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So, I just did what I consider to be one

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of the most difficult things to do in my

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profession of acting, which is to walk

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as yourself just to be yourself. Walking

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is peculiarly difficult. Um I don't know

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how well I did it just now. Certainly

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offstage before I walked on. Um first of

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all I had my hands in my pocket and then

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I thought no that's fake. You're just

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trying to be casual. Take your hands out

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of your pocket. So I did. Um,

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and then I thought, how how do I do

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this? How do I be

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as real and as natural as possible? All

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of this thing stuff goes through your

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mind really fast. Um, and then I thought

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the only way to do it is simply in my

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mind to have the intention, this sounds

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so silly, to walk to the chair. That's

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your whole intention. You just think I

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got to get to that chair and I've got to

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sit down and that was all I did. But you

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know what?

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That was acting because here we have an

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empty space. I very much wanted to start

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my master class in an empty space. As

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you will see later on, this this space

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will become uh filled with elements,

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with costumes, with props, with all

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sorts of different things, all the tools

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of the acting trade. But basically at

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its heart, our world of of acting is is

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an empty space. It's an empty space that

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we fill with our imagination, with our

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technique, with our philosophy, with our

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poetry, with our passion, with our

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fears, with our insecurity. It's funny

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about walking. You know, I I was um I

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was watching a young actor the other day

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on television and um this thing of

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walking naturally is peculiarly diff

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difficult and I'm going to show you what

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he did to try and look natural and I'm

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going I'm going to do it for you.

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What he did was sort of this. He had his

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hands in his pocket and everything about

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him was trying to look natural. So when

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he walked he kind of kicked his feet

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like this and you know when he to turned

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he kind of to turn turned like this you

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know and then when if he did a gesture

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it was kind of you know oh I'm so

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relaxed I'm so natural you know and it

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was it was a it it communicated just

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unnaturalenness in our world of acting

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we are constantly seeking for nature

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nature and art and nature in art. So I

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wanted to start this in this open empty

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space, an empty space into which we put

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our fears, our terrors, our imagination

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above all our imagination, our poetry,

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our philosophy, our storytelling

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because that's what we are. We're

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storytellers.

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I'm Helen Mirin and this is my master

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class.

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I lived in a town that was like um the

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the British equivalent of Coney Island.

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So it was a kind of seasidey,

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you know, place for people to go and

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have fun at the weekends, get drunk, you

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know, put a funny hat on, have a fight.

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throw up and go home and that was a

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great night out. Um, but anyway, it was

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that kind of town and we had the longest

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pier in the world and at the end of the

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pier they had a show and I remember the

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name of the show. It was called Out of

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the Blue and um I was taken to see this

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show when I was about um

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I guess I was about seven or eight

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something like that and this show

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started. It was a variety show and they

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had a comedian who was I just thought at

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the age of seven was just the funniest

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thing I had ever seen in my life. I I

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literally remember falling off my seat

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with laughter. And then the dancing

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girls came on and they had I never

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forget they had blue chiffon. Again, it

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was all about the costume. Uh they had

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blue chiffon scarves and pink chiffon

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scarves and they came on and they

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floated their scarves around and I was

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absolutely entranced. I I went home on

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the train down the longest pier in the

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world um after the show just feeling

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that a whole new world had opened up for

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me. The world of entertainment if you

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like the world of a darkened space with

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a group of people watching something

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where they're quiet and they and they

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are transformed by it. um they laugh,

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you know, they clap. Um and that whole

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process just seemed to me just the most

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wonderful magical thing. My mother took

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me to an amateur production of Hamlet,

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which was, I'm sure, an extremely bad

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production. It was probably laughable,

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you know, if I, you know, if a

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professional went to see it. But I

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wasn't a professional. I was a 12 13

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year old girl and exposed for the first

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time to the world of imagination and the

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world of drama and the world world of

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storytelling through drama and it was a

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cataclysmic experience for me. I was

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absolutely overwhelmed by the romance of

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it, the the beauty of the passion of it,

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the you know the fantasy, the the

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extremes of it coming out of my very um

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uh you know dull little world if you

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like that I lived in very lacking in

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drama. Um, so to be exposed to these

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extraordinary characters and and the

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language, even the language that I

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didn't at the time really understand,

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but I could tell there was something

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extraordinary in this language. My two

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great inspirations as an actor was an

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end of the pier show, variety show, and

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one of the greatest plays by the

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greatest playright ever. Um but I think

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that that really indicates the

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a the breadth of what is available for

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us to do and the fact that we shouldn't

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be snobby about any of it because it's

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all it all play feeds into that same

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filling up the empty space. Um, it's

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it's that's that's

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that is a part of the great tapestry of

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what is available to us as actors. And I

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and I've always approached all of my

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work with the same kind of attitude

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whether I'm doing Red, you know, or

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doing The Tempest. Um,

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you know, you are you're telling

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stories, you're entertaining, you are

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transporting people and never forget

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that fact.

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My first role in the National Youth

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Theater was as an extra in Coralenus,

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one of the um starving Romans.

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Hot, hungry. 2,000 years BC. Hot,

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hungry. No, not 2,000 years BC. You

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know, 500 200 years BC. That was my

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mantra before I went on stage. I'm hot.

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I'm hungry. And it's 200 years BC. Hot,

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hungry. 200 years BC. And that was an

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amazing experience. That was my first my

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first experience of being in a theater.

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um and and you know standing in the

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wings and looking up into the flies and

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the smell of the fantastic smell of the

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theater and to this day I've never lost

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my love for that. And then the following

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year, the director of the National Youth

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Theater decided to do Anthony and

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Cleopatra because it had lots of scenes

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with big armies and he wanted scenes

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with lots of kids running on and off the

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stage and I got the role of Cleopatra

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and that was that was an amazing moment.

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Not I mean I didn't think of it as a

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starring role or anything but it was

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just incredible to have the opportunity

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to work on a role and and that was the

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first time in my life I guess I'd ever

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really

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really had to work on a role. Um,

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and you know, I was a young actress. I

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had I was 18, I think, at the time. So,

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I was stumbling around and really

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finding my way, but of necessity,

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working off instinct because at the time

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that was all I had. Um,

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and uh and and that was successful and

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really that just kind of launched my

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career and then I had the big decision

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to make.

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Do I stay at college and finish my year

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off or do I leave college? I was

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training as a teacher incidentally. I I

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went to college to train as a teacher.

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Um

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or do I leave and become an actress? And

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I was a bit of a wimp and I was

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insecure. So um I stayed on to complete

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my training. But as soon as I finished

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college a year later, um I found that

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people hadn't forgotten, you know, the

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this uh this performance. and I got an

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agent which was fantastic and I was

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immediately offered a role um in a in a

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um repatory theater. I did six months in

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a repetatory theater before I went to um

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join the RSC. They kind of invited me to

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join which was um a you know fantastic

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for for a young actress.

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The RSSE for me, the Royal Shakespeare

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Company was my training. It was my drama

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school. Um, I was thrown in at the deep

147
00:07:14,560 --> 00:07:17,039
end. But what a great way to learn to

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00:07:17,039 --> 00:07:19,440
swim. Incidentally, what a great way to

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00:07:19,440 --> 00:07:21,360
learn to swim. First of all, you're

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00:07:21,360 --> 00:07:24,560
just, oh my god,

151
00:07:24,560 --> 00:07:26,639
you know, and then you go, oh, oh, okay,

152
00:07:26,639 --> 00:07:28,720
I got I Okay, now I'm floating. At least

153
00:07:28,720 --> 00:07:30,880
I'm floating. I'm not moving in any

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direction, but at least I'm floating. My

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00:07:33,120 --> 00:07:34,960
head is above water, and I'm not

156
00:07:34,960 --> 00:07:39,120
actually drowning. Um and then slowly

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00:07:39,120 --> 00:07:41,680
you learn because you have to learn

158
00:07:41,680 --> 00:07:44,160
because you're doing it every night, you

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00:07:44,160 --> 00:07:49,120
know. Uh uh you learn mostly I learned

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by watching doing and watching watching

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00:07:52,080 --> 00:07:55,199
and doing. Um but watching very very

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00:07:55,199 --> 00:07:57,520
important and I was so lucky that I had

163
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the opportunity to wa watch from the

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wings some truly great Shakespearean

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actors. Alan Howard being one of them.

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00:08:06,400 --> 00:08:08,639
Um Ian Richardson who did the original

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House of Cards became a great mentor of

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mine and watching not with an adoring

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eye but with a you know with a critical

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00:08:16,319 --> 00:08:19,599
eye watching going I don't think I would

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00:08:19,599 --> 00:08:22,240
have done that there you know if when I

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00:08:22,240 --> 00:08:24,879
get the chance to be up there and do

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something. I'm not going to do that you

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know because I don't think that works or

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I think that sounds looks or sounds

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fake. So watch. Absolutely. But um I

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don't think I need to tell you to watch

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with a critical eye because I bet you

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00:08:40,959 --> 00:08:44,560
all do anyway. Um because we do as

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actors, don't we? We are we are also

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00:08:47,200 --> 00:08:51,839
sort of you know jealous creatures.

1
00:00:13,120 --> 00:00:16,400
I would advise many of you

2
00:00:16,400 --> 00:00:19,840
actually in a way more maybe than going

3
00:00:19,840 --> 00:00:22,720
to drama classes. I'm, you know, I'm a

4
00:00:22,720 --> 00:00:24,880
little ambivalent about drama classes,

5
00:00:24,880 --> 00:00:27,439
but what I do believe in is is training

6
00:00:27,439 --> 00:00:31,199
your voice because if your voice is

7
00:00:31,199 --> 00:00:36,480
so developed and so um present,

8
00:00:36,480 --> 00:00:38,559
at least that's one tool you don't have

9
00:00:38,559 --> 00:00:41,520
to worry about, you know, and that's to

10
00:00:41,520 --> 00:00:43,760
do with breathing. And breathing is very

11
00:00:43,760 --> 00:00:45,920
much to do with relaxation. And

12
00:00:45,920 --> 00:00:47,680
relaxation is very much to do with

13
00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:51,280
acting, learning to breathe, learning to

14
00:00:51,280 --> 00:00:53,199
resonate.

15
00:00:53,199 --> 00:00:56,079
Um, you don't, it's not necessarily

16
00:00:56,079 --> 00:00:58,399
about projection, although projection is

17
00:00:58,399 --> 00:01:00,800
very much part of it. And it's very

18
00:01:00,800 --> 00:01:03,039
disappointing to me sometimes. You see a

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wonderful actor on the screen. Um, you

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know, fabulous at being quiet,

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absolutely wonderful, modulated. There's

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a lot of, you know, music maybe in their

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voices. Very interesting. But now they

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have to play a scene where they're

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supposed to be talking to 50 people

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and you can't talk like this to 50

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people because they won't hear you. You

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have to talk with some

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voice and then you hear this actor who

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was talked like this suddenly sounds

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like this because they can't produce

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their voice. They don't know how to

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and it's all become strangulated. So

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the idea of freeing your voice, freeing

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your vocal cords, it's a process

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incidentally I'm still working on. Um

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it's a constant work but it's a good

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work to do. It's a good basic physical

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exercise and that's a good thing to do.

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This was what I learned at the RSC

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because there was a they we were very

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lucky they had voice teachers there as a

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part of the company. So you would be

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taken off every, you know, every once a

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week or twice a week to work with the um

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with the voice teacher and and they had

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very very brilliant uh vocal teachers

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there. Um so you know if you can either

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make your own group because you can all

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all the um you know if you can't afford

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to go to a voice coach um you can

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actually read the material and the

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exercises and maybe make your own little

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group where you do a little halfhour

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session together um every day or three

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or four times a week or something and

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and that's a you know that that's a good

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I I think that's a very good training

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tool.

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And then Peter Brookke came to do what

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became one of his most iconic

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productions which was of a Midsummer

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Night's Dream that I wasn't in. I very

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much wanted to be I very much wanted to

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play Tatana but my dear friend Sarah

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Kessleman got that role and she played

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it brilliantly and I was not chosen for

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that role. Um but I was on the sidelines

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watching and I watched this

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extraordinary

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genius of the theater work. I had seen

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his experimental work in uh in London a

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year before and been very very taken by

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that and the whole idea of experimental

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theater was was exploding at that time.

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So I felt that I needed to expand my

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understanding,

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my preparation as an actor needed to

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expand and needed to expand out of the

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classical theater which is beautiful

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because it's so um disciplined and and

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um demanding but into experimental

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theater to find freedom.

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And freedom, freedom is my holy chalice

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that I've been chasing after my whole

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life. But to find freedom,

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uh,

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and so at that time, Peter Brookke, I

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watched his brilliant work on Midsummer

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Night Stream. Um, and then I I heard

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that he was preparing a an international

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theater group which was going to work in

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Paris.

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um to explore what theater was, what

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what is theater. I I I thought I need to

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join that group. I need to be a part of

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that. I need to just push my boundaries

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further. Everyone around me, my agent,

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my family thought I was shooting myself

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in the head by going off to Paris to

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work for a year um on experimental

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theater.

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But it was very much my drive, my

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desire. And I would say as especially

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now to the actors who are not first

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starting out, but those of you out there

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who are in the second or third, fourth,

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fifth year of your work as an actor,

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listen to your instincts. Really listen

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to them. Don't listen to your agent.

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Don't listen to your mom and your dad.

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Don't listen to your boyfriend, your

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girlfriend. Listen to yourself. And you

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go where you want to go. Irrespective of

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whether you think it's going to, you

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know, make you allow you to w earn more

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money next week or get more followers on

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your social media. It's really important

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to listen to your own personal

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instruction manual, the one that's

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inside of you telling you,

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you're not good at this. you've got to

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learn whatever that instruction manual

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manual is telling you. Anyway, I

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listened to mine and I went off to work

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with Peter Brooke for a year and um we

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worked in an international theater

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group. So there were French, there were

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German, there were African, there were

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um Japanese, there were so lang we

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didn't work in English, we didn't work

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in any language, but neither did we work

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in mime. We were trying to find what the

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absolute pure essential of theater, the

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empty uh space, which is many of you

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will know is a book by Peter Peter Peter

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Brookke. Um

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what is it you do when you fill that

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space with your storytelling? And as a

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part of that process, we traveled

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through Africa for three months. And we

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were playing in very very small, not in

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towns, but in little tiny communities,

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villages,

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um, nomadic village, nomadic, uh,

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nomadic people. So that was a truly

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extraordinary experience on every level

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that you can possibly imagine.

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So when I left Peterbrook um I came back

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to the theater actually I suddenly went

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oh my god I'm and I did um

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I did Henry V 6 parts one 2 and three

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and for the first time I remember this

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feeling so well and many of you will

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feel it

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and when you do feel it it's a great

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feeling. feeling when suddenly

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you're in control of it and you're not

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just in control of it, you're in control

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of it in a way that is free because it's

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not just being in control. And I felt I

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was on and and I'm talking about

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Shakespeare now. I felt I was on this

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incredibly powerful horse, but I had the

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vocal ability. I had the intellectual

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ability in terms of the language

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for that all to settle and now I could

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play with it and it was a great lesson

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for me and it's a great lesson for

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actors.

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The thing that I learned with Brooke

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and I really want to communicate with

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you and it's such a difficult thing to

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learn because when you're an actor you

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are constantly looking at other people.

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They're all working. Why aren't I

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working? You know, or now you're

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working. He's doing that. Oh god, he's

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so brilliant. Why aren't I as good as

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that? But something I learned with Peter

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Brookke is that you are you. There is

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absolutely no one on this planet like

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you. And you to be the actor that you

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are, you have to be the you that you

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are. You have to fully allow yourself to

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be who you are.

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Of course, you feed that you into all

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these different roles. And when people

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say

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that you're hiding behind a role, I say,

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"No, it's the opposite. You're revealing

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yourself within a role. You're always

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revealing something lurking maybe within

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you, maybe lurking within all of us, but

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you're revealing. You're not hiding.

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And it doesn't matter how many wigs and

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I love wearing wigs and and all those

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accutra

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at at the heart of what you're doing is

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revealing something within yourself. And

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so you must don't try to be anyone other

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than what you are. If your legs are too

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short, too bad. You just got to live

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with that. You know, if your hair isn't

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long enough or whatever the issues are,

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00:09:59,600 --> 00:10:03,360
just own it. Own yourself. Own your own

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qualities. Um own your own physicality.

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Um and go forward. You know, it's it's

209
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it's very difficult because we are

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constantly being judged on what we look

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like. And I don't mean, you know, are we

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beautiful or not. It's not that. It's

213
00:10:20,880 --> 00:10:22,480
like, are we tall enough? Are we too

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short? Are we too, you know, blonde? Are

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00:10:25,440 --> 00:10:28,000
we too dark? Are we too whatever we are.

216
00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:30,240
We're always too something or other that

217
00:10:30,240 --> 00:10:33,279
makes us not suitable for this role. So

218
00:10:33,279 --> 00:10:36,560
we are constantly having to confront

219
00:10:36,560 --> 00:10:40,800
uh feelings of inadequacy and um

220
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wrongness about ourselves. And all I can

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say is you're not wrong. You're not

222
00:10:46,320 --> 00:10:48,959
wrong.

223
00:10:48,959 --> 00:10:50,880
You yes, you may be wrong for that role,

224
00:10:50,880 --> 00:10:53,600
but you are not wrong. There's another

225
00:10:53,600 --> 00:10:55,839
role that is that is you that is right

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00:10:55,839 --> 00:11:00,079
for you. So um own own who you are.

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00:11:00,079 --> 00:11:03,600
Don't don't fight it. Don't question it.

228
00:11:03,600 --> 00:11:06,959
Don't angst about it.

1
00:00:13,120 --> 00:00:15,040
I want to talk a little bit about

2
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auditions because obviously many of you

3
00:00:18,080 --> 00:00:20,560
will have been to many many auditions in

4
00:00:20,560 --> 00:00:22,720
your life and you probably will go to

5
00:00:22,720 --> 00:00:25,279
many more and I don't have a lot of

6
00:00:25,279 --> 00:00:28,000
words to say about that because you guys

7
00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:30,960
know more about that really than I do at

8
00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:34,960
this point. Um, I know that you know,

9
00:00:34,960 --> 00:00:36,880
you know, you're often given sides, so

10
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you don't really know the whole story,

11
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and that's that's that's a big challenge

12
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for an actor. But I know that you

13
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understand, you have a sense of who the

14
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character is, and I know that you will

15
00:00:46,079 --> 00:00:49,760
often go in a in a sense in a form of

16
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the costume that you think this

17
00:00:52,079 --> 00:00:56,320
character would wear. Um and and that's

18
00:00:56,320 --> 00:00:58,079
a good thing because I think these you

19
00:00:58,079 --> 00:00:59,680
know the people auditioning you have to

20
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make very quick decisions. Um I just

21
00:01:03,840 --> 00:01:08,159
give two pieces of ad of advice. One is

22
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if the people auditioning you give you a

23
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note

24
00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:16,240
in your performance. You've done it once

25
00:01:16,240 --> 00:01:18,000
or maybe twice and then they give you a

26
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note. Why don't you try this? Even if

27
00:01:21,360 --> 00:01:23,920
you feel it's completely wrong,

28
00:01:23,920 --> 00:01:26,640
immediately try to incorporate that note

29
00:01:26,640 --> 00:01:28,880
into your performance because that will

30
00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:32,880
tell the director, the producers that a

31
00:01:32,880 --> 00:01:35,920
you're capable of doing that and b you

32
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are amanable and you know how to listen.

33
00:01:39,119 --> 00:01:40,799
Um

34
00:01:40,799 --> 00:01:44,000
you can incorporate it in and at the end

35
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of it you can say

36
00:01:46,640 --> 00:01:48,399
you know I tried to do what you were

37
00:01:48,399 --> 00:01:50,000
saying. I'm not too sure that that

38
00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:53,119
worked, but you know, but you listen to

39
00:01:53,119 --> 00:01:56,240
the note and absolutely respond to it

40
00:01:56,240 --> 00:01:58,479
and and and try to incorporate it into

41
00:01:58,479 --> 00:02:00,719
your next your next go through the

42
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performance. And I think the other thing

43
00:02:02,719 --> 00:02:04,560
to do is if you've just been given sides

44
00:02:04,560 --> 00:02:06,799
and you don't really know like where

45
00:02:06,799 --> 00:02:10,800
does this character sit, um

46
00:02:10,800 --> 00:02:14,959
I think one or two very judicious and

47
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very pointed questions, intelligent

48
00:02:17,280 --> 00:02:20,319
questions. I think show that you're

49
00:02:20,319 --> 00:02:23,599
thinking that uh you know you can see

50
00:02:23,599 --> 00:02:26,480
beyond you understand that beyond this

51
00:02:26,480 --> 00:02:29,200
one scene that there is a whole piece of

52
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work around it. If you you can ask, you

53
00:02:31,920 --> 00:02:34,239
know, uh, where do you think this, you

54
00:02:34,239 --> 00:02:37,440
know, uh, what sort of background do you

55
00:02:37,440 --> 00:02:39,519
think this character comes from? Or, you

56
00:02:39,519 --> 00:02:41,360
know, do you think I should do, you

57
00:02:41,360 --> 00:02:42,800
know, do you think an accent is

58
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appropriate or, you know, um, I'd just

59
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like to know where this character goes

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afterwards so I have a sense of the

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direction the film, the scene should be

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going in. just if you know if there's a

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a a really thought wellought out

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accurate sort of question to ask ask it

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because again that means that you're

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thinking

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uh uh you're intelligent you're

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responsive and um and I think that's

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what people want to see when they they

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don't just want to see is this person

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right for the role of course they want

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to see that they also want to see can I

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work with this person. Is this going to

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be a living relationship on the set?

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I'm going to share something with you

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which I really shouldn't because it it

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reveals how actually how venal I am and

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what a terrible person I am. But um and

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and you can only really do this if if

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you know if you're being offered nice

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roles. But um when I get a script, I do

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this. It's it's awful um

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to see, you know, they always tell you,

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not always, but they often tell you,

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"Oh, you know, it's a great role. It's

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not on the page, but it needs an actress

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like you to do it, and it will be

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fantastic." And um I always go, "Okay,

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let's see." And so, when I'm given a

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script nowadays, I always look I never

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look at the front of it. I immediately

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turn to the back page

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and I see if my character is on the last

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in the last scene of the film. If it's

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in the last scene of the film, it's

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probably a very good role.

97
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Um, not necessarily, but probably a very

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good role. So, I read the last scene and

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I see what the character does in the

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last scene and if they're very

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uh present in the last scene as opposed

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to just a person off camera basically

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saying, "Did you remember to bring the

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ball with you?" Um, if they're present

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in the scene, that probably means it's a

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good role. In which case, I'll go to the

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front and read it from the beginning. If

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they're not in the last scene, I then

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start going backwards through the script

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to find out when it last when it last

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appears in the story. And if that is a

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great scene,

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I go, "Oh, this is a good role." Because

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look, it's last scene is only, this is

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Gosford Park I'm looking at, actually,

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and the last scene is only this many

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pages from the end. And I read the

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scene. Oh, it's a really good scene.

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That's a good role. I'm going to read it

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from the front.

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At this point, honestly, it really

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hardly matters how much this character

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appears in the rest of the film because

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you obviously are going to have an

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impact on the film. Your character has

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an impact. So, if it doesn't appear

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here, now I go backwards until I find

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the last moment that the character

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appears and oh, here it is. And I read

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this scene and nothing really happens.

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The character just sort of disappears.

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Like there's no scene there. The

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character is in the scene, but there's

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no nothing really. The character doesn't

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do anything. That's a sign that this is

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not a good role. There's hardly any.

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It's not worth even reading the rest of

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it. Um,

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but you can go back and back and back

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and Okay. now like three quart a quarter

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of the way through the scene the script

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from the beginning. This is here is the

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last scene and I did a a film like this.

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It was called um Where Angels Fear to

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Tread and my character died

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uh halfway through the film but

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great scene. So, and then you go back

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go, "Ah, okay. Well, uh, obviously this

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character e, even though she disappears

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early on in the film, she's still got

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something something major to contribute

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in the story." And then I'll go back and

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read it from the front. So,

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but that's a terrible thing, but that's

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what I do. And you know what? It works

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every time. It's funny. It does.

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Sophia Toltoy in the last station I

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accepted. Oh, because

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you know she was such a explosive sort

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of um uh

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passionate uh ridiculous kind of

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Russian. And also I had just done what

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had I just done? I'd just done something

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that was the opposite. Maybe I just done

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Gossford Park or something that was very

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restrained, very controlled, very

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um repressed. Maybe I just done the

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Queen. Maybe it was that. But anyway, I

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remember I'd played this very contained,

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repressed person. And um and

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another trick if you possibly can is

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always to choose a role. If you're in

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the position of having being able to

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choose a role, always choose something

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that's the ex as far opposite from the

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thing you've just played as possible. Um

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you all know that um that people want to

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pigeon hole you and they want you to do

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this thing that you did before and you

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did so brilliantly. They want you to do

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it brilliantly again, but you don't want

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to do that brilliantly again. You want

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to do something different brilliantly.

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So, um try really try to resist that.

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First of all, be grateful that you're

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being asked to do anything. And I'm

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still to this day very, very grateful to

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be asked to do anything. And I know you

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are. Obviously, that's that's, you know,

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that's all we want. We just want to be

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given the chance to try to do it, to do

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this wonderful Caliban thing of reaching

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out for the unknown. We want the chance

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to do that. Um, and now, okay, here

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comes the script. Um and as you travel

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through your um hopefully your career um

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you will find that this it it changes

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obviously at the beginning you just want

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a role even if it doesn't have a name.

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It's inhuman in a way. It's just this

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this cipher that really is usually

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serving a purpose for the plot. It's a

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plot device very often.

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All I can say when you're offered that

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kind of role, if you need it, and if you

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need the money, take it. If you don't

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need the money, don't take it. Uh, but

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if you do now, and most of us do, um,

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especially when we're at the beginning

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of our careers, um, you take the role

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and from that point, backstory is always

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a great thing for actors. We all know

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this about backstory. We know what a

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valuable tool it is. We know that nobody

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but us really understands that. Um, and

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if you start explaining your backstory

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to everyone, their eyes close over

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because actually it is a bit boring. But

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to you it's essential. It's absolutely

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essential. So at least

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you can enjoy you can enjoy the process

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of um

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of uh of playing that role on the set on

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that day. You know, bring that whole

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backstory with you and just play it for

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all your worth.

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I hate taking my clothes off on on

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screen actually. I feel embarrassed and

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awkward and um uh and and naked and

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everyone else is dressed, you know, and

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you've had which I I'm I'm a bit of a

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nudist on the quiet. I I love being on a

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beach where everyone else has got their

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clothes off, but um when you're the only

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one, you know, you you do feel, you

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know, a bit of a sore thumb, to put it

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mildly. Um

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but um you know what, you just have to

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gut it out. But it's very different now.

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So I I can't really equate my experience

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with what you guys might experience.

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It's so much more commonplace now, men

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and women. In those days, men never took

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their clothes off and now they

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absolutely do. Um and uh full frontal

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for a male or female has become pretty

247
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ubiquitous, which I love. Actually, I

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applaud that. I think that it's a part

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of our ongoing journey towards some kind

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of liberation. Um, but

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if you're asked to do it, I think you

252
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just have to do it or don't do it. But

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if it's in the script,

254
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don't accept a role and then come to

255
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that day and say, "Oh, I'm not doing

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that instantly."

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If you're not going to do it, mention

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that before you accept the role. You can

259
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say, "I want to do this role, but I

260
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don't want to do that scene." That's

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legitimate, but you can't accept a role

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and then and then let uh your producers

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down, your director down, everyone down

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by sort of bulking. Um these things can

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be discussed before you take the role

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and that's the right time to discuss

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them.

