 that's part of the part of the character 21 00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:05,040 but even that should be within the story 22 00:01:05,040 --> 00:01:06,640 not 23 00:01:06,640 --> 00:01:10,000 aware of the camera. One of the teachers 24 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:12,400 that I've worked with who was very 25 00:01:12,400 --> 00:01:15,360 helpful is this incredible um coach 26 00:01:15,360 --> 00:01:18,080 named Jerry Grenell. And he talks about 27 00:01:18,080 --> 00:01:20,880 always accepting the camera that you 28 00:01:20,880 --> 00:01:24,880 want to always be aware of the camera 29 00:01:24,880 --> 00:01:26,720 cuz it's like that, you know, pink 30 00:01:26,720 --> 00:01:28,400 elephant. If you don't think about if 31 00:01:28,400 --> 00:01:29,520 you're trying not to think about 32 00:01:29,520 --> 00:01:32,320 something, it becomes ever more present. 33 00:01:32,320 --> 00:01:34,079 So, of course, if you're like, I'm just 34 00:01:34,079 --> 00:01:35,200 going to ignore the camera. I'm just 35 00:01:35,200 --> 00:01:37,600 going to ignore the camera. you just all 36 00:01:37,600 --> 00:01:39,040 you want to do is think about the 37 00:01:39,040 --> 00:01:41,920 camera. So what he does he talks about 38 00:01:41,920 --> 00:01:47,040 how the eyes are, you know, the the the 39 00:01:47,040 --> 00:01:49,840 eyes connect to the brain sort of like 40 00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:51,759 receptors at the back of your eyes. So, 41 00:01:51,759 --> 00:01:54,000 if you can kind of imagine that and then 42 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:56,079 you just kind of like take in the room, 43 00:01:56,079 --> 00:01:57,920 including the camera, including all the 44 00:01:57,920 --> 00:02:01,600 people in the room into your eye and 45 00:02:01,600 --> 00:02:03,520 know that you're holding the entire room 46 00:02:03,520 --> 00:02:06,479 in the entire field of vision inside 47 00:02:06,479 --> 00:02:09,200 your head. And it's a way of kind of 48 00:02:09,200 --> 00:02:11,680 taking everything around you and 49 00:02:11,680 --> 00:02:13,840 bringing it in. And it's really helpful 50 00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:18,239 because it's a way of internalizing 51 00:02:18,239 --> 00:02:20,560 everything. And that's what you kind of 52 00:02:20,560 --> 00:02:23,920 need to do is bring all of the the 53 00:02:23,920 --> 00:02:26,959 feeling and the ideas inside your body 54 00:02:26,959 --> 00:02:29,920 and not make it performative. It's not 55 00:02:29,920 --> 00:02:33,200 it's not externally facing. It's it's 56 00:02:33,200 --> 00:02:35,920 internally and it's drawing the camera 57 00:02:35,920 --> 00:02:39,440 into you into your eye into your your 58 00:02:39,440 --> 00:02:42,319 being. And um and you can really feel 59 00:02:42,319 --> 00:02:45,360 you can really feel the the difference. 60 00:02:45,360 --> 00:02:48,879 And it's nice to acknowledge the camera 61 00:02:48,879 --> 00:02:51,840 and incorporate the camera. And same 62 00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:53,920 with the people cuz you can't pretend 63 00:02:53,920 --> 00:02:56,239 you're alone in the room when there's 20 64 00:02:56,239 --> 00:02:58,800 people in the room with you. So to 65 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:00,319 mentally 66 00:03:00,319 --> 00:03:02,159 accept that all of these people are 67 00:03:02,159 --> 00:03:07,120 there is definitely more useful than to 68 00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:09,120 try and ignore it because that's a lot 69 00:03:09,120 --> 00:03:11,599 of work for your brain to be doing and 70 00:03:11,599 --> 00:03:15,959 kind of impossible to achieve. 71 00:03:20,080 --> 00:03:22,400 You cannot create something that's about 72 00:03:22,400 --> 00:03:25,440 feelings without incorporating the 73 00:03:25,440 --> 00:03:26,640 feelings of everyone you're working 74 00:03:26,640 --> 00:03:29,519 with. And that's cast and crew. Um, to 75 00:03:29,519 --> 00:03:32,400 me, the the most important people for 76 00:03:32,400 --> 00:03:35,599 that are the camera operators, um, the 77 00:03:35,599 --> 00:03:38,400 director, and the fellow actors. Those 78 00:03:38,400 --> 00:03:39,760 are the people I feel like you really 79 00:03:39,760 --> 00:03:43,680 need to emotionally engage with. But I 80 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:46,000 find it very helpful 81 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:47,840 really to be emotionally connected to 82 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:50,560 anyone who's in the room with you. You 83 00:03:50,560 --> 00:03:53,200 can draw from I mean you can if you're 84 00:03:53,200 --> 00:03:56,239 feeling like you're not connected in a 85 00:03:56,239 --> 00:03:58,000 scene or something, you can always look 86 00:03:58,000 --> 00:04:00,959 to someone in the room and feel a 87 00:04:00,959 --> 00:04:02,640 connection with them. And that's part of 88 00:04:02,640 --> 00:04:05,200 the the empathy that you just always 89 00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:08,480 need to kind of tap into. 90 00:04:08,480 --> 00:04:12,879 Could you do something for me? Do you 91 00:04:12,879 --> 00:04:16,400 think you could while here next to me 92 00:04:16,400 --> 00:04:18,079 not 93 00:04:18,079 --> 00:04:21,120 need to go further? In Cold Mountain, I 94 00:04:21,120 --> 00:04:23,360 was really lucky to have Anthony Mingala 95 00:04:23,360 --> 00:04:26,320 as a director and law as a co-star who 96 00:04:26,320 --> 00:04:30,639 are both incredibly sensitive people. 97 00:04:30,639 --> 00:04:35,440 And I've really connect 98 00:04:35,440 --> 00:04:39,360 the most when I'm with people who I feel 99 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:43,680 like are giving me emotional energy. And 100 00:04:43,680 --> 00:04:45,919 it's a hard thing to describe, but it 101 00:04:45,919 --> 00:04:49,120 was really just having the presence of 102 00:04:49,120 --> 00:04:52,240 two people with me at all times who were 103 00:04:52,240 --> 00:04:54,800 we were all feeling kind of the emotions 104 00:04:54,800 --> 00:04:56,080 around the scene, which is a very 105 00:04:56,080 --> 00:04:59,759 emotional scene. She has a baby who is 106 00:04:59,759 --> 00:05:02,720 is sick and she's got these intruders 107 00:05:02,720 --> 00:05:05,440 who are threatening her child. And she's 108 00:05:05,440 --> 00:05:07,280 also having this kind of emotional 109 00:05:07,280 --> 00:05:11,280 connection to this this stranger also 110 00:05:11,280 --> 00:05:15,960 that Jude Law plays. 111 00:05:17,120 --> 00:05:18,800 It was really just about connecting to 112 00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:20,160 what was going on in the scene and then 113 00:05:20,160 --> 00:05:21,680 having those people with me and 114 00:05:21,680 --> 00:05:24,960 sometimes just looking at Anthony in the 115 00:05:24,960 --> 00:05:29,199 eyes, seeing Jude in the scene, just 116 00:05:29,199 --> 00:05:30,639 that emotional connection between 117 00:05:30,639 --> 00:05:33,039 people. It's something you can't you 118 00:05:33,039 --> 00:05:35,120 can't describe. It just really has to do 119 00:05:35,120 --> 00:05:38,240 with connecting to another another 120 00:05:38,240 --> 00:05:41,240 person. 121 00:05:45,039 --> 00:05:48,400 It's important to feel comfortable in 122 00:05:48,400 --> 00:05:51,120 your environment when you're doing 123 00:05:51,120 --> 00:05:53,840 particularly emotional scenes. So, it's 124 00:05:53,840 --> 00:05:57,120 important to talk to the first assistant 125 00:05:57,120 --> 00:06:00,479 director or the or the director about 126 00:06:00,479 --> 00:06:02,080 what would make you comfortable. For 127 00:06:02,080 --> 00:06:04,639 example, if there's a lot of extra 128 00:06:04,639 --> 00:06:08,400 people behind the cameras or monitors, a 129 00:06:08,400 --> 00:06:09,840 lot of sets, there are a lot of people 130 00:06:09,840 --> 00:06:11,600 who will just watch and it feels like 131 00:06:11,600 --> 00:06:13,759 you have an audience. And sometimes 132 00:06:13,759 --> 00:06:16,160 having it be a little bit more private 133 00:06:16,160 --> 00:06:18,800 during those scenes can feel for me it 134 00:06:18,800 --> 00:06:21,120 feels better. So sometimes just on those 135 00:06:21,120 --> 00:06:24,080 days for those particularly emotional 136 00:06:24,080 --> 00:06:28,000 scenes to have fewer eyes on you and um 137 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:31,600 have that kind of intimacy of the the 138 00:06:31,600 --> 00:06:34,479 set um makes it feel a little bit safer 139 00:06:34,479 --> 00:06:36,800 cuz there is it's like an emotional 140 00:06:36,800 --> 00:06:39,039 nudity. And when you have physical 141 00:06:39,039 --> 00:06:43,039 nudity on sets they ask as many people 142 00:06:43,039 --> 00:06:45,120 who don't need to be there to leave. And 143 00:06:45,120 --> 00:06:47,120 it's a similar thing for the kind of 144 00:06:47,120 --> 00:06:49,199 emotional vulnerability. Of course, it 145 00:06:49,199 --> 00:06:52,880 depends on how you feel some maybe maybe 146 00:06:52,880 --> 00:06:56,160 it helps you to have more um you know 147 00:06:56,160 --> 00:06:58,639 more people in the room to connect with. 148 00:06:58,639 --> 00:07:01,599 But um you can minimize the the the 149 00:07:01,599 --> 00:07:02,960 people in the room. That's something 150 00:07:02,960 --> 00:07:06,599 that helps me. 151 00:07:10,319 --> 00:07:13,520 It's very important to keep play alive 152 00:07:13,520 --> 00:07:17,039 when you're off camera and when you have 153 00:07:17,039 --> 00:07:19,520 breaks and keep your brain working that 154 00:07:19,520 --> 00:07:21,919 but with something else. For certain 155 00:07:21,919 --> 00:07:25,039 scenes you might need that kind of laser 156 00:07:25,039 --> 00:07:29,280 focus and stay in. But most of the time 157 00:07:29,280 --> 00:07:32,560 for me it's keeping that just sense of 158 00:07:32,560 --> 00:07:35,039 fun alive. Even when you're doing 159 00:07:35,039 --> 00:07:36,720 something dramatic, or especially when 160 00:07:36,720 --> 00:07:38,000 you're doing something dramatic, you 161 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:39,840 kind of want to have that 162 00:07:39,840 --> 00:07:41,840 experimentation, that playfulness all 163 00:07:41,840 --> 00:07:43,840 the time. I do things like when I'm in 164 00:07:43,840 --> 00:07:46,400 when I'm in hair and makeup, I like to 165 00:07:46,400 --> 00:07:48,639 do a cross word puzzle, which is really 166 00:07:48,639 --> 00:07:51,120 dorky, but I feel like it keeps my brain 167 00:07:51,120 --> 00:07:55,599 going in a way that's not like obsessing 168 00:07:55,599 --> 00:07:58,400 over the scene, but keeps your brain 169 00:07:58,400 --> 00:08:00,479 really like active and engaged and kind 170 00:08:00,479 --> 00:08:03,599 of alert. And then in between takes, you 171 00:08:03,599 --> 00:08:06,160 know, just joking around with people, 172 00:08:06,160 --> 00:08:08,720 staying um keeping that energy where 173 00:08:08,720 --> 00:08:11,599 you're attentive to other people around 174 00:08:11,599 --> 00:08:15,599 you and their um 175 00:08:15,599 --> 00:08:18,080 their emotions and their their their 176 00:08:18,080 --> 00:08:20,879 intentions. And that playful interaction 177 00:08:20,879 --> 00:08:23,199 because that's the the sort of tension 178 00:08:23,199 --> 00:08:28,000 between people for good and bad is what 179 00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:29,919 makes interesting 180 00:08:29,919 --> 00:08:32,159 chemistry on screen. And so you kind of 181 00:08:32,159 --> 00:08:34,240 have to have like all of your nerve 182 00:08:34,240 --> 00:08:38,519 endings out all the time. 183 00:08:42,320 --> 00:08:45,040 When I directed, it was such a great 184 00:08:45,040 --> 00:08:48,160 opportunity to get to choose the people 185 00:08:48,160 --> 00:08:50,959 in the environment so that I knew that 186 00:08:50,959 --> 00:08:53,440 it was positive personalities who really 187 00:08:53,440 --> 00:08:56,560 had kind of the same vision and of of 188 00:08:56,560 --> 00:08:58,800 what kind of workspace we wanted. But 189 00:08:58,800 --> 00:09:00,480 I've definitely been on sets that have 190 00:09:00,480 --> 00:09:02,080 not been like that. And it's really 191 00:09:02,080 --> 00:09:03,680 difficult because there's a lot of 192 00:09:03,680 --> 00:09:08,320 energy expended on negative energy off 193 00:09:08,320 --> 00:09:11,440 camera and then it's kind of exhausting 194 00:09:11,440 --> 00:09:13,440 because you want the emotional stuff to 195 00:09:13,440 --> 00:09:15,839 happen on camera, not off camera. Those 196 00:09:15,839 --> 00:09:17,680 are the situations where if it's a 197 00:09:17,680 --> 00:09:19,680 little bit complicated on set, you can 198 00:09:19,680 --> 00:09:21,600 kind of protect yourself from that and 199 00:09:21,600 --> 00:09:24,399 as an actor take your, you know, right 200 00:09:24,399 --> 00:09:28,959 to retreat and maybe go have some quiet 201 00:09:28,959 --> 00:09:31,519 alone time and use that excuse of like 202 00:09:31,519 --> 00:09:34,320 I'm an actor focusing to to give 203 00:09:34,320 --> 00:09:36,240 yourself a little space and a retreat 204 00:09:36,240 --> 00:09:38,000 from any kind of negative stuff 205 00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:41,120 happening because I think in any job in 206 00:09:41,120 --> 00:09:44,640 any in any profession there's going to 207 00:09:44,640 --> 00:09:46,720 be personality ities that aren't 208 00:09:46,720 --> 00:09:49,600 positive energy. And you know, you you 209 00:09:49,600 --> 00:09:51,440 want to kind of shield yourself from 210 00:09:51,440 --> 00:09:55,560 from from that. 211 00:09:59,279 --> 00:10:01,920 I like having sort of a physical ritual. 212 00:10:01,920 --> 00:10:04,240 I feel that it helps me focus and it 213 00:10:04,240 --> 00:10:07,760 helps me engage my body in a way that is 214 00:10:07,760 --> 00:10:10,720 really helpful for when I work and 215 00:10:10,720 --> 00:10:14,399 relaxes my body in a way like breathing 216 00:10:14,399 --> 00:10:19,920 exercises or um yawning really relaxes 217 00:10:19,920 --> 00:10:22,720 your your throat before you start. You 218 00:10:22,720 --> 00:10:23,920 just have to make sure everyone around 219 00:10:23,920 --> 00:10:25,519 you knows that you're not just really 220 00:10:25,519 --> 00:10:28,560 tired cuz producers can get cranky about 221 00:10:28,560 --> 00:10:30,959 you being tired on set. I think it also 222 00:10:30,959 --> 00:10:32,560 has to do with knowing yourself and 223 00:10:32,560 --> 00:10:34,959 knowing which way to push yourself, 224 00:10:34,959 --> 00:10:39,120 whether you need to kind of um get rid 225 00:10:39,120 --> 00:10:43,680 of some twitchiness or over excitement 226 00:10:43,680 --> 00:10:46,959 or whether you need to um kind of push 227 00:10:46,959 --> 00:10:52,839 the energy, push the expression. 1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,000 Before 2 00:00:12,719 --> 00:00:15,120 I start a film, for about a month 3 00:00:15,120 --> 00:00:18,080 before, I'll work on my lines every day 4 00:00:18,080 --> 00:00:21,039 for about an hour. And usually that 5 00:00:21,039 --> 00:00:24,560 involves working with uh someone else 6 00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:27,199 who's saying the lines back to me. But 7 00:00:27,199 --> 00:00:29,199 if I can't do that, if I don't have 8 00:00:29,199 --> 00:00:30,960 access to someone to work with, I'll 9 00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:32,880 just work out in it by myself, which 10 00:00:32,880 --> 00:00:35,520 involves reading it so that I'm just 11 00:00:35,520 --> 00:00:37,440 familiar with it and then also saying it 12 00:00:37,440 --> 00:00:40,000 aloud and then sometimes 13 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:42,879 sort of the the night before I do a 14 00:00:42,879 --> 00:00:45,200 scene, I write it and that helps cement 15 00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:48,800 it um also. But I like to be really 16 00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:52,480 really um clear about my lines and know 17 00:00:52,480 --> 00:00:55,600 my lines all before the film starts. The 18 00:00:55,600 --> 00:00:59,280 level to which I know it word perfect 19 00:00:59,280 --> 00:01:01,680 depends on the director and writer's 20 00:01:01,680 --> 00:01:04,479 style. But um but I like to have the 21 00:01:04,479 --> 00:01:09,640 whole thing in my mind before I start. 22 00:01:13,200 --> 00:01:15,439 The important thing is always to know 23 00:01:15,439 --> 00:01:17,600 how to make it interesting for yourself. 24 00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:20,720 And there's always ideas that you can 25 00:01:20,720 --> 00:01:23,840 have ready for yourself. I like to jot 26 00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:26,799 down a few different ideas in my notes 27 00:01:26,799 --> 00:01:30,159 on every scene of if I were directing 28 00:01:30,159 --> 00:01:34,000 myself, what would I say to get three 29 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:36,159 different takes on the same scene? And 30 00:01:36,159 --> 00:01:38,400 it's not limited at three. And it's 31 00:01:38,400 --> 00:01:42,400 that's just, you know, a a ballpark. 