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Luckily, as I moved on through my career

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and through my life, the world around me

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changed and it obviously has changed

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substantially since I was, you know, in

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my early 20ies and especially it is it's

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changed in relation to how women are

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perceived in the world of drama. Um I

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think that I was very unlucky in that in

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my uh you know when if you like I was at

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the height of my um energy and um

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uh and I'd learned how to become an

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actress. So I'm talking about myself in

280
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my 30s. um you know was a very very dull

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and um repressive if you like era for

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women in film. But later on when now

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we're getting into the '9s, the whole

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concept of women playing roles that were

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originally written for men started

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becoming a reality. It was a joke

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before. It was an absolute joke.

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Um, and it's hard to battle with what's

289
00:13:59,760 --> 00:14:02,959
a joke. Honestly, it it's easy to say,

290
00:14:02,959 --> 00:14:04,959
"Oh, but why didn't you do this or do

291
00:14:04,959 --> 00:14:07,600
that?" It's very very difficult when the

292
00:14:07,600 --> 00:14:12,320
culture is against you. The first time

293
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I understood what was possible was I was

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privileged enough to read the script of

295
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Alien. I was up for a role in it, which

296
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I didn't get sadly. Um,

297
00:14:24,959 --> 00:14:26,800
but I was privileged to read the

298
00:14:26,800 --> 00:14:29,920
original uh uh script uh Ridley Scott

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script of Alien and it was brilliant

300
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because the way it was written all of

301
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the all of the characters had names like

302
00:14:38,880 --> 00:14:42,160
Ripley or I don't know Tarn or they had

303
00:14:42,160 --> 00:14:44,240
these weird names that could be male or

304
00:14:44,240 --> 00:14:47,760
female. There was not a single direction

305
00:14:47,760 --> 00:14:50,240
in the script that said whether this was

306
00:14:50,240 --> 00:14:53,040
a man or a woman. It didn't say Ripley

307
00:14:53,040 --> 00:14:55,920
is a tall, athletic, you know, woman

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00:14:55,920 --> 00:14:58,320
with a fierce determination in her eyes.

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00:14:58,320 --> 00:15:00,480
That sort of stage direction, which you

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00:15:00,480 --> 00:15:05,279
often get so annoying. Um,

311
00:15:05,279 --> 00:15:07,120
there were no stage directions at all

312
00:15:07,120 --> 00:15:08,959
for any of the characters. So, any of

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00:15:08,959 --> 00:15:10,800
the characters could have been played by

314
00:15:10,800 --> 00:15:13,279
a man or a woman. And that was such a

315
00:15:13,279 --> 00:15:15,600
liberating idea for me. I had never

316
00:15:15,600 --> 00:15:17,279
thought of that before, thought that

317
00:15:17,279 --> 00:15:19,920
that was possible. And there it was laid

318
00:15:19,920 --> 00:15:21,839
out for me in this wonderful script of

319
00:15:21,839 --> 00:15:25,920
of Alien. And and from that moment on I

320
00:15:25,920 --> 00:15:28,720
it really transformed my thinking about

321
00:15:28,720 --> 00:15:31,600
who could play what and why, you know.

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Um and Alien was quite a long time ago

323
00:15:35,440 --> 00:15:38,000
and it's taken us all and especially the

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world of producers and writers and

325
00:15:39,680 --> 00:15:42,240
directors to catch up and indeed the

326
00:15:42,240 --> 00:15:44,720
audience to catch up. But I have had the

327
00:15:44,720 --> 00:15:47,120
privilege fairly recently of playing two

328
00:15:47,120 --> 00:15:49,120
roles that were written for men.

329
00:15:49,120 --> 00:15:51,839
Obviously primarily Prospero. Although

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I'm convinced

331
00:15:54,399 --> 00:15:58,240
that if uh women had been actors in

332
00:15:58,240 --> 00:16:00,079
Shakespeare's days, they weren't they

333
00:16:00,079 --> 00:16:03,199
weren't allowed to act. Only men acted.

334
00:16:03,199 --> 00:16:05,120
Um, I think he would have written The

335
00:16:05,120 --> 00:16:07,920
Tempest for a woman because I think it I

336
00:16:07,920 --> 00:16:10,160
think the relationship between Prosper

337
00:16:10,160 --> 00:16:14,880
and Miranda, the daughter, is a very is

338
00:16:14,880 --> 00:16:19,600
a very um uh female relationship.

339
00:16:19,600 --> 00:16:21,600
Um

340
00:16:21,600 --> 00:16:24,320
and then uh I did a film called uh Eye

341
00:16:24,320 --> 00:16:28,079
in the Sky where um the the role

342
00:16:28,079 --> 00:16:29,680
originally was written for a man. But

343
00:16:29,680 --> 00:16:31,759
again it was that kind of role which

344
00:16:31,759 --> 00:16:34,160
absolutely could flip very easily

345
00:16:34,160 --> 00:16:36,959
without changing any stage directions

346
00:16:36,959 --> 00:16:39,440
any any lines.

347
00:16:39,440 --> 00:16:41,680
Likewise Tempest incidentally you just

348
00:16:41,680 --> 00:16:42,880
had to change a little bit of the

349
00:16:42,880 --> 00:16:45,360
backstory but otherwise very few of the

350
00:16:45,360 --> 00:16:48,639
lines of the Tempest had to be changed.

351
00:16:48,639 --> 00:16:50,720
Um, and now I think we've moved even

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00:16:50,720 --> 00:16:52,480
further on from that where Glenda

353
00:16:52,480 --> 00:16:56,480
Jackson can play King Leah. I presume I

354
00:16:56,480 --> 00:16:58,639
think she played it as King Leah, not as

355
00:16:58,639 --> 00:17:02,240
Queen Leah. So I think our whole

356
00:17:02,240 --> 00:17:05,039
understanding of gender

357
00:17:05,039 --> 00:17:09,120
um race is, you know, we've had a a

358
00:17:09,120 --> 00:17:13,600
black Henry V um and and you know, a

359
00:17:13,600 --> 00:17:15,360
black Hamlet.

360
00:17:15,360 --> 00:17:17,600
that whole understanding is absolutely

361
00:17:17,600 --> 00:17:20,000
crumbling which I think is fantastic

362
00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:22,880
because drama should always

363
00:17:22,880 --> 00:17:27,600
always um uh uh what's the word levitate

364
00:17:27,600 --> 00:17:30,480
itself above um supersede

365
00:17:30,480 --> 00:17:33,520
those kinds of limiting

366
00:17:33,520 --> 00:17:36,640
repressive concepts of what is a man

367
00:17:36,640 --> 00:17:39,360
what is a woman what is a Indian what is

368
00:17:39,360 --> 00:17:42,880
a Chinese person what you know roles

369
00:17:42,880 --> 00:17:44,720
should be open for everyone I had a

370
00:17:44,720 --> 00:17:47,520
terrible experience when I was um it

371
00:17:47,520 --> 00:17:49,919
wasn't terrible, but it was an deeply

372
00:17:49,919 --> 00:17:52,080
uncomfortable experience. I was asked to

373
00:17:52,080 --> 00:17:54,799
be on the board of a of a big um drama

374
00:17:54,799 --> 00:17:58,960
school in England. And I heard this guy

375
00:17:58,960 --> 00:18:01,440
say, one of the old guys who was on this

376
00:18:01,440 --> 00:18:05,200
board, he said, and here you can see

377
00:18:05,200 --> 00:18:07,280
what black actors were up against for so

378
00:18:07,280 --> 00:18:11,360
many years. He said, "We can't give many

379
00:18:11,360 --> 00:18:13,200
places to black people because after

380
00:18:13,200 --> 00:18:17,280
all, how many roles are there for them?"

381
00:18:17,280 --> 00:18:19,440
And I was so shocked to hear those

382
00:18:19,440 --> 00:18:21,440
words. I actually I actually quit the

383
00:18:21,440 --> 00:18:23,200
board. I said, "I don't want to do this

384
00:18:23,200 --> 00:18:26,240
anymore." Um,

385
00:18:26,240 --> 00:18:30,240
and and that kind of thinking uh was so

386
00:18:30,240 --> 00:18:33,360
prevalent and it's really breaking down

387
00:18:33,360 --> 00:18:36,480
now. It's really breaking down and I I'm

388
00:18:36,480 --> 00:18:40,000
so happy to at least I wish it had

389
00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:41,600
happened when I was 30. It's happening

390
00:18:41,600 --> 00:18:45,679
much too late for me. But um

391
00:18:45,679 --> 00:18:48,720
uh at least I've witnessed it. I'm very

392
00:18:48,720 --> 00:18:50,880
happy that I've witnessed that and you

393
00:18:50,880 --> 00:18:54,240
guys should take that and run with it

394
00:18:54,240 --> 00:18:56,480
because you are the next generation.

395
00:18:56,480 --> 00:18:59,120
It's your turn next and you have to

396
00:18:59,120 --> 00:19:01,360
sometimes you have to, as they say,

397
00:19:01,360 --> 00:19:04,880
stick it to the man. But you know, you

398
00:19:04,880 --> 00:19:06,960
take that ball and you run with it and

399
00:19:06,960 --> 00:19:09,520
you just say, "Why don't I, you know,

400
00:19:09,520 --> 00:19:10,880
let me show you what I would do with

401
00:19:10,880 --> 00:19:14,160
this role or that role or throw it out

402
00:19:14,160 --> 00:19:16,559
there.

1
00:00:13,280 --> 00:00:15,679
So now we've decided to play the role

2
00:00:15,679 --> 00:00:17,840
because it's a good role. And now I

3
00:00:17,840 --> 00:00:20,480
start. And obviously the first thing you

4
00:00:20,480 --> 00:00:23,920
do is you read the script trying to work

5
00:00:23,920 --> 00:00:27,199
out who the hell is who and where is

6
00:00:27,199 --> 00:00:29,439
where they are and all the rest of it.

7
00:00:29,439 --> 00:00:31,439
And I often have to make notes because I

8
00:00:31,439 --> 00:00:33,520
forget, you know, Constance is the

9
00:00:33,520 --> 00:00:35,280
daughter of the woman who owns the

10
00:00:35,280 --> 00:00:37,920
house, whatever it is. And, you know,

11
00:00:37,920 --> 00:00:40,000
you work your way through and then you

12
00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:44,320
begin to see where your role fits. So,

13
00:00:44,320 --> 00:00:45,920
um,

14
00:00:45,920 --> 00:00:50,800
let's just look at the basic way of

15
00:00:50,800 --> 00:00:53,360
looking at a script. We just start and

16
00:00:53,360 --> 00:00:55,840
we read it through and we read and we

17
00:00:55,840 --> 00:00:58,320
find our character. Then obviously we

18
00:00:58,320 --> 00:01:02,000
pay particular attention to that scene

19
00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:03,600
exactly

20
00:01:03,600 --> 00:01:06,159
what she says, what it's telling us

21
00:01:06,159 --> 00:01:08,320
about the character.

22
00:01:08,320 --> 00:01:12,560
And if at that point any ideas pop into

23
00:01:12,560 --> 00:01:16,000
your head about the character, about

24
00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:18,320
what's said, about the backstory of the

25
00:01:18,320 --> 00:01:20,400
character, whatever, just scribble it

26
00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:23,759
down on the on the page. Um because I

27
00:01:23,759 --> 00:01:25,600
find that the first instinctive

28
00:01:25,600 --> 00:01:28,960
reactions to a role

29
00:01:28,960 --> 00:01:30,880
are

30
00:01:30,880 --> 00:01:33,520
uh are great

31
00:01:33,520 --> 00:01:35,439
and you often you forget them. You know,

32
00:01:35,439 --> 00:01:36,799
you read and you go, "Oh, it' be great

33
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idea. Oh, what about that?" And then you

34
00:01:39,680 --> 00:01:40,880
and then you're reading on and you've

35
00:01:40,880 --> 00:01:43,040
forgotten it. So note any of those

36
00:01:43,040 --> 00:01:46,399
little ideas, you know, down anything

37
00:01:46,399 --> 00:01:48,560
that you have that you suddenly think,

38
00:01:48,560 --> 00:01:50,079
"Oh, maybe slippers. So, it would be

39
00:01:50,079 --> 00:01:52,079
good if she's wearing slippers in this

40
00:01:52,079 --> 00:01:53,840
scene or whatever it is, any little

41
00:01:53,840 --> 00:01:56,840
thing.

42
00:02:00,880 --> 00:02:06,799
I find the process of writing

43
00:02:06,799 --> 00:02:09,440
very important in in my work as an

44
00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:12,800
actor. I mean obviously

45
00:02:12,800 --> 00:02:15,200
to have a great script is the most

46
00:02:15,200 --> 00:02:19,200
wonderful thing and and everything even

47
00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:21,280
when we improvise we are in a sense

48
00:02:21,280 --> 00:02:23,920
writing the great kind of writing that's

49
00:02:23,920 --> 00:02:26,480
just coming out of our subconscious and

50
00:02:26,480 --> 00:02:29,280
that can be fantastic or it can be very

51
00:02:29,280 --> 00:02:31,920
mundane. It can be kind of stupid and

52
00:02:31,920 --> 00:02:35,280
mundane because improv can go both ways.

53
00:02:35,280 --> 00:02:37,519
it can be inspired

54
00:02:37,519 --> 00:02:39,599
and and inspired in in that particular

55
00:02:39,599 --> 00:02:41,840
way that is as I say coming from your

56
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subconscious and it's true and inventive

57
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or it can be mundane and boring and kind

58
00:02:48,319 --> 00:02:52,080
of stupid. So improv isn't the answer to

59
00:02:52,080 --> 00:02:55,280
everything. Far from it. Um, but in a

60
00:02:55,280 --> 00:02:58,480
way what I often do is I will write

61
00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:01,200
alongside of a scene

62
00:03:01,200 --> 00:03:04,640
very quickly allowing my subconscious to

63
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work just quickly what the the

64
00:03:08,480 --> 00:03:13,680
underlying story of that scene is or um

65
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what maybe is not being articulated but

66
00:03:17,120 --> 00:03:18,959
maybe

67
00:03:18,959 --> 00:03:21,040
uh you know in another world would be

68
00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:23,599
articulated. I'm never it will never be

69
00:03:23,599 --> 00:03:26,560
articulated but that is what is is the

70
00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:29,599
the subtext the subtext of of what's

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being said.

72
00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:38,640
Improvisation is incredible tool and in

73
00:03:38,640 --> 00:03:39,920
fact even when you're sh playing

74
00:03:39,920 --> 00:03:43,519
Shakespeare to improvise the meaning of

75
00:03:43,519 --> 00:03:47,200
the speech in your own language is an

76
00:03:47,200 --> 00:03:49,840
very very good tool because it it allows

77
00:03:49,840 --> 00:03:52,799
you access into what is sometimes quite

78
00:03:52,799 --> 00:03:55,280
dense language. That's one use of

79
00:03:55,280 --> 00:03:58,720
improv. Then, you know, improv obviously

80
00:03:58,720 --> 00:04:04,400
just to um enliven or to elucidate or to

81
00:04:04,400 --> 00:04:07,760
um complicate or to bring a whole other

82
00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:10,560
element to into a scene is is also a

83
00:04:10,560 --> 00:04:14,720
fantastic tool. Um and and and it can

84
00:04:14,720 --> 00:04:16,639
lead you into a wonderful sort of

85
00:04:16,639 --> 00:04:18,479
naturalism, which is what we're all

86
00:04:18,479 --> 00:04:22,479
seeking for. Um but there are certain

87
00:04:22,479 --> 00:04:26,160
texts that you do not improvise on. You

88
00:04:26,160 --> 00:04:29,120
just don't because they are structured

89
00:04:29,120 --> 00:04:31,680
so precisely. They're like music. It's

90
00:04:31,680 --> 00:04:35,360
like you don't improvise Mozart.

91
00:04:35,360 --> 00:04:37,680
Uh you know, you don't improvise handle.

92
00:04:37,680 --> 00:04:41,280
And there are certain texts that

93
00:04:41,280 --> 00:04:44,800
uh uh your your improv is going to be so

94
00:04:44,800 --> 00:04:49,440
thin and so pathetic in comparison to

95
00:04:49,440 --> 00:04:53,600
the density of what's written. And um

96
00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:55,600
I've encountered a couple of scripts,

97
00:04:55,600 --> 00:04:58,320
film, literally film scripts that were

98
00:04:58,320 --> 00:05:00,320
really wonderful pieces of literature

99
00:05:00,320 --> 00:05:03,199
that you you didn't want to improvise

100
00:05:03,199 --> 00:05:05,919
around. Um and funnily enough, the cook,

101
00:05:05,919 --> 00:05:07,600
the thief, his wife and her lover were

102
00:05:07,600 --> 00:05:09,600
one of was one of those. The other

103
00:05:09,600 --> 00:05:11,520
writer, for example, one would be

104
00:05:11,520 --> 00:05:14,080
Bernard Shaw, another would be um Harold

105
00:05:14,080 --> 00:05:18,000
Pinter. Um, and there are, you know,

106
00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:21,120
modern writers, Jez Butterworth, you

107
00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:24,560
know, you, these are extraordinary

108
00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:27,759
craftsmen and and improv is really not

109
00:05:27,759 --> 00:05:31,120
going to improve anything. Um, but with

110
00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:34,240
other material, um, it's correct, it's

111
00:05:34,240 --> 00:05:37,280
right, it's fun, it's it's wonderful to

112
00:05:37,280 --> 00:05:41,240
use the tool of improvisation.

113
00:05:45,520 --> 00:05:48,400
I love the first read. I will always do

114
00:05:48,400 --> 00:05:50,400
a first read. I really try and make sure

115
00:05:50,400 --> 00:05:52,960
that I'm there if there's a read through

116
00:05:52,960 --> 00:05:56,240
of the script cuz I love the first read

117
00:05:56,240 --> 00:05:58,320
because I find

118
00:05:58,320 --> 00:06:01,840
I don't look at it. I don't prepare it

119
00:06:01,840 --> 00:06:05,520
at all. Maybe I do this little noting

120
00:06:05,520 --> 00:06:08,479
down or something. But but maybe even

121
00:06:08,479 --> 00:06:10,639
maybe I've read it if I know there's

122
00:06:10,639 --> 00:06:13,039
going to be a first read. I just read it

123
00:06:13,039 --> 00:06:14,960
very quickly

124
00:06:14,960 --> 00:06:17,280
actually without beauty notes or

125
00:06:17,280 --> 00:06:19,840
anything. I just read it quickly.

126
00:06:19,840 --> 00:06:22,960
Hardly. I hardly know the script because

127
00:06:22,960 --> 00:06:25,199
when I do the first read, I want to

128
00:06:25,199 --> 00:06:27,840
discover it the way potentially the

129
00:06:27,840 --> 00:06:30,319
audience is discovering it. I want to be

130
00:06:30,319 --> 00:06:32,720
an audience for the script, but at the

131
00:06:32,720 --> 00:06:35,360
same time, I want to be, how can I put

132
00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:39,280
this? Not an audience for my role, but I

133
00:06:39,280 --> 00:06:43,280
I want the role to just come at me

134
00:06:43,280 --> 00:06:46,960
from left field.

135
00:06:46,960 --> 00:06:52,000
I I want it to um and on a first read, I

136
00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:54,639
I don't hold back. I I go for it, you

137
00:06:54,639 --> 00:06:56,960
know, even if it's completely wrong, but

138
00:06:56,960 --> 00:06:59,599
I jump in and ideas will come into my

139
00:06:59,599 --> 00:07:01,280
head and I'll quickly note them down as

140
00:07:01,280 --> 00:07:03,440
we're doing the read through. Just

141
00:07:03,440 --> 00:07:06,400
little underlinings, little notes. Uh,

142
00:07:06,400 --> 00:07:09,520
cut this. It's very often cut this

143
00:07:09,520 --> 00:07:13,039
because I love cutting my dialogue. Less

144
00:07:13,039 --> 00:07:16,080
less is more. Not in acting, but in

145
00:07:16,080 --> 00:07:21,120
dialogue I find less is more. Um,

146
00:07:21,120 --> 00:07:22,479
except then it's great to have a

147
00:07:22,479 --> 00:07:25,440
three-page speech, but in general, less

148
00:07:25,440 --> 00:07:27,440
is more. But I love that first read

149
00:07:27,440 --> 00:07:30,560
through. I love discovering the dialogue

150
00:07:30,560 --> 00:07:34,360
in my own mouth.

151
00:07:38,240 --> 00:07:40,880
Now we've done the read through and now

152
00:07:40,880 --> 00:07:43,680
uh, you know, we start I'm starting

153
00:07:43,680 --> 00:07:48,080
shooting next week. So, at that point,

154
00:07:48,080 --> 00:07:50,319
now I know what the story is. I've got

155
00:07:50,319 --> 00:07:54,639
an idea of who's who. Um,

156
00:07:54,639 --> 00:07:59,440
now what I do, I do this. I do this.

157
00:07:59,440 --> 00:08:02,840
Sorry, props.

158
00:08:03,199 --> 00:08:05,599
I deconstruct it. Literally, I

159
00:08:05,599 --> 00:08:08,400
deconstruct it. I ask for two scripts or

160
00:08:08,400 --> 00:08:11,599
maybe three scripts.

161
00:08:11,599 --> 00:08:13,520
I take the whole thing apart. No, four

162
00:08:13,520 --> 00:08:16,160
scripts, actually. Um, I take and I take

163
00:08:16,160 --> 00:08:19,440
all of my scenes out and then I I just

164
00:08:19,440 --> 00:08:22,000
concentrate. I I'll have one total

165
00:08:22,000 --> 00:08:24,960
script so I can constantly refer to

166
00:08:24,960 --> 00:08:28,560
where I am and where the story is. Um,

167
00:08:28,560 --> 00:08:31,360
but I'll take my scenes out. I'll put

168
00:08:31,360 --> 00:08:32,880
them in an envelope and then I'll put on

169
00:08:32,880 --> 00:08:34,719
the envelope the day that we shoot it

170
00:08:34,719 --> 00:08:36,800
and then I'll have a whole week's work.

171
00:08:36,800 --> 00:08:39,279
So, I will literally I will now work

172
00:08:39,279 --> 00:08:41,039
week to week to week. I don't know how

173
00:08:41,039 --> 00:08:43,440
other actors do it, but that's how I do

174
00:08:43,440 --> 00:08:45,760
it. Um,

175
00:08:45,760 --> 00:08:48,080
when I was first um, asked to do Prime

176
00:08:48,080 --> 00:08:51,600
Suspect, I'd never I'd never Well, apart

177
00:08:51,600 --> 00:08:53,839
from Cousin Bet, I guess, but somehow

178
00:08:53,839 --> 00:08:56,399
the scripts arrived in a more manageable

179
00:08:56,399 --> 00:09:00,160
form. I was given 4 hours of material

180
00:09:00,160 --> 00:09:02,720
that was all to be shot, you know, over

181
00:09:02,720 --> 00:09:05,839
two months or something.

182
00:09:05,839 --> 00:09:08,240
And it was so intimidating, you know,

183
00:09:08,240 --> 00:09:11,519
procedural drama and just oh my god, I

184
00:09:11,519 --> 00:09:14,560
was absolutely overwhelmed by it. And I

185
00:09:14,560 --> 00:09:16,640
found my what I did was rather like the

186
00:09:16,640 --> 00:09:18,720
police do actually, funny enough, I just

187
00:09:18,720 --> 00:09:22,399
pinned it up all around my room,

188
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my hotel room, so I could h I could see,

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stand and have a sense of where I was,

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where the story was, what happened

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where. So that was how I handled um

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prime suspect. But then I learned that

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especially over these sort of more long

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form things or even with a script I do

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it just deconstruct it. You need two or

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three scripts because often the the

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scene overlaps. It's really annoying

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when they printed on both sides of the

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page. That's kind of annoying. But um

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anyway, I deconstructed obviously

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underline my lines as we all do. Um,

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so I don't have to I don't have to hold

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the whole film or the whole series,

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whatever it is, in my mind. All I need

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to concentrate on is next the

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the the the next week's work. So I'm

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always one week ahead of myself. So,

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that's kind of how I I personally break

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down a script.

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I'm often asked why do young actors have

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to be interested in Shakespeare?

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Young actors don't have to be interested

4
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in Shakespeare unless unless it gets

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them by the throat.

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It is he is recognized as the greatest

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playwright in the history of playwriting

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basically and the miracle is that he

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wrote in English. So us in America, us

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in Britain, it's our it's our natural

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language. We we are so lucky that that

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is the case because we can understand

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the subtleties and the colors and the

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the extraordinary layers of meaning in

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one line. We can understand um and and

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so we're very privileged in that way. Um

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Shakespeare is a great

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training ground because it's so

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difficult. It's much harder than

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anything else you'll ever do to try and

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find a way of speaking very heightened

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poetry in a naturalistic way is very

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very difficult. Let alone shouting it in

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a big theater. It's like the worst. Um

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so it, you know, it's profoundly

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challenging.

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But the other great thing about

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Shakespeare is that you can you can play

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those scenes, those lines

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every night for you know six months and

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almost every night you will find a

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different meaning in those lines and

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possibly even a different way of saying

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it. And that was what I had the

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privilege of watching some of the great

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Shakespearean actors um do that. And

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hopefully my certainly my ambition was

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to become one of those myself. Um was to

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see how they could on a nightly basis

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nightly basis slightly modulate the line

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because they were because they were

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inhabiting it with a different thought

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each time.

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And maybe that's where Shakespeare is

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also very valuable is you have to think

46
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in Shakespeare. You have to think

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because the thought is so profound and

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complex. You can't just blah it out. You

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know, you have to think as you're saying

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it and you have to truly engage and live

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it. You have to live it. And in the end,

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that's where our art

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um resides, isn't it? It's in living the

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moment. And we all talk about that

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moment and and how difficult it is and

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how almost impossible it is and how once

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in a while you get there and it's a

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miracle when you do. But living in that

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moment and and uh

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Shakespeare

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at its best when it's done to the best

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um that's how it is.

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I thought by uh to work

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we could work on a on a little piece of

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uh of Shakespeare.

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Um

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a famous speech.

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I'm sorry. I'm going to take this

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sticker off. Um which is the quality of

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mercy is not strained.

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Don't think I've ever played Porsche. I

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can't remember. I played um Narissa, but

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00:03:57,360 --> 00:03:58,879
I don't think I've ever played Porsche.

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I would have loved to have played

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Porsche. So, I don't know the speech

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00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:04,159
sort of off by heart, except for how

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sort of famous it is, but the first

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thing by far obviously is just to read

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through the words

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and unpick the meaning. The quality of

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mercy is not strained. What does that

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mean, strained?

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I guess that means you and you find your

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own meaning and sometimes what the you

85
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know the literal meaning is is one thing

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but I think with Shakespeare you're

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allowed to find your own meaning it must

88
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have a meaning for you not no meaning

89
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but I think you're allowed to find your

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own meaning because then then the then

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the line lives for you

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and as an actor that's the most

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important thing the line has to live for

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you nobody else.

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So the quality of mercy is not strained.

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In other words, it's not sin. It's not

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It should be generous. I think that's

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what that means.

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It dropth as a gentle rain from heaven.

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We That's very clear what that means.

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But gentle rain. It's not a pouring

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rain. It's just one of those gentle

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rains.

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Very soft upon the place beneath. It

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dropth as the gentle rain from heaven

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upon the place beneath. What a

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beautifully simple line that is. It just

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drops onto the ground below.

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Now it starts but it is there's no butt

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in there incidentally. It's me putting

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the butt in. It is twice blessed.

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It blesseth him that gives and him that

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takes.

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That's what a beautiful idea that is.

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You're blessed twice by mercy. Of

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course, the person who receives the

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mercy is blessed, but the person who

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gives it is just as blessed. And that's

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very true, isn't it, about life, about

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generosity, about kindness.

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The mightiest is mightiest in the

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mightiest. And that beautiful use of

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those two words mightiest

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it is

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mercy

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is

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becomes more and more important the

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higher you up you are in power. It is

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mightiest in the mightiest.

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It becomes the throne monarch better

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than his crown.

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That's very clear what that means. His

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scepter shows the force of temporal

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power.

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Temporal obviously meaning earthly

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power. And his scepter is the image of

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that, the force of temporal power, the

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attribute to awe and majesty.

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Wherein do sit the dread and fear of

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kings.

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So she's brought in the idea of mercy.

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Now she goes to sort of describe really

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what it is to be a monarch.

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His scepter shows the force of temporal

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power, the attribute to awe and majesty

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wherein doth sit the dread and fear of

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kings. So she's setting up this huge the

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mightiest of the mightiest the hugely

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powerful king.

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But mercy,

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mercy is above this sceptered sway. In

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other words, mercy is more powerful than

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the most powerful king. Mercy is above

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this septtered sway. And the way of

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describing what majesty is, what

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political power, whatever septed sway

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and the and the use of those two s's

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there. It's another thing Shakespeare

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you must always be conscious of. You

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know, he very often uses words with the

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same constinent to give it a poetic lift

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or a or or a or a particular feeling.

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It is enthroned in the hearts of kings.

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And there she uses she he Shakespeare

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uses the word enthroned bringing in this

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whole concept again of majesty of

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thrones

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but in in this case talking it uh using

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it as an image that mercy is enthroned

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in the hearts of kings. It is an

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attribute to God himself.

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And earthly power doth then show like li

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like God's excuse me because I don't

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know the speech then earthly power and

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sorry and and earthly power do then show

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likes gods when mercy seasons justice.

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In other words,

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well, basically what it says, which is

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earthly power, the power of kings and

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and and and and

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presidents,

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um

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is the most like God's power is most

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godlike when it shows itself to be

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merciful.

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Therefore, Jew,

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though justice be thy plea, consider

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this

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that in the course of justice, none of

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us should see salvation.

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Think about this,

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merchant of Venice. You are asking for

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justice. But think about this that

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really if we were all before

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the ultimate court of justice,

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none of us, we are. In other words,

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we're all guilty. We're all guilty in

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one way or another.

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We do pray for mercy. And that same

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mercy doth teach us all to render the

201
00:09:54,160 --> 00:09:56,800
deeds of mercy.

202
00:09:56,800 --> 00:09:59,440
So because we're asking for mercy for

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ourselves, that very fact should teach

204
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us how to be merciful to others. We're

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00:10:05,040 --> 00:10:07,279
asking for mercy for ourselves, so why

206
00:10:07,279 --> 00:10:10,640
not be merciful to others?

207
00:10:10,640 --> 00:10:13,920
I have spoke thus much to mitigate the

208
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justice of thy plea, which if thou

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follow this strict court of Venice, must

210
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needs give sentence against the merchant

211
00:10:22,160 --> 00:10:24,160
here.

212
00:10:24,160 --> 00:10:26,079
Now I have to work out what this means.

213
00:10:26,079 --> 00:10:30,560
I have spoke thus much

214
00:10:30,560 --> 00:10:33,200
to mitigate the subj justice of thy

215
00:10:33,200 --> 00:10:36,560
plea. I'm I'm asking you to moderate the

216
00:10:36,560 --> 00:10:40,240
justice of your plea

217
00:10:40,240 --> 00:10:43,600
which if you follow your plea to its to

218
00:10:43,600 --> 00:10:47,360
its to its you know legal ends

219
00:10:47,360 --> 00:10:50,160
this court must give sentence against

220
00:10:50,160 --> 00:10:52,720
the Jew. In other words, you I'm not

221
00:10:52,720 --> 00:10:56,959
saying your your um case is wrong, your

222
00:10:56,959 --> 00:11:00,720
case is correct, but why not think about

223
00:11:00,720 --> 00:11:03,440
mercy? So, in other words, it's a

224
00:11:03,440 --> 00:11:05,519
beautiful

225
00:11:05,519 --> 00:11:07,360
little

226
00:11:07,360 --> 00:11:12,880
uh riff on on mercy.

227
00:11:12,880 --> 00:11:15,360
Anyway, so you know that that's the sort

228
00:11:15,360 --> 00:11:18,160
of I I find with Shakespeare this is

229
00:11:18,160 --> 00:11:19,600
quite a simple speech. It's not like

230
00:11:19,600 --> 00:11:21,600
some of Prospero's speeches which is so

231
00:11:21,600 --> 00:11:25,519
complicated but um it's fairly simple

232
00:11:25,519 --> 00:11:29,440
but it it really helps to to um to put

233
00:11:29,440 --> 00:11:31,519
the words into into you know into your

234
00:11:31,519 --> 00:11:34,000
own vernacular as you break down the

235
00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:35,600
speech. Put the words into your own

236
00:11:35,600 --> 00:11:38,480
vernacular. So at least you have an

237
00:11:38,480 --> 00:11:41,920
understanding of what it means for you

238
00:11:41,920 --> 00:11:44,079
and then you can go back to the text and

239
00:11:44,079 --> 00:11:46,800
then you can start seeing where you

240
00:11:46,800 --> 00:11:49,760
breathe which is very important.

241
00:11:49,760 --> 00:11:52,399
uh seeing where the the line has must

242
00:11:52,399 --> 00:11:55,440
carry on, mustn't stop. It's a funny

243
00:11:55,440 --> 00:11:58,399
thing about Shakespeare is that

244
00:11:58,399 --> 00:12:00,240
Australians always sound really good at

245
00:12:00,240 --> 00:12:02,320
Shakespeare

246
00:12:02,320 --> 00:12:04,800
because they always go up at the ends of

247
00:12:04,800 --> 00:12:08,000
their lines. The quality of mercy is not

248
00:12:08,000 --> 00:12:10,399
strained. It dropth at the It dropth as

249
00:12:10,399 --> 00:12:12,399
a gentle rain from heaven upon the place

250
00:12:12,399 --> 00:12:14,959
beneath. It is twice blessed. It blesses

251
00:12:14,959 --> 00:12:17,200
him that gives and him that takes. It is

252
00:12:17,200 --> 00:12:19,360
mightiest in the mightiest it becomes

253
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the throne monarch much better than his

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crown. So the fact that Australians

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naturally go up at the ends of lines is

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00:12:26,720 --> 00:12:28,720
very good for Shakespeare. So think

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Australian when you do Shakespeare. Um

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because what you don't want to do is the

259
00:12:34,399 --> 00:12:36,959
quality of mercy is not strained. It

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00:12:36,959 --> 00:12:39,519
dropth as a gentle rain from heaven upon

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the place beneath. It is twice blessed.

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It bleth him that gives and him that

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00:12:44,399 --> 00:12:46,560
takes. In other words, you don't you

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00:12:46,560 --> 00:12:49,519
absolutely have to fight this thing of

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00:12:49,519 --> 00:12:53,279
going down at the ends of the lines. Um,

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and the Australian thing of lifting the

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00:12:55,600 --> 00:12:57,600
end of the line sounds like you're going

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00:12:57,600 --> 00:13:00,720
on to the next line and on and on. And

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00:13:00,720 --> 00:13:02,880
that's what you want to sound like in

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Shakespeare.

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So, the quality of mercy is not

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strained. It dropth as a gentle rain

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from heaven upon the place beneath.

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You got to find the breath for that.

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It is twice blessed. And there there's a

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00:13:19,760 --> 00:13:22,079
there's a it's it's not a full stop, but

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there's a semicolon there. And and in

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Shakespeare, it it it's good to pay

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attention to the grammatical these

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grammatical points. It blesseth him that

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gives and him that takes. Full stop. So

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you can stop there. It is mightiest. In

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other words, new new thought. It is

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mightiest in the mightiest. It becomes

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the throne monarch better than his

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crown.

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And this is probably where you need

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sometimes in Shakespeare you have really

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00:13:51,120 --> 00:13:53,760
have to find a lot of breath because you

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the thought is going to carry through

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00:13:56,000 --> 00:13:57,839
and it's going to be complicated thought

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00:13:57,839 --> 00:13:59,839
that will begin with one thought go on

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00:13:59,839 --> 00:14:01,760
to another and then come back to the

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00:14:01,760 --> 00:14:04,079
original thought and finish off. So you

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00:14:04,079 --> 00:14:05,760
have to have the breath to carry that

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00:14:05,760 --> 00:14:07,920
through or you have to find a moment

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where you can breathe very quickly and

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00:14:09,839 --> 00:14:13,360
then allow it to carry on.

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Um,

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his scepter shows the force of temporal

301
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power, the attribute to awe and majesty,

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00:14:20,320 --> 00:14:22,480
wherein doth sit the dread and fear of

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00:14:22,480 --> 00:14:24,240
kings.

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But mercy is above this septter sway. It

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00:14:28,880 --> 00:14:31,519
is enthroned in the hearts of kings. So

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anyway, that's a little understanding

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00:14:34,480 --> 00:14:36,639
of

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00:14:36,639 --> 00:14:39,360
the very beginnings of how to look at a

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Shakespearean speech. Um,

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00:14:43,920 --> 00:14:45,600
again,

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00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:49,279
pay attention to the words, but also pay

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00:14:49,279 --> 00:14:51,920
attention to the meaning and really

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00:14:51,920 --> 00:14:54,720
fight to get the meaning out and find

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00:14:54,720 --> 00:14:58,399
the right places to, you know, to to

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00:14:58,399 --> 00:15:00,320
what's the word to emphasize, you know,

316
00:15:00,320 --> 00:15:01,839
that there's a famous, you know, thing

317
00:15:01,839 --> 00:15:04,480
about to be or not to be. That is the

318
00:15:04,480 --> 00:15:09,040
question. To be or not to be,

319
00:15:09,040 --> 00:15:11,839
that is the question.

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00:15:11,839 --> 00:15:14,399
To be or not to be,

321
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that is the question.

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To be or not to be, that is the

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question. Whether it is noble, I mean

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00:15:22,800 --> 00:15:25,519
there's like a million a million ways to

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00:15:25,519 --> 00:15:29,360
play any single um Shakespearean line.

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00:15:29,360 --> 00:15:33,760
Uh, and if you are playing Shakespeare

327
00:15:33,760 --> 00:15:35,839
in a show where you play it every night,

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you have the incredible

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00:15:38,800 --> 00:15:44,160
material to explore and re-examine and

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00:15:44,160 --> 00:15:46,240
reinvent

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00:15:46,240 --> 00:15:49,600
and reinterpret every night. And not m

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00:15:49,600 --> 00:15:51,440
not not m not not much writing is like

333
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that.

1
00:00:13,120 --> 00:00:15,440
I loved the character of Caliban in The

2
00:00:15,440 --> 00:00:20,320
Tempest because the the idea of this

3
00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:22,640
earthbound

4
00:00:22,640 --> 00:00:25,439
um repressed

5
00:00:25,439 --> 00:00:28,480
creature but who somehow knew that there

6
00:00:28,480 --> 00:00:30,720
was something more beautiful in the

7
00:00:30,720 --> 00:00:33,520
world out there that he was kind of

8
00:00:33,520 --> 00:00:36,880
reaching for but couldn't quite grasp

9
00:00:36,880 --> 00:00:38,399
but he knew that it was there. I don't

10
00:00:38,399 --> 00:00:40,879
know. It was to me it was a very poetic

11
00:00:40,879 --> 00:00:44,399
character. Allow yourself these feelings

12
00:00:44,399 --> 00:00:45,920
of

13
00:00:45,920 --> 00:00:47,840
um

14
00:00:47,840 --> 00:00:52,399
these feelings of hope and uh reach like

15
00:00:52,399 --> 00:00:55,039
caliban allow yourselves to be caliban.

16
00:00:55,039 --> 00:00:57,680
Actually we are actually all caliban in

17
00:00:57,680 --> 00:01:00,160
the sense that we are creatures of this

18
00:01:00,160 --> 00:01:03,359
earth sort of struggling in this earthly

19
00:01:03,359 --> 00:01:10,080
way but we know that there is a this

20
00:01:10,080 --> 00:01:12,320
extraordinary world of imagination of

21
00:01:12,320 --> 00:01:16,560
poetry of invention of inspiration out

22
00:01:16,560 --> 00:01:19,759
there and we are all kind of grasping

23
00:01:19,759 --> 00:01:21,600
and

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00:01:21,600 --> 00:01:24,560
grasping towards it and and actors above

25
00:01:24,560 --> 00:01:27,920
all painters. And one of my great

26
00:01:27,920 --> 00:01:29,520
inspirations, as I would talk later on,

27
00:01:29,520 --> 00:01:32,880
is Francis Bacon, one of the great

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articuls of this incredible desire for

29
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something

30
00:01:38,400 --> 00:01:40,479
that is just out of our reach, but we're

31
00:01:40,479 --> 00:01:43,200
constantly reaching for. And and this to

32
00:01:43,200 --> 00:01:46,799
me is the essence of what an actor is.

33
00:01:46,799 --> 00:01:51,840
Is that yearning for the unknown,

34
00:01:51,840 --> 00:01:54,799
a yearning to

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uh

36
00:01:56,399 --> 00:01:58,320
to

37
00:01:58,320 --> 00:02:01,520
show that

38
00:02:01,520 --> 00:02:04,479
to show that other world of imagination

39
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and inspiration to the audience and

40
00:02:06,880 --> 00:02:09,440
allow the audience to participate in

41
00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:13,120
that. That was my my understandings of

42
00:02:13,120 --> 00:02:17,520
what theater was to me. For me, um I

43
00:02:17,520 --> 00:02:21,280
think maybe from this early

44
00:02:21,280 --> 00:02:23,200
um

45
00:02:23,200 --> 00:02:26,560
imaginative journey into Caliban

46
00:02:26,560 --> 00:02:28,560
and this character who was reaching for

47
00:02:28,560 --> 00:02:32,239
something that was unknown, but somehow

48
00:02:32,239 --> 00:02:35,040
he had a he has a sense of it being out

49
00:02:35,040 --> 00:02:37,920
there, but he can't quite articulate it.

50
00:02:37,920 --> 00:02:41,440
I think I carried that through into my

51
00:02:41,440 --> 00:02:45,400
attitude towards acting.

52
00:02:49,040 --> 00:02:51,040
A very good direct Shakespearean

53
00:02:51,040 --> 00:02:55,760
director taught me this. never use the

54
00:02:55,760 --> 00:02:58,319
that I don't know if it's flat or sharp

55
00:02:58,319 --> 00:03:01,440
cuz I'm not musical but that tone that's

56
00:03:01,440 --> 00:03:04,400
kind of like that which is kind of

57
00:03:04,400 --> 00:03:06,400
poetic but it's actually kind of

58
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wishy-washy and terrible because it's

59
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not actually how anybody talks like that

60
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and um use a you know use the positive

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tones

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absolutely

63
00:03:19,040 --> 00:03:22,400
the direct notes I guess it's notes

64
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Don't use the flat or the sharp notes.

65
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Use the absolute the notes right down

66
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the middle. Um that's also an important

67
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thing with Shakespeare. Um

68
00:03:32,879 --> 00:03:34,799
you don't have to sing it. You never

69
00:03:34,799 --> 00:03:36,879
sing Shakespeare.

70
00:03:36,879 --> 00:03:40,640
Speak it. Um but

71
00:03:40,640 --> 00:03:44,799
speak it with with thought, I guess.

72
00:03:44,799 --> 00:03:48,040
With thought.

73
00:03:52,640 --> 00:03:55,680
you know the I've done two Shakespeare's

74
00:03:55,680 --> 00:03:57,760
on film. I've done many many many

75
00:03:57,760 --> 00:04:01,680
Shakespearees in in the theater. Um but

76
00:04:01,680 --> 00:04:05,040
I've only done two on film. Midsummer

77
00:04:05,040 --> 00:04:07,840
Night's Dream a long long time ago and

78
00:04:07,840 --> 00:04:11,680
then um and then Prosper in the Tempest

79
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with the wonderful Julie Tam directing.

80
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Um

81
00:04:16,799 --> 00:04:20,079
of course there Again,

82
00:04:20,079 --> 00:04:24,000
the material is the same, the impetus as

83
00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:26,800
an actor is the same, but on film, you

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00:04:26,800 --> 00:04:28,720
do have that wonderful wonderful

85
00:04:28,720 --> 00:04:30,639
advantage of not having to shout, not

86
00:04:30,639 --> 00:04:34,000
having to project. Although projection

87
00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:37,280
can be a a fabulous tool in acting and

88
00:04:37,280 --> 00:04:39,360
it's not to be rejected because some

89
00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:41,600
there's something about a full voice, a

90
00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:45,199
full vocalized performance that is, you

91
00:04:45,199 --> 00:04:47,840
know, can be quite thrilling and

92
00:04:47,840 --> 00:04:53,600
sometimes I do have take issue with the

93
00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:56,080
really severely undervocalized

94
00:04:56,080 --> 00:04:57,600
performances.

95
00:04:57,600 --> 00:05:01,919
I don't mind people being quiet

96
00:05:01,919 --> 00:05:03,680
as long as there's an intensity in

97
00:05:03,680 --> 00:05:06,400
there. But when it's just just quiet,

98
00:05:06,400 --> 00:05:08,080
it's just whispering or mumbling and you

99
00:05:08,080 --> 00:05:10,400
can't re you really can't understand

100
00:05:10,400 --> 00:05:12,880
what people are saying or or it's so

101
00:05:12,880 --> 00:05:15,039
undervocalized, you know, you lose

102
00:05:15,039 --> 00:05:18,759
interest really. Basically,

103
00:05:22,639 --> 00:05:25,280
there is a just

104
00:05:25,280 --> 00:05:29,360
probably my most favorite speech in um

105
00:05:29,360 --> 00:05:32,320
in Shakespeare, which is the

106
00:05:32,320 --> 00:05:36,720
extraordinary speech by Prospero

107
00:05:36,720 --> 00:05:39,759
um which is known by Shakespearean

108
00:05:39,759 --> 00:05:43,039
people as our rebels now are ended or

109
00:05:43,039 --> 00:05:46,080
sometimes just known as our rebels.

110
00:05:46,080 --> 00:05:48,560
people know what you're talking about.

111
00:05:48,560 --> 00:05:51,800
But anyway,

112
00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:54,479
this was a speech that was wonderful to

113
00:05:54,479 --> 00:05:57,039
be able to do quietly

114
00:05:57,039 --> 00:05:59,199
because if you'd if I'd had to shout it

115
00:05:59,199 --> 00:06:01,280
on the stage, it just would have had a

116
00:06:01,280 --> 00:06:04,560
whole different feeling, not just for

117
00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:08,160
the piece, but for me myself, for my

118
00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:11,280
personal interaction with the speech.

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00:06:11,280 --> 00:06:13,840
And

120
00:06:13,840 --> 00:06:16,800
that's the great

121
00:06:16,800 --> 00:06:18,720
um advantage, that's not the right word,

122
00:06:18,720 --> 00:06:20,960
the great quality that Shakespeare has

123
00:06:20,960 --> 00:06:24,479
is you have a personal interaction with

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00:06:24,479 --> 00:06:26,800
these words

125
00:06:26,800 --> 00:06:30,720
in a way that you don't have with um you

126
00:06:30,720 --> 00:06:33,520
know even with a a great character or

127
00:06:33,520 --> 00:06:37,600
role as you know Sophia Toltoy or or um

128
00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:39,759
or the Queen or any of the sort of you

129
00:06:39,759 --> 00:06:41,039
know wonderful

130
00:06:41,039 --> 00:06:44,560
roles I've had the advantage to play.

131
00:06:44,560 --> 00:06:47,840
But there you are with those roles,

132
00:06:47,840 --> 00:06:50,319
you're telling the story, you're

133
00:06:50,319 --> 00:06:52,800
servicing the role, you're experiencing

134
00:06:52,800 --> 00:06:56,240
the role. With Shakespeare, there's a

135
00:06:56,240 --> 00:06:58,639
further element that's coming into it,

136
00:06:58,639 --> 00:07:01,440
which is your personal

137
00:07:01,440 --> 00:07:04,240
your personal relationship with what's

138
00:07:04,240 --> 00:07:07,280
being said here. your personal deep

139
00:07:07,280 --> 00:07:08,960
understanding

140
00:07:08,960 --> 00:07:11,360
of these words.

141
00:07:11,360 --> 00:07:12,800
And of course then the audience are

142
00:07:12,800 --> 00:07:15,360
having their own personal reaction,

143
00:07:15,360 --> 00:07:17,440
their own personal journey through

144
00:07:17,440 --> 00:07:19,520
listening to these words. And and I

145
00:07:19,520 --> 00:07:22,240
think this this speech in particular

146
00:07:22,240 --> 00:07:26,720
sort of can express that

147
00:07:26,720 --> 00:07:30,160
it goes our rebels now are ended.

148
00:07:30,160 --> 00:07:32,160
It's it's sorry it's it's at the end of

149
00:07:32,160 --> 00:07:35,120
a sort of she the wizard Prospero the

150
00:07:35,120 --> 00:07:38,800
the the witch play Prosper has has

151
00:07:38,800 --> 00:07:41,520
created out of nothing this amazing

152
00:07:41,520 --> 00:07:45,360
pageant of of fairies and incredible

153
00:07:45,360 --> 00:07:47,599
things in the air and spirits have come

154
00:07:47,599 --> 00:07:50,240
in and singing and and this sort of inc

155
00:07:50,240 --> 00:07:53,599
amazing sort of fantastical pageant has

156
00:07:53,599 --> 00:07:57,199
been created just out of nothing. Um,

157
00:07:57,199 --> 00:08:00,720
and now she's said, "Off with you. We've

158
00:08:00,720 --> 00:08:02,560
got to get down to business now. We got

159
00:08:02,560 --> 00:08:04,479
to get serious."

160
00:08:04,479 --> 00:08:08,240
Um, so she's told the spirits to go

161
00:08:08,240 --> 00:08:09,759
away.

162
00:08:09,759 --> 00:08:13,599
She says, "Our rebels now are ended.

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00:08:13,599 --> 00:08:16,160
These our actors,

164
00:08:16,160 --> 00:08:20,720
as I foretold you, were all spirits

165
00:08:20,720 --> 00:08:23,599
and are melted into air,

166
00:08:23,599 --> 00:08:27,039
into thin air.

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00:08:27,039 --> 00:08:30,560
And like the baseless fabric of this

168
00:08:30,560 --> 00:08:34,240
vision, the cloudcap towers, the

169
00:08:34,240 --> 00:08:37,760
gorgeous palaces, the solemn temples,

170
00:08:37,760 --> 00:08:41,519
the great globe itself, yay, all which

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00:08:41,519 --> 00:08:43,599
it inherit

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shall dissolve,

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00:08:46,560 --> 00:08:49,839
and like this insubstantial pageant

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faded,

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00:08:52,080 --> 00:08:56,240
leave not a rack behind,

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00:08:56,240 --> 00:09:00,399
We are such stuff as dreams are made on

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and our little life is rounded with a

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sleep.

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I mean what an unbelievable

180
00:09:13,360 --> 00:09:16,640
always gets me this speech.

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00:09:16,640 --> 00:09:19,040
What an unbelievable

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00:09:19,040 --> 00:09:22,480
expression of the whole of human life.

183
00:09:22,480 --> 00:09:24,640
The whole of human life is there, isn't

184
00:09:24,640 --> 00:09:27,440
it? And the end of it. And the fact that

185
00:09:27,440 --> 00:09:30,160
we all die and it will all come to an

186
00:09:30,160 --> 00:09:34,080
end. And we will disappear like this as

187
00:09:34,080 --> 00:09:36,160
others take our place, but we will be

188
00:09:36,160 --> 00:09:39,160
gone.

189
00:09:39,680 --> 00:09:41,760
The baseless fabric and like the

190
00:09:41,760 --> 00:09:44,000
baseless fabric of this vision. In other

191
00:09:44,000 --> 00:09:46,720
words, this fantasy that I've just put

192
00:09:46,720 --> 00:09:48,959
up here, this ridiculous, you know,

193
00:09:48,959 --> 00:09:52,800
Transformers in the Sky or, you know,

194
00:09:52,800 --> 00:09:54,480
War of the World or one of those

195
00:09:54,480 --> 00:09:56,160
fantastical,

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00:09:56,160 --> 00:09:59,360
you know, um, digitally fexy type of

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movies

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like this silliness up here, this

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fantasy,

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it will all

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and then she and then he Shakespeare

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makes the relation between this this

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fantasy and our world, the cloud cap

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towers. What an amazing phrase that is

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in Shakespeare's days when they didn't

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have hugely high-rise buildings with

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clouds on the top. But he understood

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that concept, the huge edififices that

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human beings build, the gorgeous palaces

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is incredible. you know the Hermitage

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Lou you know these amazing the palaces

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of the you know uh Silicon Valleys

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palaces with their amazing marble

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granite top kitchens and all the rest of

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it the solemn temples the whole of

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religious life all of the temples he

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doesn't say which temples can be

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Buddhist can be Christian can be Jewish

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can be Muslim the solemn temples

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in fact the great globe itself.

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And then he goes even further than that.

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Yay. All which it inherit

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everything that comes after this great

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globe of unbelievable human endeavor and

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human success and and and and

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human achievement on this great planet.

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And more than that, everything that

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comes after

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it will all go

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shall dissolve.

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And like and like this silly pageant,

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this silly digital move effects movie

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we've just watched, leave not a rack

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behind.

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Nothing will be left.

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We are we are such stuff as dreams are

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made on and our little life. Our little

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life. He's just talked about cloudcap

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towers and gorgeous palaces and and

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solemn temples and then he calls it our

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little life. It's nothing. It's just

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this little moment on earth

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is rounded with not with death, not with

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anything as grand as death, with asleep.

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We just go to sleep. it's over. You

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know, you can't you can't say a speech

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like that without it

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profoundly affecting you. You just

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can't.

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And to get back to what we were talking

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about originally, to be able to say that

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the way I've just said it to you um in a

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simple way um is wonderful. It's not

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It's so for me um it's so much um better

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to better for me to be able to say it

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than sort of shouted in a in a theater.

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It's not to say it couldn't be. It's as

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beautiful a piece of writing in a

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theater projected, but to have that

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personal relationship with it, for those

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understandings, that understanding that

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is is buried in in the speech, for it to

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really land in you deeply in you,

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um, is a wonderful thing.

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So, give yourselves a treat. Go and get

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a book of Shakespeare and just find a

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speech and read it to yourself. Just

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read it quietly to yourself. Enjoy the

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language.

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Don't even think about acting. It's

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nothing to do with acting. It's to do

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with engaging.

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And acting at his best actually is to do

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with engaging. That's exactly what it

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is.

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I find if I'm playing just a you know uh

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death playing death in collateral beauty

3
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that was like where do I start with that

4
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I know I don't want to wear black that's

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that's first one I'm not going to carry

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a drive and I don't want a hood. Uh

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where do I go from there? So, you know,

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it was very very difficult to find the

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image that that I felt and the kind of

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character that was right for that role.

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On the page, it was pretty open-ended.

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You could sort of go almost in any

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direction. Um and luckily I was in New

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York at the time and New York is just so

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full of extraordinary, wonderful

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characters. Um, and I love just sitting

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on a bus

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and I take the subway because I want to

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see people. I want to see them. I want

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to be amongst them. Um, looking, you

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know, just watching people real a mantra

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of mine is real life is always more more

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interesting than anything we can invent.