32 00:01:42,400 --> 00:01:43,840 Obviously, if you come up with 10 33 00:01:43,840 --> 00:01:46,159 different ideas, write them all down. 34 00:01:46,159 --> 00:01:48,479 And then you can have a way of kind of 35 00:01:48,479 --> 00:01:50,240 directing yourself, giving yourself 36 00:01:50,240 --> 00:01:52,000 different ways to look at it, even if 37 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:53,759 you're not getting exactly what you need 38 00:01:53,759 --> 00:01:55,759 from your environment. And hopefully you 39 00:01:55,759 --> 00:01:58,399 will, hopefully your director and your 40 00:01:58,399 --> 00:02:02,880 actors and your um entire environment is 41 00:02:02,880 --> 00:02:05,360 giving you a lot of inspiration. But 42 00:02:05,360 --> 00:02:08,560 just in case they're not, you have these 43 00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:11,920 kind of tools to throw in. And it's 44 00:02:11,920 --> 00:02:13,440 helpful no matter what because it just 45 00:02:13,440 --> 00:02:15,760 helps you understand your character 46 00:02:15,760 --> 00:02:17,680 better and think about what your 47 00:02:17,680 --> 00:02:19,599 character might be going through more 48 00:02:19,599 --> 00:02:21,599 and you're just more prepared when you 49 00:02:21,599 --> 00:02:23,599 step on set. I think if you have the 50 00:02:23,599 --> 00:02:25,599 luxury of doing multiple takes, you kind 51 00:02:25,599 --> 00:02:29,760 of want to start with what you think is 52 00:02:29,760 --> 00:02:33,040 the the the the right way that your 53 00:02:33,040 --> 00:02:35,280 character would behave in the scene. 54 00:02:35,280 --> 00:02:38,720 Once you get there that you feel like 55 00:02:38,720 --> 00:02:41,040 that is kind of in place, then you can 56 00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:43,760 start playing with unexpected 57 00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:47,040 um ideas. Um sometimes the unexpected 58 00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:49,840 idea is your is your central idea. Like 59 00:02:49,840 --> 00:02:51,200 that's kind of your point of view. 60 00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:53,200 That's your choice that you're making. 61 00:02:53,200 --> 00:02:55,040 But sometimes there's things that come 62 00:02:55,040 --> 00:02:56,720 up even while you're doing it because 63 00:02:56,720 --> 00:02:58,800 you didn't realize that the space was 64 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:01,120 going to look the way it does or the the 65 00:03:01,120 --> 00:03:02,720 actor that you're working with is going 66 00:03:02,720 --> 00:03:04,000 to perform the way that they're 67 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:06,239 performing. And you definitely need to 68 00:03:06,239 --> 00:03:09,440 be flexible and reactive to those kinds 69 00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:13,959 of things as your character would be. 70 00:03:17,360 --> 00:03:21,280 Even if you're not playing a a big role, 71 00:03:21,280 --> 00:03:24,239 you can always come with some kind of 72 00:03:24,239 --> 00:03:28,239 idea of what your character is. You want 73 00:03:28,239 --> 00:03:31,440 to be responsive to anything the 74 00:03:31,440 --> 00:03:34,400 director might say to you so that you 75 00:03:34,400 --> 00:03:36,560 know you don't have to set an idea that 76 00:03:36,560 --> 00:03:38,720 you can't change if the director is not 77 00:03:38,720 --> 00:03:42,959 into it. Um, but to have that freedom 78 00:03:42,959 --> 00:03:45,519 to, you know, come in with a point of 79 00:03:45,519 --> 00:03:47,280 view so that, you know, you're playing 80 00:03:47,280 --> 00:03:52,720 the the barista at the coffee shop, but 81 00:03:52,720 --> 00:03:55,680 you hate being there and you are just 82 00:03:55,680 --> 00:03:58,080 annoyed even though all you have to say 83 00:03:58,080 --> 00:04:00,640 is here's your change, but you're like 84 00:04:00,640 --> 00:04:02,319 here's your change. And then you have a 85 00:04:02,319 --> 00:04:03,920 point of view, you have a character, you 86 00:04:03,920 --> 00:04:06,080 have an idea about it, even if it's one 87 00:04:06,080 --> 00:04:08,159 line. And then if the director's like, 88 00:04:08,159 --> 00:04:10,319 you know what, that doesn't really make 89 00:04:10,319 --> 00:04:13,920 sense here. Let's just do it let's just 90 00:04:13,920 --> 00:04:15,360 do it a little more standard that you're 91 00:04:15,360 --> 00:04:18,799 flexible and will change or that the 92 00:04:18,799 --> 00:04:21,359 actor comes in and does something 93 00:04:21,359 --> 00:04:25,680 unexpected and you know says hey can I 94 00:04:25,680 --> 00:04:28,080 have my special coffee and then you 95 00:04:28,080 --> 00:04:31,280 react back and are flexible and are like 96 00:04:31,280 --> 00:04:33,440 here's your change you know and like 97 00:04:33,440 --> 00:04:36,639 maybe they flirt back. Um, so that you 98 00:04:36,639 --> 00:04:39,440 need to be open to things changing. You 99 00:04:39,440 --> 00:04:41,759 need to be open to a director's 100 00:04:41,759 --> 00:04:43,840 comments, an actor you're working with 101 00:04:43,840 --> 00:04:49,400 changing and um, you need to be fluid. 102 00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:54,960 As an actor, it's not your job to think 103 00:04:54,960 --> 00:04:57,120 about the editing, but there are certain 104 00:04:57,120 --> 00:04:58,639 things that you have to do that will 105 00:04:58,639 --> 00:05:02,000 give the director and the editor the 106 00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:04,960 option to to cut pieces together if 107 00:05:04,960 --> 00:05:08,880 you're shooting things in uh multiple 108 00:05:08,880 --> 00:05:11,199 shot kind of way. Obviously, if you're 109 00:05:11,199 --> 00:05:14,000 shooting something where it's a one shot 110 00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:15,919 with the camera, then you don't have to 111 00:05:15,919 --> 00:05:17,680 worry about anything. If you're shooting 112 00:05:17,680 --> 00:05:19,680 one scene where there's many different 113 00:05:19,680 --> 00:05:23,120 shots, close-ups, wides, mediums, uh, 114 00:05:23,120 --> 00:05:26,400 you know, a static shot in a steady cam, 115 00:05:26,400 --> 00:05:30,240 then you need to, um, usually match the 116 00:05:30,240 --> 00:05:32,400 movement. You need to do the same thing 117 00:05:32,400 --> 00:05:34,080 every time so that when you're, you 118 00:05:34,080 --> 00:05:36,479 know, talking, you're grabbing the glass 119 00:05:36,479 --> 00:05:38,479 of water at the same moment in each 120 00:05:38,479 --> 00:05:39,919 scene. So, if they want to change from 121 00:05:39,919 --> 00:05:42,479 one shot to another, the movement 122 00:05:42,479 --> 00:05:45,440 matches. And and so you need to be aware 123 00:05:45,440 --> 00:05:49,759 of continuity of the continuous action, 124 00:05:49,759 --> 00:05:52,800 continuous positioning of where you are 125 00:05:52,800 --> 00:05:55,280 when you are at certain points in the 126 00:05:55,280 --> 00:05:58,160 scene. You always almost are shooting 127 00:05:58,160 --> 00:06:00,160 out of sequence. And so you need to be 128 00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:02,560 aware of where your character is 129 00:06:02,560 --> 00:06:06,080 emotionally. So that you know, you might 130 00:06:06,080 --> 00:06:10,960 be kicked in a scene on one day and then 131 00:06:10,960 --> 00:06:13,680 get up from the ground from being kicked 132 00:06:13,680 --> 00:06:16,319 another day. And you need to remember 133 00:06:16,319 --> 00:06:19,919 that emotionally and physically you're 134 00:06:19,919 --> 00:06:21,520 having that moment of pain. You're 135 00:06:21,520 --> 00:06:24,400 having that moment of um you know 136 00:06:24,400 --> 00:06:26,800 getting back to your senses and you need 137 00:06:26,800 --> 00:06:28,720 to track yourself emotionally. That that 138 00:06:28,720 --> 00:06:31,520 allows the emotional continuity of the 139 00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:33,919 editing obviously. Um, so that's your 140 00:06:33,919 --> 00:06:36,639 job to to keep track of that. Usually a 141 00:06:36,639 --> 00:06:38,479 great director will help you keep track 142 00:06:38,479 --> 00:06:40,479 of that, but sometimes you don't get 143 00:06:40,479 --> 00:06:42,479 that um that assistance and you need to 144 00:06:42,479 --> 00:06:46,400 be um tracking your own um journey 145 00:06:46,400 --> 00:06:50,120 always. Of course, 146 00:06:53,840 --> 00:06:55,840 this is again something that you have to 147 00:06:55,840 --> 00:06:58,720 know yourself because sometimes it makes 148 00:06:58,720 --> 00:07:00,560 you really self-conscious. Like there 149 00:07:00,560 --> 00:07:03,039 are times in my life when if I watch 150 00:07:03,039 --> 00:07:05,280 myself, you know, most movies now have 151 00:07:05,280 --> 00:07:07,919 monitors so that you can watch us take 152 00:07:07,919 --> 00:07:10,080 back afterwards. And there are times 153 00:07:10,080 --> 00:07:11,759 when I will watch and the only thing 154 00:07:11,759 --> 00:07:13,759 I'll look at is like how much my belly 155 00:07:13,759 --> 00:07:15,520 is pooching out or like stand up 156 00:07:15,520 --> 00:07:17,520 straight. That's I only think about 157 00:07:17,520 --> 00:07:20,560 vanity stuff. Um or like oh no, if I put 158 00:07:20,560 --> 00:07:22,720 my chin down it makes a double chin. You 159 00:07:22,720 --> 00:07:24,639 know, if you're doing that, stop 160 00:07:24,639 --> 00:07:26,240 watching yourself because that doesn't 161 00:07:26,240 --> 00:07:30,639 help anybody. But for myself, 162 00:07:30,639 --> 00:07:34,080 there are other times that I can watch 163 00:07:34,080 --> 00:07:38,160 and really learn and really um figure 164 00:07:38,160 --> 00:07:41,039 things out that like sometimes I think 165 00:07:41,039 --> 00:07:44,560 I'm doing something and I'm not. You can 166 00:07:44,560 --> 00:07:46,720 sometimes see that what's happening 167 00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:50,080 inside you is not actually reading or 168 00:07:50,080 --> 00:07:54,199 not reading the way you want. 169 00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:00,639 I've generally found actors to be 170 00:08:00,639 --> 00:08:04,720 incredibly generous and partners in a 171 00:08:04,720 --> 00:08:07,039 scene. And the more 172 00:08:07,039 --> 00:08:10,960 the more you are giving, I've always 173 00:08:10,960 --> 00:08:13,919 found the more you receive back and that 174 00:08:13,919 --> 00:08:16,240 it's this real excitement and 175 00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:17,919 communication and getting to play 176 00:08:17,919 --> 00:08:20,560 together. I think that you need to be 177 00:08:20,560 --> 00:08:23,680 really always paying attention and 178 00:08:23,680 --> 00:08:25,520 listening and really feeling what the 179 00:08:25,520 --> 00:08:28,000 other person is doing while of course 180 00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:30,400 staying in your character and and 181 00:08:30,400 --> 00:08:32,159 reacting as your character would to 182 00:08:32,159 --> 00:08:35,200 them. You also want to be respectful of 183 00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:37,599 how you change things because for 184 00:08:37,599 --> 00:08:39,919 example, if you are shooting in a 185 00:08:39,919 --> 00:08:41,279 traditional way where you're shooting 186 00:08:41,279 --> 00:08:42,880 sort of one actor and then the other 187 00:08:42,880 --> 00:08:45,279 actor, you don't want to do something 188 00:08:45,279 --> 00:08:48,000 when it's on you, that's very different 189 00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:50,560 from how it is when the camera's on them 190 00:08:50,560 --> 00:08:53,200 because they need to react to what you 191 00:08:53,200 --> 00:08:55,519 were doing when the camera was on you. 192 00:08:55,519 --> 00:08:58,880 So, you need to be able to at least 193 00:08:58,880 --> 00:09:01,519 match the different options. If you do 194 00:09:01,519 --> 00:09:03,279 three or four different things, you need 195 00:09:03,279 --> 00:09:06,880 to match that when it's on them as it is 196 00:09:06,880 --> 00:09:10,000 when it's on you. As a general rule, you 197 00:09:10,000 --> 00:09:11,519 are always there for your co-star. 198 00:09:11,519 --> 00:09:14,640 You're always present and you always are 199 00:09:14,640 --> 00:09:17,680 checking in with each other about how 200 00:09:17,680 --> 00:09:19,040 comfortable you are around certain 201 00:09:19,040 --> 00:09:21,200 things. You know, we often have to do 202 00:09:21,200 --> 00:09:22,720 physical things with each other, whether 203 00:09:22,720 --> 00:09:25,200 it's love scenes, whether it's action 204 00:09:25,200 --> 00:09:27,600 scenes where you could potentially hurt 205 00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:29,200 somebody, where you could potentially 206 00:09:29,200 --> 00:09:30,880 make someone uncomfortable. And you 207 00:09:30,880 --> 00:09:33,600 always need to check in with each other. 208 00:09:33,600 --> 00:09:35,040 And also, you need to give each other 209 00:09:35,040 --> 00:09:39,200 space. If you see that your co-star 210 00:09:39,200 --> 00:09:41,360 needs silence to get their 211 00:09:41,360 --> 00:09:43,120 concentration, 212 00:09:43,120 --> 00:09:45,360 stop talking. Don't make noise around 213 00:09:45,360 --> 00:09:48,399 them. Give them that space and time. If 214 00:09:48,399 --> 00:09:50,160 you see that your actor needs an 215 00:09:50,160 --> 00:09:52,560 emotional connection, is having a hard 216 00:09:52,560 --> 00:09:54,240 time, you can sit with them and give 217 00:09:54,240 --> 00:09:55,760 them your hand and look into their eyes 218 00:09:55,760 --> 00:09:58,880 and have kind of a connective moment. If 219 00:09:58,880 --> 00:10:01,680 they ask you for for something, if they 220 00:10:01,680 --> 00:10:04,000 want to be more improvisational or stick 221 00:10:04,000 --> 00:10:06,640 to the script more or let's step on each 222 00:10:06,640 --> 00:10:08,399 other's lines so that it feels more like 223 00:10:08,399 --> 00:10:10,560 conversation or let's not talk on each 224 00:10:10,560 --> 00:10:13,120 other's lines because, you know, it it 225 00:10:13,120 --> 00:10:15,120 distracts me or whatever. You need to be 226 00:10:15,120 --> 00:10:17,360 flexible and open to other people's way 227 00:10:17,360 --> 00:10:20,240 of working and and and help them with 228 00:10:20,240 --> 00:10:21,839 their process cuz it's not going to be 229 00:10:21,839 --> 00:10:25,240 the same as yours. 230 00:10:28,959 --> 00:10:30,959 For me, emotional scenes are no 231 00:10:30,959 --> 00:10:33,680 different than other scenes. It just has 232 00:10:33,680 --> 00:10:36,480 to do with your connection to the 233 00:10:36,480 --> 00:10:39,040 material. You're empathizing with a 234 00:10:39,040 --> 00:10:42,480 character and you're thinking about all 235 00:10:42,480 --> 00:10:46,079 the different sort of details of the 236 00:10:46,079 --> 00:10:49,360 situation that might make you feel a 237 00:10:49,360 --> 00:10:51,200 certain way. 238 00:10:51,200 --> 00:10:54,800 I cry really easily in my real life and 239 00:10:54,800 --> 00:10:58,560 it's not um you know I have a much 240 00:10:58,560 --> 00:11:02,320 harder time laughing on Q than crying on 241 00:11:02,320 --> 00:11:04,320 Q even though I laugh quite easily too 242 00:11:04,320 --> 00:11:08,079 but like genuine laughter is very 243 00:11:08,079 --> 00:11:12,320 difficult I think to to imitate I've 244 00:11:12,320 --> 00:11:14,560 worked with actors who are amazing 245 00:11:14,560 --> 00:11:17,760 actors who don't produce tears and don't 246 00:11:17,760 --> 00:11:19,600 cry very easily who are incredible 247 00:11:19,600 --> 00:11:20,480 actors 248 00:11:20,480 --> 00:11:23,360 And there are remedies for that. I mean, 249 00:11:23,360 --> 00:11:26,959 I've seen people use fake tears, menthol 250 00:11:26,959 --> 00:11:29,360 blowers. A lot of really great actors 251 00:11:29,360 --> 00:11:31,360 use that kind of thing to produce tears 252 00:11:31,360 --> 00:11:33,040 if you're just not a person who cries 253 00:11:33,040 --> 00:11:36,240 and needs to make tears for for a 254 00:11:36,240 --> 00:11:39,360 particular scene that is at your at your 255 00:11:39,360 --> 00:11:42,000 service. And I've seen people do that 256 00:11:42,000 --> 00:11:44,240 really really convincingly and just you 257 00:11:44,240 --> 00:11:47,200 know just gives them the appearance of 258 00:11:47,200 --> 00:11:50,079 crying while they are able to act the 259 00:11:50,079 --> 00:11:53,519 you know the emotional side of it. Um so 260 00:11:53,519 --> 00:11:56,720 I think for for emotional scenes you 261 00:11:56,720 --> 00:11:59,360 really just need to be clued into the 262 00:11:59,360 --> 00:12:02,320 empathy with your character and and 263 00:12:02,320 --> 00:12:07,800 everything um flows from that. 1 00:00:06,400 --> 00:00:08,880 The relationship with the director to me 2 00:00:08,880 --> 00:00:12,480 is the most important 3 00:00:12,480 --> 00:00:14,799 in choosing whether I want to do a film 4 00:00:14,799 --> 00:00:17,520 and also then once I'm I'm working on a 5 00:00:17,520 --> 00:00:20,640 film. I really see it as a collaboration 6 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:22,560 and of course a director wants someone 7 00:00:22,560 --> 00:00:24,080 who's going to help them fulfill their 8 00:00:24,080 --> 00:00:26,720 vision, but they also want you to come 9 00:00:26,720 --> 00:00:30,160 with surprises because that's what every 10 00:00:30,160 --> 00:00:33,280 piece of a movie crew does from the 11 00:00:33,280 --> 00:00:36,079 focus pullers to the prop masters to the 12 00:00:36,079 --> 00:00:39,600 stunt coordinators to every member of of 13 00:00:39,600 --> 00:00:41,920 the crew is contributing something 14 00:00:41,920 --> 00:00:45,280 unique that they can each up the vision 15 00:00:45,280 --> 00:00:47,440 of the director and the director is the 16 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:48,399 conductor. 