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Always. If you walked out of wherever

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you are watching this into the road and

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stop the first person you see on the

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street and ask them about their

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background and their family and and and

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incredible stories will come out,

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incredible stories. And then you will

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also then start noticing things about

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what they're wearing and who they are

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and the way they speak. And so there

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every the the world is full of of

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characters, you know, um

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and and part of our job as actors is is

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to reflect the world around us. That's

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what we do. Human beings have an

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extraordinary constant fascination

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with themselves and how they belong in

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this world and how they um negotiate

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this world and and how they negotiate

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their own brains and their own emotions

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and uh so we're fascinated with

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ourselves. We paint ourselves. We write

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about ourselves

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and we act ourselves and and I think

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it's fascinating that actors

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because actors are profoundly mocked,

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you know, by the media and so forth. Um,

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in England we're called loveies, you

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know, it enrages me that. Um,

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in fact, and and actors are thought of

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as narcissistic. In my experience,

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actors are the absolute opposite of

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narcissistic. A tiny tiny few of them

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are, but the vast majority are not. They

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are not narcissistic people. They are

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shy people. They are thoughtful people.

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They are vulnerable people.

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Um but they're not narcissistic. They're

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in it for something else.

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And

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the world wants what they're in it for.

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We want to be told stories. Of course,

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we want to be entertained. It's

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fantastic. Um but we also want to be

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told the more serious stories, the more

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profoundly reflective stories of of who

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we are, why we are. And those stories

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can be told fantastically or poetically

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or literally as in you know docu drama

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or in the wonderful um early um films

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Italian films of of Viscanti and and

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Deika and and Paselini. So there's there

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are so many ways but we are all in the

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process of telling the human story and

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um

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and that's why we are what we are.

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When you're starting out as an as an

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actor or an actress, uh, male or female,

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inevitably

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the roles that you're offered

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will be insubstantial,

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will not be enough for you to really,

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you know, strut your stuff, really

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engage, really make that journey that I

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know you want to make as an actor, which

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is the journey into your imagination.

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It's Boy on a bus. Is Boy on the bus

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interesting? Can I do something with Boy

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on the Bus? He's on the Greyhound bus.

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He's just he, you know, he's got three

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lines, you know. Can can I can I borrow

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your headphones? Think about that little

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tiny role and just pack it with as much

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information as you can. You know, where

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has he come from? Where is he going to?

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Um, you know, why does he need

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headphones? Maybe he's a little deaf.

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Um, you know, maybe he's just lost his

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incredibly expensive pair of headphones

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and it's incredibly important for him

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to, you know, just just try and pack it

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with as much as you can get into that

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little tiny role. It'll all come from

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your own imagination. Um, but do that.

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So, uh, now maybe you it's not boy on

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the bus anymore. It's, you know, it's

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Harold behind behind the Starbucks

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barista and he's got a name and it's

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Harold and Harold has a mom. Um, and you

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look at those two scenes, Harold behind

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the bar, Harold with his mom. And again,

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what how can I pack it with as much

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without twisting the lines or

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exaggerating anything, but pack it with

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as much. And if you have a great idea,

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do not be afraid of going to the

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director and giving him your idea. You

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know, I've got this idea that Harold the

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barista is really bad at making coffee

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and he's a real klutz and he just can't

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help dropping things. Whatever the idea

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is, just go and don't worry if your idea

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gets rejected. It probably will.

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Sometimes your idea is accepted and

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that's great. Um, but you know, don't be

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afraid of your ideas and don't be too

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precious with your ideas because anybody

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can have an idea. Sometimes people treat

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their ideas like this. I had this idea.

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Oh my god, it's an idea. It's so It's so

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fantastic to have an idea. It's not. You

135
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can have a million ideas. You can have

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30 ideas in 30 seconds. So don't be

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precious with your ideas but and allow

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them to come and allow them to be a part

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of your invention.

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I think if you're if you find yourself

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cast in something that is basically a

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fantasy in a way that's a wonderful

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thing because now you have an open you

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have a a an empty palette an empty uh

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canvas upon which to put your colors and

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you can now make this this character

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almost anything you like. Um, with

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Georgina for example in the Cook the

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Thief, this was a wonderful sort of

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visual

151
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fantasy unrealistic but but very

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emotional piece. Um, I was playing the

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the wife the girlfriend of an East End

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gangster. So East End. So now well she's

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East End. So uh she's obviously in a

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sedo masochistic relationship. why, what

157
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has brought her into that relationship,

158
00:08:03,039 --> 00:08:05,759
you know? Um, and now she's in that

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relationship. She's she's trapped. She's

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abused.

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She's um yearning to get out of it.

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Yearning for real love. So, you know,

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even though it's a fantasy situation,

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00:08:22,160 --> 00:08:27,840
you can find a lot of u subtext or or

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backstory or intention. And it's very

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00:08:31,440 --> 00:08:35,519
important to my mind to have those

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thoughts in your in your mind because

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that's that's what what will always

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bring you back

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00:08:42,320 --> 00:08:46,640
to the to the um you know the uh um the

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the the basis the the substructure of

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your performance. Um,

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you know, it's very important that

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that's solid. That sometimes you find in

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the theater as well that your

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performance is actually when it comes

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down to it is kind of on a sandy base,

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you know. Um, and the whole thing is

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kind of wobbling and nothing is quite

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00:09:13,600 --> 00:09:15,600
making sense.

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The way for any performance to make

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sense is for this base to be very solid.

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So the base is your backstory,

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is your,

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you know, your understanding of the

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psychology of the character. And once

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you've got that secure, then you can go

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in almost any direction with it. Because

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as we travel through life with our

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psychology, with our backstory, me from

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South End on Sea and my mom and my dad

192
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and my work with Peter Brookke and my

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schooling and my dreams, my desires, the

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me and and I travel through life now,

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you know, doing whatever I do. Your

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character must do exactly the same

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thing. It must have a foundation that is

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very really pretty deep and and it's

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better the more you know and understand

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that foundation.

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It's not on the screen and you never

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share it with anyone. Maybe your

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co-acctor usually the director knows

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nothing about that. He's not interested

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either incidentally but you know it. So

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that gives you the freedom then to

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invent, to improvise, to

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you know to act.

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I've always had my secret story, my

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secret story about a role in a film.

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And this secret story is the one that I

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keep I guard very closely to my heart

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and I don't share it with the director

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or my fellow actors or the um um you

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know or or the producer or the

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distributor or the marketing people. No

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one. It's my private personal story. And

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in many of my roles I love I love to

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find my secret message within that

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within that story. It's really within

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the story, not within the character,

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within the story. Because I I would say

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to you again, remember that we are

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telling a story.

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We're not,

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you know, indulging ourselves in

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emotional journeys. That's all about us

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and our ego. We are telling a story to

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the audience. That's that's why we don't

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do it on our own in our bathrooms.

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and and later on I'll get into the whole

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business of marketing because that

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actually is a very important part of

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that process. You know, we need

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audiences to watch what we do. But but

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anyway, you know, we are we are telling

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stories and see yourself, see the words

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you say, see the costume you wear, see

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your set, see the way you move.

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Everything must be about telling a

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story.

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There are these two very different ways

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of researching a role. um the literal

3
00:00:19,840 --> 00:00:23,279
research that you have to do um if it's

4
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a imaginative character like um

5
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Commander Powell in Eye in the Sky but

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nonetheless a character that you know

7
00:00:32,960 --> 00:00:35,760
comes from real life you know that's one

8
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kind of character you you research their

9
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background what kind of a woman this

10
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would be um and you do all of that

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research I guess in

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uh

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the other kind of research is a is a is

14
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a different thing and it's hard to

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articulate. I played a role in a film

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called Some Mother's Son which was about

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the hunger strikers in Northern Ireland

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at the time of of the troubles. It was

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an era that I knew quite well because

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I'd spent time in Ireland at that time.

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Um

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and I was playing the mother of a hunger

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striker.

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Um,

25
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and obviously there was a lot of literal

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research to be done in that in that film

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of what was the hunger strike, how many

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guys were on hunger strike, how long did

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it take them to die, you know, how did

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it all work? It was, you know, they

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would secrete little messages in their

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teeth and pass it to the IRA outside the

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prison and inside the prison, uh, which

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the m the mother would have to be aware

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of because she's visiting her son in

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prison. There was all of all of those

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sort of the um you know if you like the

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the the the literal research around the

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subject but then I was also thinking who

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who is this woman? Why who is this

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woman?

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She was innocent within the context of

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of the story. She wasn't an IRA

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operative. It takes her by surprise that

45
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her son is involved. Nonetheless, she's

46
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living in that world. So she, you know,

47
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she's aware of it.

48
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And I suddenly thought, you know, and

49
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this was where my, if you like, my

50
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poetic inspiration came from. Women have

51
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always been on the front lines in wars.

52
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Always. They're on the front lines

53
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without weapons. They're not al,

54
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especially when women weren't allowed in

55
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the in the military. And this whole

56
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idea, oh, it's the men on the front

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line. Women are always on the front line

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because they're the ones at in their

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homes looking after their children when

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the when the invading army comes.

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They're the ones who have the bombs

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dropped on their heads. They're the ones

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who have to survive and keep life going.

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And I suddenly thought about those women

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who

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war is happening all around them. They

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are not

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act um active in the theater of war but

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they are absolutely experiencing it and

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having to survive it. So if you like

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that was my if you like poetic

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um uh research

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when I did a film called Eye in the Sky.

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I I was playing a role originally

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written for a man. Um

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there are women in the military and

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they're very high up women in the

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military. So that wasn't a stretch. But

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obviously I've never been in the

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military. I'm just not a military kind

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of a person. Um so I had to learn uh the

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kind of woman this would have been. I I

83
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was very curious in who she would have

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been when she entered the military. very

85
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similar in a funny way to my research

86
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and my my um my uh work on finding the

87
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Jane Tennyson character. It was a

88
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question of going back to when they were

89
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in their teens and when at the time that

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I was making a decision to become an

91
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actress, these women were making one was

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making a decision to go into the police

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force and the other one was making a

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decision to go into the military. both

95
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of which were environments that were

96
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somewhat hostile to women in that era.

97
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So I wanted to think about and

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00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:31,040
investigate the kind of character who

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would know that fact and still go ahead

100
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with that career decision and then deal

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with whatever she had to deal with in

102
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the process that led her now to this

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point. in the case of Eye in the Sky, a

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commander

105
00:04:47,199 --> 00:04:50,720
uh with a great deal of authority. Um

106
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and and to do that, I didn't actually

107
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speak with women in the in the military,

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but I I spoke we had a military adviser

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and I asked him a lot of questions about

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the kind of woman this would be, you

111
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know. Um, but with Eye in the Sky, it

112
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had to go one step further in a sense in

113
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the sense that the the film makes this

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woman make a purely military

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uh decision that is not influenced by

116
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so-called, you know, womanly feelings.

117
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um which gave the film the director

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um Gavin Hood had a a really good

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perception that in making this character

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female it opened up the discussion for

121
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the audience about the morality of this

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decision. Whereas if it had been a man

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taking that decision, it would have been

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just an assumption. Oh, that's what men

125
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do when they're in the army. But making

126
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that into a woman suddenly made you

127
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aware of the moral issues, the the

128
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purely simple emotional human issues

129
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related to that decision. Um, and it

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exacerbated it um in making that

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character a woman.

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Um

133
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but my function in in my my job in the

134
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role was simply not to think about that

135
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but just to play the role as clearly and

136
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as and and as believably as possible.

137
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when I was in my I guess my early 40s um

138
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I was very very fortunate and being very

139
00:06:34,479 --> 00:06:37,120
fortunate I'm afraid is very much a part

140
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of your world as an actor and I was very

141
00:06:39,759 --> 00:06:42,240
fortunate and the role of Jane Tennyson

142
00:06:42,240 --> 00:06:45,919
in a TV series uh called Prime Suspect

143
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fell fell upon my desk

144
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um I looked it up she was in the last

145
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scene so I was going and she was in

146
00:06:54,800 --> 00:06:57,680
almost every scene so I thought Oh, this

147
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is interesting. Um, and then on top of

148
00:07:00,960 --> 00:07:04,560
that, um, it was a character

149
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not unlike any character one's ever

150
00:07:06,560 --> 00:07:09,520
seen, but but very very strong,

151
00:07:09,520 --> 00:07:13,759
wonderfully flawed and and and brave and

152
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courageous and bloody minded and

153
00:07:17,120 --> 00:07:20,400
determined and funny, you know. It was a

154
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wonderful wonderful role. And the first

155
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thing I had to do was cut my hair

156
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because

157
00:07:25,120 --> 00:07:28,880
uh I had long hair at the time, but um

158
00:07:28,880 --> 00:07:31,440
uh police women in general don't have

159
00:07:31,440 --> 00:07:33,440
long hair and it annoys me when I see

160
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women playing police women, especially

161
00:07:35,360 --> 00:07:37,680
out in the field with long hair. They

162
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don't have long hair because people can

163
00:07:39,199 --> 00:07:41,599
grab hold of their hair. So, and drag

164
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them. So, it's a very practical reason

165
00:07:43,520 --> 00:07:45,440
for which they don't have long hair. I

166
00:07:45,440 --> 00:07:48,000
had very little time to do proper

167
00:07:48,000 --> 00:07:50,800
research for that role. Um, I met the

168
00:07:50,800 --> 00:07:53,039
woman that the role was based on. She

169
00:07:53,039 --> 00:07:57,199
was she was much more um

170
00:07:57,199 --> 00:08:00,319
she was more than what's the word? I

171
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mean fierce and and uh antagonistic

172
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than the character was written. So I

173
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didn't base Jane Tennyson on the real

174
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person really apart from her literal

175
00:08:11,360 --> 00:08:14,160
circumstances. Um but I did meet with

176
00:08:14,160 --> 00:08:16,720
her as you must when you're playing this

177
00:08:16,720 --> 00:08:20,560
kind of role. um like the military

178
00:08:20,560 --> 00:08:22,639
commander or like the police officer. If

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you're entering into a world that you

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00:08:24,240 --> 00:08:26,960
know know nothing about, I think it's

181
00:08:26,960 --> 00:08:30,000
kind of essential to go and seek out

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people who are in that world and just

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ask them questions. By far the most

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valuable

185
00:08:37,279 --> 00:08:39,680
person that I spoke to in my little bit

186
00:08:39,680 --> 00:08:42,080
of research that I did was a police

187
00:08:42,080 --> 00:08:45,839
woman who was in charge of a of a um

188
00:08:45,839 --> 00:08:48,560
police station in in England. And she

189
00:08:48,560 --> 00:08:51,200
gave me a couple of real really good

190
00:08:51,200 --> 00:08:54,560
advice. And the one one was she said,

191
00:08:54,560 --> 00:08:57,200
and this is fascinating, body language,

192
00:08:57,200 --> 00:08:59,680
as you will know from being an actor how

193
00:08:59,680 --> 00:09:03,519
very important body language is. Um, she

194
00:09:03,519 --> 00:09:06,320
said, "Never fold your arms." And it was

195
00:09:06,320 --> 00:09:08,080
very funny because that morning I just

196
00:09:08,080 --> 00:09:09,839
had my costume fitting and there I was

197
00:09:09,839 --> 00:09:12,560
in my all my sort of, you know, policey

198
00:09:12,560 --> 00:09:14,399
sort of suits, you know, straight, you

199
00:09:14,399 --> 00:09:16,640
know, shirts and jackets and all very

200
00:09:16,640 --> 00:09:18,800
sort of policey. And um, and I've been

201
00:09:18,800 --> 00:09:20,080
looking myself in the mirror going,

202
00:09:20,080 --> 00:09:22,560
"Yeah, that looks good. That looks

203
00:09:22,560 --> 00:09:25,279
strong." You know, yeah, yeah, I like

204
00:09:25,279 --> 00:09:27,040
that.

205
00:09:27,040 --> 00:09:29,440
So anyway, then I go and visit with a

206
00:09:29,440 --> 00:09:32,160
police woman uh afterwards. Then that

207
00:09:32,160 --> 00:09:36,160
afternoon she says never fold your arms.

208
00:09:36,160 --> 00:09:38,640
I said oh really why she because she

209
00:09:38,640 --> 00:09:40,560
said think about it folding your arms

210
00:09:40,560 --> 00:09:43,519
actually is a defensive action. You know

211
00:09:43,519 --> 00:09:45,600
we can sit and relax without it's you're

212
00:09:45,600 --> 00:09:48,240
either relax this is how I sit or it's

213
00:09:48,240 --> 00:09:50,880
defensive. It looks strong but you're

214
00:09:50,880 --> 00:09:52,959
actually defending yourself. It's

215
00:09:52,959 --> 00:09:54,800
actually weak.

216
00:09:54,800 --> 00:09:57,600
Um she said always be open like this is

217
00:09:57,600 --> 00:09:59,760
strong.

218
00:09:59,760 --> 00:10:01,920
uh because it means you're invulnerable.

219
00:10:01,920 --> 00:10:03,360
You're not frightened. You're not

220
00:10:03,360 --> 00:10:05,920
defending yourself. You're this is

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strong. And then the other thing she

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said was touch people because and you

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see politicians do this. It's

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fascinating when politicians are meeting

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each other. You'll watch a unit. You'll

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be gone by the time this happens.

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Anyway, you watch politicians

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meeting each other.

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They fight to be the first one to touch

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the other one.

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You can see them wrestling you, you

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know, maneuvering to be the first one to

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touch the other one. Gently, politely on

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the shoulder, on the arm, you know, on

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the middle of the back. What they're

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really doing is taking control of that

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person. It looks politeness. Looks why

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don't you come this way? You know, it

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looks like politeness. It's not

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politeness. It's absolute physical. Not

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intimidation is not the right word, but

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it's take I am taking control of you. I

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get to be the first one to touch it. The

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the person who touches first is the one

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who's got dominance if you like. So she

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said be open like this and touch people

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on the arm, on the shoulder. You know,

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it relaxes them if they don't understand

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what's going on. Politicians do

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understand.

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But at the same time you gain control of

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the situation. You know the police are

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fascinating and I learned a lot from the

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police. I learned about costume and the

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way costume and we will deal with this

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later. The way costume tiny changes in

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your costume can say a great deal about

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your character. And this is the way you

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know police people read you. They go

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they you know they look at your watch

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and that's an expensive watch. Then they

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look at your shoes. No but those are

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cheap shoes. Why? Why has this guy got

264
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an expensive watch but cheap shoes?

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What's that telling me about his

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character? You know, that's a that's a

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very expensive suit he's wearing, but

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it's kind of stained. It's not clean.

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It's not absolutely clean. And does it

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maybe he lives on his own? So, they read

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character really really quickly. And

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again, with body language, they read

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body language. So the police I think a

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very valuable resource for actors.

1
00:00:13,200 --> 00:00:16,000
Einrand. I had never heard of Ein Rand.

2
00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:17,680
I didn't know about her, not being

3
00:00:17,680 --> 00:00:20,160
American. But the minute I started

4
00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:22,560
reading about her, I realized what a

5
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spectacular,

6
00:00:24,240 --> 00:00:25,920
interesting,

7
00:00:25,920 --> 00:00:28,320
individual, extraordinary character to

8
00:00:28,320 --> 00:00:31,920
play. and especially to play her in the

9
00:00:31,920 --> 00:00:34,640
piece that that was written. Uh it was

10
00:00:34,640 --> 00:00:36,800
called the passion of Einr Rand and it

11
00:00:36,800 --> 00:00:39,520
was about her emotional journey through

12
00:00:39,520 --> 00:00:43,040
this very very intense love affair that

13
00:00:43,040 --> 00:00:45,600
she had. So it was in direct

14
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contradiction

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00:00:47,120 --> 00:00:50,399
to all of Einran's uh thoughts and

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philosophies about objectivity because

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00:00:53,039 --> 00:00:55,760
when it came to love she was completely

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unobjective as we all are. So it was

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00:00:58,960 --> 00:01:02,079
that um that conflict there that was

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00:01:02,079 --> 00:01:04,320
inevitably going to be a wonderful thing

21
00:01:04,320 --> 00:01:06,479
to play. There was a little tiny not

22
00:01:06,479 --> 00:01:08,799
much tiny piece of film of her and it

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00:01:08,799 --> 00:01:13,439
was invaluable. Um with Ein Rand you

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know um

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such a powerful obviously a powerful

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woman that goes woman that goes without

27
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saying but how powerful where does that

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power come from? There's this dumpy

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little Russian, you know, not attractive

30
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with a weird hairo and yet powerful. Wh

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where where can how can I how can I get

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to that power? Where's it coming from?

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And in that obviously it comes from a a

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great intellect and and the thing that

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was so clear about Ein Ran was that her

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brain was like a amazing chess game. You

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know Donahghue or someone would ask a

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question you you could see her mind

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going if I answer that he'll say that

40
00:02:02,719 --> 00:02:04,159
and then I'll say that and then I'll say

41
00:02:04,159 --> 00:02:06,960
that. So I will go to the endgame. she

42
00:02:06,960 --> 00:02:08,800
went straight to like three questions

43
00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:10,879
down the road because she knew how that

44
00:02:10,879 --> 00:02:14,080
would play out within seconds and you

45
00:02:14,080 --> 00:02:17,599
see that process happening in her mind.

46
00:02:17,599 --> 00:02:19,599
Um,

47
00:02:19,599 --> 00:02:21,680
and I just noticed the other day I was

48
00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:23,680
watching her again that she doesn't

49
00:02:23,680 --> 00:02:26,400
blink and her eyes just go like this all

50
00:02:26,400 --> 00:02:30,319
the time and her she's living inside of

51
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her brain. She's not, you know, she's

52
00:02:35,040 --> 00:02:38,160
her attention is inside always in her

53
00:02:38,160 --> 00:02:40,720
eyes are looking inward to this brain

54
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working the way

55
00:02:48,239 --> 00:02:51,120
with Elizabeth the first. The only

56
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research I could do, obviously there's

57
00:02:52,800 --> 00:02:54,879
no film, you know, there's no

58
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photographs, there's no very little

59
00:02:57,120 --> 00:02:59,200
contemporary

60
00:02:59,200 --> 00:03:02,640
dis uh descriptions because everything

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was so controlled and if you dared to

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criticize Elizabeth the first, you'd

63
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have your head chopped off. So all of

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the contemporary descriptions are

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00:03:10,560 --> 00:03:15,040
incredibly sickopantic and you know

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00:03:15,040 --> 00:03:17,760
just you can't you can't take that you

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can't read that and believe it. So the

68
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only real people that you could believe

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were the ambassadors the Spanish

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ambassador the German am Italian

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ambassador they were the people who said

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the truth about her because they weren't

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invested in saying anything else. Um so

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I read the ambassador's letters

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describing her. Um

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00:03:40,080 --> 00:03:42,640
and then now the only thing you have are

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the portraits. Now Elizabeth the first

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controlled her image almost like a brand

79
00:03:47,440 --> 00:03:50,239
like a you know she she was very

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controlling about how she was painted.

81
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She, you know, everything that she was

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wearing, her rough, her the kind of

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dress, the dress she was wearing, this

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emblems on the dress, the jewelry,

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everything was highly controlled to

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present an image to her nation. This is

87
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why she partly why she was so immensely

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successful as a monarch

89
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um and and clever as a monarch, but not

90
00:04:17,040 --> 00:04:20,000
very valuable for an actress trying to

91
00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:22,560
play her, you know, trying to get under

92
00:04:22,560 --> 00:04:26,840
all of that all of that symbolism.

93
00:04:30,960 --> 00:04:32,400
The other thing that I'd learned from

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00:04:32,400 --> 00:04:34,720
Elizabeth the first, and this is why

95
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it's so important to to read

96
00:04:40,160 --> 00:04:43,759
read your history, do that research, but

97
00:04:43,759 --> 00:04:46,639
do it as an actor, not as a historian.

98
00:04:46,639 --> 00:04:48,880
And actors read history in a very

99
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different way from historians. Um,

100
00:04:52,560 --> 00:04:59,280
so I I when I was playing Elizabeth I

101
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realized Elizabeth as as monarchs in

102
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general have to they have to believe

103
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that God has put them on the throne

104
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because if God didn't put them on the

105
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throne then really the throne is

106
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meaningless. Why are they there? You

107
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know it's an accident of birth.

108
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So they have to really believe, really

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truly believe that God wants them there

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and that's why they're there. A

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Godanointed

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queen. Now Elizabeth, Elizabeth

113
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above Elizabeth the first above all felt

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that

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um Godanointed kings and queens should

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never be challenged. If anyone rose up

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in rebellion against a godanointed king

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or queen, they were subject to the most

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horrendous,

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brutal, brutal treatment because in her

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eyes, they had trans transgressed

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God's will.

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Now she's faced with the problem of

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Mary, Queen of Scots, a Godanointed

125
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queen. And unless she

126
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gets rid of Mary, Queen of Scots, her

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position is possibly untenable or will

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become untenable or there will be

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revolution. There will be strife in the

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kingdom. It's a it's a real problem.

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This why she found it impossible. She

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got someone else to say chop off her

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head. She didn't she sort of fudged it.

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She couldn't say it herself. And I

135
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believe because she did that, I believe

136
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uh Elizabeth first was absolutely

137
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convinced she was going to go to hell

138
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because she had killed a Godanointed

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queen.

140
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So by the end of her life, you know,

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it's amazing. She stood for three days.

142
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She would not die. She would not die.

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Um cuz she knew the minute she went to

144
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bed, she would die. She just refused to

145
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move. She stood in one spot for uh you

146
00:07:08,080 --> 00:07:11,039
know three days 36 no what's three days

147
00:07:11,039 --> 00:07:13,120
in terms of hours can't remember but of

148
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60 odd hours extraordinary and then went

149
00:07:17,120 --> 00:07:19,120
to bed and then died but I think she did

150
00:07:19,120 --> 00:07:20,720
that because she was so terrified of

151
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dying.

152
00:07:28,000 --> 00:07:30,639
So when I was prepping Elizabeth II,

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Elizabeth Windsor,

154
00:07:32,720 --> 00:07:35,759
I just, you know, the trouble with royal

155
00:07:35,759 --> 00:07:37,039
royal people, it was like this with

156
00:07:37,039 --> 00:07:40,319
Elizabeth the first. Um, and it was

157
00:07:40,319 --> 00:07:41,599
interesting because I played them both

158
00:07:41,599 --> 00:07:45,360
in the same year. So um, you know, ve

159
00:07:45,360 --> 00:07:48,639
very close together. So I'd just come

160
00:07:48,639 --> 00:07:50,080
out of doing all my research for

161
00:07:50,080 --> 00:07:52,400
Elizabeth first and I'm into Elizabeth

162
00:07:52,400 --> 00:07:54,960
second. And then I thought coming out of

163
00:07:54,960 --> 00:07:57,599
my Elizabeth the first experience I

164
00:07:57,599 --> 00:08:00,560
suddenly had this and I was very really

165
00:08:00,560 --> 00:08:02,720
I was in bits about doing this thinking

166
00:08:02,720 --> 00:08:05,440
I this is I'm going to be a disaster you

167
00:08:05,440 --> 00:08:07,199
know I'm going to be so attacked and I

168
00:08:07,199 --> 00:08:08,639
don't know how to do it and I don't know

169
00:08:08,639 --> 00:08:10,879
what I'm doing and then I suddenly

170
00:08:10,879 --> 00:08:12,479
thought about the portraits of Elizabeth

171
00:08:12,479 --> 00:08:15,360
II

172
00:08:15,360 --> 00:08:17,120
has been very generous with portrait

173
00:08:17,120 --> 00:08:20,080
painters and allowed many artists to

174
00:08:20,080 --> 00:08:22,319
paint her including of course the great

175
00:08:22,319 --> 00:08:27,039
Annie Liberowitz photographing her. Um,

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00:08:27,039 --> 00:08:29,680
and I suddenly thought, you know what?

177
00:08:29,680 --> 00:08:30,879
I'm going to look at the at the

178
00:08:30,879 --> 00:08:33,120
portraits because I'm going to see what

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00:08:33,120 --> 00:08:36,800
artists saw in her, not what these sick

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00:08:36,800 --> 00:08:38,880
authentic, you know, documentaries see

181
00:08:38,880 --> 00:08:41,839
in her. See what artists saw in her. And

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00:08:41,839 --> 00:08:43,919
in my thought of that, I suddenly

183
00:08:43,919 --> 00:08:46,480
thought that's what it is. I'm doing a

184
00:08:46,480 --> 00:08:49,600
portrait. I'm just another artist doing

185
00:08:49,600 --> 00:08:54,320
a portrait. It's not her. It's not She's

186
00:08:54,320 --> 00:08:56,640
much better at being her than I am, but

187
00:08:56,640 --> 00:09:00,320
it's my artistic interpretation and I'm

188
00:09:00,320 --> 00:09:03,519
allowed as an artist to do that. And it

189
00:09:03,519 --> 00:09:07,920
gave me a it it liberated me. So, um if

190
00:09:07,920 --> 00:09:11,600
you get to play real people,

191
00:09:11,600 --> 00:09:15,120
consider yourself as an an artist in

192
00:09:15,120 --> 00:09:17,600
that sense. This is your interpretation.

193
00:09:17,600 --> 00:09:20,399
Likewise, incidentally, with Einr Rand,

194
00:09:20,399 --> 00:09:23,120
um this is your interpretation and

195
00:09:23,120 --> 00:09:25,360
you're allowed your interpretation and

196
00:09:25,360 --> 00:09:26,800
you're allowed to bring yourself into

197
00:09:26,800 --> 00:09:30,399
it. Um you have to obey certain things.

198
00:09:30,399 --> 00:09:32,080
You've got to look like her and sound

199
00:09:32,080 --> 00:09:34,320
like her and walk like her. You all of

200
00:09:34,320 --> 00:09:36,000
that's got to be correct. But that's

201
00:09:36,000 --> 00:09:37,600
only the beginning of playing a

202
00:09:37,600 --> 00:09:42,440
character, playing a role, I should say.

203
00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:49,519
in the research for Elizabeth II, you

204
00:09:49,519 --> 00:09:52,320
know, you are looking at someone that

205
00:09:52,320 --> 00:09:54,160
that was why I so wanted to look at the

206
00:09:54,160 --> 00:09:56,399
young girl because the young girl when

207
00:09:56,399 --> 00:09:58,399
she was 14 or 15, she didn't know she

208
00:09:58,399 --> 00:09:59,839
was going to be queen. She thought she

209
00:09:59,839 --> 00:10:03,279
was going to be a just a princess. Um

210
00:10:03,279 --> 00:10:05,440
because if her father had had another

211
00:10:05,440 --> 00:10:08,560
mother and father had had another child

212
00:10:08,560 --> 00:10:10,399
and it had been a boy, she wouldn't have

213
00:10:10,399 --> 00:10:12,880
been queen. So, you know, it wasn't

214
00:10:12,880 --> 00:10:15,120
certain. So the mantle, if you like,

215
00:10:15,120 --> 00:10:16,880
hadn't fallen upon her at that point,

216
00:10:16,880 --> 00:10:18,640
which is why I thought it was really

217
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important to

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see who that real little character was.

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I read was very valuable, a a book

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written by her nanny, um, Crawy. She was

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called Crawy. Crawford was her name. She

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was vilified by the royal family. They

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never spoke to her again for daring to

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write this book about the royal family.

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you know, the Queen and Princess

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Margaret when they were young young

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children. In fact, it's a very sick

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sickopantic book. But in it, there are

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wonderful little little nuggets of of

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knowledge about this this person as a

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young girl. And then I found this little

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tiny tiny piece of film of her. I think

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she's probably about 12 or 13. I I'm

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pretty sure she's in socks and little

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one little coat, you know, with a velvet

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collar. She's got little gloves on. And

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she's in this big black car and there

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are these big guys all dressed in black

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waiting for her outside the car. And the

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car door opens and she gets out, this

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little girl. And she does this. You can

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see her doing what she thinks she's

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supposed to do and doing it as well as

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she possibly can. And to me that said

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everything about the character.

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And I found myself just really drawn to

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the young woman, the young girl who was

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very she was very lively and and the

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things that excited her excites excite

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her. horses, you know, certain things.

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She can laugh very easily. She can

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twinkle. She's got a great, you know,

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there's this incredible sense of humor

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in there. But when it comes to doing

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what you're supposed to do,

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there's an incredible sense of duty and

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self-discipline

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and and practicality and common sense.

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Once the mantle did fall upon her and

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now I'm looking at the film of her in

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her official role and there she is and

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she's got her handbag on her arm and

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she's always utterly contained and

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utterly straight. The hat's on and the

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brooch is here and the whole queen

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uniform

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demeanor is absolutely in place. And I

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was looking at this as you do as an

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actor doing your research just trying to

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find something. What is it that I'm

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missing? Suddenly I notice that her

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hands which are like this but her thumb

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is just twiddling her

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like this. Twiddling her um wedding ring

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round and round and around really fast

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like this. I thought ah there it is.

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There's that inner

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uh

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pulse and it's a fast pulse. It's not a

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slow, easy, I'm all relaxed kind of p.

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It's a fast pulse and you then you could

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see that unbelievable self-discipline

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that but it has to come out somewhere

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and it just came out in his one little

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hand, one little finger going like this.

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the nervousness, the insecurity

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um that she was constantly having to

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overcome.

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So, you've you've gone through your

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research and you found these little

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elements, the the the girl, the the

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ring. Now, the question is, how do you

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incorporate that into your performance?

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Well, you know what? You kind of don't.

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It's all it's all it's never literal

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these things. It's never it's never um

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uh you know mathematical.

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It's something that informs

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maybe at some point I'm sure I did in in

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in the film of the queen. I I I was like

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this maybe it wasn't in shot or maybe if

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it was in shot maybe it was cut out. I

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don't know. But um you incorporate those

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elements in in terms of the little girl.

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It was just an understanding then of

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where that sense of duty and self

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discipline came from. It it came from

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within her. It didn't come from, you

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know, her religiously and strictly

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obeying someone else's rules. It was

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intrinsic to her. this sense of of

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quiet

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dignified

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um uh duty.

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So you know

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it's never a literal thing.

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Um and if it is literal it becomes

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mundane actually. It becomes rather

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plotting. Um, so

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it it just becomes it must become a part

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of your skin in some way in some way.

1
00:00:16,960 --> 00:00:18,640
costume.

2
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What an incredible powerful tool that is

3
00:00:22,480 --> 00:00:26,560
for us actors to have available to us.

4
00:00:26,560 --> 00:00:30,000
Here I am in an 18th century costume.

5
00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:32,480
This is a costume that I have this

6
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period I've worn before. Um, it's a

7
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period I love.

8
00:00:38,160 --> 00:00:39,680
But it's not just the period of the

9
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costume, but it's also

10
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what this particular costume is saying.

11
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I was looking at this and thinking, you

12
00:00:47,760 --> 00:00:49,920
know what, a costume like that on a

13
00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:52,640
woman of my age means that this is a

14
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character who's desperately trying to

15
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look younger than she really is. You

16
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know, it's got a whole little girly

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thing going on with it with the little

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frills and the little ruffles and the

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little bows and and the colors of it,

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the pink and the green and it's all very

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little little b peepee, you know. So,

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it's not just the fact that you're

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wearing a period costume, which of

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course says an enormous amount, the

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hair, which is so fantastic, but also

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exactly what within that period the

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costume is, the story that the costume

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is telling. And I want to talk about the

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stories that costumes tell.

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So, now we're in the world of costume,

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and this is a world that I love.

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It's the first building block in your

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character. So when I go to the um

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costume designer and we have our first

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costume fitting, I usually have an idea

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of of the look I want or the colors or

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the type of costume. And then of course

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I'm open to the ideas of the costume

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designer because often they have their

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own ideas. In a blessed world, your two

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ideas are basically the same. That's

42
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often the case. Sometimes you're at odd

43
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with odds with each other and then you

44
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can talk through it and discuss it and

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find a common ground. I'm starting with

46
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this costume which is when you look at

47
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all of them is by far the plainest.

48
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Don't be afraid of looking dowy, of

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looking plain. Number one, your costume

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absolutely must serve your character and

51
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nothing else. Not your vanity, not how

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pretty you are or how fat you are or how

53
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thin you are. just serve serve your

54
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character as long once it serves your

55
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character then you can say maybe it' be

56
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a little bit more in the waist make me a

57
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little bit thinner but primarily it's

58
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got to serve serve the character this is

59
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very similar to the costume that I wore

60
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in Gosford Park I was playing the

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housekeeper very very dowy absolutely no

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vanity whatsoever in the costume um but

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the great thing about a costume like

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this is what happens up here. You know,

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your character can can flourish and can

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flower. You're not playing the costume.

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The costume is really serving you and

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and your character is is given its its

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its fullest expression. I mean, now, you

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know, we look at something like this

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different period. Oh, no, actually, not

72
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so different period comes. That's kind

73
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of 30s. This is kind of 20s. So, not

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far, not far apart, but what a different

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world we're in here. You know, we're in

76
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the world of of of um party, of

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frilliness. I've never worn this costume

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actually or anything much like it, but I

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wanted to show it because it's an

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indication of uh of a completely

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different character from that. I mean,

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how different could these two people be?

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Um it's great to have movement in your

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costume and think about that. Think

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about what it what it's like when you

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move. This would be a wonderful um

87
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costume to wear. If you have a dancing

88
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scene or something like that, think

89
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about whether the costume is going to

90
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move with you. Um, funny enough, there's

91
00:04:20,160 --> 00:04:23,040
another issue uh which is if you're

92
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doing a sex scene is how easy is it to

93
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take off? I had a costume fitting with

94
00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:30,639
Armani once who's brilliant, brilliant

95
00:04:30,639 --> 00:04:33,360
uh costume designer, but I had a sex

96
00:04:33,360 --> 00:04:36,240
scene in that costume and he just did

97
00:04:36,240 --> 00:04:38,800
not get the fact that I had to be able

98
00:04:38,800 --> 00:04:41,840
to take this thing off in camera. He he

99
00:04:41,840 --> 00:04:44,000
just couldn't grasp that. Maybe it was

100
00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:45,919
Jean Paul Goier. Maybe it wasn't Armani

101
00:04:45,919 --> 00:04:47,280
actually, but anyway, it was one of the

102
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two. So, um think about the practicality

103
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of what you're having to do in this

104
00:04:51,680 --> 00:04:56,400
costume. Now, I've worn a lot of um

105
00:04:56,400 --> 00:04:59,600
period costumes in my life. And here we

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have a perfect example of a sort of

107
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Elizabethan style costume. Here you

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you're in a corset. And if you're in a

109
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corset, it means you can't sit down

110
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comfortably and you can't breathe

111
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comfortably. If the corset is being

112
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constructed for you, um a trick is to

113
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ask for what they call an opera corset,

114
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which is a corset which has elastic down

115
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the side so you can breathe a little

116
00:05:21,280 --> 00:05:23,919
bit. And I'll tell you, after a sort of

117
00:05:23,919 --> 00:05:26,639
14, 15 hour day in that corset, you're

118
00:05:26,639 --> 00:05:28,160
going to be very grateful for that

119
00:05:28,160 --> 00:05:31,520
little bit of elastic in the side.

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But when you're wearing a a um period

121
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costume like this, you have to I mean

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00:05:36,800 --> 00:05:38,560
the great thing is the costume does it

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00:05:38,560 --> 00:05:41,280
for you in a way, but also I've seen

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people wearing period costumes where

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they their

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um their composure, their um attitude is

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completely their department is totally

128
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at odds with the costume they're

129
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wearing. They've got a modern

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department, you know, in a dress like

131
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this. The fact is if you have a rough

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your head has to be up. That's what the

133
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rough's all about. The corset is giving

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you a certain posture. The fact you've

135
00:06:08,880 --> 00:06:11,120
got a krenolin on not krenolin but a

136
00:06:11,120 --> 00:06:13,440
roll here. Elizabeth and roll gives you

137
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that hip thing. So when you sit, when

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you move, you absolutely must be

139
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conscious of that. Another thing I've

140
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noticed with uh you know girls often on

141
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the red carpet they got this long dress

142
00:06:24,560 --> 00:06:26,240
on you know and they have to lift it up

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to move and they don't they just do

144
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something very awkward just understand

145
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how to lift your skirt up you just you

146
00:06:34,479 --> 00:06:36,960
know it's that you know it's not sort of

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00:06:36,960 --> 00:06:39,280
that but anyway that's a that's a

148
00:06:39,280 --> 00:06:41,360
complication I love wearing period

149
00:06:41,360 --> 00:06:45,360
costumes because it does half your work

150
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as a character doing Elizabeth the first

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00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:49,440
obviously That was what I was wearing

152
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all day long. And and the amazing

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00:06:52,160 --> 00:06:55,280
elaboration of those costumes was just a

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fantastic inspiration for me. Playing

155
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the character, the lux luxury of them,

156
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the the um formality of them, the weight

157
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of them killed me. But it it was great.

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This is a period I love. I absolutely

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love this period. I think because it

160
00:07:11,039 --> 00:07:13,199
flatters me. But again, you're in a

161
00:07:13,199 --> 00:07:16,240
corset uh but a very different shape.

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And I love the sort of restraint of this

163
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period. Unlike the Elizabethan period

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which was all about sort of if you're

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wealthy all about show, this was a very

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sort of uh precise and neat little

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period. We're talking about in n uh late

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19th century period basically. Um

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you've got this oh my god what the hell

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is that? That's a bustle. So what is

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that all about? You know, again, that

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gives you a certain position. It was all

173
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to do with pushing your backside up.

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That was a sexy thing. And it gives you

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this sort of wonderful curve in the back

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that becomes again a part of your

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character. Um, I played Miss Julie in

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this period and um, and and I found the

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costume and the attitude that the

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costume forced me into incredibly

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valuable for playing that sexy but

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utterly repressed character of Miss

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Julie, whose sexuality was just bursting

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out of her, but it was all caught in

185
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this costume. And you know, those things

186
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are great to think about and to use.

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Just use them. use your costume. It's

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not just a thing you put on. It's a

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thing that is informing the history of

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your character, the uh you know what the

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personality, the everything about your

192
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character. So really en enjoy and use

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your costume.

194
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And look at these little shoes. I mean,

195
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look, they're so tiny. I could never get

196
00:08:53,839 --> 00:08:56,080
into these. But look at those neat

197
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little shoes. I mean, can't you just see

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the way those little shoes walk down the

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00:09:00,880 --> 00:09:03,440
road? You know, you walk in a very

200
00:09:03,440 --> 00:09:07,920
specific way in these shoes. Um,

201
00:09:07,920 --> 00:09:09,279
everything about them, their their

202
00:09:09,279 --> 00:09:12,560
little buttons, their little shiny toes,

203
00:09:12,560 --> 00:09:14,480
you know, they they just they they are a

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00:09:14,480 --> 00:09:17,040
character in and of of themselves. And

205
00:09:17,040 --> 00:09:20,080
shoes are so important. Shoes are so

206
00:09:20,080 --> 00:09:22,560
important. It you know, it's great if

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you're wearing comfortable shoes. And

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00:09:24,000 --> 00:09:26,480
incidentally, if they're not in shot and

209
00:09:26,480 --> 00:09:28,480
if you're not walking in them, wear

210
00:09:28,480 --> 00:09:30,320
something that's comfortable, just say,

211
00:09:30,320 --> 00:09:31,760
"I'm going to wear my trainers for

212
00:09:31,760 --> 00:09:33,920
this." Although, be careful about that

213
00:09:33,920 --> 00:09:35,600
because you walk very differently in

214
00:09:35,600 --> 00:09:38,000
trainers. So, sometimes, even if they're

215
00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:39,519
not in shot, you need to wear the right

216
00:09:39,519 --> 00:09:42,560
shoes. But, um,

217
00:09:42,560 --> 00:09:44,800
uh, you know, be comfortable.

218
00:09:44,800 --> 00:09:46,480
Apparently, Greta Garo would always put

219
00:09:46,480 --> 00:09:48,959
her slippers on whenever shot whenever

220
00:09:48,959 --> 00:09:50,880
her feet weren't in shot, she'd have her

221
00:09:50,880 --> 00:09:54,480
her big comfy slippers on. But um but

222
00:09:54,480 --> 00:09:58,160
shoes are such an important part of the

223
00:09:58,160 --> 00:10:00,240
character. And as you're building the

224
00:10:00,240 --> 00:10:03,120
character in your costume fitting, pay

225
00:10:03,120 --> 00:10:05,600
great attention to the shoes. Can you

226
00:10:05,600 --> 00:10:07,760
wear them all day? Are they correct for

227
00:10:07,760 --> 00:10:09,040
the character? There's all kinds of

228
00:10:09,040 --> 00:10:12,959
issues related to shoes. So regretfully,

229
00:10:12,959 --> 00:10:14,640
I'm going to leave the late 19th

230
00:10:14,640 --> 00:10:17,920
century. And and um

231
00:10:17,920 --> 00:10:20,000
this is a sort of this is a wonderful

232
00:10:20,000 --> 00:10:22,800
fantasy dress. and and sometimes you'll

233
00:10:22,800 --> 00:10:24,880
have the pleasure and the fun of wearing

234
00:10:24,880 --> 00:10:27,360
something like this maybe. Um this is

235
00:10:27,360 --> 00:10:29,440
like an unbelievable mish mash of

236
00:10:29,440 --> 00:10:33,200
medieval and Victorian skirt and a kind

237
00:10:33,200 --> 00:10:36,160
of vaguely Elizabethan thing and this is

238
00:10:36,160 --> 00:10:38,160
back in the medieval days and then we're

239
00:10:38,160 --> 00:10:42,560
up here we're Elizabethan again. Um I it

240
00:10:42,560 --> 00:10:44,399
it's a sort of a fantasy costume,

241
00:10:44,399 --> 00:10:46,480
slightly clowny, you know. You can tell

242
00:10:46,480 --> 00:10:47,839
this has I'd love to know what

243
00:10:47,839 --> 00:10:50,079
production this came from cuz uh it

244
00:10:50,079 --> 00:10:52,800
looks like something out of um you know

245
00:10:52,800 --> 00:10:57,040
uh Alice in Wonderland to me. And um and

246
00:10:57,040 --> 00:10:58,480
of course that's the great pleasure of

247
00:10:58,480 --> 00:11:00,320
wearing this kind of fantasy costume.

248
00:11:00,320 --> 00:11:03,279
It's just unbelievable fun. And it means

249
00:11:03,279 --> 00:11:05,760
that your performance has to rise to the

250
00:11:05,760 --> 00:11:08,240
costume. You can't underplay in a

251
00:11:08,240 --> 00:11:10,399
costume like this. You've got to you've

252
00:11:10,399 --> 00:11:12,079
got to live the costume and you've got

253
00:11:12,079 --> 00:11:15,279
to be kind of bigger than real life.

254
00:11:15,279 --> 00:11:19,120
Um, this is this is a kind of a I wanted

255
00:11:19,120 --> 00:11:23,040
something similar to the costume I wore

256
00:11:23,040 --> 00:11:25,040
as the queen because this was such an

257
00:11:25,040 --> 00:11:26,880
interesting

258
00:11:26,880 --> 00:11:29,120
process. I went with the with the

259
00:11:29,120 --> 00:11:32,480
queen's costumes. Um, obviously all of

260
00:11:32,480 --> 00:11:34,000
this is correct. This has to be on the

261
00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:35,839
right side or actually on the left side.

262
00:11:35,839 --> 00:11:38,880
The pearls and all of that. Um, the

263
00:11:38,880 --> 00:11:41,200
dress has to be right.

264
00:11:41,200 --> 00:11:44,000
But the most important thing with this

265
00:11:44,000 --> 00:11:46,000
costume and I was so lucky to have the

266
00:11:46,000 --> 00:11:51,040
costume designer that I had um was the

267
00:11:51,040 --> 00:11:53,440
lining. The lining and the way the dress

268
00:11:53,440 --> 00:11:55,360
was constructed from the outside. It

269
00:11:55,360 --> 00:11:57,680
looks like a really ordinary dress, but

270
00:11:57,680 --> 00:12:00,640
actually it was perfectly made for me

271
00:12:00,640 --> 00:12:04,560
perfectly. Everything fitted exactly

272
00:12:04,560 --> 00:12:07,360
right. And then it was lined lined in

273
00:12:07,360 --> 00:12:10,079
the most expensive silk. So when I put

274
00:12:10,079 --> 00:12:12,880
this dress on, it just fell onto me like

275
00:12:12,880 --> 00:12:16,959
a piece of melting butter on on mashed

276
00:12:16,959 --> 00:12:18,560
potato.

277
00:12:18,560 --> 00:12:22,079
It was just beautiful. And it made me

278
00:12:22,079 --> 00:12:25,760
feel I instantly felt like the queen.

279
00:12:25,760 --> 00:12:27,680
And not because of what it looked like

280
00:12:27,680 --> 00:12:30,240
from the outside, but because it what it

281
00:12:30,240 --> 00:12:32,480
felt like from the inside. It felt

282
00:12:32,480 --> 00:12:35,839
unbelievably expensive, totally made for

283
00:12:35,839 --> 00:12:39,839
me, you know, immaculate. And um and

284
00:12:39,839 --> 00:12:42,959
this is where I love great costume

285
00:12:42,959 --> 00:12:44,639
designers is they think about those

286
00:12:44,639 --> 00:12:47,040
details. If they don't think about those

287
00:12:47,040 --> 00:12:48,800
details, maybe you can think about them

288
00:12:48,800 --> 00:12:51,040
in relation to your c character. Should

289
00:12:51,040 --> 00:12:54,079
this be uncomfortable? Maybe this

290
00:12:54,079 --> 00:12:56,480
character needs something that's kind of

291
00:12:56,480 --> 00:12:59,040
uncomfortable, you know, and oh, you

292
00:12:59,040 --> 00:13:01,279
know, and they feel awkward in it. or

293
00:13:01,279 --> 00:13:03,279
maybe it's something they feel fantastic

294
00:13:03,279 --> 00:13:06,240
in and they're just showing it off. I

295
00:13:06,240 --> 00:13:09,360
was looking at the shoes actually that

296
00:13:09,360 --> 00:13:13,279
for this uh character and to the eye

297
00:13:13,279 --> 00:13:15,920
immediately they look absolutely right.

298
00:13:15,920 --> 00:13:17,519
They're black court shoes which is what

299
00:13:17,519 --> 00:13:19,680
the queen would wear. But I would reject

300
00:13:19,680 --> 00:13:22,720
reject these shoes for three reasons.

301
00:13:22,720 --> 00:13:26,000
The toe is wrong. It's too pointy.

302
00:13:26,000 --> 00:13:27,600
They've got these fancy little bits in

303
00:13:27,600 --> 00:13:29,279
the back.

304
00:13:29,279 --> 00:13:33,279
too too fussy and the heel is wrong.

305
00:13:33,279 --> 00:13:35,920
It's just too modern. So the whole look

306
00:13:35,920 --> 00:13:38,800
of the shoe is just a little c every

307
00:13:38,800 --> 00:13:41,360
lots is right. It's black. It's suede.

308
00:13:41,360 --> 00:13:43,360
The height of the heel is right. It's

309
00:13:43,360 --> 00:13:48,240
simple, but it's wrong. So, you know,

310
00:13:48,240 --> 00:13:49,920
sometimes, especially when you're

311
00:13:49,920 --> 00:13:52,639
playing real characters, you have to pay

312
00:13:52,639 --> 00:13:55,519
pay incredible attention to details like

313
00:13:55,519 --> 00:13:58,480
that. Maybe in the end you're the only

314
00:13:58,480 --> 00:14:01,120
person who notices that, but at least

315
00:14:01,120 --> 00:14:04,320
you know you got it right.

316
00:14:04,320 --> 00:14:07,519
Um, oh, this is really this was

317
00:14:07,519 --> 00:14:09,120
fascinating.

318
00:14:09,120 --> 00:14:13,839
When I played uh the commander in um Eye

319
00:14:13,839 --> 00:14:17,120
in the Sky, you know, I said, "What am

320
00:14:17,120 --> 00:14:19,120
I?" Well, you're wearing camouflage. Oh

321
00:14:19,120 --> 00:14:21,360
god, how awful. Except of course it was

322
00:14:21,360 --> 00:14:23,120
great cuz I didn't have to really bother

323
00:14:23,120 --> 00:14:25,600
about what I looked like. But once I

324
00:14:25,600 --> 00:14:27,920
when I started talking to the police pe

325
00:14:27,920 --> 00:14:31,600
um uh military people they say ah I I

326
00:14:31,600 --> 00:14:33,040
said what's it like just to you know

327
00:14:33,040 --> 00:14:36,240
wear camouflage. He said oh no we are

328
00:14:36,240 --> 00:14:38,800
very precise about the way we wear our

329
00:14:38,800 --> 00:14:41,600
our camouflage. So there are little

330
00:14:41,600 --> 00:14:45,600
messages in in the way you wear this

331
00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:48,160
that the anyone any military person will

332
00:14:48,160 --> 00:14:51,120
go she got it right or a military person

333
00:14:51,120 --> 00:14:53,760
will go they got it wrong. One is to do

334
00:14:53,760 --> 00:14:55,839
with the way the belt is and forgive me

335
00:14:55,839 --> 00:14:57,839
I can't remember the details right now

336
00:14:57,839 --> 00:14:59,199
but there's something to do with the

337
00:14:59,199 --> 00:15:00,959
buckle that I think it has to be one

338
00:15:00,959 --> 00:15:02,399
side and it has to be on one particular

339
00:15:02,399 --> 00:15:04,320
side and it has to be in one particular

340
00:15:04,320 --> 00:15:07,839
position who knew then I think the

341
00:15:07,839 --> 00:15:09,839
sleeves have to be if they're going to

342
00:15:09,839 --> 00:15:12,240
be rolled up they have to be rolled up

343
00:15:12,240 --> 00:15:16,079
in a certain way like one

344
00:15:16,079 --> 00:15:17,920
very neatly because it's all about

345
00:15:17,920 --> 00:15:21,360
neatness in the military to

346
00:15:21,360 --> 00:15:23,279
really really neat

347
00:15:23,279 --> 00:15:26,399
really precise. Can't be too high. Can't

348
00:15:26,399 --> 00:15:28,639
be too low. I can't remember the exact

349
00:15:28,639 --> 00:15:32,000
details, but I just remember. And the

350
00:15:32,000 --> 00:15:35,040
the trousers have to be tucked into the

351
00:15:35,040 --> 00:15:37,279
boots.

352
00:15:37,279 --> 00:15:40,079
Um, there's something about the collar,

353
00:15:40,079 --> 00:15:42,880
I can't quite remember, but I I couldn't

354
00:15:42,880 --> 00:15:44,720
believe it. There were all these

355
00:15:44,720 --> 00:15:49,120
incredible markers of how to wear your

356
00:15:49,120 --> 00:15:54,560
fatigues uh that were so precise and

357
00:15:54,560 --> 00:15:56,560
I got them all right because I was

358
00:15:56,560 --> 00:15:58,959
fascinated by this. But even in a

359
00:15:58,959 --> 00:16:01,920
costume that's as ubiquitous or as

360
00:16:01,920 --> 00:16:04,880
apparently as bland or as sort of

361
00:16:04,880 --> 00:16:08,160
non-existent as wearing camo,

362
00:16:08,160 --> 00:16:12,000
there are really strong uh character

363
00:16:12,000 --> 00:16:14,160
pointers. You know, if it's someone who

364
00:16:14,160 --> 00:16:16,000
doesn't bother about that kind of thing,

365
00:16:16,000 --> 00:16:17,680
he or she doesn't care about where the

366
00:16:17,680 --> 00:16:20,160
belt is or the sleeves of one sleeves

367
00:16:20,160 --> 00:16:22,639
down, one sleeves up, that it as far as

368
00:16:22,639 --> 00:16:24,000
the military are concerned, that's

369
00:16:24,000 --> 00:16:27,519
making a very strong statement about the

370
00:16:27,519 --> 00:16:29,519
kind of personality that you're dealing

371
00:16:29,519 --> 00:16:33,199
with. So, and then you know you're

372
00:16:33,199 --> 00:16:36,079
wearing these all day which is so comfy

373
00:16:36,079 --> 00:16:38,079
and so fabulous and of course make you

374
00:16:38,079 --> 00:16:40,320
walk in a certain way which is

375
00:16:40,320 --> 00:16:42,480
incredibly important.