17 00:00:48,399 --> 00:00:51,039 making sure that everyone is on the same 18 00:00:51,039 --> 00:00:54,000 page and using everyone's best talents 19 00:00:54,000 --> 00:00:57,280 and using everyone's best ideas and 20 00:00:57,280 --> 00:00:59,840 rejecting the bad ideas and you know in 21 00:00:59,840 --> 00:01:03,600 a kind way but um really sort of honing 22 00:01:03,600 --> 00:01:06,880 in on this collective piece cuz that's 23 00:01:06,880 --> 00:01:10,840 that's what a film is. 24 00:01:14,320 --> 00:01:16,960 I'm still in a position where I think as 25 00:01:16,960 --> 00:01:19,439 an actor you're serving the director and 26 00:01:19,439 --> 00:01:22,320 their vision and 27 00:01:22,320 --> 00:01:25,680 it's a collaboration but a hierarchical 28 00:01:25,680 --> 00:01:27,840 collaboration for sure. When you're an 29 00:01:27,840 --> 00:01:30,320 actor, the first thing I I I talk about 30 00:01:30,320 --> 00:01:32,320 with them is if there's something that 31 00:01:32,320 --> 00:01:33,920 they 32 00:01:33,920 --> 00:01:36,400 want me to 33 00:01:36,400 --> 00:01:41,840 watch or listen to or read or learn for 34 00:01:41,840 --> 00:01:45,520 the film and for the part. Um, some 35 00:01:45,520 --> 00:01:47,920 directors are very 36 00:01:47,920 --> 00:01:51,200 specific about that and have specific 37 00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:54,960 references for music, for um, for 38 00:01:54,960 --> 00:01:58,000 visuals, for characters. 39 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:01,439 Some directors are not um, and you can 40 00:02:01,439 --> 00:02:04,399 figure out your own inspirations, but 41 00:02:04,399 --> 00:02:06,399 it's nice to kind of get an idea of 42 00:02:06,399 --> 00:02:08,640 their vision and to get an idea of the 43 00:02:08,640 --> 00:02:10,160 process they like. Some directors like 44 00:02:10,160 --> 00:02:12,800 to um, some directors like to rehearse a 45 00:02:12,800 --> 00:02:14,239 lot. Some directors don't like to 46 00:02:14,239 --> 00:02:16,800 rehearse at all. Some directors like to 47 00:02:16,800 --> 00:02:18,480 do a lot of takes. Some directors like 48 00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:21,920 to do very few takes or because of 49 00:02:21,920 --> 00:02:24,959 budget are limited to few takes. And 50 00:02:24,959 --> 00:02:26,560 that's important for you to know too 51 00:02:26,560 --> 00:02:28,640 because first of all, you need to know 52 00:02:28,640 --> 00:02:32,239 how much how much room you have to play. 53 00:02:32,239 --> 00:02:33,760 So if you know that you're only going to 54 00:02:33,760 --> 00:02:37,200 get two takes, you do it the way that 55 00:02:37,200 --> 00:02:39,519 you think is the best way to do it. 56 00:02:39,519 --> 00:02:43,200 Whereas, if you're going to do 20 takes, 57 00:02:43,200 --> 00:02:45,680 you're going to get to try a lot of 58 00:02:45,680 --> 00:02:47,280 different things and give a lot of 59 00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:49,120 different options. It's also important 60 00:02:49,120 --> 00:02:52,400 to know how wetted they feel to the text 61 00:02:52,400 --> 00:02:54,640 because if you have a director, a lot of 62 00:02:54,640 --> 00:02:56,560 writer directors in particular, they 63 00:02:56,560 --> 00:03:00,800 want you to say every um in the same way 64 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:03,040 that it's written. So there's a lot of 65 00:03:03,040 --> 00:03:05,599 kind of understanding both the vision 66 00:03:05,599 --> 00:03:07,200 and the process of the director that 67 00:03:07,200 --> 00:03:10,640 goes into the initial conversations and 68 00:03:10,640 --> 00:03:13,120 your prep work. And then once you start 69 00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:17,519 working, that's when it also 70 00:03:17,519 --> 00:03:21,680 can be the most fun when you start like 71 00:03:21,680 --> 00:03:26,120 throwing ideas back and forth. 72 00:03:29,680 --> 00:03:35,280 Directing myself was a big 73 00:03:35,280 --> 00:03:37,840 a big motivator in understanding what I 74 00:03:37,840 --> 00:03:40,720 could how I could 75 00:03:40,720 --> 00:03:43,599 bring more as an actress because I acted 76 00:03:43,599 --> 00:03:45,760 in my own film that I directed. I had to 77 00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:48,640 watch, you know, 20 takes of myself 78 00:03:48,640 --> 00:03:50,799 doing the same scene and go, "Oh my god, 79 00:03:50,799 --> 00:03:54,159 I did the same exact thing 20 times. 80 00:03:54,159 --> 00:03:57,760 Like, this isn't helpful at all." And so 81 00:03:57,760 --> 00:04:00,560 you you see what you want as a director 82 00:04:00,560 --> 00:04:02,879 and what you want as a director is 83 00:04:02,879 --> 00:04:05,439 choices. You want change, you want 84 00:04:05,439 --> 00:04:08,879 reactions, you want to see some um Terry 85 00:04:08,879 --> 00:04:10,959 Malik says it's like waves going in and 86 00:04:10,959 --> 00:04:13,120 out. And it is. It's like you want to 87 00:04:13,120 --> 00:04:17,440 see some kind of transition from 88 00:04:17,440 --> 00:04:19,919 oh I'm bored to wait a minute that's 89 00:04:19,919 --> 00:04:23,520 that's interesting or you know um I'm 90 00:04:23,520 --> 00:04:26,720 really feeling bad about myself to wait 91 00:04:26,720 --> 00:04:28,240 but you just said something nice about 92 00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:30,880 me. Um you know you want to see a 93 00:04:30,880 --> 00:04:32,240 change. You don't want to see someone 94 00:04:32,240 --> 00:04:35,120 just listening like, you know, and and 95 00:04:35,120 --> 00:04:38,400 that's the kind of detail that I was 96 00:04:38,400 --> 00:04:39,919 like, "Oh, I'm being realistic. When I 97 00:04:39,919 --> 00:04:42,320 listen, I don't do a lot." But on film, 98 00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:44,639 you kind of you need there to be the 99 00:04:44,639 --> 00:04:46,400 tension, you need the communication, you 100 00:04:46,400 --> 00:04:50,000 need the reaction. And so it created 101 00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:52,400 this whole sort of understanding in me 102 00:04:52,400 --> 00:04:54,639 suddenly of, and maybe I should have 103 00:04:54,639 --> 00:04:57,360 always had that, but wow, I really need 104 00:04:57,360 --> 00:05:00,639 to play more. I need to give more 105 00:05:00,639 --> 00:05:04,400 choices. I need to create more ideas and 106 00:05:04,400 --> 00:05:06,560 find more interesting moments because 107 00:05:06,560 --> 00:05:09,039 it's all those in between 108 00:05:09,039 --> 00:05:10,960 pieces that are the most interesting. 109 00:05:10,960 --> 00:05:14,000 It's the stuff in between the dialogue, 110 00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:16,800 in between the the stuff that's on the 111 00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:20,000 page that gives it the the life and the 112 00:05:20,000 --> 00:05:24,919 interestingness and and the juice. 113 00:05:28,800 --> 00:05:31,680 Pablo Lorraine on Jackie was like, "Your 114 00:05:31,680 --> 00:05:34,080 eyebrows are moving like caterpillars." 115 00:05:34,080 --> 00:05:36,560 He told me, he was like, "Stop moving 116 00:05:36,560 --> 00:05:37,759 your eyebrows." 117 00:05:37,759 --> 00:05:40,960 And while that was totally disruptive 118 00:05:40,960 --> 00:05:43,440 for my acting process because of course 119 00:05:43,440 --> 00:05:46,160 you want to be lost in the scene, it was 120 00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:47,759 something that I was doing that was 121 00:05:47,759 --> 00:05:51,440 almost it was like an acting tick almost 122 00:05:51,440 --> 00:05:54,320 that I wanted to break and that happened 123 00:05:54,320 --> 00:05:56,880 from watching myself and going, "Oh yes, 124 00:05:56,880 --> 00:05:59,600 I do that." And that's not necessarily 125 00:05:59,600 --> 00:06:01,360 natural and that's not necessarily 126 00:06:01,360 --> 00:06:06,319 something that I want to do that looks 127 00:06:06,319 --> 00:06:09,919 like natural acting. And so to kind of 128 00:06:09,919 --> 00:06:12,240 break those those kinds of habits that 129 00:06:12,240 --> 00:06:14,639 you might have, Mike Nichols used to 130 00:06:14,639 --> 00:06:16,960 call it killing your favorite babies 131 00:06:16,960 --> 00:06:19,520 that you know the things that you do all 132 00:06:19,520 --> 00:06:22,960 the time that start becoming maybe once 133 00:06:22,960 --> 00:06:25,440 were natural but then suddenly become 134 00:06:25,440 --> 00:06:28,240 kind of ticks or bad habits. You can 135 00:06:28,240 --> 00:06:30,479 break them by watching it and being 136 00:06:30,479 --> 00:06:32,160 conscious and consciously working 137 00:06:32,160 --> 00:06:34,400 against it and then it becomes natural 138 00:06:34,400 --> 00:06:38,240 to not do that. Um, but I'm probably 139 00:06:38,240 --> 00:06:39,759 moving my eyebrows a lot while I'm 140 00:06:39,759 --> 00:06:43,120 saying that. So, 1 00:00:12,320 --> 00:00:15,519 Darren Areronowski was a very important 2 00:00:15,519 --> 00:00:17,440 director for me to work with. I think it 3 00:00:17,440 --> 00:00:20,080 was one of the first times I really felt 4 00:00:20,080 --> 00:00:23,600 that sense of play where I could really 5 00:00:23,600 --> 00:00:26,640 interact with my director in in a 6 00:00:26,640 --> 00:00:29,199 playful way where it was like, "Let me 7 00:00:29,199 --> 00:00:31,359 try this. let me try that. Let you and 8 00:00:31,359 --> 00:00:34,000 and he would suggest things to me in 9 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:37,520 that same way. He also really understood 10 00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:38,960 different actors and what different 11 00:00:38,960 --> 00:00:42,480 actors needed because some people 12 00:00:42,480 --> 00:00:44,320 clearly needed to be left alone and he 13 00:00:44,320 --> 00:00:45,520 would leave them alone. Some people 14 00:00:45,520 --> 00:00:48,879 needed kind of positive reinforcement 15 00:00:48,879 --> 00:00:51,440 all the time and needed that really 16 00:00:51,440 --> 00:00:53,520 encouraging energy. Some people needed a 17 00:00:53,520 --> 00:00:56,079 little bit more negative. Um, not 18 00:00:56,079 --> 00:00:58,320 negative in like a mean way, but like 19 00:00:58,320 --> 00:01:00,559 uh, you know, some people respond more 20 00:01:00,559 --> 00:01:03,840 to criticism than compliments and some 21 00:01:03,840 --> 00:01:05,680 people respond more to compliments than 22 00:01:05,680 --> 00:01:08,960 criticism. And he could kind of read 23 00:01:08,960 --> 00:01:12,479 every different person's need. And um, I 24 00:01:12,479 --> 00:01:14,560 really saw him work differently with 25 00:01:14,560 --> 00:01:17,799 different actors. 26 00:01:21,759 --> 00:01:24,080 Mike Nichols was a very very important 27 00:01:24,080 --> 00:01:28,159 mentor for me. Um he he mentored me a 28 00:01:28,159 --> 00:01:31,040 lot in my personal life as well as in my 29 00:01:31,040 --> 00:01:34,400 professional life. He was someone who he 30 00:01:34,400 --> 00:01:36,880 was the director that told me that I 31 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:39,119 needed to work on my voice early on 32 00:01:39,119 --> 00:01:41,360 which was really really helpful to me. I 33 00:01:41,360 --> 00:01:43,280 think I could have heard that and felt 34 00:01:43,280 --> 00:01:48,000 very um bad about myself but also it was 35 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:49,759 the way it was delivered that it was in 36 00:01:49,759 --> 00:01:51,759 a constructive way. It was sort of he 37 00:01:51,759 --> 00:01:54,240 said to me sort of you will have so much 38 00:01:54,240 --> 00:01:58,719 more um so many more options if you 39 00:01:58,719 --> 00:02:01,200 discover the range that your voice can 40 00:02:01,200 --> 00:02:04,759 can go. 41 00:02:08,319 --> 00:02:12,879 He also was the the one that told me how 42 00:02:12,879 --> 00:02:16,640 to name moments emotionally so that you 43 00:02:16,640 --> 00:02:18,640 know what story you're telling always 44 00:02:18,640 --> 00:02:20,160 and that you're coordinated with your 45 00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:22,239 other actors and with your director that 46 00:02:22,239 --> 00:02:23,920 you guys all know that you're telling 47 00:02:23,920 --> 00:02:26,959 the same story and which story beats are 48 00:02:26,959 --> 00:02:29,520 happening in which moments. It's not 49 00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:32,720 always as obvious for a movie that 50 00:02:32,720 --> 00:02:36,319 doesn't have sort of an like classic 51 00:02:36,319 --> 00:02:38,239 structure, that doesn't have a classic 52 00:02:38,239 --> 00:02:40,959 sort of threeact arc where you can like 53 00:02:40,959 --> 00:02:45,120 see turning points, but you can with 54 00:02:45,120 --> 00:02:48,319 almost any character track 55 00:02:48,319 --> 00:02:51,280 specific moments that are nameable and 56 00:02:51,280 --> 00:02:53,599 that you can label. And that really 57 00:02:53,599 --> 00:02:56,160 helps kind of track your own progression 58 00:02:56,160 --> 00:02:59,560 as a character. 59 00:03:03,120 --> 00:03:05,120 Another thing that was very helpful to 60 00:03:05,120 --> 00:03:07,280 me was something that Anthony Miguela 61 00:03:07,280 --> 00:03:12,879 did um where he would surprise us by 62 00:03:12,879 --> 00:03:14,400 changing 63 00:03:14,400 --> 00:03:16,640 having an actor change a line opposite 64 00:03:16,640 --> 00:03:20,879 you. So in Cold Mountain, Jude would 65 00:03:20,879 --> 00:03:23,360 suddenly say to me when it was on me and 66 00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:25,599 he was out of shot, he would say, "It 67 00:03:25,599 --> 00:03:28,400 looks like your baby's dying." And it 68 00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:30,000 would take you by surprise because of 69 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:32,560 course you start getting accustomed to 70 00:03:32,560 --> 00:03:35,840 and and expecting to to hear thing a 71 00:03:35,840 --> 00:03:38,480 certain line from an actor and just that 72 00:03:38,480 --> 00:03:40,879 change can kind of shake you out of 73 00:03:40,879 --> 00:03:43,280 that. So, that's harder to do as an 74 00:03:43,280 --> 00:03:46,319 actor because of course you don't want 75 00:03:46,319 --> 00:03:49,840 to impose that on another actor. Um, but 76 00:03:49,840 --> 00:03:51,680 if a director, if it's something you can 77 00:03:51,680 --> 00:03:53,680 tell a director that you like someone 78 00:03:53,680 --> 00:03:56,720 doing to you or um if you're ever 79 00:03:56,720 --> 00:03:58,959 directing, it's a nice I I liked using 80 00:03:58,959 --> 00:04:02,000 it as a director with my um with some of 81 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:04,319 my actors to sort of surprise them to 82 00:04:04,319 --> 00:04:06,560 get certain reactions. Certain things 83 00:04:06,560 --> 00:04:10,640 like blushing are really hard to do on 84 00:04:10,640 --> 00:04:13,439 cube, but you can get certain reactions 85 00:04:13,439 --> 00:04:17,480 sometimes only by surprise. 86 00:04:21,120 --> 00:04:24,000 Another thing Anthony Mangela said that 87 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:27,360 was really, really helpful was finding 88 00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:30,400 breath in places like poetry. That you 89 00:04:30,400 --> 00:04:32,720 treat your text like poetry and that you 90 00:04:32,720 --> 00:04:35,600 find breath in unexpected places. And 91 00:04:35,600 --> 00:04:38,800 breath is so related to emotion because 92 00:04:38,800 --> 00:04:40,479 when you do something over and over and 93 00:04:40,479 --> 00:04:42,400 over again, it can be kind of wrote 94 00:04:42,400 --> 00:04:45,759 almost like you can just get kind of 95 00:04:45,759 --> 00:04:48,560 into the the rhythm of what you've been 96 00:04:48,560 --> 00:04:50,880 practicing and you need to break it up. 97 00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:53,600 But if you have a text that you can find 98 00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:56,000 beauty in the words, where you can find 99 00:04:56,000 --> 00:04:59,040 emotional breath, that's almost always 100 00:04:59,040 --> 00:05:02,880 um you can usually find a different way 101 00:05:02,880 --> 00:05:06,400 to approach it. 102 00:05:09,840 --> 00:05:15,039 Pablo taught me um on Jackie how to find 103 00:05:15,039 --> 00:05:17,440 the tension in every scene and how 104 00:05:17,440 --> 00:05:20,240 important having something 105 00:05:20,240 --> 00:05:24,240 complicated in a scene and uncomfortable 106 00:05:24,240 --> 00:05:26,479 in a scene that might just seem kind of 107 00:05:26,479 --> 00:05:28,479 like pleasant, normal. just like finding 108 00:05:28,479 --> 00:05:32,240 that tension even if it's not um common 109 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:34,240 sense to what the character is going 110 00:05:34,240 --> 00:05:36,000 through. 111 00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:39,360 You can you can see the the effect on 112 00:05:39,360 --> 00:05:41,840 the scene of of having it that how much 113 00:05:41,840 --> 00:05:45,440 more interesting it is in a scene cuz he 114 00:05:45,440 --> 00:05:49,280 he told um John Hurt who played the 115 00:05:49,280 --> 00:05:55,280 priest that he should be kind of bored 116 00:05:55,280 --> 00:05:57,440 with what I was telling him. And I was 117 00:05:57,440 --> 00:06:00,320 like who would tell who would be bored 118 00:06:00,320 --> 00:06:02,960 listening to Jackie Kennedy 119 00:06:02,960 --> 00:06:05,919 tell about JFK? you know, that didn't 120 00:06:05,919 --> 00:06:08,160 make sense to me on a character level, 121 00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:10,479 but the tension it created in the scene 122 00:06:10,479 --> 00:06:13,440 as opposed to just a very earnest, you 123 00:06:13,440 --> 00:06:16,720 know, Jackie talking to her priest, it 124 00:06:16,720 --> 00:06:21,360 created this this tension that where I'm 125 00:06:21,360 --> 00:06:23,360 kind of like, who is this priest? He's 126 00:06:23,360 --> 00:06:25,360 kind of like, get me out of here, this 127 00:06:25,360 --> 00:06:27,919 woman. And you're you're you're 128 00:06:27,919 --> 00:06:28,960 interested because there's something 129 00:06:28,960 --> 00:06:33,360 going on beyond just the dialogue. 130 00:06:33,360 --> 00:06:35,600 Is this a confession? Oh, 131 00:06:35,600 --> 00:06:38,560 only if that's something you regret. 132 00:06:38,560 --> 00:06:40,880 Everyone knows my story. 133 00:06:40,880 --> 00:06:44,479 God isn't interested in stories. 134 00:06:44,479 --> 00:06:48,240 He's interested in the truth. 135 00:06:48,240 --> 00:06:50,160 I came here looking for sympathy. 136 00:06:50,160 --> 00:06:53,039 Father, 137 00:06:53,039 --> 00:06:56,080 of course. 138 00:06:56,080 --> 00:06:59,360 Father, are you listening? 139 00:06:59,360 --> 00:07:02,639 When Jackie meets this journalist for 140 00:07:02,639 --> 00:07:07,599 the first time, um Pablo had told Billy 141 00:07:07,599 --> 00:07:11,280 to really be upset that he got this 142 00:07:11,280 --> 00:07:13,280 assignment, which is very counter to 143 00:07:13,280 --> 00:07:16,240 what you would expect for this 144 00:07:16,240 --> 00:07:17,919 journalist because of course it's this 145 00:07:17,919 --> 00:07:20,240 coup to get the exclusive on Jackie 146 00:07:20,240 --> 00:07:22,000 Kennedy, but to make it interesting for 147 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:24,880 the scene, it's there's much more drama 148 00:07:24,880 --> 00:07:26,800 and tension there if he really doesn't 149 00:07:26,800 --> 00:07:28,960 want to be there and he's really thinks 150 00:07:28,960 --> 00:07:31,919 this is kind of like a silly assignment 151 00:07:31,919 --> 00:07:34,960 and light, not serious kind of 152 00:07:34,960 --> 00:07:37,680 journalistic work. And so he's kind of 153 00:07:37,680 --> 00:07:40,080 grumpy when he gets there and doesn't 154 00:07:40,080 --> 00:07:43,479 want to be there, 155 00:07:50,960 --> 00:07:53,840 Mrs. Kennedy. 156 00:07:53,840 --> 00:07:56,080 And he told him to check me out and he 157 00:07:56,080 --> 00:07:58,720 didn't tell me that. So it creates this 158 00:07:58,720 --> 00:08:00,800 interesting tension just by going 159 00:08:00,800 --> 00:08:03,520 against sort of the expectation of the 160 00:08:03,520 --> 00:08:07,599 scene and going against the sort of 161 00:08:07,599 --> 00:08:09,919 writing of the scene almost to just 162 00:08:09,919 --> 00:08:15,039 create this this um this emotional 163 00:08:15,039 --> 00:08:18,800 um this emotional pull that that is 164 00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:22,000 uncomfortable. He also created an 165 00:08:22,000 --> 00:08:25,520 environment that is probably the most 166 00:08:25,520 --> 00:08:31,599 fun environment in my um that now I I 167 00:08:31,599 --> 00:08:34,080 tell directors if they're open to it 168 00:08:34,080 --> 00:08:36,240 that it's a way I like to work if it's 169 00:08:36,240 --> 00:08:38,240 possible to work which is that he 170 00:08:38,240 --> 00:08:40,880 creates an environment that is 171 00:08:40,880 --> 00:08:44,080 completely lit for interiors or using 172 00:08:44,080 --> 00:08:46,560 natural light for exteriors so that you 173 00:08:46,560 --> 00:08:48,800 can move wherever you want. You don't 174 00:08:48,800 --> 00:08:51,839 have to hit a mark. You can move freely 175 00:08:51,839 --> 00:08:53,839 within the space. And the camera is 176 00:08:53,839 --> 00:08:56,560 handheld and the camera's improvised 177 00:08:56,560 --> 00:08:58,240 every take. So, every take can be 178 00:08:58,240 --> 00:08:59,839 different. And obviously, that takes 179 00:08:59,839 --> 00:09:02,320 kind of a layer of 180 00:09:02,320 --> 00:09:03,760 it takes away kind of a layer of 181 00:09:03,760 --> 00:09:05,920 self-consciousness and a layer of like 182 00:09:05,920 --> 00:09:07,920 thinking about making a movie versus 183 00:09:07,920 --> 00:09:10,240 just being lost in a scene. It also 184 00:09:10,240 --> 00:09:11,920 means that you can work from beginning 185 00:09:11,920 --> 00:09:15,519 to end of a scene, which you know, 186 00:09:15,519 --> 00:09:17,200 sometimes when you're doing a particular 187 00:09:17,200 --> 00:09:19,440 shot, you're just doing like a an 188 00:09:19,440 --> 00:09:21,920 excerpt of a scene, like a a snippet of 189 00:09:21,920 --> 00:09:24,320 it. And it's much nicer to get to work 190 00:09:24,320 --> 00:09:26,560 through an entire scene because you can 191 00:09:26,560 --> 00:09:29,519 feel the emotion of how it 192 00:09:29,519 --> 00:09:32,160 how it rolls from one emotional moment 193 00:09:32,160 --> 00:09:35,640 to another. 1 00:00:06,240 --> 00:00:09,760 Terrence Malik was an incredible mentor 2 00:00:09,760 --> 00:00:15,759 to to get to work with in terms of his 3 00:00:15,759 --> 00:00:17,680 throwing away all the rules of film 4 00:00:17,680 --> 00:00:20,640 making that you realize a lot of these 5 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:23,519 rituals aren't as important as you 6 00:00:23,519 --> 00:00:26,880 think. So, for example, you get your 7 00:00:26,880 --> 00:00:28,080 hair and makeup done in the morning and 8 00:00:28,080 --> 00:00:29,760 then you never see them again during the 9 00:00:29,760 --> 00:00:33,840 day. Um, which I think is is, you know, 10 00:00:33,840 --> 00:00:35,760 is very different from other films where 11 00:00:35,760 --> 00:00:38,239 they're constantly touching you up. Um, 12 00:00:38,239 --> 00:00:41,920 it's important to recognize what part of 13 00:00:41,920 --> 00:00:44,160 that is helpful in maintaining a 14 00:00:44,160 --> 00:00:46,480 character and what part of that might be 15 00:00:46,480 --> 00:00:49,120 distracting or taking energy away from 16 00:00:49,120 --> 00:00:54,239 the emotions of the scene. Um he creates 17 00:00:54,239 --> 00:00:56,800 spaces that you can walk around freely 18 00:00:56,800 --> 00:01:00,320 and outdoor natural lit spaces so that 19 00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:02,320 you can move freely and you're never 20 00:01:02,320 --> 00:01:04,479 hitting a mark. You're always moving. 21 00:01:04,479 --> 00:01:06,159 You always move and you move with the 22 00:01:06,159 --> 00:01:09,439 camera and you guide the camera um by 23 00:01:09,439 --> 00:01:11,520 your improvisational 24 00:01:11,520 --> 00:01:13,840 movement. And so you need to be very 25 00:01:13,840 --> 00:01:16,400 aware of the camera and connected to the 26 00:01:16,400 --> 00:01:19,680 camera operator so that you too are 27 00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:23,360 moving in concert and that you are 28 00:01:23,360 --> 00:01:26,960 creating interesting angles of your body 29 00:01:26,960 --> 00:01:30,000 with the camera that can catch things 30 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:32,479 that can hide certain things and it 31 00:01:32,479 --> 00:01:34,960 creates much more mystery and much more 32 00:01:34,960 --> 00:01:38,880 life for the the the camera's view of 33 00:01:38,880 --> 00:01:42,920 what's happening in the scene. 34 00:01:46,240 --> 00:01:49,600 I remember once we were filming and we 35 00:01:49,600 --> 00:01:51,200 saw dolphins. We were at the beach and 36 00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:53,600 we saw dolphins and I pointed because I 37 00:01:53,600 --> 00:01:55,759 wanted to lead the camera to the 38 00:01:55,759 --> 00:01:57,680 dolphins. And he said, "You never point 39 00:01:57,680 --> 00:02:00,399 on film because you never want to 40 00:02:00,399 --> 00:02:02,159 indicate what people should be looking 41 00:02:02,159 --> 00:02:04,560 at. If the shots right, they will look 42 00:02:04,560 --> 00:02:07,119 in the place you want them to look." And 43 00:02:07,119 --> 00:02:10,319 you never want to sort of dictate to the 44 00:02:10,319 --> 00:02:12,080 audience in that way. And that's an 45 00:02:12,080 --> 00:02:15,520 important thing um always for for I 46 00:02:15,520 --> 00:02:17,120 think the director and the actor that 47 00:02:17,120 --> 00:02:18,959 you're not 48 00:02:18,959 --> 00:02:22,319 dictating to the audience where to look, 49 00:02:22,319 --> 00:02:24,879 what to feel, what to see. You're just 50 00:02:24,879 --> 00:02:27,200 creating an emotional expression and 51 00:02:27,200 --> 00:02:30,640 then they re react to it in an 52 00:02:30,640 --> 00:02:34,360 independent way. 53 00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:40,640 So, the character in um in Knight of 54 00:02:40,640 --> 00:02:43,920 Cups is a a married woman who is having 55 00:02:43,920 --> 00:02:47,599 an affair with um Christian Bale's 56 00:02:47,599 --> 00:02:52,560 character um in the film and they they 57 00:02:52,560 --> 00:02:54,720 she feels very conflicted about it, but 58 00:02:54,720 --> 00:02:58,080 also very they're very much in love. And 59 00:02:58,080 --> 00:03:02,879 so Terry started sending me books and 60 00:03:02,879 --> 00:03:05,920 films that were inspiring to him about 61 00:03:05,920 --> 00:03:09,519 this character's story and so that I 62 00:03:09,519 --> 00:03:12,879 could kind of imagine what her life 63 00:03:12,879 --> 00:03:14,560 might have been like. And some of the 64 00:03:14,560 --> 00:03:18,879 the books were books from different eras 65 00:03:18,879 --> 00:03:21,519 and it was a contemporary film. So it 66 00:03:21,519 --> 00:03:24,159 clearly wasn't a literal translation of 67 00:03:24,159 --> 00:03:26,000 those. but just to think about the kind 68 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:28,080 of family relations, the kind of 69 00:03:28,080 --> 00:03:30,319 emotions that she might be having, the 70 00:03:30,319 --> 00:03:34,319 kind of personality she had. And it 71 00:03:34,319 --> 00:03:36,640 allowed me to really build with him 72 00:03:36,640 --> 00:03:39,599 through letters this idea of of this 73 00:03:39,599 --> 00:03:42,560 woman. So then when we were put in 74 00:03:42,560 --> 00:03:45,840 situations together as actors, we would 75 00:03:45,840 --> 00:03:47,200 have very long takes. We were shooting 76 00:03:47,200 --> 00:03:49,040 digitally, which means that the takes, 77 00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:50,640 you know, it's not like your film runs 78 00:03:50,640 --> 00:03:54,319 out. it's 30 minutes that you have to 79 00:03:54,319 --> 00:03:58,480 just invent. And he would give these 80 00:03:58,480 --> 00:04:03,200 written dialogue pages but say you can 81 00:04:03,200 --> 00:04:05,760 use it, you can not use it, you can 82 00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:10,319 invent, you can say it all. Um, and so 83 00:04:10,319 --> 00:04:14,239 there was sort of this guided freedom, 84 00:04:14,239 --> 00:04:16,560 but there were certain rules like you 85 00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:20,959 never sit still, you never sit, you um 86 00:04:20,959 --> 00:04:23,360 you have to keep moving, you keep moving 87 00:04:23,360 --> 00:04:26,960 with your other actor. And it was it was 88 00:04:26,960 --> 00:04:29,840 really a a wonderful 89 00:04:29,840 --> 00:04:32,479 process to explore that kind of 90 00:04:32,479 --> 00:04:34,240 improvisation. And then going on to 91 00:04:34,240 --> 00:04:37,520 other films that were more scripted but 92 00:04:37,520 --> 00:04:41,040 required improvisation. It gave a lot of 93 00:04:41,040 --> 00:04:44,000 um it gave me a lot of understanding of 94 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:48,320 how I could lead the camera, how I could 95 00:04:48,320 --> 00:04:51,360 invent things and how to 96 00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:53,919 create something that is interesting 97 00:04:53,919 --> 00:04:59,639 hopefully to an audience to to watch. 98 00:05:03,280 --> 00:05:08,400 We have these these scenes that were, 99 00:05:08,400 --> 00:05:11,039 you know, moments of love and kind of 100 00:05:11,039 --> 00:05:13,199 the way that memory catches things, 101 00:05:13,199 --> 00:05:16,720 which is in these kind of flickers and 102 00:05:16,720 --> 00:05:20,240 seconds of of emotion and creating 103 00:05:20,240 --> 00:05:22,479 emotional moments through gesture, 104 00:05:22,479 --> 00:05:24,160 through movement, through the way that 105 00:05:24,160 --> 00:05:26,160 you look at each other. and that 106 00:05:26,160 --> 00:05:28,160 playfulness and just keeping that that 107 00:05:28,160 --> 00:05:31,600 playfulness between us. And it was 108 00:05:31,600 --> 00:05:34,720 really it was really um interesting to 109 00:05:34,720 --> 00:05:39,120 to understand how you could 110 00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:41,840 how you could create those moments out 111 00:05:41,840 --> 00:05:45,520 of you know thin air that you're really 112 00:05:45,520 --> 00:05:49,520 um looking in your environment um 113 00:05:49,520 --> 00:05:53,680 reacting to the person and um and and 114 00:05:53,680 --> 00:05:56,639 then provoking you know creating little 115 00:05:56,639 --> 00:05:59,120 provocations. I remember we were doing a 116 00:05:59,120 --> 00:06:01,199 scene that was sort of a a love scene 117 00:06:01,199 --> 00:06:03,919 with my character and Christian Bale's 118 00:06:03,919 --> 00:06:06,479 character and it was very awkward of 119 00:06:06,479 --> 00:06:09,120 course because you know an improvised 120 00:06:09,120 --> 00:06:12,639 love scene. You're kind of not sure how 121 00:06:12,639 --> 00:06:16,960 far you want to go personally and it was 122 00:06:16,960 --> 00:06:19,360 you know not the most comfortable. And 123 00:06:19,360 --> 00:06:23,280 then um I discovered this thing that my 124 00:06:23,280 --> 00:06:26,319 character could provoke him and I put my 125 00:06:26,319 --> 00:06:30,240 foot in his mouth completely, you know, 126 00:06:30,240 --> 00:06:34,560 clothed both of us. And it was a fun 127 00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:37,280 kind of physical gesture that was 128 00:06:37,280 --> 00:06:39,680 allowed me to sort of have something 129 00:06:39,680 --> 00:06:42,000 provocative with him, but that I felt 130 00:06:42,000 --> 00:06:44,800 comfortable with physically, you know, 131 00:06:44,800 --> 00:06:47,600 that that wasn't, you know, too far for 132 00:06:47,600 --> 00:06:50,639 me personally. And it was a a great kind 133 00:06:50,639 --> 00:06:53,039 of balance of something that I felt was 134 00:06:53,039 --> 00:06:54,960 a physical gesture that showed something 135 00:06:54,960 --> 00:06:58,080 emotional between the characters um but 136 00:06:58,080 --> 00:07:01,440 that also felt within my bounds of of 137 00:07:01,440 --> 00:07:06,919 what I felt good with as a as a person. 138 00:07:10,479 --> 00:07:13,039 In Knight of Cups and Song to Song, he 139 00:07:13,039 --> 00:07:15,599 uses multiple voices. So it's not like 140 00:07:15,599 --> 00:07:18,080 one po person person's point of view. 141 00:07:18,080 --> 00:07:20,479 It's it's kind of within everyone's 142 00:07:20,479 --> 00:07:22,880 subconscious and it also has kind of the 143 00:07:22,880 --> 00:07:24,160 same tone within everyone's 144 00:07:24,160 --> 00:07:26,800 subconscious. So, it's it's this really 145 00:07:26,800 --> 00:07:30,160 interesting melding of of those. And the 146 00:07:30,160 --> 00:07:32,800 voice over in Days of Heaven is probably 147 00:07:32,800 --> 00:07:34,960 my favorite voiceover in any film. The 148 00:07:34,960 --> 00:07:38,240 Linda Mans is one of the most beautiful 149 00:07:38,240 --> 00:07:40,560 things. I really recommend you listen to 150 00:07:40,560 --> 00:07:42,080 it. 151 00:07:42,080 --> 00:07:43,759 I've been thinking what to do with my 152 00:07:43,759 --> 00:07:46,759 future. 153 00:07:52,080 --> 00:07:54,960 I could be a mud doctor 154 00:07:54,960 --> 00:07:59,479 checking out the earth underneath. 