376
00:16:42,480 --> 00:16:45,279
Um, when I went to the set every morning

377
00:16:45,279 --> 00:16:48,720
doing um doing Eye in the Sky, I'd march

378
00:16:48,720 --> 00:16:51,600
to the set. I I'd leave my trailer, get

379
00:16:51,600 --> 00:16:54,880
myself into into military mode in my in

380
00:16:54,880 --> 00:16:57,759
my fatigues, my boots, and then I would

381
00:16:57,759 --> 00:17:00,240
march just left, right, left, right,

382
00:17:00,240 --> 00:17:02,160
left, right, get myself into that sort

383
00:17:02,160 --> 00:17:04,240
of sense of discipline

384
00:17:04,240 --> 00:17:08,000
and um obedience that people in the

385
00:17:08,000 --> 00:17:11,839
military have to have. And here, my god,

386
00:17:11,839 --> 00:17:13,839
talk about one street extreme to the

387
00:17:13,839 --> 00:17:16,240
other. I had I had them put this out

388
00:17:16,240 --> 00:17:18,000
just because I loved it and I wanted to

389
00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:21,039
put it on and it's just so cool and it's

390
00:17:21,039 --> 00:17:24,240
so colorful and it's so gorgeous and

391
00:17:24,240 --> 00:17:28,240
it's like a costume, you know, a lovely

392
00:17:28,240 --> 00:17:31,280
colorful beautiful piece of costume and

393
00:17:31,280 --> 00:17:33,200
I don't know when you'd ever wear it or

394
00:17:33,200 --> 00:17:35,440
what. This is kind of cool actually.

395
00:17:35,440 --> 00:17:37,200
This collar. I didn't realize it had

396
00:17:37,200 --> 00:17:39,280
this collar and that's interesting. It's

397
00:17:39,280 --> 00:17:41,440
always quite nice to have something

398
00:17:41,440 --> 00:17:43,440
around your neck because so often on the

399
00:17:43,440 --> 00:17:45,919
screen you're like this. So anything you

400
00:17:45,919 --> 00:17:49,039
put on around here is important and

401
00:17:49,039 --> 00:17:51,919
probably will play quite a lot. You

402
00:17:51,919 --> 00:17:53,440
know, look for something with a little

403
00:17:53,440 --> 00:17:56,320
bit of detail that's high up like this.

404
00:17:56,320 --> 00:17:59,440
So um actually this is quite a good

405
00:17:59,440 --> 00:18:01,679
costume for a certain kind of thing. I

406
00:18:01,679 --> 00:18:02,720
mean obviously it would have to be a

407
00:18:02,720 --> 00:18:05,760
very specific kind of thing but I was

408
00:18:05,760 --> 00:18:09,120
just wanted to talk about

409
00:18:09,120 --> 00:18:12,240
um in a very in a very simple way about

410
00:18:12,240 --> 00:18:15,520
the importance of um of a piece of

411
00:18:15,520 --> 00:18:17,039
costume and and I thought I'd choose

412
00:18:17,039 --> 00:18:19,840
something that's really kind of boring

413
00:18:19,840 --> 00:18:22,240
and

414
00:18:22,240 --> 00:18:25,760
you know not not like spectacular which

415
00:18:25,760 --> 00:18:28,559
is basically basically you know a long

416
00:18:28,559 --> 00:18:34,240
slouchy comfy cardi And I just wanted to

417
00:18:34,240 --> 00:18:36,720
think about if I was in a costume

418
00:18:36,720 --> 00:18:38,880
fitting and the costume designer said,

419
00:18:38,880 --> 00:18:40,799
"I thought she'd wear a comfy card in

420
00:18:40,799 --> 00:18:42,480
this scene." I go, "Yeah, absolutely. I

421
00:18:42,480 --> 00:18:44,559
see that. I think that's right." And she

422
00:18:44,559 --> 00:18:46,000
says, "Okay, I've got these two

423
00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:48,400
cardigans. Which do you think?" So, this

424
00:18:48,400 --> 00:18:49,840
is kind of the process I would go

425
00:18:49,840 --> 00:18:52,080
through. I put put it on. Look at

426
00:18:52,080 --> 00:18:55,080
myself.

427
00:18:55,440 --> 00:18:57,520
That's pretty cool. I like the color.

428
00:18:57,520 --> 00:18:59,520
You know, it's light, which is nice. you

429
00:18:59,520 --> 00:19:01,039
you know if it's a dark set you're going

430
00:19:01,039 --> 00:19:03,360
to show up. Another thing to think about

431
00:19:03,360 --> 00:19:05,679
is what the set's like. It's always

432
00:19:05,679 --> 00:19:08,400
quite valuable if you have the time to

433
00:19:08,400 --> 00:19:11,200
go to the set designer and say, "What

434
00:19:11,200 --> 00:19:14,480
color are the walls for that scene?" And

435
00:19:14,480 --> 00:19:16,320
then and then make your decision about

436
00:19:16,320 --> 00:19:18,960
the costume because sometimes it's great

437
00:19:18,960 --> 00:19:21,360
to wear the same color as the walls.

438
00:19:21,360 --> 00:19:24,080
That can be kind of fabulous. Um and

439
00:19:24,080 --> 00:19:26,960
sometimes you really want a contrast.

440
00:19:26,960 --> 00:19:30,160
So, it's it's good to think about the

441
00:19:30,160 --> 00:19:32,160
design of the whole, you know,

442
00:19:32,160 --> 00:19:34,160
sometimes. But anyway, here we are. This

443
00:19:34,160 --> 00:19:35,840
is just character. So, I'm looking at

444
00:19:35,840 --> 00:19:37,760
this. I like this. It's comfy. I like

445
00:19:37,760 --> 00:19:39,520
the fact it's long. It's almost like a

446
00:19:39,520 --> 00:19:42,000
coat. I could go outside in this. And

447
00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:44,160
what really is the difference between

448
00:19:44,160 --> 00:19:46,400
that

449
00:19:46,400 --> 00:19:47,919
one

450
00:19:47,919 --> 00:19:52,080
and this one? Try this one on.

451
00:19:52,080 --> 00:19:54,080
Shoot. There we go.

452
00:19:54,080 --> 00:19:56,080
Um,

453
00:19:56,080 --> 00:19:58,799
thought the interesting thing about this

454
00:19:58,799 --> 00:20:01,039
is it looks so boring. It's got much

455
00:20:01,039 --> 00:20:03,840
duller color, but look what you can do.

456
00:20:03,840 --> 00:20:06,559
It slips off the shoulder.

457
00:20:06,559 --> 00:20:08,400
You know, it doesn't want to stay on. It

458
00:20:08,400 --> 00:20:11,200
wants to fall off. So, it's a completely

459
00:20:11,200 --> 00:20:12,880
different vibe. You know, it kind of

460
00:20:12,880 --> 00:20:14,960
looks kind of I guess you can do this.

461
00:20:14,960 --> 00:20:16,559
And actually, if you do do this, you

462
00:20:16,559 --> 00:20:19,200
know, it's this is quite nice. but it

463
00:20:19,200 --> 00:20:22,320
kind of has that slippy offy thing which

464
00:20:22,320 --> 00:20:26,400
I kind of like and um depending on the

465
00:20:26,400 --> 00:20:29,039
character the scene

466
00:20:29,039 --> 00:20:31,280
those are things I would think about.

467
00:20:31,280 --> 00:20:33,200
Um,

468
00:20:33,200 --> 00:20:34,799
you know, there is actually quite a big

469
00:20:34,799 --> 00:20:37,440
difference between these two, you know,

470
00:20:37,440 --> 00:20:41,200
ordinary, funky, long cardigans.

471
00:20:41,200 --> 00:20:42,880
And look at the difference, speaking of

472
00:20:42,880 --> 00:20:46,480
cardigans, between those cardigans and

473
00:20:46,480 --> 00:20:48,640
this little cardigan.

474
00:20:48,640 --> 00:20:51,360
World of difference. I mean, a world of

475
00:20:51,360 --> 00:20:54,960
difference. Neat little precise little

476
00:20:54,960 --> 00:20:58,320
clean thing. Speaking of clean, when you

477
00:20:58,320 --> 00:21:00,880
get a piece of costume and the the

478
00:21:00,880 --> 00:21:03,360
wonderful costume people have cleaned it

479
00:21:03,360 --> 00:21:05,360
for you and they've ironed it and all

480
00:21:05,360 --> 00:21:07,760
the rest of it and I get it and I often

481
00:21:07,760 --> 00:21:11,480
go like this with it

482
00:21:11,840 --> 00:21:14,640
and I scrunch it up because, you know,

483
00:21:14,640 --> 00:21:16,960
that immediately looks more real to me.

484
00:21:16,960 --> 00:21:18,400
It doesn't look like it's just been

485
00:21:18,400 --> 00:21:20,480
ironed or just come from the laundry.

486
00:21:20,480 --> 00:21:22,880
you know, our clothes mostly just come

487
00:21:22,880 --> 00:21:24,720
out of the washing machine, so they

488
00:21:24,720 --> 00:21:27,440
don't have these nice lines down here.

489
00:21:27,440 --> 00:21:31,280
And um so make sure your costume looks

490
00:21:31,280 --> 00:21:35,120
real, looks lived in. Um

491
00:21:35,120 --> 00:21:38,159
I talked about color and it's often

492
00:21:38,159 --> 00:21:41,039
great to have beautiful color and red is

493
00:21:41,039 --> 00:21:43,440
always a beautiful color. Red is always

494
00:21:43,440 --> 00:21:47,200
some kind of signifier dramatically of,

495
00:21:47,200 --> 00:21:49,200
you know, the leading lady's often in

496
00:21:49,200 --> 00:21:51,360
red. I don't know if you've noticed. Red

497
00:21:51,360 --> 00:21:53,440
is so cool. I mean, look, what a This is

498
00:21:53,440 --> 00:21:56,880
a great piece because it's got um it's

499
00:21:56,880 --> 00:21:59,120
reflective. Cameramen, I think, am I

500
00:21:59,120 --> 00:22:01,280
right? Cameramen would like this because

501
00:22:01,280 --> 00:22:04,000
it's got a bit of life to it. But the

502
00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:05,440
only thing I don't like about this is

503
00:22:05,440 --> 00:22:08,640
the collar doesn't move. It's it's sewn

504
00:22:08,640 --> 00:22:10,880
down. I wouldn't like that. I'd want my

505
00:22:10,880 --> 00:22:13,280
collar to be up or down. I want to be

506
00:22:13,280 --> 00:22:15,919
able to use my collar. So, I might say,

507
00:22:15,919 --> 00:22:17,679
"I love the color, but I don't like the

508
00:22:17,679 --> 00:22:21,280
collar." So, can we change it? But, and

509
00:22:21,280 --> 00:22:22,880
then I might not like the buttons. I

510
00:22:22,880 --> 00:22:24,320
think it's a great color, but let's

511
00:22:24,320 --> 00:22:25,919
change the buttons. Anyway, these are

512
00:22:25,919 --> 00:22:27,919
all little costumey things, and I just

513
00:22:27,919 --> 00:22:31,039
wanted to talk talk you through the

514
00:22:31,039 --> 00:22:33,039
kinds of thoughts I have when I'm doing

515
00:22:33,039 --> 00:22:34,559
costume.

516
00:22:34,559 --> 00:22:36,960
You know the kinds of ideas that go

517
00:22:36,960 --> 00:22:39,360
through my

1
00:00:07,120 --> 00:00:09,599
Now, speaking of color and stuff around

2
00:00:09,599 --> 00:00:13,440
your face, you know, this is gorgeous.

3
00:00:13,440 --> 00:00:15,519
The color is beautiful. It's alive. It's

4
00:00:15,519 --> 00:00:16,960
got a liveless, but it's not

5
00:00:16,960 --> 00:00:19,520
overpowering. It's always lovely to have

6
00:00:19,520 --> 00:00:22,720
something you can play with in closeup

7
00:00:22,720 --> 00:00:26,800
that uh, you know, sets your just, you

8
00:00:26,800 --> 00:00:29,279
know, gives you a beautiful frame here.

9
00:00:29,279 --> 00:00:32,880
if if if you feel that's uh appropriate.

10
00:00:32,880 --> 00:00:34,719
It's also great incidentally to have

11
00:00:34,719 --> 00:00:37,120
something that you can if you want to

12
00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:39,520
you can kind of play with, you know, if

13
00:00:39,520 --> 00:00:43,440
you feel that that's something, you

14
00:00:43,440 --> 00:00:45,200
know, that you you're going to need in

15
00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:47,520
the scene, think about that. Think about

16
00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:50,719
the uh maybe a scarf or, you know, some

17
00:00:50,719 --> 00:00:52,719
or maybe a necklace, something to play

18
00:00:52,719 --> 00:00:56,399
with. Um,

19
00:00:56,399 --> 00:00:58,000
another

20
00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:01,039
element that you can add for character

21
00:01:01,039 --> 00:01:04,799
and of course purses for a woman or man.

22
00:01:04,799 --> 00:01:07,119
You know, what does this tell about the

23
00:01:07,119 --> 00:01:10,799
character? It's old, it's heavy, it's

24
00:01:10,799 --> 00:01:14,000
ugly, it's old, uh, you know, period.

25
00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:16,400
So, um, if it's modern, it's someone who

26
00:01:16,400 --> 00:01:18,080
hasn't bothered to buy a new one for a

27
00:01:18,080 --> 00:01:20,320
long time. someone who's very serious,

28
00:01:20,320 --> 00:01:22,320
who doesn't really care what what

29
00:01:22,320 --> 00:01:24,799
something looks like. That's one thing.

30
00:01:24,799 --> 00:01:27,200
And here we have a whole other story

31
00:01:27,200 --> 00:01:30,080
going on. You know, your purse is quite

32
00:01:30,080 --> 00:01:31,280
important because very often you're

33
00:01:31,280 --> 00:01:33,280
opening it and getting stuff out. You

34
00:01:33,280 --> 00:01:37,360
have to check that the it's easy to open

35
00:01:37,360 --> 00:01:39,840
and close if that's going to be a part

36
00:01:39,840 --> 00:01:42,000
of your action. So, you're not fiddle

37
00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:43,600
assing around and everybody's waiting

38
00:01:43,600 --> 00:01:45,680
for you to open open your purse in the

39
00:01:45,680 --> 00:01:50,240
shot. So, um, I'm terribly particular

40
00:01:50,240 --> 00:01:52,560
about the purse that I carry because I

41
00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:55,520
think women's purses are very much a

42
00:01:55,520 --> 00:01:57,040
reflection of who they are. You know,

43
00:01:57,040 --> 00:02:00,079
some are flashy, some are very sober,

44
00:02:00,079 --> 00:02:03,520
some are just not absolutely non kind of

45
00:02:03,520 --> 00:02:05,680
non-existent. Like this is someone who

46
00:02:05,680 --> 00:02:07,920
just doesn't care what they look like.

47
00:02:07,920 --> 00:02:11,520
This is a a lady who's quite bourgeoa,

48
00:02:11,520 --> 00:02:16,080
quite uh you know, elegant obviously and

49
00:02:16,080 --> 00:02:20,000
just uh you know, it's colorcoordinated.

50
00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:21,760
There's a little tiny thing here that's

51
00:02:21,760 --> 00:02:22,879
useful. Oh, look, it's got a little

52
00:02:22,879 --> 00:02:24,640
thing on it. Oh, that's cool. I didn't

53
00:02:24,640 --> 00:02:27,200
see that. That would be good, too. But

54
00:02:27,200 --> 00:02:29,360
anyway, you know, very very very

55
00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:33,360
different. Likewise, my god, glasses.

56
00:02:33,360 --> 00:02:35,200
How much I mean, think of the the

57
00:02:35,200 --> 00:02:37,120
queen's glasses.

58
00:02:37,120 --> 00:02:39,599
Um, it's always a good thing if it's

59
00:02:39,599 --> 00:02:42,239
appropriate to wear a pair of glasses.

60
00:02:42,239 --> 00:02:44,560
You got, you know what? What a world of

61
00:02:44,560 --> 00:02:46,319
difference between those. Sorry, I'll

62
00:02:46,319 --> 00:02:50,760
put them on again. Those

63
00:02:51,519 --> 00:02:55,680
and these. Very earnest, very

64
00:02:55,680 --> 00:02:59,680
sweet, very whatever it is,

65
00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:01,920
owlike. And then these are always a

66
00:03:01,920 --> 00:03:04,239
winner. You normally get a nomination if

67
00:03:04,239 --> 00:03:07,040
you wear glasses like these.

68
00:03:07,040 --> 00:03:08,959
because they instantly give you like

69
00:03:08,959 --> 00:03:10,239
total charact especially if you're

70
00:03:10,239 --> 00:03:13,120
playing a Russian. A Russian with a bad

71
00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:18,599
wig and these glasses nomination.

72
00:03:19,840 --> 00:03:23,440
I have to try it next time. Uh watches.

73
00:03:23,440 --> 00:03:24,720
You're never going to get a nomination

74
00:03:24,720 --> 00:03:27,840
for the watch you wear, but it tells the

75
00:03:27,840 --> 00:03:29,599
story that you want to tell. And maybe

76
00:03:29,599 --> 00:03:32,400
only you will know that. But what a

77
00:03:32,400 --> 00:03:34,640
world of difference between this little

78
00:03:34,640 --> 00:03:38,720
watch, this very work a day watch.

79
00:03:38,720 --> 00:03:42,720
Uh obviously this watch tells a very

80
00:03:42,720 --> 00:03:45,840
specific story about a character. Um if

81
00:03:45,840 --> 00:03:47,760
the watch is going to play, there's

82
00:03:47,760 --> 00:03:48,879
going to be, you know, there's going to

83
00:03:48,879 --> 00:03:51,120
be a close-up of it, then the watch

84
00:03:51,120 --> 00:03:53,519
becomes unbelievably important.

85
00:03:53,519 --> 00:03:55,360
Otherwise, normally it only has an

86
00:03:55,360 --> 00:03:57,519
importance for you. So when you're in

87
00:03:57,519 --> 00:04:00,080
the totality of your costume, everything

88
00:04:00,080 --> 00:04:03,519
including the watch is right just for

89
00:04:03,519 --> 00:04:05,120
you to stay in character as much as

90
00:04:05,120 --> 00:04:07,840
anything. Um,

91
00:04:07,840 --> 00:04:11,120
jewelry for women

92
00:04:11,120 --> 00:04:13,360
can't be too distracting. I would reject

93
00:04:13,360 --> 00:04:15,439
this unless I was doing an evening scene

94
00:04:15,439 --> 00:04:16,560
or something. That's far too

95
00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:18,560
distracting.

96
00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:20,799
Um, in fact, there's nothing here. I

97
00:04:20,799 --> 00:04:23,440
would you want something that's there

98
00:04:23,440 --> 00:04:26,160
that's kind of present but is not too

99
00:04:26,160 --> 00:04:27,759
distracting

100
00:04:27,759 --> 00:04:29,759
unless you want it to be dist you want

101
00:04:29,759 --> 00:04:31,600
it to make a statement you know you want

102
00:04:31,600 --> 00:04:35,040
it to bl say something

103
00:04:35,040 --> 00:04:38,479
um but jewelry is is terribly terribly

104
00:04:38,479 --> 00:04:42,400
important the lack of it less is more in

105
00:04:42,400 --> 00:04:44,479
general with jewelry but sometimes it's

106
00:04:44,479 --> 00:04:46,560
great to make a a real statement with

107
00:04:46,560 --> 00:04:48,560
jewelry when I was doing Elizabeth the

108
00:04:48,560 --> 00:04:51,120
first I had all this jewelry all laid

109
00:04:51,120 --> 00:04:55,199
out on a table in my trailer and um she

110
00:04:55,199 --> 00:04:57,360
she just wore everything all at once. It

111
00:04:57,360 --> 00:04:59,520
was fabulous. Okay, I'll wear those and

112
00:04:59,520 --> 00:05:01,840
then I'll wear those and then I'll have

113
00:05:01,840 --> 00:05:03,600
those in my hair and then I'll have more

114
00:05:03,600 --> 00:05:05,520
of those and then I'll wear those three

115
00:05:05,520 --> 00:05:07,919
brooches and I was like loaded with

116
00:05:07,919 --> 00:05:11,280
jewelry. It was so fun. It's great. I

117
00:05:11,280 --> 00:05:14,320
talked earlier about shoes

118
00:05:14,320 --> 00:05:17,120
and obviously you know between these

119
00:05:17,120 --> 00:05:19,680
shoes and these shoes there is a world

120
00:05:19,680 --> 00:05:24,800
of difference and about 150 years. Um,

121
00:05:24,800 --> 00:05:27,600
but I think more than that is to think

122
00:05:27,600 --> 00:05:29,120
about

123
00:05:29,120 --> 00:05:32,960
the world that these shoes live in in

124
00:05:32,960 --> 00:05:37,440
terms of freedom of movement, of women,

125
00:05:37,440 --> 00:05:42,000
of running, of uh, trousers, of shorts,

126
00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:44,960
of just the whole world, the whole

127
00:05:44,960 --> 00:05:47,199
culture, the society that these shoes

128
00:05:47,199 --> 00:05:49,919
live in. And then the culture that these

129
00:05:49,919 --> 00:05:52,080
shoes live in, the world that they live

130
00:05:52,080 --> 00:05:54,240
in, where women are when they wore these

131
00:05:54,240 --> 00:05:57,120
shoes, these tight little pointy little

132
00:05:57,120 --> 00:06:00,479
precise little shoes. These shoes speak

133
00:06:00,479 --> 00:06:05,240
to me of people who have servants.

134
00:06:06,319 --> 00:06:08,400
You know, they're so precise. They're

135
00:06:08,400 --> 00:06:09,680
like the other little boots. They're

136
00:06:09,680 --> 00:06:13,280
probably from the same era. Um, but just

137
00:06:13,280 --> 00:06:15,759
think more of the physicality of the

138
00:06:15,759 --> 00:06:18,720
shoes as as what they represent in terms

139
00:06:18,720 --> 00:06:23,120
of of the culture, the society that your

140
00:06:23,120 --> 00:06:25,360
the character who wears this these shoes

141
00:06:25,360 --> 00:06:29,280
live in. You know, allow all of that,

142
00:06:29,280 --> 00:06:31,120
just the fact of wearing these shoes,

143
00:06:31,120 --> 00:06:33,919
allow all of that to kind of inform your

144
00:06:33,919 --> 00:06:36,919
performance.

145
00:06:41,440 --> 00:06:45,280
Um, hats great. Cinematographers would

146
00:06:45,280 --> 00:06:48,800
hate this hat. They'd go, "Does she have

147
00:06:48,800 --> 00:06:51,759
to wear that hat?" I would have put it

148
00:06:51,759 --> 00:06:54,080
on, go, "Oh, I love this hat." They'd

149
00:06:54,080 --> 00:06:55,840
go, "No, you can't wear that because of

150
00:06:55,840 --> 00:06:58,400
the shadows it makes." So, be aware of

151
00:06:58,400 --> 00:07:01,680
that. But hats are cool. I like hats.

152
00:07:01,680 --> 00:07:04,720
Um, now these I really wanted to show

153
00:07:04,720 --> 00:07:08,000
you these because you know you think I I

154
00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:09,840
want a pair of wear a pair of boots in

155
00:07:09,840 --> 00:07:11,680
as this character and here's okay here's

156
00:07:11,680 --> 00:07:14,800
a great pair of boots and I would say no

157
00:07:14,800 --> 00:07:16,639
those boots will not do yes they're the

158
00:07:16,639 --> 00:07:18,080
right size they're the right shape

159
00:07:18,080 --> 00:07:20,160
they're the right color look at them

160
00:07:20,160 --> 00:07:21,919
they're brand new they've never been

161
00:07:21,919 --> 00:07:24,240
worn I want my shoes to look like

162
00:07:24,240 --> 00:07:26,960
they've had character and age in them I

163
00:07:26,960 --> 00:07:28,960
often when I'm playing a role I'll go

164
00:07:28,960 --> 00:07:31,759
into um secondhand stores and I'll buy

165
00:07:31,759 --> 00:07:33,680
my costume,

166
00:07:33,680 --> 00:07:36,080
bits of my costume from a secondhand

167
00:07:36,080 --> 00:07:38,080
store because they've got life in it.

168
00:07:38,080 --> 00:07:40,639
They've been washed a few hundred times.

169
00:07:40,639 --> 00:07:41,919
You know, the boots have been worn.

170
00:07:41,919 --> 00:07:44,240
They've worn at the heel and that's such

171
00:07:44,240 --> 00:07:46,400
a different thing. I mean, look at these

172
00:07:46,400 --> 00:07:48,400
boots. Obviously, they're different

173
00:07:48,400 --> 00:07:49,840
style, but I'm not talking about the

174
00:07:49,840 --> 00:07:51,360
style and the lovely stars and

175
00:07:51,360 --> 00:07:53,599
everything. I'm talking about the

176
00:07:53,599 --> 00:07:56,800
amazing wear in them. you know, they're

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all they're all falling apart because

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they're so loved by the person who wears

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them. You know, the heel is going. But

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these are real boots. These boots have

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character. Uh th those are great great

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boots. So, you can see they're worn.

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They're all falling apart. They've been

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worn so often they they are falling

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apart. They're all worn down at the

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heel. These are real boots. These these

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boots have a character, have a life,

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have a history, you know, and and and

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unless there's a whole thing about the

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fact you're wearing new boots, that's a

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different thing. But mostly, we have a

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pair of boots that we love and we wear

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them to death. Like these are being

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worn. I love these boots because of

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their character.

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00:00:23,039 --> 00:00:25,039
Now this is a place that I know really

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well and many actors especially actors

3
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obviously who work in theater. This is

4
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our world.

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00:00:32,559 --> 00:00:37,120
This is our our womb. This is our home.

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00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:40,079
This is our place of tears and of

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00:00:40,079 --> 00:00:44,239
glasses of wine and of terror and of

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prayers. Oh, please God, don't let me

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00:00:46,640 --> 00:00:48,399
forget my lines. Please God, don't let

10
00:00:48,399 --> 00:00:51,200
me forget my lines. Please God, let act

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00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:54,559
three go well. Um, so this is a very,

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very familiar, comfortable place for

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00:00:57,120 --> 00:00:59,359
actors. And if it's not in the theater,

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there's an equivalent in film, which is

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your dressing room, your trailer, your

16
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dressing room, your double banger,

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whatever it is. It's it's your place

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where you prepare in the way that you

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want to. Nobody can tell you what to do

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in this space. Um, and a and it's your

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it's your private preparation. It's it's

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your personal

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connection with your work. And you know,

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here are the many tools of the trade.

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One of which obviously is makeup and

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makeup is,

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you know, it's important. Obviously

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makeup for stage and makeup for film are

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two very different things. Um it was

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very interesting when I did the queen.