155 00:08:01,919 --> 00:08:04,960 It sounds like a kid talking. It sounds 156 00:08:04,960 --> 00:08:08,639 so real. the way that there's pauses and 157 00:08:08,639 --> 00:08:12,160 little quirks and her accent, all of it 158 00:08:12,160 --> 00:08:14,800 just really adds up to something so 159 00:08:14,800 --> 00:08:19,199 emotional and raw. Um, and for for me is 160 00:08:19,199 --> 00:08:21,759 is one of the most beautiful things 161 00:08:21,759 --> 00:08:25,280 about an incredibly beautiful film. So, 162 00:08:25,280 --> 00:08:27,360 it was really exciting to get to work on 163 00:08:27,360 --> 00:08:29,840 a a voiceover in that way. And I wanted 164 00:08:29,840 --> 00:08:33,200 to, you know, find that emotional breath 165 00:08:33,200 --> 00:08:36,719 in those uh have it feel like a 166 00:08:36,719 --> 00:08:40,880 subconscious dreamlike voice and um and 167 00:08:40,880 --> 00:08:44,240 also keep it tonally in tune with the 168 00:08:44,240 --> 00:08:47,760 other actors um in the film, which of 169 00:08:47,760 --> 00:08:51,200 course is really Terry's magic because 170 00:08:51,200 --> 00:08:54,160 he's the one keeping everything on on 171 00:08:54,160 --> 00:08:57,519 the same on the same page. 172 00:08:57,519 --> 00:09:01,120 After dad left, 173 00:09:01,120 --> 00:09:05,160 you thought you were a failure. 174 00:09:06,480 --> 00:09:08,880 Mama, 175 00:09:08,880 --> 00:09:13,000 you gave us so much. 176 00:09:13,120 --> 00:09:14,800 Your hands are so beautiful. You should 177 00:09:14,800 --> 00:09:18,279 be wearing gloves. 178 00:09:19,760 --> 00:09:23,040 I wanted you to have so much more. 179 00:09:23,040 --> 00:09:25,200 I don't know where else we can go. 180 00:09:25,200 --> 00:09:28,720 Remember, we have nothing. 181 00:09:35,440 --> 00:09:40,720 I really love the ability to um 182 00:09:40,720 --> 00:09:45,360 to use actors creativity and input and I 183 00:09:45,360 --> 00:09:47,839 had a much more scripted 184 00:09:47,839 --> 00:09:50,320 film than the Malik films when I 185 00:09:50,320 --> 00:09:54,640 directed. But it was great to um have 186 00:09:54,640 --> 00:09:57,440 this this feeling of, you know, you 187 00:09:57,440 --> 00:10:00,000 could leave the end of a take open and 188 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:04,240 instead of actors waiting for cut, they 189 00:10:04,240 --> 00:10:06,000 keep inventing and they keep doing 190 00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:08,959 interesting things and reacting to each 191 00:10:08,959 --> 00:10:11,200 other. And sometimes the most beautiful 192 00:10:11,200 --> 00:10:16,320 moments are in those spaces. And also, 193 00:10:16,320 --> 00:10:18,000 you want to be comfortable with the 194 00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:21,040 space and with the silences and with 195 00:10:21,040 --> 00:10:23,600 what you can convey within that. If you 196 00:10:23,600 --> 00:10:25,360 finish a scene and there's no more 197 00:10:25,360 --> 00:10:27,360 dialogue and the director hasn't said 198 00:10:27,360 --> 00:10:30,079 cut yet, you're not just like waiting 199 00:10:30,079 --> 00:10:33,040 for them to cut, you are continuing the 200 00:10:33,040 --> 00:10:34,560 feeling of the scene. Even if you're not 201 00:10:34,560 --> 00:10:38,800 improvising words, you should stay in 202 00:10:38,800 --> 00:10:40,880 the in the motion and you should always 203 00:10:40,880 --> 00:10:42,640 be thinking 204 00:10:42,640 --> 00:10:45,120 what happens after a scene so that 205 00:10:45,120 --> 00:10:47,360 you're prepared also when the scene ends 206 00:10:47,360 --> 00:10:51,440 to be in an improvisational mood of 207 00:10:51,440 --> 00:10:53,040 what would they continue to do? Because 208 00:10:53,040 --> 00:10:54,480 you're not just going to sit there and 209 00:10:54,480 --> 00:10:57,440 stare at each other um at the end of of 210 00:10:57,440 --> 00:10:59,839 that. You still have to stay in the in 211 00:10:59,839 --> 00:11:03,079 the moment. 1 00:00:06,560 --> 00:00:08,639 When I was asked to play Jackie Kennedy, 2 00:00:08,639 --> 00:00:12,240 I was terrified because she's such a 3 00:00:12,240 --> 00:00:15,599 well-known figure and I had never really 4 00:00:15,599 --> 00:00:19,359 done any kind of impersonation before of 5 00:00:19,359 --> 00:00:22,080 a real person. It's a big pressure of 6 00:00:22,080 --> 00:00:25,519 course to get the the 7 00:00:25,519 --> 00:00:27,840 accent and the voice and the movement 8 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:30,560 and the appearance. It's a lot of 9 00:00:30,560 --> 00:00:33,920 elements that you need to create a 10 00:00:33,920 --> 00:00:35,600 character that's believable for an 11 00:00:35,600 --> 00:00:37,200 audience so that they can just get lost 12 00:00:37,200 --> 00:00:40,480 in the story. You can imitate a 13 00:00:40,480 --> 00:00:43,200 character that is is a real life 14 00:00:43,200 --> 00:00:45,200 character that people know, but 15 00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:47,360 ultimately you're always your you you're 16 00:00:47,360 --> 00:00:50,079 always yourself. So you have to use the 17 00:00:50,079 --> 00:00:54,000 things that are part of you to kind of 18 00:00:54,000 --> 00:00:58,239 find this balance between um you know 19 00:00:58,239 --> 00:01:00,399 the the way you're you're imitating it 20 00:01:00,399 --> 00:01:04,520 and what you're bringing to it. 21 00:01:08,000 --> 00:01:12,159 I chose to look at the period of the 22 00:01:12,159 --> 00:01:15,920 film. There's a lot of stories about 23 00:01:15,920 --> 00:01:17,759 Jackie after the period that the film 24 00:01:17,759 --> 00:01:20,640 looks like looks at the Onasis years 25 00:01:20,640 --> 00:01:23,680 etc. which of course is fascinating but 26 00:01:23,680 --> 00:01:26,799 luckily the the film looks at such a 27 00:01:26,799 --> 00:01:28,960 small period of time that I was able to 28 00:01:28,960 --> 00:01:30,560 focus sort of on that and everything 29 00:01:30,560 --> 00:01:32,320 that came before it so that you're 30 00:01:32,320 --> 00:01:35,840 informing where she is. But humans don't 31 00:01:35,840 --> 00:01:38,079 know their futures usually unless you're 32 00:01:38,079 --> 00:01:39,280 talking about like a science fiction 33 00:01:39,280 --> 00:01:42,320 film. So the most important thing is 34 00:01:42,320 --> 00:01:45,600 really to focus on what your character 35 00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:49,439 knows. what what is this real person's 36 00:01:49,439 --> 00:01:52,240 experience up until the point of the 37 00:01:52,240 --> 00:01:54,240 story of the film and then what is their 38 00:01:54,240 --> 00:01:56,640 experience during the story of the film 39 00:01:56,640 --> 00:01:59,759 and then not including information that 40 00:01:59,759 --> 00:02:01,920 they wouldn't know which also doesn't 41 00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:03,680 necessarily have to be their future but 42 00:02:03,680 --> 00:02:06,320 could also be you know things that other 43 00:02:06,320 --> 00:02:09,440 people in their environment know that 44 00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:12,319 they wouldn't know for example Bobby 45 00:02:12,319 --> 00:02:14,560 Kennedy knew things about the 46 00:02:14,560 --> 00:02:16,480 assassination that she didn't know 47 00:02:16,480 --> 00:02:19,280 because he was getting briefings about 48 00:02:19,280 --> 00:02:23,360 the uh intelligence findings and she 49 00:02:23,360 --> 00:02:26,319 didn't she wasn't privy to that at the 50 00:02:26,319 --> 00:02:29,200 time. So you you shouldn't let your 51 00:02:29,200 --> 00:02:31,599 character have that access that they 52 00:02:31,599 --> 00:02:34,920 wouldn't have. 53 00:02:38,560 --> 00:02:41,840 It was really incredible to get to go 54 00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:44,959 into understanding her childhood and her 55 00:02:44,959 --> 00:02:48,879 background and her um her her 56 00:02:48,879 --> 00:02:51,840 adolescence and meeting JFK and and then 57 00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:53,920 of course their life together in the 58 00:02:53,920 --> 00:02:56,080 White House. And there was an incredible 59 00:02:56,080 --> 00:02:59,920 amount of writing about it and also 60 00:02:59,920 --> 00:03:04,400 footage of her. And that was really um 61 00:03:04,400 --> 00:03:07,840 really helpful to to develop the exact 62 00:03:07,840 --> 00:03:11,519 voice and the exact accent and the 63 00:03:11,519 --> 00:03:13,599 movement as well which was very very 64 00:03:13,599 --> 00:03:18,480 specific um to her. Of course the White 65 00:03:18,480 --> 00:03:21,360 House tour to have something exact. It's 66 00:03:21,360 --> 00:03:24,239 very unusual for a film where you have 67 00:03:24,239 --> 00:03:26,640 an exact replica of what you're doing 68 00:03:26,640 --> 00:03:28,800 that you need to copy, which is both 69 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:31,440 daunting and also very helpful because 70 00:03:31,440 --> 00:03:34,879 you have the exact sort of delivery of 71 00:03:34,879 --> 00:03:37,040 the lines and the physicality and the 72 00:03:37,040 --> 00:03:39,599 facial expressions that you're that 73 00:03:39,599 --> 00:03:42,319 you're trying to recreate. 74 00:03:42,319 --> 00:03:45,360 Yes, it's attic and seller allin one. 75 00:03:45,360 --> 00:03:47,200 Since our work started, we receive 76 00:03:47,200 --> 00:03:49,680 hundreds of letters every day. This is 77 00:03:49,680 --> 00:03:52,319 where we evaluate all the fines, see if 78 00:03:52,319 --> 00:03:53,760 we want to keep them, if they'll fit 79 00:03:53,760 --> 00:03:56,319 into our budget. 80 00:03:56,319 --> 00:03:59,920 Watching the the videos, she was very 81 00:03:59,920 --> 00:04:02,640 stiff and proper with all of her 82 00:04:02,640 --> 00:04:04,000 movement when she was doing the White 83 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:06,159 House tour. And so to kind of try and 84 00:04:06,159 --> 00:04:09,040 mimic that um and also get an insight 85 00:04:09,040 --> 00:04:11,760 into what that means of of what she's 86 00:04:11,760 --> 00:04:13,519 trying to project into the world of 87 00:04:13,519 --> 00:04:16,239 about how how she's proper, how she's 88 00:04:16,239 --> 00:04:18,560 nervous, so it affects her her 89 00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:21,440 physicality and connecting the the 90 00:04:21,440 --> 00:04:27,800 physical uh style to the emotions. 91 00:04:31,840 --> 00:04:34,320 You have to find what hits you 92 00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:37,040 emotionally and what sparks your 93 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:39,600 imagination because that's ultimately 94 00:04:39,600 --> 00:04:44,320 everything. All of these ideas are 95 00:04:44,320 --> 00:04:46,880 supposed to just spark your creativity 96 00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:51,199 and give you ideas for details for for 97 00:04:51,199 --> 00:04:55,280 specific um emotions that you might not 98 00:04:55,280 --> 00:04:58,880 have thought of yourself. like that 99 00:04:58,880 --> 00:05:01,600 Jackie Kennedy thing where that was 100 00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:03,120 something that I found when I was 101 00:05:03,120 --> 00:05:04,880 reading that she said she didn't 102 00:05:04,880 --> 00:05:08,560 remember the actual assassination but 103 00:05:08,560 --> 00:05:11,919 was watching it on TV and that sparked 104 00:05:11,919 --> 00:05:15,600 this whole question for me of how scary 105 00:05:15,600 --> 00:05:17,919 is that is a double thing that like of 106 00:05:17,919 --> 00:05:20,639 course to have your husband assassinated 107 00:05:20,639 --> 00:05:23,680 next to you and be that close to death 108 00:05:23,680 --> 00:05:26,479 and see someone that you are so intimate 109 00:05:26,479 --> 00:05:28,080 with 110 00:05:28,080 --> 00:05:31,120 hold them in in your arms, but then also 111 00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:34,560 be that close to having mortality, 112 00:05:34,560 --> 00:05:35,919 you know, being faced with mortality 113 00:05:35,919 --> 00:05:38,560 yourself. But then in addition to that, 114 00:05:38,560 --> 00:05:43,440 to have no memory of it and and be able 115 00:05:43,440 --> 00:05:46,320 to watch a video of it, it's such a it's 116 00:05:46,320 --> 00:05:48,800 it's a complication to the obvious 117 00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:50,720 emotion. The obvious emotion is the 118 00:05:50,720 --> 00:05:53,840 fear, the mourning, the grief, and then 119 00:05:53,840 --> 00:05:55,600 there's a complication. And so the 120 00:05:55,600 --> 00:05:57,600 complication always makes it a little 121 00:05:57,600 --> 00:06:00,000 bit more 122 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:03,000 human. 123 00:06:06,720 --> 00:06:09,759 The improvisational scenes were really a 124 00:06:09,759 --> 00:06:12,560 gift uh from Pablo Lorraine, the 125 00:06:12,560 --> 00:06:15,039 director of Jackie, to us as actors 126 00:06:15,039 --> 00:06:18,000 because it was a constant reminder that 127 00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:20,240 we were inventing, 128 00:06:20,240 --> 00:06:24,000 not doing sort of Civil War reenactment, 129 00:06:24,000 --> 00:06:27,520 you know, that we weren't just 130 00:06:27,520 --> 00:06:30,479 recreating historical events. that we 131 00:06:30,479 --> 00:06:34,160 were using our poetic license quite 132 00:06:34,160 --> 00:06:37,440 liberally and inventing. 133 00:06:37,440 --> 00:06:40,560 Of course, we don't know what went on in 134 00:06:40,560 --> 00:06:42,479 any of these rooms. We know that at some 135 00:06:42,479 --> 00:06:44,400 point Jackie told her children about the 136 00:06:44,400 --> 00:06:46,000 assassination, but we don't know what 137 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:50,720 those words were. We know that she had a 138 00:06:50,720 --> 00:06:53,520 conversation with her security guard, 139 00:06:53,520 --> 00:06:55,440 but we don't know exactly what those 140 00:06:55,440 --> 00:06:57,520 words were. We know she obviously talked 141 00:06:57,520 --> 00:06:59,520 to Bobby about the plans for the 142 00:06:59,520 --> 00:07:01,039 funeral, but we don't know what those 143 00:07:01,039 --> 00:07:03,039 words were. We know she consulted a 144 00:07:03,039 --> 00:07:04,560 priest, but we don't know what those 145 00:07:04,560 --> 00:07:08,160 conversations were. And so to have that 146 00:07:08,160 --> 00:07:11,599 freedom to invent and to remember that 147 00:07:11,599 --> 00:07:15,440 we are creating art, not a history book, 148 00:07:15,440 --> 00:07:18,400 uh was really liberating. And when you 149 00:07:18,400 --> 00:07:20,400 do all of that research and all of that 150 00:07:20,400 --> 00:07:22,880 work ahead of time, then it's just in 151 00:07:22,880 --> 00:07:25,759 your bones so that when you're creating, 152 00:07:25,759 --> 00:07:29,360 you can really feel like it's almost 153 00:07:29,360 --> 00:07:31,919 just coming out of you that it's it it 154 00:07:31,919 --> 00:07:35,960 naturally kind of flows. 1 00:00:06,400 --> 00:00:08,160 I hope you find these assignments 2 00:00:08,160 --> 00:00:10,480 helpful in giving you an idea of what 3 00:00:10,480 --> 00:00:12,080 kind of process you might go through 4 00:00:12,080 --> 00:00:15,280 when you approach a script and and a 5 00:00:15,280 --> 00:00:18,800 character and start from the preparation 6 00:00:18,800 --> 00:00:21,760 before through the shooting and and then 7 00:00:21,760 --> 00:00:26,519 of course uh creating the character. 8 00:00:30,400 --> 00:00:32,800 For the first assignment, you should 9 00:00:32,800 --> 00:00:36,640 pick three films of an actor you admire 10 00:00:36,640 --> 00:00:39,280 and look at the characters and how they 11 00:00:39,280 --> 00:00:41,280 approach them differently. How do they 12 00:00:41,280 --> 00:00:45,840 use breath? Um, how do they use hair, 13 00:00:45,840 --> 00:00:49,840 makeup, props, costume? How do they use 14 00:00:49,840 --> 00:00:54,000 their gesture to to convey the character 15 00:00:54,000 --> 00:00:56,719 better? And you can um see how they 16 00:00:56,719 --> 00:00:58,879 change from film to film, what they do 17 00:00:58,879 --> 00:01:01,520 differently if you see that technique 18 00:01:01,520 --> 00:01:03,600 change. How do they take advantage of 19 00:01:03,600 --> 00:01:06,159 those things to make their character 20 00:01:06,159 --> 00:01:09,560 more human? 21 00:01:13,200 --> 00:01:16,159 So for the second assignment, you can 22 00:01:16,159 --> 00:01:19,360 find one of the scripts from the films 23 00:01:19,360 --> 00:01:22,080 that you chose with this actor and then 24 00:01:22,080 --> 00:01:25,040 you can map out the the character scenes 25 00:01:25,040 --> 00:01:27,920 like we talked about in terms of mapping 26 00:01:27,920 --> 00:01:28,960 the progression where you 27 00:01:28,960 --> 00:01:30,640 chronologically 28 00:01:30,640 --> 00:01:33,600 map where where the character goes in 29 00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:37,280 the in the film. Choose the moments that 30 00:01:37,280 --> 00:01:39,759 you can name when the character underos 31 00:01:39,759 --> 00:01:43,040 transformations in that chronology. 32 00:01:43,040 --> 00:01:45,520 This is the moment when name those 33 00:01:45,520 --> 00:01:47,840 moments and then you have a sort of 34 00:01:47,840 --> 00:01:50,560 graph almost that you make of the 35 00:01:50,560 --> 00:01:53,840 character's progression. Then choose the 36 00:01:53,840 --> 00:01:56,640 the moments with the character has with 37 00:01:56,640 --> 00:01:59,600 other characters in the film and try and 38 00:01:59,600 --> 00:02:01,759 describe those relationships. How does 39 00:02:01,759 --> 00:02:03,840 the character relate to each of those 40 00:02:03,840 --> 00:02:06,799 individuals? How do those individuals 41 00:02:06,799 --> 00:02:09,520 see the character? How does your your 42 00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:11,680 central character think the other 43 00:02:11,680 --> 00:02:14,319 characters feel about him or her? And 44 00:02:14,319 --> 00:02:16,640 then through that, hopefully you can get 45 00:02:16,640 --> 00:02:18,640 an idea of what what the actor might 46 00:02:18,640 --> 00:02:22,160 have done to to get to that that place 47 00:02:22,160 --> 00:02:25,640 in the movie. 48 00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:33,840 So now choose a movie in which an actor 49 00:02:33,840 --> 00:02:38,000 or actress plays a historical figure and 50 00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:40,879 watch the film and then go back and try 51 00:02:40,879 --> 00:02:42,400 and do the research as if you were going 52 00:02:42,400 --> 00:02:44,560 to play that character. 53 00:02:44,560 --> 00:02:46,879 Find if there if it's a contemporary 54 00:02:46,879 --> 00:02:48,239 character that there might be video 55 00:02:48,239 --> 00:02:50,560 material on, find the video material. If 56 00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:52,160 there's documentary material, find the 57 00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:54,959 documentary material. If there's written 58 00:02:54,959 --> 00:02:58,000 material, find that and then go about it 59 00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:00,000 as you would. What What are the details 60 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:02,080 that you think the actor might have 61 00:03:02,080 --> 00:03:05,680 chosen from this research that informed 62 00:03:05,680 --> 00:03:07,280 their performance, their their 63 00:03:07,280 --> 00:03:11,159 interpretation of the role? 64 00:03:14,720 --> 00:03:17,360 For the last assignment, find the 65 00:03:17,360 --> 00:03:19,680 directors of the three films you chose 66 00:03:19,680 --> 00:03:21,680 and find a little bit out about their 67 00:03:21,680 --> 00:03:24,480 style. research about how they worked, 68 00:03:24,480 --> 00:03:27,519 how they used the camera to capture the 69 00:03:27,519 --> 00:03:30,159 actors performances, whether they had 70 00:03:30,159 --> 00:03:33,680 rehearsal or not, how they the the 71 00:03:33,680 --> 00:03:36,480 actors talked about how the the director 72 00:03:36,480 --> 00:03:37,599 worked with them and what kind of 73 00:03:37,599 --> 00:03:40,319 feedback and try and note how the 74 00:03:40,319 --> 00:03:41,920 director's 75 00:03:41,920 --> 00:03:44,560 uh style influenced the actor's 76 00:03:44,560 --> 00:03:47,560 performance. 1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,000 Improvisation 2 00:00:07,759 --> 00:00:11,360 can give you more input into your 3 00:00:11,360 --> 00:00:14,400 character yourself. That you're not in a 4 00:00:14,400 --> 00:00:17,440 position where you feel like you're just 5 00:00:17,440 --> 00:00:19,359 interpreting the lines on the page for 6 00:00:19,359 --> 00:00:20,720 the screen, but actually that you're 7 00:00:20,720 --> 00:00:22,720 contributing to it and that you're 8 00:00:22,720 --> 00:00:26,160 engaging with the character more. Not 9 00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:29,359 every director and not every writer will 10 00:00:29,359 --> 00:00:32,239 be into you improvising actually when 11 00:00:32,239 --> 00:00:33,760 you're working. So you have to make sure 12 00:00:33,760 --> 00:00:35,440 that that's something that they're 13 00:00:35,440 --> 00:00:37,120 comfortable with. And if they're not, 14 00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:39,840 you shouldn't do it on screen. But it 15 00:00:39,840 --> 00:00:41,920 can be a way to help prepare and help 16 00:00:41,920 --> 00:00:44,480 you get engaged with the character. In a 17 00:00:44,480 --> 00:00:46,879 situation where you have to improv or 18 00:00:46,879 --> 00:00:48,800 where you're allowed to improv, first of 19 00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:50,719 all, just remember to have fun. You're 20 00:00:50,719 --> 00:00:53,039 playing. You're like a kid. You're 21 00:00:53,039 --> 00:00:56,640 inventing. you're able to make things up 22 00:00:56,640 --> 00:00:59,440 for your character. And the more fun you 23 00:00:59,440 --> 00:01:01,280 have with it, the more joy you put into 24 00:01:01,280 --> 00:01:02,800 it, the more interesting it's going to 25 00:01:02,800 --> 00:01:05,800 be. 26 00:01:09,119 --> 00:01:11,439 In an improvisation scene, if you have a 27 00:01:11,439 --> 00:01:14,640 free rain over a room, you can look 28 00:01:14,640 --> 00:01:16,720 around you and see what kind of props 29 00:01:16,720 --> 00:01:18,560 might be around that you could use and 30 00:01:18,560 --> 00:01:20,560 then think, how would my character use 31 00:01:20,560 --> 00:01:23,200 them? Um, for example, I did a scene 32 00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:25,280 recently where there was a room service 33 00:01:25,280 --> 00:01:29,200 tray and my character was someone who 34 00:01:29,200 --> 00:01:31,759 didn't really care about rules and was 35 00:01:31,759 --> 00:01:34,079 kind of like against rules. So, she 36 00:01:34,079 --> 00:01:37,600 would take food off of someone's old 37 00:01:37,600 --> 00:01:41,200 used tray that had leftovers and eat it. 38 00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:42,880 Whereas, of course, if the character was 39 00:01:42,880 --> 00:01:44,880 quite proper or whatever, maybe the 40 00:01:44,880 --> 00:01:48,000 instinct would be to clean it up or, you 41 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:50,000 know, call someone to have the room 42 00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:52,880 service tray taken away or, you know, be 43 00:01:52,880 --> 00:01:54,799 disgusted by it and make a reference to 44 00:01:54,799 --> 00:01:58,240 it. So, you can sometimes take cues from 45 00:01:58,240 --> 00:01:59,920 your environment and then think, how 46 00:01:59,920 --> 00:02:03,360 would my character relate to this being 47 00:02:03,360 --> 00:02:06,799 there? And that's really where um props 48 00:02:06,799 --> 00:02:10,399 and set decoration and wardrobe, all of 49 00:02:10,399 --> 00:02:13,120 that can can really give you a lot of 50 00:02:13,120 --> 00:02:14,800 ideas because they obviously are 51 00:02:14,800 --> 00:02:17,680 thinking through scenes and what what 52 00:02:17,680 --> 00:02:19,760 should be in the room. Um and also 53 00:02:19,760 --> 00:02:23,840 things that you can ask from props or or 54 00:02:23,840 --> 00:02:28,000 set decoration to give you um material 55 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:31,040 to work with. For example, um there was 56 00:02:31,040 --> 00:02:33,360 another scene I did that I thought I 57 00:02:33,360 --> 00:02:37,440 would be I I'm preparing to to do a show 58 00:02:37,440 --> 00:02:39,440 and I was like, what would she be doing 59 00:02:39,440 --> 00:02:42,000 in her private time? And so I wanted, 60 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:45,760 you know, to have uh a deodorant and a 61 00:02:45,760 --> 00:02:49,280 toothbrush and, you know, a mirror and 62 00:02:49,280 --> 00:02:51,280 things like that that I could be 63 00:02:51,280 --> 00:02:53,760 interacting with. And I was able to 64 00:02:53,760 --> 00:02:55,120 communicate that with the props team and 65 00:02:55,120 --> 00:02:57,840 they were had it ready for me so that I 66 00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:01,120 had stuff to be doing during during the 67 00:03:01,120 --> 00:03:03,599 scene. And it's it's very helpful to 68 00:03:03,599 --> 00:03:07,120 have sort of actions because it makes 69 00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:09,920 what you're saying less like hit over 70 00:03:09,920 --> 00:03:12,080 the head and more like life. You're 71 00:03:12,080 --> 00:03:13,920 usually saying something really 72 00:03:13,920 --> 00:03:15,760 meaningful while you're kind of doing 73 00:03:15,760 --> 00:03:18,080 something else. It's very rare that 74 00:03:18,080 --> 00:03:19,519 you're just like looking directly at 75 00:03:19,519 --> 00:03:22,239 someone and and having a a a 76 00:03:22,239 --> 00:03:24,560 conversation that's exactly what what 77 00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:26,959 you're you're talking about. It allows 78 00:03:26,959 --> 00:03:30,159 you to have sort of more layers of of 79 00:03:30,159 --> 00:03:33,760 meaning when you can be doing one thing 80 00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:37,400 and saying another. 81 00:03:41,120 --> 00:03:44,640 One thing is just always to be listening 82 00:03:44,640 --> 00:03:46,080 to what everyone else says, which you 83 00:03:46,080 --> 00:03:47,280 should always be doing as an actor 84 00:03:47,280 --> 00:03:49,760 anyway, but you obviously need to listen 85 00:03:49,760 --> 00:03:51,920 really carefully because you need to be 86 00:03:51,920 --> 00:03:54,400 reacting appropriately and in character. 87 00:03:54,400 --> 00:03:55,920 So, you need to really know your 88 00:03:55,920 --> 00:03:58,080 character. You might want to be prepared 89 00:03:58,080 --> 00:04:01,200 with a few ideas ahead of time that 90 00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:03,360 might come from your research or your 91 00:04:03,360 --> 00:04:05,040 thinking about your character, what they 92 00:04:05,040 --> 00:04:07,760 might do in that particular situation. 93 00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:09,360 Because you're always aware of the 94 00:04:09,360 --> 00:04:10,720 situation. It's never just like 95 00:04:10,720 --> 00:04:14,560 improvise around this anything. It's 96 00:04:14,560 --> 00:04:17,759 always like you know they've come home 97 00:04:17,759 --> 00:04:22,240 from work and feel bad and you have come 98 00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:24,479 from your work and are really excited 99 00:04:24,479 --> 00:04:26,880 about your work and then you both have 100 00:04:26,880 --> 00:04:30,400 to contend with that conflict of you 101 00:04:30,400 --> 00:04:32,960 know that that discrepancy between you. 102 00:04:32,960 --> 00:04:34,960 There's always a particular situation 103 00:04:34,960 --> 00:04:36,639 that you're reacting to. So, you might 104 00:04:36,639 --> 00:04:39,600 want to have some specific ideas around 105 00:04:39,600 --> 00:04:42,800 what you might say or do, but then also 106 00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:45,440 react appropriately. Something that I've 107 00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:48,000 heard from comedy improv, which I've 108 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:49,520 never taken a formal class, I still 109 00:04:49,520 --> 00:04:52,479 would love to, is that you always say 110 00:04:52,479 --> 00:04:54,960 yes and so that you're never cutting off 111 00:04:54,960 --> 00:04:56,960 someone's idea because that just kind of 112 00:04:56,960 --> 00:04:59,759 ends the scene. If someone says, "Let's 113 00:04:59,759 --> 00:05:02,400 go to the playground," you say, "Yes." 114 00:05:02,400 --> 00:05:04,240 And and then you continue it. And that's 115 00:05:04,240 --> 00:05:06,560 how the scene furthers itself. And 116 00:05:06,560 --> 00:05:09,360 that's kind of a basic comedy improv 117 00:05:09,360 --> 00:05:13,120 rule that I've gotten through osmosis. 118 00:05:13,120 --> 00:05:14,880 And I'm sure a lot of people have heard 119 00:05:14,880 --> 00:05:17,199 before, but I find it really helpful 120 00:05:17,199 --> 00:05:19,600 because it's a great way to bounce off 121 00:05:19,600 --> 00:05:21,840 of the person or people you're working 122 00:05:21,840 --> 00:05:23,759 with and make sure that the scene is 123 00:05:23,759 --> 00:05:27,080 moving forward. 124 00:05:30,960 --> 00:05:34,240 It's important um to have a conversation 125 00:05:34,240 --> 00:05:37,360 or conversations with your co-star that 126 00:05:37,360 --> 00:05:39,680 have to do with what you're comfortable 127 00:05:39,680 --> 00:05:40,960 with and what you're not comfortable 128 00:05:40,960 --> 00:05:43,840 with because when you're improvising, of 129 00:05:43,840 --> 00:05:47,039 course, if you don't want them to touch 130 00:05:47,039 --> 00:05:48,880 you in a particular way or you are 131 00:05:48,880 --> 00:05:50,960 comfortable with them touching you to a 132 00:05:50,960 --> 00:05:52,639 certain extent, you should have that 133 00:05:52,639 --> 00:05:54,639 conversation openly like this is okay 134 00:05:54,639 --> 00:05:56,960 with me. This is not like you can pick 135 00:05:56,960 --> 00:06:01,919 me up but please uh don't you know touch 136 00:06:01,919 --> 00:06:03,919 my ankle because it hurts you know or 137 00:06:03,919 --> 00:06:07,199 whatever whatever your limitations are 138 00:06:07,199 --> 00:06:10,080 about what you want or don't want to do. 139 00:06:10,080 --> 00:06:12,240 Of course the beauty of improvisation is 140 00:06:12,240 --> 00:06:14,639 surprise and having natural reactions to 141 00:06:14,639 --> 00:06:17,039 things. But if you're going to do 142 00:06:17,039 --> 00:06:20,400 something that might really throw 143 00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:23,120 someone, you might want to give them a 144 00:06:23,120 --> 00:06:27,520 heads up, like um you know, you might 145 00:06:27,520 --> 00:06:30,160 want to ask if you can pour a drink over 146 00:06:30,160 --> 00:06:33,039 their head or say, "I'm thinking about 147 00:06:33,039 --> 00:06:34,479 this might be the right thing in the 148 00:06:34,479 --> 00:06:36,639 scene. How do you feel about that?" You 149 00:06:36,639 --> 00:06:38,080 obviously want to be respectful with the 150 00:06:38,080 --> 00:06:41,520 people you work with and also give them 151 00:06:41,520 --> 00:06:44,880 time to think about how they might react 152 00:06:44,880 --> 00:06:49,080 to something you might do 153 00:06:52,800 --> 00:06:56,720 with your the the camera operator. You 154 00:06:56,720 --> 00:06:59,759 want to have a conversation about uh 155 00:06:59,759 --> 00:07:04,160 where in the space you can go. Sometimes 156 00:07:04,160 --> 00:07:06,880 there's a part that has a mirror that's 157 00:07:06,880 --> 00:07:08,400 going to reflect the camera and they 158 00:07:08,400 --> 00:07:10,560 want you to avoid that space or there's 159 00:07:10,560 --> 00:07:13,599 a part that's not lit or you can get 160 00:07:13,599 --> 00:07:15,520 better light by being in a certain 161 00:07:15,520 --> 00:07:19,120 region of the of this space. Um, also 162 00:07:19,120 --> 00:07:21,280 how close you can get to camera because 163 00:07:21,280 --> 00:07:23,919 if you're improvising, you need to know 164 00:07:23,919 --> 00:07:27,680 what the focus range is. if they um you 165 00:07:27,680 --> 00:07:29,680 know you can get a certain distance from 166 00:07:29,680 --> 00:07:32,560 from the camera um because you're going 167 00:07:32,560 --> 00:07:35,280 to be leading it of course and also you 168 00:07:35,280 --> 00:07:37,840 might want to give a heads up if there 169 00:07:37,840 --> 00:07:41,680 are certain things um you might do with 170 00:07:41,680 --> 00:07:45,360 camera that for example I did an 171 00:07:45,360 --> 00:07:48,160 improvisational scene recently where I 172 00:07:48,160 --> 00:07:50,400 got up and jumped on a bed and the 173 00:07:50,400 --> 00:07:53,759 camera had to rise to catch it or if 174 00:07:53,759 --> 00:07:55,599 they wanted to just catch my feet they 175 00:07:55,599 --> 00:07:57,759 could have made a different choice and 176 00:07:57,759 --> 00:07:59,919 so I gave them a heads up you know I 177 00:07:59,919 --> 00:08:02,400 might go on the bed similarly with an 178 00:08:02,400 --> 00:08:05,120 actor um you might want to give them a 179 00:08:05,120 --> 00:08:07,599 heads up because that's part of the 180 00:08:07,599 --> 00:08:12,560 communication around around improvising 1 00:00:06,400 --> 00:00:08,240 So, okay, I'm going to take you into the 2 00:00:08,240 --> 00:00:10,160 space that we're going to shoot this 3 00:00:10,160 --> 00:00:14,000 this sort of uh sample scene. Um, and 4 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:15,360 we're going to ask the questions from 5 00:00:15,360 --> 00:00:16,800 some of the crew that you might want to 6 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:19,119 ask ahead of time before you do a scene 7 00:00:19,119 --> 00:00:21,359 like this. 8 00:00:21,359 --> 00:00:24,960 This is the apartment we're shooting in. 9 00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:26,400 This is Sally the production designer 10 00:00:26,400 --> 00:00:28,960 and Julian the first ad Spencer the 11 00:00:28,960 --> 00:00:32,320 director. And so first I want to talk to 12 00:00:32,320 --> 00:00:35,680 you about what there is in the apartment 13 00:00:35,680 --> 00:00:38,480 that I can what do you have doubles of 14 00:00:38,480 --> 00:00:42,000 if I want to break something? What or 15 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:44,719 you know what what can be repaired? What 16 00:00:44,719 --> 00:00:46,719 can be like if I eat something? Do you 17 00:00:46,719 --> 00:00:48,399 have more of it if we need to do it 18 00:00:48,399 --> 00:00:48,879 again? 