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Um I use very little makeup. I I noticed

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when I was watching looking at her face

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to see the difference between her face

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and my face. There were two elements I

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noticed. One was her her upper lip was

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thinner than mine and she wore her

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lipstick in a different way to the way I

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wear mine and her eyebrows were this

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wonderful sort of beautiful big thick

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00:02:05,119 --> 00:02:07,600
bushy eyebrows. Eyebrows are so

41
00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:10,560
important um in makeup, especially on

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film, because you you don't have a lot

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00:02:12,879 --> 00:02:17,440
to um to define your character. And

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obviously, hair and makeup are

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incredibly extremely defining elements.

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00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:24,959
And within makeup, I think the eyebrows

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00:02:24,959 --> 00:02:27,200
are by far the most important element,

48
00:02:27,200 --> 00:02:29,920
funnily enough. Um they are your

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instrument of expression. Um, I mean,

50
00:02:33,519 --> 00:02:36,000
for example, when I did Ha Hopper, her

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eyebrows, we we spent hours the makeup,

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00:02:38,239 --> 00:02:40,080
I mean, literally, I think it took took

53
00:02:40,080 --> 00:02:41,680
about half an hour to put my eyebrows

54
00:02:41,680 --> 00:02:43,519
on, and they were just two thin little

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lines, but the placing of them had to be

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absolutely precise because in with Heda

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Hopper, her eyebrows kind of went up

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like this. So, she always had this sort

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of this sort of awful sort of horrible

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expression on her face, a sort of

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slightly sort of quizzical

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critical

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rather nasty expression I thought and it

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all came from these weird eyebrows. So

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the placing of the eyebrows were very

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very important with the queen again the

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eyebrows incredibly important and then

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the mouth and that was all a thinner

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mouth thicker eyebrows and then it was

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all to do with the way I held my head

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which was back in and back and my face

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and your face then just settles into an

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expression. So there was no re really no

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need for a huge makeup job and and the

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less makeup you can get away with the

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better because

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in film because you know the makeup is a

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a barrier between your performance and

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the audience because really what the

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audience to see is the expression on

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your face. They don't want to see your

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makeup. One of my mantra actually is

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00:03:58,319 --> 00:04:00,879
many a great role has been destroyed by

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lip pencil because so often you see

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00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:07,120
people oh I'm just an ordinary girl you

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know I'm just a casual girl and I don't

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wear makeup but I have the most

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perfectly applied lip pencil and um and

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that's uh you know that's annoying.

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00:04:18,720 --> 00:04:21,440
There was a a shot in um in The Tempest.

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Uh I was in the middle of Shakespearean

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speech and it was very difficult and the

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wind was blowing and Julie suddenly

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said, "Cut, Julie Tammore, the

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director." "Cut, cut,

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Helen, you're wearing makeup." And I

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was, she was right. You know, I sort of

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snuck a bit of makeup on my face. She

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said, "It's terrible. Take it off." You

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00:04:43,199 --> 00:04:45,199
know, but it was I don't know. It was

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00:04:45,199 --> 00:04:46,560
too late or something and there wasn't

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time. And then I when I saw the film I

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thought god she was absolutely right. I

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look like I'm wearing makeup. Who that

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you know prosper living on an island in

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the middle of the nowhere would never

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have makeup on. So I was mortified by

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that and she was totally right. There

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are certain moments when you must wear

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no makeup. However,

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no makeup is one thing and what can

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happen if you wear no makeup is your

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voice your face just kind of disappears.

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So there you're in, if you have a

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brilliant makeup artist, they can make

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you up in the most lightest, delicate of

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ways. So there is definition in your

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face, in your eyes, your eyebrows, your

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mouth. Um, but you absolutely don't look

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like you're wearing makeup, but you

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00:05:32,320 --> 00:05:35,600
know, uh, there are great great artists

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in the world of of makeup.

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Um,

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another incredibly important element

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obviously in in the whole building of

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the character through through the look

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of it is um is hair and I love wearing

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wigs because you know otherwise you

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spend hours in makeup in the morning and

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I don't like spend hours in makeup and

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you have to have your hair all curled

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and then it has to be brushed out and it

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has to be styled. So, I much prefer to

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have my hair just all shoved up in a

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under a wig cap or something and then

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put a wig on that is already styled.

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It's, you know, better than my own hair.

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00:06:16,960 --> 00:06:20,560
Um, none of these wigs really are really

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um film wigs because the thing that a

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good film wig has to have

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is a really good lace. And nowadays

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there are wonderful laces for wigs um

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00:06:33,120 --> 00:06:35,039
that are made that are called uh are

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specially made for digital film um and

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they're very very fine and absolutely

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you cannot see them. But then you have

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to have a a wig uh a makeup artist a

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hair artist who is really really good at

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putting on a wig and that is a whole art

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form of its own a whole craft of its

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own. So, if you are wearing wigs, just

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make sure that the makeup person you're

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00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:02,080
working with, if you have the power to

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do this, make make sure your makeup

155
00:07:03,759 --> 00:07:06,240
person really knows how to apply a wig.

156
00:07:06,240 --> 00:07:09,599
It's very, very important. Um, it was

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very interesting actually wearing this

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wig, which you probably have just seen

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me in in the costume and I can explain

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is those wigs uh 18th century wigs were

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worn almost like a hat. They weren't

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pretending that this was their real

163
00:07:26,720 --> 00:07:28,880
hair. They were wigs. They were

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obviously wigs which they sort of

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plonked on just for just for the look

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and the and the extraordinary sort of

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fantasy of them. And um I always thought

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that was very very cool. I like the way

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black girls wear wigs in the same way.

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you know, they use a wig, they play

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around with wigs, they use them as an an

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extra accessory in their whole arsenal

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of sort of uh of things to ch to do with

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your appearance. Um,

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you know, it's incredible the way a wig

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can just instantly change you. And and

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00:08:03,680 --> 00:08:06,000
as I say, I I've used a lot of wigs in

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my life and you know, they're just

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wonderful for really forming a

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character. I mean, in Ein Rand, I had

181
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this terrible, you know, ugly wig

182
00:08:16,960 --> 00:08:18,800
sideways. And likewise, instantly in

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00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:22,000
Gossford Park, I felt as ugly as sin

184
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wearing those wigs, but but they were

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right. They were right for the

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character. And sometimes again, you

187
00:08:27,680 --> 00:08:30,000
know, you have to give up um vanity for

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00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:32,000
the sake of what is right for the

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character. I'm now going to put these

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two funny wigs on. They just pull like

191
00:08:37,120 --> 00:08:39,279
pull on things, you know. But look how

192
00:08:39,279 --> 00:08:41,599
beautiful that is. It's kind of pretty

193
00:08:41,599 --> 00:08:44,399
beautiful Asian hair, but it's not. It's

194
00:08:44,399 --> 00:08:46,959
probably fake hair. But I'm just going

195
00:08:46,959 --> 00:08:48,959
to throw this thing on and see what it

196
00:08:48,959 --> 00:08:53,399
does to me. I don't know yet.

197
00:08:53,760 --> 00:08:57,120
Cool. I look like um Uma Thurman, don't

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00:08:57,120 --> 00:09:00,120
I?

199
00:09:00,560 --> 00:09:02,959
Lovely. We all want to be Uma Thurman in

200
00:09:02,959 --> 00:09:06,080
pulp fiction, don't we? But you know,

201
00:09:06,080 --> 00:09:08,240
cool. And look how I love the way it

202
00:09:08,240 --> 00:09:12,880
moves. Good. So, um you know that that's

203
00:09:12,880 --> 00:09:16,640
pretty cool. And then we have this which

204
00:09:16,640 --> 00:09:18,160
is a very different thing. This is more

205
00:09:18,160 --> 00:09:20,080
like actually this is very similar to

206
00:09:20,080 --> 00:09:24,000
the look of um

207
00:09:24,000 --> 00:09:29,360
the look of um uh Alma Alma Hitchcock.

208
00:09:29,360 --> 00:09:32,320
This was the color I wore for Alma and

209
00:09:32,320 --> 00:09:35,680
and a similar style, you know,

210
00:09:35,680 --> 00:09:39,200
but you can, you know, so

211
00:09:39,200 --> 00:09:41,680
so change the

212
00:09:41,680 --> 00:09:44,480
the dynamic of a character, you know,

213
00:09:44,480 --> 00:09:47,279
the huge difference between this kind of

214
00:09:47,279 --> 00:09:49,120
look and that kind of look. I've done

215
00:09:49,120 --> 00:09:51,600
nothing with my makeup whatsoever. It's

216
00:09:51,600 --> 00:09:54,240
all, you know, all the transformation is

217
00:09:54,240 --> 00:09:55,920
the hair. And then and then you'll take

218
00:09:55,920 --> 00:09:58,640
it obviously many steps further with the

219
00:09:58,640 --> 00:10:02,640
makeup. Um incidentally eye color too. I

220
00:10:02,640 --> 00:10:04,320
mean eye color is an interesting thing

221
00:10:04,320 --> 00:10:06,640
to play with. And in in both in

222
00:10:06,640 --> 00:10:10,240
Elizabeth the first and in Rand I wore

223
00:10:10,240 --> 00:10:12,480
very dark lenses because they both had

224
00:10:12,480 --> 00:10:15,200
those sort of black beady black current

225
00:10:15,200 --> 00:10:17,120
kind of eyes

226
00:10:17,120 --> 00:10:19,920
and that is really powerful. I I think

227
00:10:19,920 --> 00:10:24,399
that's a a huge um that can change

228
00:10:24,399 --> 00:10:26,399
doesn't so much change your expression

229
00:10:26,399 --> 00:10:29,920
but it uh uh yes it doesn't change your

230
00:10:29,920 --> 00:10:32,959
look but it changes your expression or

231
00:10:32,959 --> 00:10:34,800
it changes the way the audience are

232
00:10:34,800 --> 00:10:36,560
receiving your expressions. There's a

233
00:10:36,560 --> 00:10:40,160
there's a um there's a penetration in

234
00:10:40,160 --> 00:10:43,519
with with dark lenses. So, a couple of

235
00:10:43,519 --> 00:10:47,120
times I've worn dark lenses only when

236
00:10:47,120 --> 00:10:49,440
it's correct historically for the

237
00:10:49,440 --> 00:10:52,240
character.

1
00:00:13,200 --> 00:00:14,719
Obviously there's a huge difference

2
00:00:14,719 --> 00:00:16,720
between makeup for the stage and make up

3
00:00:16,720 --> 00:00:21,680
for film. And um in film subtlety is

4
00:00:21,680 --> 00:00:24,480
all. I mean it's wonderful in film if

5
00:00:24,480 --> 00:00:28,160
you want to make a sudden statement like

6
00:00:28,160 --> 00:00:30,320
you know

7
00:00:30,320 --> 00:00:33,720
pink cheeks.

8
00:00:41,520 --> 00:00:44,559
You look I look like a drunk. Um oh

9
00:00:44,559 --> 00:00:46,399
sorry I shouldn't have done that mcking

10
00:00:46,399 --> 00:00:50,399
around. Um, but anyway, you know, if you

11
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want to make a a big bold statement, it

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it's great. You can in film. And as I

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said, with headers, eyebrows, a little

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gash of red lips, and you know, you've

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got a whole character in the face. Um,

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on stage, you'll you have to make a a

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often make a bigger statement than that.

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Um

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uh but you know I I'll tell you the

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other thing that's so important

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both on stage and especially in film

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obviously is the lighting cuz you can

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have the most brilliantly wonderful you

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know hair and makeup and all the rest of

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it and if the lighting is not there to

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help you um you know you're screwed. So

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um lighting in film in particular is

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really is all important. It's not

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something you can control as an actor.

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That is out of your control unless

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you're Marlene and Detectric in which

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you say where's my key light? You know

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um but you know those days are passed.

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It's difficult to tell nowadays when the

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light is bad because of digital film and

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with digital film it can you can film in

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such low light. I'm amazed nowadays

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often when I work on film that there

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seems to be absolutely no light and I

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say can you see what we're doing and

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they say yes yes we can see um and

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that's because of digital film so you

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know things have really changed in that

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direction which is very helpful

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incidentally you can shoot for longer um

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but um

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uh you yes you certainly know if you've

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got a horrible straight down over the

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headlight you know you're going to look

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terrible. Maybe it's right that you look

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terrible. Maybe it's right for the

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character, for the scene, for

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everything. And and that's great when

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the lighting is absolutely in

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synchronicity with the story and the

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story you're trying to tell. But if it's

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not, if it's just ugly, uh, you know,

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that's a problem. But it's very rarely

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like that because cinematographers are

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cinematographers understand light above

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all, you know. I mean, there are little

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nice little tricks that that

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cinematographers can do to help you out,

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like a little tiny inky above the above

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the lens just to pick up a light in your

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eyes or um you know, sometimes a nice

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little light box all the way around the

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camera makes you look very pretty. Um

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there are various tricks of the trade um

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that sometimes you're lucky enough to to

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to have. But um but again, you know,

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lighting, makeup, all has to service the

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story because you're telling a story.

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And I always say, does it tell the

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story? Does the wig tell the story? Is

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this the story I want to tell at that

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point in time? Um is this red lipstick?

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Is it telling the correct story? So,

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it's a Ultimately everything we do um is

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is contributing to telling the story.

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You know sometimes you have to make this

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decision that you are not going to wear

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makeup and you're not going to look very

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pretty because that is the role. It's a

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terrible thing. You know, nowadays a lot

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of actresses I've noticed have uh fake

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eyelashes attached, you know,

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permanently attached extensions. So,

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they all have these fabulous eyelashes.

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I mean, they're gorgeous, but they can't

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take them off. And for some roles,

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they're completely wrong. You know, you

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have these absurd great long eyelashes,

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you know, on a nurse in the First World

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War or something on on on the front

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line, and it just looks ridiculous.

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So um

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you know uh just be conscious of of

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doing things to yourself that is going

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to really limit you when it comes to to

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playing certain characters. Um it's much

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better to have a a a an empty space and

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add things to it than to arrive with all

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of these bits and pieces and then and

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now the makeup artist whoever has to

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work work around them. Um but

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you know there are there are ways of of

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making you um as I said earlier to wear

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no makeup. Your my face anyway cuz I'm

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bl I'm blonde. I'm fair. My face just

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disappears. There's no there's nothing

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there to hold on to. So I need

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definition. I need definition in my

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eyebrows very lightly in my eyes

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slightly in my mouth. So actually I was

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wearing makeup in Prime Suspect and I

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was wearing makeup in Gossford Park, but

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makeup applied with such a light hand

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and so judiciously that you don't see

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it. You must never never see it. That's

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the thing.

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Sometimes if you've been in the same

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makeup, which you often have since it's

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say it's 4:00 in the afternoon and

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you're now you're doing a close-up,

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you've been in that makeup since 6:00 in

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the morning and you know both you and

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your makeup are tired, you know. So, um,

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it's if you have the time and and this

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is where it's really good to have a good

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relationship with the first AD and the

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second AD to know what the timing of the

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day is going to be and if you have time

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to do something like this um say do I

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have an hour there and they'd say yes.

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Then you can go into the makeup trailer

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and say take it all off and let's put a

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whole new makeup on. But, you know,

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that's where you have to be sensible.

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Make a relationship as I say with the

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first AD, the second AD. Have a real

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understanding of the timing of the day.

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What you don't want to do is suddenly

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disappear,

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be have no makeup on when suddenly

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you're going to be called onto the set

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to shoot a scene. But, you know, makeup

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does get tired and you get tired. And

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I've I've often found myself shooting a

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closeup at the end of the day. It used

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to be in the olden days, women's

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close-ups could only happen between

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certain hours in the day when they're

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woken up enough but not yet tired. Sort

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of somewhere between 11 and 3:00 in the

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afternoon or something. But, you know,

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those days are long gone. There there

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are two valuable things in a closeup.

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One is powder and the other is sweat.

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It's always quite nice for certain

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scenes to have a nice little sweat going

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on, you know. Um, and then in other

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scenes it's really not a good idea to be

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at all shiny.

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If you're a young actor on the set and

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you feel you're being pushed into

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something that you're really

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uncomfortable with in terms of the way

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you look, either by the makeup person or

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the hair person or the costume person or

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the director or all of them together.

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Um, that's really tough because

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uh I think I think the only advice I can

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give you in that situation is suck it

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up, get on with it, and then get through

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it. Um, I've seen actresses uh uh

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reduced to tears in in the makeup

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trailer because they feel that their wig

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or their hair, the way their hair has

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been dressed really doesn't suit them.

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We all get slightly obsessed with with

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um with certain looks. What I do is like

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I did with the writers on Prime Suspect.

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I give the makeup artist absolute

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freedom to do whatever they want with my

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face because I always think what they

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have to offer might be more interesting

188
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than my old habits. And you can get

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stuck in old habits about the way you

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look. Um, and you see women, don't you,

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on the street, you know, they're still

192
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wearing their hair the same way they

193
00:08:56,959 --> 00:08:59,680
wore it when they were 25, only now

194
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they're like 65 and and it's really not

195
00:09:02,720 --> 00:09:06,000
a good look. So, we all as women, we can

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all get and men too, incidentally, you

197
00:09:08,320 --> 00:09:09,519
know, get stuck with their hair in

198
00:09:09,519 --> 00:09:12,160
certain way or certain kind of beard

199
00:09:12,160 --> 00:09:14,640
and they get stuck in that look and and

200
00:09:14,640 --> 00:09:16,720
they think they don't have that, you

201
00:09:16,720 --> 00:09:18,080
know, they're all at sea and they don't

202
00:09:18,080 --> 00:09:22,160
know who they are. And as an actor um

203
00:09:22,160 --> 00:09:24,959
you know again your your face your look

204
00:09:24,959 --> 00:09:27,360
has got to be the empty space upon which

205
00:09:27,360 --> 00:09:31,440
you put elements and um you know to get

206
00:09:31,440 --> 00:09:33,600
hooked on your your hair always has to

207
00:09:33,600 --> 00:09:36,240
be a certain way. It always has to be

208
00:09:36,240 --> 00:09:39,600
you know have product in it or as a guy

209
00:09:39,600 --> 00:09:41,519
you always have to have a shadow of a

210
00:09:41,519 --> 00:09:45,920
beard or um uh you know whatever it is

211
00:09:45,920 --> 00:09:49,279
people get stuck with. Um really I I

212
00:09:49,279 --> 00:09:52,160
advise you not to get stuck. Allow the

213
00:09:52,160 --> 00:09:56,399
makeup artist, the hair artist to come

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00:09:56,399 --> 00:09:58,320
with their own ideas. Look at what

215
00:09:58,320 --> 00:10:00,240
they're presenting and then maybe you

216
00:10:00,240 --> 00:10:02,480
can have your own ideas and add to it or

217
00:10:02,480 --> 00:10:05,040
take away from it. But you know, listen

218
00:10:05,040 --> 00:10:08,560
to them and be open to having a

219
00:10:08,560 --> 00:10:10,080
different look that you're just not

220
00:10:10,080 --> 00:10:12,959
familiar with.

1
00:00:13,280 --> 00:00:15,200
you know, the whole process of learning

2
00:00:15,200 --> 00:00:17,840
lines and how well you know them and and

3
00:00:17,840 --> 00:00:21,039
if you don't really know them that well,

4
00:00:21,039 --> 00:00:24,640
you know, it's a very

5
00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:27,439
uh what's the word? It's it's it's a bit

6
00:00:27,439 --> 00:00:30,880
of a soup really. Um

7
00:00:30,880 --> 00:00:34,079
because I absolutely understand the

8
00:00:34,079 --> 00:00:36,079
theory because you haven't I haven't

9
00:00:36,079 --> 00:00:38,960
learned my lines talking to you. I

10
00:00:38,960 --> 00:00:41,600
didn't sit down and learn this stuff off

11
00:00:41,600 --> 00:00:44,719
by heart. If I did, I would be I

12
00:00:44,719 --> 00:00:46,399
wouldn't be nearly as good at saying it

13
00:00:46,399 --> 00:00:50,239
as I am because I'd be trying to

14
00:00:50,239 --> 00:00:52,000
remember

15
00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:53,840
what

16
00:00:53,840 --> 00:00:56,719
comes next. You know, it would be

17
00:00:56,719 --> 00:01:00,719
awkward maybe. Um or I'd be delivering

18
00:01:00,719 --> 00:01:03,280
it in a weird way.

19
00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:07,520
Um and I certainly wouldn't say um

20
00:01:07,520 --> 00:01:10,640
but so but you then you have to learn

21
00:01:10,640 --> 00:01:13,920
it, don't you? You have to learn it. Uh

22
00:01:13,920 --> 00:01:16,320
the great thing is if you've learned it

23
00:01:16,320 --> 00:01:21,200
so well, so immaculately perfectly well

24
00:01:21,200 --> 00:01:23,439
that you don't even have to think about

25
00:01:23,439 --> 00:01:26,320
it, that's ideal. And I have to say when

26
00:01:26,320 --> 00:01:28,640
I did um

27
00:01:28,640 --> 00:01:32,000
uh um The Tempest, I had to do that. And

28
00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:34,000
I've never done that before. I had to

29
00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:35,840
sit down for I sat down for about two

30
00:01:35,840 --> 00:01:38,079
months before I started shooting. And I

31
00:01:38,079 --> 00:01:39,759
learned that script from beginning to

32
00:01:39,759 --> 00:01:43,200
end. And I learned it incredibly well

33
00:01:43,200 --> 00:01:45,119
because with Shakespeare, you've got to

34
00:01:45,119 --> 00:01:46,720
be ahead of yourself. You can't be

35
00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:49,360
behind yourself. And I'm sure you guys

36
00:01:49,360 --> 00:01:51,280
know what I mean by ahead of yourself as

37
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opposed to behind yourself, which is as

38
00:01:53,759 --> 00:01:55,680
you're saying a line, you're already

39
00:01:55,680 --> 00:01:57,280
thinking, you're aware of what the next

40
00:01:57,280 --> 00:01:59,759
line is and the next line after that.

41
00:01:59,759 --> 00:02:03,119
So, it's a sort of, you know, this, you

42
00:02:03,119 --> 00:02:04,719
know, as it's passing you by, you're

43
00:02:04,719 --> 00:02:06,719
always ahead of yourself. If you're just

44
00:02:06,719 --> 00:02:08,800
behind yourself, what's the next line?

45
00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:10,080
What's the next line? What's the next

46
00:02:10,080 --> 00:02:12,640
line? You know, you can't play with

47
00:02:12,640 --> 00:02:14,560
Shakespeare. You can't play because it's

48
00:02:14,560 --> 00:02:16,480
got to move.

49
00:02:16,480 --> 00:02:18,480
um modern stuff you can because you're

50
00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:21,360
allowed to pause and think and you know

51
00:02:21,360 --> 00:02:22,800
you look like you're thinking about your

52
00:02:22,800 --> 00:02:24,160
dead mother. You're actually thinking

53
00:02:24,160 --> 00:02:27,440
what do I say next? But um you know you

54
00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:31,640
can do that more in modern stuff

55
00:02:35,200 --> 00:02:38,239
in procedural drama. Obviously uh you

56
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know it's not emotional stuff. It's not

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uh you know it's not uh or is or is it

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poetic. It's as they say procedural.

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You're just literally having to remember

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and repeat um facts. The only way to do

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that is to know the facts. Know them. So

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someone question you where was she on

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July the 4th? You know at 3:00 in the

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afternoon, you say she was walking down

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that road. she was crossing that road

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that the camera saw her or just to know

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what the facts are and actually knowing

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the facts is is not that difficult if

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you see what I mean and then if you got

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that in your mind then then it's much

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easier to to you know uh go forward with

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these long procedural sorts of things.

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Um, but that stuff is difficult because

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it's and and an awful lot I have to say

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an awful lot of of American television

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is a little bit like that. It's it's uh

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it's

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um it's how can I put it? It's repeating

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facts rather than scenes that play out

80
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that have subtext or or emotional

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context.

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I think if you're asked to do anything

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that you've never experienced like I

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don't know giving birth for example

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um I've never given birth but I had to

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do a scene uh where I was giving birth

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at one point. Well you know it's very

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simple is what you do normally is you

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just research it. You look at you know

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you read material if there is anything

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people talking about what the experience

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is. um uh watch film um if you can bear

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to um sometimes I mean don't get me

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wrong I'm not saying giving birth is a

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dark experience but sometimes you have

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to go into quite dark places as an actor

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for example when I did uh woman in gold

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I felt it was very important to remind

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myself in the deepest way possible of

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the

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of the horror of the Holocaust. So to

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prepare for that role, I watched a lot

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of film of the liberation of the uh

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concentration camps. I read material

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about concentration camps. I wanted to

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really deeply embed in myself

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that sense of terror, of anger,

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of horror

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that the survivors of that monstrous

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time on this planet had to carry with

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them.

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I've never experienced that. I I mean I

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am a child of the second in sec of the

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postcond world war period but I'd never

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experienced that. It wasn't a part of my

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I'm not Jewish. I don't have that in my

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personal family. So it was really

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important for that to for me to embed

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that in me. So every word that I spoke

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in the film of the woman in gold had

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that knowledge

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behind it. Every single word. it was

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here in the forefront of my mind.

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So, um

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if you're being asked to do something

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that is really outside of your

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experience,

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um you have to find a way obviously a

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way into it and and reading reading

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anyway is a huge part of what we do. Um

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uh research and reading. Um, and then

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you know if for example it's it's giving

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birth, you've never done it before, but

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you read a um you know a description of

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a woman who's talking about it and you

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know she says you know the great thing

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about it was that I could for the first

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time I could swear at my husband and I'd

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never had the courage to do that before.

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whatever it is, you know, you you might

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find a little nugget of truth in a in a

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realistic in a real description of the

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experience and and then you can say, I

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thought I might, you know, swear in this

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or I thought I might. So, um, you know,

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you use you use whatever you've

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discovered and you can find great little

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nuggets um in in in real um uh

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descriptions of what you're having to

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do.

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Amongst

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uh many of the tools that we have uh in

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in our arsenal as actors, um obviously

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is the voice, but also the accent. Um,

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the accent obviously defines sometimes

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your economic status, your class,

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um, and and

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you know, which country you come from.

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And, and I've, um, I've had to use an

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accent often in in movies. I've done

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German, I've done kind of Israeli, I've

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done Russian, I've done French, I've

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done Manchester, which is Northern

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Irish, I've done South Carolina, I've

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done General American,

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um, and I can't remember what else,

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probably a couple of others as well.

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But, um, now there are people who are

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wonderful at accents.

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They're often I think they're musicians.

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And it's I think there's an interest

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interesting correlation between music

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and accents. I'm not musical and I'm not

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really very good at accents. I have to

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work. And here is where you just have to

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do the work. Basically, you um I like to

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have a person who has that accent,

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whatever accent it is, do my lines for

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me. Not an actor. Very important.

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Cuz you don't want to hear your lines

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being acted.

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They're your lines. You're the person

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who's going to act them.

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But just to hear the accent in those

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words, in those lines is very valuable.

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So, I'll find someone from wherever it

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is that I'm talking about um and I'll

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have them do the accent. It's a funny

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story here actually. It was um I did a

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film with Peter Haims called 2010. I was

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playing a Russian and um I'd done my

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homework before I came to America to

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shoot the film in England and I'd I'd

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found a Russian natural Russian speaker

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and I'd worked with them and I I had I

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got it down pretty good. It was a pretty

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good Russian accent.

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And I get to America and I meet with

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Peter before we shoot and he says,

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"Okay, let me hear your accent." So, I

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give him my Russian accent and he goes,

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"I don't know. It just doesn't really

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sound Russian to me. It hasn't got that

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in it." I, you know, he says, "My

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grandmother was Russian and I I I'm

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familiar with the Russian accent. It

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just doesn't sound quite right to me."

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So, I went home and I thought,

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I think it's really good. I think it's

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really accurate.