19 00:00:48,879 --> 00:00:51,120 Yeah. So this is the only breakable that 20 00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:51,760 we have. 21 00:00:51,760 --> 00:00:53,520 Okay. Okay. Uh that is glass and we have 22 00:00:53,520 --> 00:00:55,360 two others. So we have three takes on 23 00:00:55,360 --> 00:00:56,960 that. All the food is edible and 24 00:00:56,960 --> 00:00:58,000 replaceable. 25 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:01,359 And what about how things work? Like um 26 00:01:01,359 --> 00:01:04,159 does everything work in the kitchen? The 27 00:01:04,159 --> 00:01:05,199 record player and 28 00:01:05,199 --> 00:01:06,560 Yeah, the record player works. 29 00:01:06,560 --> 00:01:07,920 Everything works in the kitchen. The 30 00:01:07,920 --> 00:01:09,439 light switches all work. 31 00:01:09,439 --> 00:01:11,439 And these are real glass, right? If 32 00:01:11,439 --> 00:01:12,880 those are real glass, but we do have 33 00:01:12,880 --> 00:01:14,880 replacements if they accidentally break. 34 00:01:14,880 --> 00:01:15,119 But 35 00:01:15,119 --> 00:01:16,400 Right. But we should try not to. 36 00:01:16,400 --> 00:01:20,479 Exactly. Um, and in terms of camera, 37 00:01:20,479 --> 00:01:23,280 where is better to be in the room? Is 38 00:01:23,280 --> 00:01:25,600 there anything I should avoid? Like, is 39 00:01:25,600 --> 00:01:27,280 it okay to see the window or the 40 00:01:27,280 --> 00:01:28,560 reflective? 41 00:01:28,560 --> 00:01:30,720 It's all up for grabs. The only thing I 42 00:01:30,720 --> 00:01:32,799 want to try to avoid 43 00:01:32,799 --> 00:01:35,520 is shooting into corners. But that said, 44 00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:37,920 I want you to be able to do your thing 45 00:01:37,920 --> 00:01:40,079 and we'll together figure out a good 46 00:01:40,079 --> 00:01:41,280 place for me to be. 47 00:01:41,280 --> 00:01:42,960 And what about light? Is there anywhere 48 00:01:42,960 --> 00:01:47,040 that you prefer me to be or should I 49 00:01:47,040 --> 00:01:48,640 stay away from turning lights on and 50 00:01:48,640 --> 00:01:49,040 off? 51 00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:51,119 No, do all of that. And it's all lit. 52 00:01:51,119 --> 00:01:52,479 So, you could even come out on the 53 00:01:52,479 --> 00:01:54,560 balcony. 54 00:01:54,560 --> 00:01:58,479 Come all the way out here if you want. 55 00:01:58,479 --> 00:02:00,000 You could even throw stuff off here if 56 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:00,799 you want. 57 00:02:00,799 --> 00:02:01,600 On the second floor. 58 00:02:01,600 --> 00:02:04,000 On the second floor. Okay. 59 00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:07,200 Okay. Roll cameras. New Yorker. As a 60 00:02:07,200 --> 00:02:09,520 sample scene, let's say my character 61 00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:12,000 just discovers that her boyfriend is 62 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:13,840 cheating on her and she makes a surprise 63 00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:18,239 visit at his apartment. You want to 64 00:02:18,239 --> 00:02:21,200 scour the space to see what you might be 65 00:02:21,200 --> 00:02:22,879 able to use in a way that would be 66 00:02:22,879 --> 00:02:24,959 emotionally relevant. Also taking 67 00:02:24,959 --> 00:02:27,920 advantage of the things that the um set 68 00:02:27,920 --> 00:02:30,800 decorator uh or production designer has 69 00:02:30,800 --> 00:02:34,400 told me they have prepared that I can 70 00:02:34,400 --> 00:02:37,360 modify. Whether it's the vase that I'm 71 00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:40,319 allowed to break or the pretend balcony 72 00:02:40,319 --> 00:02:42,800 that I can use. 73 00:02:42,800 --> 00:02:46,319 And this is us entering this beautifully 74 00:02:46,319 --> 00:02:48,640 decorated apartment. 75 00:02:48,640 --> 00:02:52,920 Ready and action. 76 00:02:53,519 --> 00:02:56,560 So, you'd want to see if the character 77 00:02:56,560 --> 00:03:00,800 is expecting anyone in the space, 78 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:03,360 how they might 79 00:03:03,360 --> 00:03:06,879 make sure they're being private, 80 00:03:06,879 --> 00:03:09,599 and then you're just kind of exploring 81 00:03:09,599 --> 00:03:12,319 what there might be that would relate to 82 00:03:12,319 --> 00:03:13,360 what your character is going through 83 00:03:13,360 --> 00:03:16,080 emotionally and how you can lead the 84 00:03:16,080 --> 00:03:19,040 camera in an interesting way. So there's 85 00:03:19,040 --> 00:03:22,480 obviously a lot of like trash around and 86 00:03:22,480 --> 00:03:26,640 so just sort of the reaction to to that. 87 00:03:26,640 --> 00:03:28,239 Um 88 00:03:28,239 --> 00:03:31,519 and then of course 89 00:03:31,519 --> 00:03:34,239 finds writing 90 00:03:34,239 --> 00:03:38,560 and so she might want to read that 91 00:03:38,560 --> 00:03:41,440 and then you might want to 92 00:03:41,440 --> 00:03:47,120 help the camera catch what's being read. 93 00:03:47,120 --> 00:03:51,799 and then maybe 94 00:03:54,959 --> 00:03:58,480 take a particular word and leave it as a 95 00:03:58,480 --> 00:04:01,480 message. 96 00:04:04,080 --> 00:04:07,560 There might be 97 00:04:08,080 --> 00:04:13,560 a favorite record to put on. 98 00:04:17,199 --> 00:04:20,199 So 99 00:04:47,280 --> 00:04:49,440 You can also get very close to the 100 00:04:49,440 --> 00:04:50,960 camera. 101 00:04:50,960 --> 00:04:52,560 Make sure that you know with the camera 102 00:04:52,560 --> 00:04:54,240 operator 103 00:04:54,240 --> 00:04:56,800 how close you can get so that you know 104 00:04:56,800 --> 00:05:00,960 you're not going through the focus. All 105 00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:19,800 right. 106 00:05:22,080 --> 00:05:25,080 Okay. 107 00:05:47,360 --> 00:05:49,120 I don't know. It's just fun to break 108 00:05:49,120 --> 00:05:52,120 that. 1 00:00:06,480 --> 00:00:08,320 Greenery and acting is kind of the 2 00:00:08,320 --> 00:00:10,719 purest form of acting. I always liken it 3 00:00:10,719 --> 00:00:12,960 to being a kid with like a refrigerator 4 00:00:12,960 --> 00:00:15,519 box and saying, "This is my spaceship." 5 00:00:15,519 --> 00:00:17,920 Because you're inventing both what's 6 00:00:17,920 --> 00:00:20,080 outside of you and what's inside of you 7 00:00:20,080 --> 00:00:22,480 as an actor as you're as you're going 8 00:00:22,480 --> 00:00:25,960 through a scene. 9 00:00:29,519 --> 00:00:32,000 It's important to ask a lot of questions 10 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:34,640 of your director and of the visual 11 00:00:34,640 --> 00:00:36,800 effects supervisor when you're working 12 00:00:36,800 --> 00:00:40,000 with a green screen to understand what 13 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:42,160 they have prepared and what they 14 00:00:42,160 --> 00:00:44,000 envision for what's going to happen 15 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:47,360 around you. A lot of times they'll have 16 00:00:47,360 --> 00:00:49,440 images that are drawn or 17 00:00:49,440 --> 00:00:51,840 computerenerated that look like what 18 00:00:51,840 --> 00:00:53,280 you're looking at. So if you're looking 19 00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:56,239 out at a view of a city, you can see 20 00:00:56,239 --> 00:00:58,079 kind of a picture of that even if you're 21 00:00:58,079 --> 00:00:59,600 acting with a green screen. So you can 22 00:00:59,600 --> 00:01:02,239 have an idea in your mind. Sometimes 23 00:01:02,239 --> 00:01:04,320 there are visual references from other 24 00:01:04,320 --> 00:01:07,040 films like in Annihilation 25 00:01:07,040 --> 00:01:10,960 the director um showed me the Tarovski 26 00:01:10,960 --> 00:01:13,760 stalker to kind of get a sense of the 27 00:01:13,760 --> 00:01:17,119 tone of the atmosphere because we were 28 00:01:17,119 --> 00:01:18,479 shooting in a real environment. And it 29 00:01:18,479 --> 00:01:19,680 wasn't green screen, but there were 30 00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:21,360 computerenerated 31 00:01:21,360 --> 00:01:24,640 effects that changed the way the air 32 00:01:24,640 --> 00:01:29,240 looked so that it had that shimmer. 33 00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:51,119 It's important to definitely communicate 34 00:01:51,119 --> 00:01:52,880 with them about what things look like. 35 00:01:52,880 --> 00:01:55,520 And for things like action sequences, 36 00:01:55,520 --> 00:01:58,880 they might have a previsisualization of 37 00:01:58,880 --> 00:02:00,320 a character that might be 38 00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:02,479 computerenerated, like a monster or 39 00:02:02,479 --> 00:02:04,479 something that you might be interacting 40 00:02:04,479 --> 00:02:07,920 with so that you can understand what 41 00:02:07,920 --> 00:02:10,399 what it will look like once it's done. 42 00:02:10,399 --> 00:02:12,400 And it helps you be on the same page 43 00:02:12,400 --> 00:02:15,400 visually. 44 00:02:19,120 --> 00:02:21,280 When you're dealing with an environment 45 00:02:21,280 --> 00:02:23,680 that's green screen, you don't always 46 00:02:23,680 --> 00:02:27,360 know like, okay, what's a distant um 47 00:02:27,360 --> 00:02:29,440 spaceship that might be moving towards 48 00:02:29,440 --> 00:02:32,480 you that you need to look at. Um you 49 00:02:32,480 --> 00:02:34,160 want to know that it's moving at the 50 00:02:34,160 --> 00:02:36,640 right speed. And so sometimes they'll 51 00:02:36,640 --> 00:02:39,040 take like a like a tennis ball on a 52 00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:40,879 stick and move it so that you're 53 00:02:40,879 --> 00:02:43,440 actually following a specific thing. 54 00:02:43,440 --> 00:02:44,800 especially when you're working with 55 00:02:44,800 --> 00:02:46,480 other actors and you need to be looking 56 00:02:46,480 --> 00:02:48,720 at the same thing, moving at the same 57 00:02:48,720 --> 00:02:51,200 speed or watching something move. That 58 00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:53,519 happens often so that you're all kind of 59 00:02:53,519 --> 00:02:55,519 coordinated at looking at the the right 60 00:02:55,519 --> 00:02:58,480 place. But what's important is that when 61 00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:01,840 you're caught up in envisioning what is 62 00:03:01,840 --> 00:03:05,440 around you or what that tennis ball or X 63 00:03:05,440 --> 00:03:07,599 tape mark might be that you're not 64 00:03:07,599 --> 00:03:10,080 losing what's inside you. So, it's very 65 00:03:10,080 --> 00:03:12,720 important to focus on what is going on 66 00:03:12,720 --> 00:03:15,680 inside you, how you're reacting to that, 67 00:03:15,680 --> 00:03:17,760 how you're feeling about whatever you're 68 00:03:17,760 --> 00:03:19,920 looking at as you're experiencing it. 69 00:03:19,920 --> 00:03:22,159 Because it's very easy to get caught up 70 00:03:22,159 --> 00:03:26,159 in the external like, okay, I have to 71 00:03:26,159 --> 00:03:29,519 transform these green sheets that are 72 00:03:29,519 --> 00:03:32,799 next to me into a cityscape in my brain. 73 00:03:32,799 --> 00:03:34,640 And that can consume all of your sort of 74 00:03:34,640 --> 00:03:37,959 mental energy. 75 00:03:41,519 --> 00:03:42,799 If something is happening 76 00:03:42,799 --> 00:03:44,720 environmentally, it's very helpful to 77 00:03:44,720 --> 00:03:46,080 have someone talk you through it. 78 00:03:46,080 --> 00:03:48,159 Whether it's the director or the first 79 00:03:48,159 --> 00:03:51,519 ad calling out the sort of beats of 80 00:03:51,519 --> 00:03:53,680 what's happening, like, you know, the 81 00:03:53,680 --> 00:03:56,959 monster is getting closer. Now they're 82 00:03:56,959 --> 00:03:58,879 threatening. Now they're looking away. 83 00:03:58,879 --> 00:04:00,560 They're distracted by something. Now 84 00:04:00,560 --> 00:04:02,159 they're picking something up off the 85 00:04:02,159 --> 00:04:03,920 floor. And now they catch a hold of you 86 00:04:03,920 --> 00:04:05,760 again. They're coming at you. and the 87 00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:09,760 way they say it can really um help you 88 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:13,120 kind of have these beats to react to as 89 00:04:13,120 --> 00:04:16,000 opposed to taking it yourself. But once 90 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:17,919 you kind of get an idea of what they 91 00:04:17,919 --> 00:04:20,160 want those beats to be, sometimes it is 92 00:04:20,160 --> 00:04:23,040 easier to just have your own timing with 93 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:25,600 it and you can ask for that also where 94 00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:27,840 they don't give you those beats. 95 00:04:27,840 --> 00:04:30,320 Sometimes it's easier to just think it 96 00:04:30,320 --> 00:04:31,919 through yourself and feel it through 97 00:04:31,919 --> 00:04:34,639 yourself and then you can kind of flow 98 00:04:34,639 --> 00:04:37,360 with it more physically. Um, and they 99 00:04:37,360 --> 00:04:41,199 can they can put it in later. Um, for 100 00:04:41,199 --> 00:04:43,280 Annihilation, for example, on the end 101 00:04:43,280 --> 00:04:46,400 sequence, I just took my own feeling of 102 00:04:46,400 --> 00:04:49,040 when those little kind of pieces are 103 00:04:49,040 --> 00:04:52,000 flying past me in that psychedelic 104 00:04:52,000 --> 00:04:55,600 ending, and I was just completely 105 00:04:55,600 --> 00:04:59,360 holding it in my head of feeling these 106 00:04:59,360 --> 00:05:01,360 pieces going past and where I was 107 00:05:01,360 --> 00:05:03,520 looking and how that was making me feel 108 00:05:03,520 --> 00:05:08,960 in this sort of kind of trippy world. 109 00:05:08,960 --> 00:05:10,880 and they put everything in later to 110 00:05:10,880 --> 00:05:13,039 match what I was doing as opposed to me 111 00:05:13,039 --> 00:05:15,919 having to follow some tennis ball on a 112 00:05:15,919 --> 00:05:19,840 stick. So, there are those two ways you 113 00:05:19,840 --> 00:05:22,160 can kind of do it where they lead you or 114 00:05:22,160 --> 00:05:26,600 where you kind of lead them. 115 00:05:32,160 --> 00:05:36,000 What I like to do with things that are 116 00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:37,520 in sort of a science fiction 117 00:05:37,520 --> 00:05:39,360 environment, you kind of think about 118 00:05:39,360 --> 00:05:41,680 what they represent to you emotionally. 119 00:05:41,680 --> 00:05:44,000 So, if you're dealing with an alien, is 120 00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:46,160 it a piece of yourself that you're 121 00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:47,840 dealing with, that you're fighting, that 122 00:05:47,840 --> 00:05:49,680 you're accepting, that you're welcoming, 123 00:05:49,680 --> 00:05:51,600 that you're curious about, that you're 124 00:05:51,600 --> 00:05:54,320 against? How does it relate to what's 125 00:05:54,320 --> 00:05:57,440 going on inside of you emotionally? And 126 00:05:57,440 --> 00:05:58,720 that's not always possible. I mean, 127 00:05:58,720 --> 00:06:01,120 sometimes it's not that deep and you're 128 00:06:01,120 --> 00:06:02,639 like, you know, fighting a monster in 129 00:06:02,639 --> 00:06:04,319 outer space and you just are like 130 00:06:04,319 --> 00:06:06,560 treating it like fun. But sometimes, 131 00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:08,479 like in something like Annihilation, I 132 00:06:08,479 --> 00:06:12,000 felt that it was uh an emotional 133 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:15,440 manifestation that was outside of me 134 00:06:15,440 --> 00:06:17,680 that I was fighting. And so I kept 135 00:06:17,680 --> 00:06:20,880 coming back to that, like what was it 136 00:06:20,880 --> 00:06:23,759 inside me that I was fighting outside? 137 00:06:23,759 --> 00:06:26,240 And I think that that can be helpful if 138 00:06:26,240 --> 00:06:29,199 you're feeling a little bit lost with, 139 00:06:29,199 --> 00:06:33,520 you know, what what is this unreal 140 00:06:33,520 --> 00:06:36,400 fictional crazy world that I don't quite 141 00:06:36,400 --> 00:06:38,479 understand? If you bring it back to 142 00:06:38,479 --> 00:06:40,160 something that your character might be 143 00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:42,319 struggling with internally, a very 144 00:06:42,319 --> 00:06:44,880 specific thing, and then make that what 145 00:06:44,880 --> 00:06:46,960 your fight is about or what your 146 00:06:46,960 --> 00:06:50,400 interaction with this other being is 147 00:06:50,400 --> 00:06:53,120 about. So, in Annihilation, 148 00:06:53,120 --> 00:06:55,680 my character interacts with this 149 00:06:55,680 --> 00:07:01,440 humanoid alien character that's sort of 150 00:07:01,440 --> 00:07:05,280 like a copy double of my character, but 151 00:07:05,280 --> 00:07:07,440 is also sort of this very strange 152 00:07:07,440 --> 00:07:10,560 mutated version of my character. And it 153 00:07:10,560 --> 00:07:12,800 was very lucky to have an excellent 154 00:07:12,800 --> 00:07:15,680 actress and person, Senoya Mizuno, 155 00:07:15,680 --> 00:07:17,599 playing that alien. So, that I was 156 00:07:17,599 --> 00:07:20,000 working with a person the whole time. 157 00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:22,880 And also um I had a great uh dance 158 00:07:22,880 --> 00:07:26,240 double also who was because we were 159 00:07:26,240 --> 00:07:28,800 choreographed by Bobby Jean who is a 160 00:07:28,800 --> 00:07:31,360 wonderful dancer and choreographer as 161 00:07:31,360 --> 00:07:35,520 opposed to like a a a stunt coordinator 162 00:07:35,520 --> 00:07:38,880 and we all kind of work together to 163 00:07:38,880 --> 00:07:42,800 really focus on the the core of the 164 00:07:42,800 --> 00:07:45,520 character's emotion and how that is 165 00:07:45,520 --> 00:07:48,800 being explored through this fight 166 00:07:48,800 --> 00:07:51,360 sequence. 167 00:08:06,080 --> 00:08:09,520 It's about her facing herself in a way 168 00:08:09,520 --> 00:08:12,720 and facing her own mutated behavior that 169 00:08:12,720 --> 00:08:14,560 has turned her into a different person 170 00:08:14,560 --> 00:08:17,840 so that she's facing a different self 171 00:08:17,840 --> 00:08:20,240 and how to make those two different but 172 00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:23,199 also the same like it looks like me, it 173 00:08:23,199 --> 00:08:26,800 feels like me but it's not me and um 174 00:08:26,800 --> 00:08:29,680 which me do I want to be and so that 175 00:08:29,680 --> 00:08:32,399 there was always this emotional core 176 00:08:32,399 --> 00:08:36,599 even when um 1 00:00:12,320 --> 00:00:14,559 When auditioning 2 00:00:14,559 --> 00:00:16,640 there there are a few things that I 3 00:00:16,640 --> 00:00:19,359 think are helpful. One is something that 4 00:00:19,359 --> 00:00:21,279 I thought was really embarrassing. When 5 00:00:21,279 --> 00:00:24,160 I was a kid, they would tell you to kind 6 00:00:24,160 --> 00:00:26,400 of dress in character or look in 7 00:00:26,400 --> 00:00:27,920 character. And I always kind of rolled 8 00:00:27,920 --> 00:00:29,439 my eyes about it because I thought that 9 00:00:29,439 --> 00:00:31,920 was embarrassing and presumptuous almost 10 00:00:31,920 --> 00:00:34,399 to like show up like in a 40s dress or 11 00:00:34,399 --> 00:00:38,239 something. But when I was directing and 12 00:00:38,239 --> 00:00:41,600 choosing my actors, it helped so much to 13 00:00:41,600 --> 00:00:43,680 just kind of see people as the part 14 00:00:43,680 --> 00:00:45,600 already. And sometimes someone would 15 00:00:45,600 --> 00:00:46,960 come in and you just be like, "Oh, you 16 00:00:46,960 --> 00:00:48,399 don't even have to do anything. They're 17 00:00:48,399 --> 00:00:50,640 ready to shoot." and it helps your 18 00:00:50,640 --> 00:00:53,280 imagination. So, it's not a bad idea. I 19 00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:55,120 mean, I wouldn't go overboard. I 20 00:00:55,120 --> 00:00:58,160 wouldn't go spend money that you don't 21 00:00:58,160 --> 00:01:00,879 have getting a costume for for 22 00:01:00,879 --> 00:01:03,199 something. But, you know, if you can fix 23 00:01:03,199 --> 00:01:05,519 your hair a certain way, if you're 24 00:01:05,519 --> 00:01:07,360 auditioning for a period film, not wear 25 00:01:07,360 --> 00:01:10,240 your nose ring, it's going to help the 26 00:01:10,240 --> 00:01:12,159 director imagine you in the role. The 27 00:01:12,159 --> 00:01:15,360 thing you a director wants to see most 28 00:01:15,360 --> 00:01:18,159 is that they can direct you that they 29 00:01:18,159 --> 00:01:19,759 can 30 00:01:19,759 --> 00:01:22,880 get a different performance by what they 31 00:01:22,880 --> 00:01:25,439 tell you. So if you get feedback to try 32 00:01:25,439 --> 00:01:29,280 and really listen and do it differently, 33 00:01:29,280 --> 00:01:33,200 not be stuck in one way of of doing it. 34 00:01:33,200 --> 00:01:35,920 Otherwise, just to be direct, look 35 00:01:35,920 --> 00:01:39,600 people in the eyes and um and kind. You 36 00:01:39,600 --> 00:01:42,079 want to be kind to your fellow actors 37 00:01:42,079 --> 00:01:44,320 who are in the waiting room with you. 38 00:01:44,320 --> 00:01:45,920 You want to be kind to the people you 39 00:01:45,920 --> 00:01:49,840 meet and respectful. And it's important, 40 00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:52,479 I think, for everyone to know that when 41 00:01:52,479 --> 00:01:54,640 you come in, you're going to be 42 00:01:54,640 --> 00:01:59,680 professional, on time, and prepared and 43 00:01:59,680 --> 00:02:02,240 and a kind person to work with. cuz 44 00:02:02,240 --> 00:02:04,799 you'd be surprised how many people come 45 00:02:04,799 --> 00:02:07,840 in whether it's their insecurity or 46 00:02:07,840 --> 00:02:10,879 whatever that makes them be a little 47 00:02:10,879 --> 00:02:14,480 abrasive and it's just not um not 48 00:02:14,480 --> 00:02:18,120 helpful. Of course, 49 00:02:21,840 --> 00:02:25,440 as a woman, you have very different 50 00:02:25,440 --> 00:02:31,120 options. And um we've seen all of the 51 00:02:31,120 --> 00:02:36,239 this sort of research about how many 52 00:02:36,239 --> 00:02:38,800 fewer roles there are for women speaking 53 00:02:38,800 --> 00:02:41,840 roles. Even in groups of extras, they 54 00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:45,599 tend to cast a vast majority more men. 55 00:02:45,599 --> 00:02:49,440 Um, even oneline roles in films are 56 00:02:49,440 --> 00:02:53,280 usually men. And of course, uh, for 57 00:02:53,280 --> 00:02:56,480 women of color, it's much more um, it's 58 00:02:56,480 --> 00:02:58,480 much more of a problem. It's it's 59 00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:01,280 there's much fewer roles for women of 60 00:03:01,280 --> 00:03:05,519 color, speaking roles, um, and and also 61 00:03:05,519 --> 00:03:09,040 extras. So, this is really a big issue. 62 00:03:09,040 --> 00:03:12,000 And then when there's those fewer roles, 63 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:16,000 the roles tend to be very much the same 64 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:20,000 kind of tropes. The, you know, the the 65 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:24,000 nagging wife, the hot girl at the bar, 66 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:26,560 the, you know, the the [ __ ] 67 00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:29,920 ex-girlfriend, the, you know, [ __ ] 68 00:03:29,920 --> 00:03:31,760 you know, 69 00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:34,080 whatever, the [ __ ] girl in class, or 70 00:03:34,080 --> 00:03:37,519 the the the annoying mother. It's hard 71 00:03:37,519 --> 00:03:39,519 to find things that are meaningful 72 00:03:39,519 --> 00:03:42,000 creatively. When you have the luxury of 73 00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:43,920 choosing, you're still choosing between 74 00:03:43,920 --> 00:03:47,360 things that might be offensive to you or 75 00:03:47,360 --> 00:03:50,000 a lot of the same kind of things. And 76 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:51,680 most people don't have the luxury of 77 00:03:51,680 --> 00:03:55,440 choosing. So, I think you want to always 78 00:03:55,440 --> 00:03:58,640 do things that you can feel proud of. 79 00:03:58,640 --> 00:04:01,120 And if you don't have the choice of what 80 00:04:01,120 --> 00:04:03,200 you want to work on and you just need to 81 00:04:03,200 --> 00:04:06,640 take the job because I mean we all have 82 00:04:06,640 --> 00:04:09,760 to eat. Um then you need to find your 83 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:12,480 way of being creative with it that you 84 00:04:12,480 --> 00:04:13,760 know if you're supposed to just play 85 00:04:13,760 --> 00:04:16,000 like the supportive bland girlfriend 86 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:17,280 that you're going to make something 87 00:04:17,280 --> 00:04:19,600 that's a little bit more like a person 88 00:04:19,600 --> 00:04:22,160 and an interesting person. And it all 89 00:04:22,160 --> 00:04:24,960 comes down to desire. I think once we 90 00:04:24,960 --> 00:04:27,199 express our desire 91 00:04:27,199 --> 00:04:29,520 um we are a human being and it's not 92 00:04:29,520 --> 00:04:31,759 about other people desiring us, it's not 93 00:04:31,759 --> 00:04:35,600 about being the object of a male gaze, 94 00:04:35,600 --> 00:04:38,400 the object of someone else's desires of 95 00:04:38,400 --> 00:04:40,720 what they need us to be for them, but 96 00:04:40,720 --> 00:04:43,199 what we want to be, what we want to 97 00:04:43,199 --> 00:04:45,360 project into the world. And even just 98 00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:48,080 putting that thought of desire in your 99 00:04:48,080 --> 00:04:50,479 eyes, behind your eyes while you're 100 00:04:50,479 --> 00:04:53,600 acting, I think is already a first step 101 00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:56,639 to just making your character human in a 102 00:04:56,639 --> 00:04:59,040 way that isn't, you know, that no one 103 00:04:59,040 --> 00:05:00,960 else is going to, you know, slap you on 104 00:05:00,960 --> 00:05:03,199 the wrist for. 105 00:05:03,199 --> 00:05:05,040 Obviously, if you have the choice to 106 00:05:05,040 --> 00:05:06,880 stay away from certain kinds of parts, 107 00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:08,320 if you have the luxury of that, then 108 00:05:08,320 --> 00:05:11,280 that's great. And I've had some of that 109 00:05:11,280 --> 00:05:14,160 luxury of being able to kind of choose 110 00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:16,160 not to do certain things that were 111 00:05:16,160 --> 00:05:17,600 offensive to me or that felt 112 00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:20,000 uncomfortable to me. And I've also had 113 00:05:20,000 --> 00:05:21,600 periods of time where I needed to work 114 00:05:21,600 --> 00:05:25,039 and I've done things that I didn't feel 115 00:05:25,039 --> 00:05:28,400 good about. Um, and I had to find my 116 00:05:28,400 --> 00:05:31,360 like small ways of of rebelling against 117 00:05:31,360 --> 00:05:34,759 within it. 118 00:05:38,400 --> 00:05:40,880 You should be making sure that everyone 119 00:05:40,880 --> 00:05:43,280 around you is being treated correctly. 120 00:05:43,280 --> 00:05:46,880 Um, for example, I just shot something 121 00:05:46,880 --> 00:05:50,479 where we had a group of extras and there 122 00:05:50,479 --> 00:05:52,560 was one man who was being very 123 00:05:52,560 --> 00:05:54,240 aggressive with some of the female 124 00:05:54,240 --> 00:05:59,440 extras and I took it upon myself to talk 125 00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:03,520 to the first AD to have this person 126 00:06:03,520 --> 00:06:06,080 spoken to. And then when he continued to 127 00:06:06,080 --> 00:06:07,840 behave that way to have him removed from 128 00:06:07,840 --> 00:06:11,120 the environment because when you do have 129 00:06:11,120 --> 00:06:15,199 the uh a role as an actor, you are you 130 00:06:15,199 --> 00:06:17,919 have a a somewhat of a position of power 131 00:06:17,919 --> 00:06:19,840 on a set and you need to make sure that 132 00:06:19,840 --> 00:06:22,400 you can use it to help someone who might 133 00:06:22,400 --> 00:06:24,639 not be in a position to be like, "Hey, I 134 00:06:24,639 --> 00:06:26,400 feel really uncomfortable." Of course, 135 00:06:26,400 --> 00:06:30,080 you want to be you want to talk to 136 00:06:30,080 --> 00:06:32,639 whoever you're you're dealing with to 137 00:06:32,639 --> 00:06:34,639 see if it's okay with them for you to 138 00:06:34,639 --> 00:06:36,319 advocate for them because people can 139 00:06:36,319 --> 00:06:38,720 talk for themselves and everyone has 140 00:06:38,720 --> 00:06:42,400 their own voice. But usually if you are 141 00:06:42,400 --> 00:06:46,800 in a position of power that the they are 142 00:06:46,800 --> 00:06:50,319 grateful to to have you kind of speak up 143 00:06:50,319 --> 00:06:51,919 for them. And also sometimes you're 144 00:06:51,919 --> 00:06:53,840 working with kids or you're working with 145 00:06:53,840 --> 00:06:56,160 animals and you need to make sure that 146 00:06:56,160 --> 00:06:58,319 you know people who don't necessarily or 147 00:06:58,319 --> 00:07:00,479 animals that don't necessarily have the 148 00:07:00,479 --> 00:07:04,319 ability to to speak for themselves are 149 00:07:04,319 --> 00:07:09,319 being treated in in the correct way. 150 00:07:12,960 --> 00:07:14,880 It's always important to be engaged with 151 00:07:14,880 --> 00:07:18,319 culture. I think being inspired all the 152 00:07:18,319 --> 00:07:20,479 time by other people's art, whether it's 153 00:07:20,479 --> 00:07:23,280 seeing other films, seeing theater, 154 00:07:23,280 --> 00:07:25,360 going to museums, 155 00:07:25,360 --> 00:07:28,400 um going to concerts, listening to 156 00:07:28,400 --> 00:07:31,919 music, and then of course other modes of 157 00:07:31,919 --> 00:07:33,680 creation that you do, whether you like 158 00:07:33,680 --> 00:07:35,039 to write, whether you like to play 159 00:07:35,039 --> 00:07:36,800 music, whether you like to paint, 160 00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:40,400 keeping that inspiration and creativity 161 00:07:40,400 --> 00:07:42,479 flowing is really important. And then 162 00:07:42,479 --> 00:07:45,360 also just of course being a good person, 163 00:07:45,360 --> 00:07:46,960 trying to be a good person, listening to 164 00:07:46,960 --> 00:07:50,960 people, caring about people, not just to 165 00:07:50,960 --> 00:07:52,479 like 166 00:07:52,479 --> 00:07:54,639 motivate your art obviously to also be a 167 00:07:54,639 --> 00:07:57,199 good person. As an actor, your job is 168 00:07:57,199 --> 00:07:58,960 empathy and you should be practicing 169 00:07:58,960 --> 00:08:00,560 empathy all the time. And as a person, 170 00:08:00,560 --> 00:08:02,000 you should be practicing empathy all the 171 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:06,680 time. So it's one and the same. 1 00:00:06,240 --> 00:00:10,320 I committed to acting probably 2 00:00:10,320 --> 00:00:13,120 after college. I think when I was in 3 00:00:13,120 --> 00:00:14,799 school, I was always kind of thinking, 4 00:00:14,799 --> 00:00:16,880 oh, I might do something else. I don't 5 00:00:16,880 --> 00:00:19,840 know. And then I think I realized after 6 00:00:19,840 --> 00:00:21,439 school, 7 00:00:21,439 --> 00:00:27,279 oh, what I loved at 11 was a sort of 8 00:00:27,279 --> 00:00:29,599 reading of of my true self. like that 9 00:00:29,599 --> 00:00:33,200 was what I really genuinely was into and 10 00:00:33,200 --> 00:00:34,800 not what the world was telling me I was 11 00:00:34,800 --> 00:00:36,559 supposed to be interested in. I came 12 00:00:36,559 --> 00:00:38,079 from a background that was like you have 13 00:00:38,079 --> 00:00:39,520 to be serious. You have to do something 14 00:00:39,520 --> 00:00:42,320 serious and meaningful and doing good 15 00:00:42,320 --> 00:00:44,000 for other people. And I didn't really 16 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:47,039 understand how acting fit into that. And 17 00:00:47,039 --> 00:00:49,680 then slowly over time I kind of 18 00:00:49,680 --> 00:00:51,840 understood first of all I need to seek 19 00:00:51,840 --> 00:00:54,000 my own joy and my own pleasure and this 20 00:00:54,000 --> 00:00:56,399 is what gives me joy. Second of all, I 21 00:00:56,399 --> 00:00:58,239 do find meaning in it because I think 22 00:00:58,239 --> 00:01:01,199 that it's imagining someone else's inner 23 00:01:01,199 --> 00:01:04,000 life. It's the act of empathy. That is 24 00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:06,560 what we do. We say, "I wonder what that 25 00:01:06,560 --> 00:01:09,840 person feels and thinks and goes through 26 00:01:09,840 --> 00:01:12,080 on their daily basis." And if you go 27 00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:13,760 into the world that way, thinking about 28 00:01:13,760 --> 00:01:16,479 how other people feel, that is active 29 00:01:16,479 --> 00:01:19,200 empathy. And also that's the experience 30 00:01:19,200 --> 00:01:20,880 people get when they're in a movie 31 00:01:20,880 --> 00:01:23,119 theater that you're sharing this social 32 00:01:23,119 --> 00:01:26,240 experience with other people for 2 hours 33 00:01:26,240 --> 00:01:28,320 caring about someone else's life. And 34 00:01:28,320 --> 00:01:31,119 that's an incredible and important thing 35 00:01:31,119 --> 00:01:33,920 to participate in as a society and as a 36 00:01:33,920 --> 00:01:36,000 community and probably why things like 37 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:39,600 theater have always been part of human 38 00:01:39,600 --> 00:01:42,560 culture. Acting is unlike other arts 39 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:43,920 because you're not sitting alone 40 00:01:43,920 --> 00:01:47,119 painting in a room. You're not playing 41 00:01:47,119 --> 00:01:49,520 an instrument by yourself. You are 42 00:01:49,520 --> 00:01:52,640 working with an orchestra. And a lot of 43 00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:55,600 the joy and the the activity comes from 44 00:01:55,600 --> 00:01:57,280 bouncing off of other people and working 45 00:01:57,280 --> 00:01:59,840 with other people. Be free. Make 46 00:01:59,840 --> 00:02:03,360 mistakes. Play. Remember that this is a 47 00:02:03,360 --> 00:02:05,520 playful job. This is a job about your 48 00:02:05,520 --> 00:02:08,160 imagination. You just try things and 49 00:02:08,160 --> 00:02:11,840 that's how you develop your your art and 50 00:02:11,840 --> 00:02:15,000 your work.