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What? What? Why is it not sounding right

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to him? And then I suddenly thought,

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he's American. He he hears the Russian

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accent he's used to used to is an

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American Russian accent. And the accent

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I'd learned was a British Russian

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accent. In other words, the accent of a

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person who'd learned English in Britain

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as opposed to the Russian accent of a

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person who'd learned

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English in America. So all I did, it was

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very simple. I just put a little bit of

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American into the accent. And the next

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day I went and I did my American

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Russian accent and Peter said, "That's

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it. That sounds Russian." So, uh, that

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was a little um a little accent lesson

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for me. But anyway, it's it's it's an

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it's an awkward piece of of costume that

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you're wearing, the the accent and uh

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the only way really to get through it. I

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I would inv advise if you are having to

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work in an accent is to stay in that

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accent all day long. Um it really and

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I'm not the sort of person I'm not a

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method sort of actor. I don't I really

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don't take my performance home with me

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that I'm aware of. Um and I you know on

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cut that's it. I I can come in and out.

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I I don't want to stay in character as

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such but accent it is a good idea to

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stay in accent all day long and and and

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that way it just becomes more and more a

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natural part of the way that you speak

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and it becomes then lighter and lighter

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on you. um as a a as something you're

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having to you know deal with it becomes

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a a lighter burden.

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So working with an accent, you know, you

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have various tools at your disposal and

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of course the most important tool is is

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the potential of a dialect coach. If

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you're working on the kind of production

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that can afford a dialect coach, I would

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absolutely recommend that you do that.

256
00:12:15,200 --> 00:12:17,440
But you have to find the dialect coach

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that works that you can work with

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because it's a very it's a peculiarly

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kind of intimate relationship. I find

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uh uh you know some dialect coach some

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it's it's a chemical thing. I think some

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some dialect coaches you're a good fit

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and other dialect coaches maybe not so

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much. What is very important in your

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relationship with the dialect coach is

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that they don't um most dialect coaches

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are very aware of this but they don't

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try and give you any kind of line

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readings which is kind of quite

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difficult to do because sometimes an

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accent almost is a line reading um you

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know some accents go down other accents

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go up as I said you know the Australian

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accent tends to go up and then the

275
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Yorkshire accent goes down so uh very

276
00:13:05,760 --> 00:13:09,760
bad accent there. But anyway, um so you

277
00:13:09,760 --> 00:13:11,519
know they are line readings in and of

278
00:13:11,519 --> 00:13:14,800
themselves, but most dialect coaches

279
00:13:14,800 --> 00:13:17,920
understand that they must not act. And

280
00:13:17,920 --> 00:13:21,680
at some point both you and your dialect

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00:13:21,680 --> 00:13:25,440
coach have to let go of that and allow

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the performance to happen because

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00:13:27,839 --> 00:13:29,760
sometimes

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00:13:29,760 --> 00:13:33,120
I my feeling is that a good performance

285
00:13:33,120 --> 00:13:36,560
in a bad accent is better than a great

286
00:13:36,560 --> 00:13:39,120
accent in a bad performance. And

287
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sometimes the the paralyzing

288
00:13:42,959 --> 00:13:45,760
um uh

289
00:13:45,760 --> 00:13:48,880
element in an accent can just overwhelm

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the performance.

291
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Sometimes as as an actor you get stuck

292
00:13:58,240 --> 00:14:00,160
on something. You get stuck on the

293
00:14:00,160 --> 00:14:02,480
reading of a line. You know a very easy

294
00:14:02,480 --> 00:14:04,320
way to unblock yourself and I do this

295
00:14:04,320 --> 00:14:07,120
often is I just ask another actor to say

296
00:14:07,120 --> 00:14:10,720
this line for me. Because we all say

297
00:14:10,720 --> 00:14:13,920
there is a million ways of saying every

298
00:14:13,920 --> 00:14:18,240
line and you will find that even within

299
00:14:18,240 --> 00:14:20,720
yourself on one day you feel your voice

300
00:14:20,720 --> 00:14:24,079
changes on a daily you know some days

301
00:14:24,079 --> 00:14:27,040
your voice is somehow easy and free and

302
00:14:27,040 --> 00:14:30,880
other days it seems constricted. Um uh

303
00:14:30,880 --> 00:14:34,240
you know your voice is very I I found my

304
00:14:34,240 --> 00:14:36,399
voice to be very influenced by my

305
00:14:36,399 --> 00:14:38,480
psychological state certainly my

306
00:14:38,480 --> 00:14:42,560
physical state. Um and likewise the way

307
00:14:42,560 --> 00:14:46,240
you say a line is influenced by

308
00:14:46,240 --> 00:14:48,160
everything around you and and everything

309
00:14:48,160 --> 00:14:51,360
within you. But sometimes you do get you

310
00:14:51,360 --> 00:14:54,320
just cannot stop yourself saying this

311
00:14:54,320 --> 00:14:57,040
bloody line in this one way and it's in

312
00:14:57,040 --> 00:14:58,399
really you're thinking there must be

313
00:14:58,399 --> 00:15:00,959
something else in this. So a very simple

314
00:15:00,959 --> 00:15:03,440
easy trick there I find is just to go to

315
00:15:03,440 --> 00:15:04,959
another actor and say look would you say

316
00:15:04,959 --> 00:15:07,920
this line for me and they because they

317
00:15:07,920 --> 00:15:10,320
are there and not you they say it in a

318
00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:13,120
different way and it just it just knocks

319
00:15:13,120 --> 00:15:15,519
you off your you know off your tracks.

320
00:15:15,519 --> 00:15:17,519
Uh which is what you need. You just need

321
00:15:17,519 --> 00:15:21,480
to be knocked off your tracks.

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00:15:25,199 --> 00:15:28,000
You know, another very good trick. It's

323
00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:31,199
not really a trick. I've never quite

324
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quite carried it through, but I've

325
00:15:33,519 --> 00:15:35,519
noticed that if you're pay if you're

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playing someone drunk or someone mad or

327
00:15:38,079 --> 00:15:42,000
someone, you know, well, mad,

328
00:15:42,000 --> 00:15:45,199
it's incredibly liberating. You suddenly

329
00:15:45,199 --> 00:15:48,240
can say anything and go anywhere. You

330
00:15:48,240 --> 00:15:51,120
don't give a damn. You just do whatever

331
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the [ __ ] you want to do. Oh, I'm not

332
00:15:52,959 --> 00:15:55,839
supposed to swear. But anyway, you do

333
00:15:55,839 --> 00:15:58,560
whatever you want to do. And you think,

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00:15:58,560 --> 00:16:01,199
why don't I play every role like this?

335
00:16:01,199 --> 00:16:03,519
So, sometimes it's good just think, I'm

336
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going to play this in my mind. I'm not

337
00:16:06,000 --> 00:16:07,680
going to tell anyone, but secretly I'm

338
00:16:07,680 --> 00:16:10,720
going to play as if I'm completely mad.

339
00:16:10,720 --> 00:16:13,199
and um you know and that can knock you

340
00:16:13,199 --> 00:16:17,320
off your tracks sometimes.

341
00:16:22,160 --> 00:16:24,959
There is one thing that you must never

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00:16:24,959 --> 00:16:28,639
do. Promise me. Say to my say to me, I

343
00:16:28,639 --> 00:16:30,880
promise you Helen, I will never do this.

344
00:16:30,880 --> 00:16:34,639
Never act in front of a mirror because

345
00:16:34,639 --> 00:16:37,759
you are doing the exact opposite of what

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00:16:37,759 --> 00:16:41,440
acting is about. Acting is all about of

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00:16:41,440 --> 00:16:46,480
course exterior elements come into it.

348
00:16:46,480 --> 00:16:50,160
Your makeup, your costume, your your um

349
00:16:50,160 --> 00:16:53,839
hair, the wig, those elements are all

350
00:16:53,839 --> 00:16:57,360
are building blocks. But what's

351
00:16:57,360 --> 00:17:00,079
happening, the actingness of what's

352
00:17:00,079 --> 00:17:02,880
happening is happening within you. And

353
00:17:02,880 --> 00:17:04,880
it doesn't matter what's happening on

354
00:17:04,880 --> 00:17:07,520
your face. The audience will see what

355
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they want to see. Your job is just to

356
00:17:10,480 --> 00:17:12,640
allow your face

357
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to express whatever your feeling is.

358
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That's your That's your job.

359
00:17:18,799 --> 00:17:21,199
Remember your lines, hit your mark, all

360
00:17:21,199 --> 00:17:23,839
of that stuff. But the essence of your

361
00:17:23,839 --> 00:17:25,360
job

362
00:17:25,360 --> 00:17:28,079
is to allow, and this is what makes

363
00:17:28,079 --> 00:17:30,799
actors different from other people.

364
00:17:30,799 --> 00:17:33,600
People, most people can't do this. They

365
00:17:33,600 --> 00:17:35,280
don't really want to actually, but they

366
00:17:35,280 --> 00:17:39,760
can't. And if you are truly an actor,

367
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you can. And it's a very specific a very

368
00:17:43,679 --> 00:17:47,120
specific talent, ability. I don't know

369
00:17:47,120 --> 00:17:49,200
what to call it, but it it it's quite

370
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specific. So, um,

371
00:17:52,720 --> 00:17:54,320
and it's nothing to do with looking in

372
00:17:54,320 --> 00:17:56,799
the mirror and going, "Oh, that looks

373
00:17:56,799 --> 00:17:58,480
good. That looks Oh, I look sort of

374
00:17:58,480 --> 00:18:00,720
frowny there. That's good." Whatever it

375
00:18:00,720 --> 00:18:02,320
is,

376
00:18:02,320 --> 00:18:04,240
you know, you'll just you'll you'll lead

377
00:18:04,240 --> 00:18:08,480
yourself into terrible fake acting.

1
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being surprised uh in closeup or this

2
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kind of shot over and over again.

3
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Oh, cut action. Oh, cut action.

4
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Oh, is

5
00:00:30,480 --> 00:00:32,480
you start feeling like an absolute tit

6
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actually. But um you know, there you go.

7
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You just have to do your best. And

8
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incidentally, if if you're finding

9
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yourself running out of steam, I don't

10
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think there's anything wrong with

11
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getting the help of someone to scope,

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you know, do something that that will

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get a reaction from you. And

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incidentally also sometimes when you're

15
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off camera and you're realizing the act

16
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like the actor has to act surprised at

17
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your entrance, but he's off he's on

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camera, you're off camera. It's great to

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help the actor on camera out by doing

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something that literally

21
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surprises them and then you get a real

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reaction on camera which you off camera

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have made happen.

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But that's an act of generosity that you

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can give an another actor. Uh and I

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think you should I think it's part of

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your job really. Uh you know to do that

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as much as you can.

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I did a fight scene in the debt. We

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called it the geriatric fight scene. But

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it was a fight scene that we had to and

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we worked with a stunt man to do this

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scene. A wonderful stunt man. He did the

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naked fight in um uh East was it Eastern

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Promises the film with uh VGO Mortonson

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in a wonderful wonderful fight sequence.

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Naked fight sequence and fight sequences

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which men in general have to do more

39
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than women but women do occasionally.

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Um and you work with a stunt person.

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listen to the stump person. Just do what

42
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they tell you to do because they know

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what they're talking about. Well,

44
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actually, I say that, but actually

45
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sometimes stump people because they are

46
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stump people,

47
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you know, they know how to sell a punch,

48
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you know, boom. Um, but they they're

49
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from because they're not actors.

50
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Sometimes they oversell it and you have

51
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to pull it back. Pull the you know it's

52
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not you know it's like do you know what

53
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I mean? You a stunt person sometimes

54
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oversells and it becomes a too

55
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physicalized and you have to bring it

56
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back to reality a little bit. But this

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stunt guy was brilliant and he taught me

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because so often you see in fight

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sequences, you know, people get punched

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and then they come back and they like

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they're like perfectly normal and that

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always annoys me when I see that. Um,

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and he said, you know, this hurts. I

64
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think it was a I can't remember. It was

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a stab in the shoulder and he said,

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everything in your body goes into

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paralysis from the pain. And so often

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you see people stabbed and stabbed and

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they they go, "Oh, oh, I'm stabbed." But

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they sort of carry on. He said

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everything stopped. So I've really

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played that just the your whole body has

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gone into paralysis from the pain of

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this thing in your shoulder. Um so I

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think it's quite important to be as

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realistic as you can.

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I mean certain movies you don't there's

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not the time or the inclination to be

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realistic about this kind of stuff you

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know in action type movies but um but if

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there is the space to be realistic just

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work with the stunt person find out what

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it's like to have the pain of cancer or

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the pain of uh you know of a shot in the

85
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knee or whatever it is um and play it.

86
00:04:22,639 --> 00:04:24,639
So let's talk about nudity which is very

87
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much a part of what uh what actors are

88
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and actors female and male nowadays are

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asked to to um to partake in. Um I was

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as well in my early days of of

91
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performing very different. My first film

92
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the f fil film with James Mason that I

93
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mentioned earlier I had to basically do

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what they call full frontal you know um

95
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in those days nudity was this it was I

96
00:04:53,440 --> 00:04:57,199
think I maybe I have the honor of being

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the first full frontal so to speak in a

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straight movie. I don't know. Um,

99
00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:08,400
but just before I started in film was

100
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the era of uh Vanessa Redgrave and and

101
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Glenda Jackson doing Ken Russell movies

102
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and Ken and I subsequently did one

103
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myself and did a nude scene in it. And

104
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his movies were famous for their

105
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wildness, for their um uh what's the

106
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word there? their, you know, uh,

107
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craziness and their invention.

108
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Uh, his early movies were quite

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wonderful and and nudity was a part of

110
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that. So, oh, shock horror in those

111
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days. But, um, I was coming I was just

112
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coming into the profession as they were

113
00:05:47,680 --> 00:05:50,479
there. So, I had I was following on from

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them. Um, I never forget there was a

115
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great story about Glenda Jackson doing a

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nude scene in I think um, Sons and

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Lovers and uh, you know, pro set or gets

118
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everyone gets very heated and um, she

119
00:06:06,479 --> 00:06:08,080
walks on, she's got a robe on, you're

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always in in your robe, you know, and

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uh, she stands up in front of the whole

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crew and she drops her robe and she

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says, "Okay, everyone, this is what it

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looks like from the front." And then she

125
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turns around and says, "And this is what

126
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it looked like from behind. So, let's go

127
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to work." And I thought, I was very,

128
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very inspired by that. I never quite had

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the courage to do it myself, but I

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thought that was great. That was, you

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know, liberating for me.

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You know, nowadays we're asked to do all

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kinds of things, isn't it? I mean the

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great thing about

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the the liber liberation if you like of

136
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the 20th century 21st century uh which

137
00:06:53,360 --> 00:06:55,280
seems to be an ongoing process and quite

138
00:06:55,280 --> 00:06:57,759
that where that will end I don't know I

139
00:06:57,759 --> 00:07:00,960
mean I did a film um in the ' 70s called

140
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Caligula which was famous at the time

141
00:07:04,080 --> 00:07:07,759
for its sex scenes. Well, you know, oh

142
00:07:07,759 --> 00:07:09,759
my god, shock, horror, disgusting,

143
00:07:09,759 --> 00:07:11,599
appalling. You know, it could only be

144
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shown in XX cinemas because it was

145
00:07:13,919 --> 00:07:18,319
considered to be porn. Um,

146
00:07:18,319 --> 00:07:21,039
a kind of a high flutin porn with John

147
00:07:21,039 --> 00:07:24,319
Gilgood and Petro Tul and me and Malcolm

148
00:07:24,319 --> 00:07:28,639
McDow in it. Very high flutin. Um

149
00:07:28,639 --> 00:07:31,759
and now actually is on and as I said on

150
00:07:31,759 --> 00:07:33,039
the at the time when I was being

151
00:07:33,039 --> 00:07:36,400
interviewed by some stupid

152
00:07:36,400 --> 00:07:40,160
um journalist you know oh you know what

153
00:07:40,160 --> 00:07:44,560
are you going to this I said you know in

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20 years time this will look like a

155
00:07:46,639 --> 00:07:47,680
something like this will be on

156
00:07:47,680 --> 00:07:49,759
television and I was absolutely right

157
00:07:49,759 --> 00:07:52,000
cuz it was no more or less than anything

158
00:07:52,000 --> 00:07:54,160
you see in Game of Thrones or on any

159
00:07:54,160 --> 00:07:58,560
cable show nowadays. So anyway, the

160
00:07:58,560 --> 00:08:03,680
sexuality and uh having sex and all of

161
00:08:03,680 --> 00:08:06,639
that stuff is has may is maybe becoming

162
00:08:06,639 --> 00:08:10,479
a part of our of our job. I think if you

163
00:08:10,479 --> 00:08:13,520
don't want to do it, say so.

164
00:08:13,520 --> 00:08:18,319
Either turn the job down or if you want

165
00:08:18,319 --> 00:08:19,759
the job but you don't want to do that.

166
00:08:19,759 --> 00:08:22,080
As I said before, you have to be honest

167
00:08:22,080 --> 00:08:24,639
about that. And if they still want you,

168
00:08:24,639 --> 00:08:27,039
great. But if they say in that case, I'm

169
00:08:27,039 --> 00:08:29,360
sorry, we're moving on. Well, you know,

170
00:08:29,360 --> 00:08:32,240
that's the choice you make. Um, but say

171
00:08:32,240 --> 00:08:35,519
you've said yes and now you're in it.

172
00:08:35,519 --> 00:08:38,320
Don't worry about it too much. The nice

173
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thing about a sex scene is that the two

174
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of you, you and your partner, whoever it

175
00:08:42,719 --> 00:08:44,640
is you're doing it with, become a little

176
00:08:44,640 --> 00:08:46,720
sort of you become like babes in the

177
00:08:46,720 --> 00:08:49,839
wood or Adam and Eve, you know, you make

178
00:08:49,839 --> 00:08:52,399
your own little world, which is very cut

179
00:08:52,399 --> 00:08:55,279
off from the rest of the of the crew.

180
00:08:55,279 --> 00:08:58,399
The crew are in there always really

181
00:08:58,399 --> 00:09:00,640
sweet and really kind in those

182
00:09:00,640 --> 00:09:03,519
circumstances and very understanding. It

183
00:09:03,519 --> 00:09:06,080
is I don't know. It's it's like doing a

184
00:09:06,080 --> 00:09:09,040
fight. It can be very cho choreographed

185
00:09:09,040 --> 00:09:10,880
and it usually is because it's quite

186
00:09:10,880 --> 00:09:12,640
technical the way you have to film it.

187
00:09:12,640 --> 00:09:14,720
So it's very chore. How about if I put

188
00:09:14,720 --> 00:09:16,959
my hand there and then you put your head

189
00:09:16,959 --> 00:09:18,640
back there and then I'll put my leg up

190
00:09:18,640 --> 00:09:21,519
here and so it becomes quite technical.

191
00:09:21,519 --> 00:09:24,480
Uh which is is quite good as well. Or

192
00:09:24,480 --> 00:09:26,480
you can have very improvisational

193
00:09:26,480 --> 00:09:28,959
scenes, sex scenes, which are always

194
00:09:28,959 --> 00:09:31,279
also kind of beautiful to see, but then

195
00:09:31,279 --> 00:09:33,360
you're very much in a dance with your

196
00:09:33,360 --> 00:09:38,000
partner. And um it's so not sexy. It's

197
00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:43,600
so unsexy. It's so um it's about the

198
00:09:43,600 --> 00:09:47,279
unsexiest thing you can do on a set is

199
00:09:47,279 --> 00:09:51,320
have sex, funnily enough.

200
00:09:55,200 --> 00:09:58,800
I love doing bed scenes. Oh, so great.

201
00:09:58,800 --> 00:10:00,640
Get out of bed in the morning, go to

202
00:10:00,640 --> 00:10:02,480
work, get straight back into bed again.

203
00:10:02,480 --> 00:10:05,839
It's my favorite thing. Um,

204
00:10:05,839 --> 00:10:08,160
uh, but falling asleep, you know, uh,

205
00:10:08,160 --> 00:10:09,760
well, you know, a really good thing is

206
00:10:09,760 --> 00:10:11,680
just to relax and literally fall asleep.

207
00:10:11,680 --> 00:10:15,760
I've done that a few times on a set. Um,

208
00:10:15,760 --> 00:10:19,519
waking up is another thing. It's some uh

209
00:10:19,519 --> 00:10:22,000
you know that the the process of either

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come coming quick out of sleep or

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slowly waking up the slow

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realization that the world around you is

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where it is and oh oh I see I've woken

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up um you know very different so again

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uh

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it's it's very dependent on the scene

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uh on what's required for the scene. Um,

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is an alarm clock? Are you so fast

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asleep you don't even hear the alarm

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clock, but eventually you do. Anyway, it

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it it's a little acting thing that you

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do. Yeah.

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Some people are brilliant at being

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drunk.

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I think the whole trick of being drunk

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is to really

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try not to be drunk.

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to be sober. I am not drunk, you know.

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And I've seen certain actors can do this

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absolutely brilliantly. And I suspect

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that that is kind of kind of the trick.

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But but with things like that, yes,

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there you you need your little tools. So

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you you know you look at film of drunk

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people and you study the way they move

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what their hands do you know they're

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grasping something how they just miss or

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uh you know look at drunk people and

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there are many different kinds of drunk

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people so decide which one you want to

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be.

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Uh well it depends how you die obviously

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you know slow dying quick dying

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um

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uh

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uh it it it just you know depends on the

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circumstance. I mean um it's very hard

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to let the life go out of your body if

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you're not actually dead. Um it's it's

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very difficult and some people are

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brilliant at dying. Um, I've died on

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stage. I don't if I've ever died on

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film.

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Oh, yes. Right. I did die in Elizabeth

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one. Yes. Um, and actually I can't

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remember which maybe is appropriate. Um,

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but uh yes to to allow the life to to

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leave you. I guess that's a kind of an

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acting exercise in a way to be lifeless.

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Um because mostly what we're trying to

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do is pour life into ourselves as

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actors. But to let that go, I guess, is

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a very specific thing.

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There is such a huge difference between

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acting on stage and acting on film. And

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yet, ironically,

4
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it's actually the same process that you

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go through. You're going through the

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process of imaginatively putting

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yourself into a situation that you are

8
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manifestally not in.

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On stage,

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you know, you're playing um I don't

11
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know, I played Federra, for example, on

12
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stage. Uh a a Greek uh queen who is in

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love with her stepson. And you're in

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ancient Greece, but I'm not in ancient

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Greece. I'm on the stage at the National

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Theater and in front of me as an

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audience. But we are all engaging in

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this wonderful miraculous act of

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imagination together that is going to

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take us on this journey, the journey of

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of telling a story that we all want to

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go on. Likewise, when you're on a film

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set, here you are, you know, I don't

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know, Excalibur. I'm Morgana, the the,

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you know, the the Enchantress.

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Uh, but I'm not. I'm I've just struggled

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into my costume and my makeup is is hot.

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It's falling off me and and my hair is

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uncomfortable and uh, you know, and

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there's noise on the set and and many

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many people, you're manifestally not

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where you so anyway, what I'm saying is

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the central essence of what you're doing

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is the same.

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you are engaging in an act of

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imagination

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profoundly in order to tell a story.

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Having said that, there is a world of

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difference between acting on stage and

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acting uh on in front of a camera. The

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wonderful advantage that you have on a

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camera is you have the closeup and you

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have you can tell you don't need a

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three-page speech if you have a closeup.

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You can do it all here if if you know if

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if that if you're allowed or if if

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that's required. What happens in film

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and television is that you're edited.

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Your performance is created for you by

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the editor, by the director, by all the

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other elements that come in in

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post-prouction. On stage, you are

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editing yourself. You are in control of

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the editing. You can bring the attention

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to yourself if you want to or you give

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it to the other actor when when the

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moment is right. Um, you can choose when

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to be still. You can choose when to be

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fast.

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Um, you can choose when to do this

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and not look at the camera at all or the

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audience. The back is a very important

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thing for actors I think. Um but um

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so there is a there is an absolute world

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of difference between the two techniques

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and that both are highly technical and

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you have to learn the technique for both

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both formats

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but as I say in in the absolute essence

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of what you're doing which is going on

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this imaginative story

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u it's the same

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This is a book called Interviews with

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Francis Bacon. I can't find

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I can't find the bit that I will tell

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you about.

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It's a wonderful

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piece. He talks about he talks about the

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necessity to learn technique and it is

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something that I have I have come to

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understand.

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And he talks about it in terms of

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painting. He says when you know all

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5-year-old, sixy old kids are brilliant

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painters. They're brilliant because

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they're painting purely out of instinct

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and they're not concerned with technique

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at all. They just making marks.

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Wonderful. Here's mommy. Here's daddy.

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Son, tree.

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And and they're all fantastic.

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But if you're still painting like a

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5-year-old when you're 15, you're

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actually kind of mentally, you know,

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disturbed.

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So to carry on as a painter, you have

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got to learn technique. You've got to

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and then you go through this very

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painful period that is probably about 10

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years long. It's not a year or two. It's

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a long time of learning technique. And

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whether that's learning the technique of

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film acting, learning how to look at a

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piece of tape on the side of a camera

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and completely believe that that's your

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dying husband. Um, learning how to deal

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with a mic above your head, people over

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there having a little chitchat. Um,

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whatever it is you're dealing with and

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maintain your concentration. learning

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how to hit marks, learning you about

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lighting, learning about how to work in

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a frame that's this big as opposed to a

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frame that's this big as opposed to a

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big wide. Learning all those things. Um

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and and that takes time and and on the

117
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stage it's learning how to it's mostly

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vocal learning, learning um how much

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energy you're going to need, learning

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how you know how to

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be realistic and yet theatrical because

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they've got to be able to hear you at

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the back of the theater. Um

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so long painful journey of learning

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technique and he talks about that in

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this book and then he talks about the

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moment where your technique is so deep

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within you now you can start letting go

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of it because it's second nature to you

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actually funnily enough just going to

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read a little bit out of this

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And I simply didn't know in the end what

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I was doing. And suddenly this thing

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clicked and became exactly like this

135
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image I was trying to record. But not

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out of any conscious will nor was it

137
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anything to do with in in illustrational

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painting. What has never been analyzed

139
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is why this particular way of painting

140
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is more poignant than illustration. And

141
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here we could be talking about acting

142
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perfectly. that moment of inspired

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reality as opposed to beautifully

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performed reality.

145
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I suppose

146
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because it has a life completely of its

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own. It lives on its own like the image

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one's trying to trap. It lives on its

149
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own and therefore transfers the essence

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of the image more poignantly so that the

151
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the artist may be able to open up or

152
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rather should I say unlock the valves of

153
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feeling and therefore return the

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unlocker to life more violently. I mean,

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what a perfect description of a

156
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brilliant inspired take is that, you

157
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know, when when, as they say,

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inspiration strikes you and you're out

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of control and yet you are totally in

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control. Because if you've if you've got

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technique,

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then you can afford those out of control

163
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moments because

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you're in you're in focus because you're

165
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on your mark, you know. Um or your ey

166
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line is right. No lo good having your

167
00:07:58,720 --> 00:08:02,639
brilliant inspired moment like this, you

168
00:08:02,639 --> 00:08:05,120
know, or like that. Oh, I was so

169
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brilliant, but you couldn't see me. So,

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um that was uh I I just saw that little

171
00:08:11,120 --> 00:08:15,280
bit today. But earlier on, so he's he's

172
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talking about in terms of painting, he's

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talking about the inspired accident

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and how

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you can't tell cuz there are bad

176
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accidents and there are good accidents.

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As in acting, there are kind of pretty

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naff moments when you you do something

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that's not planned, but actually it's

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00:08:34,880 --> 00:08:37,599
not very good either. And then other

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00:08:37,599 --> 00:08:39,200
moments when you do something that's not

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planned, but it's fantastic.

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But

184
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he says the whole point of learning

185
00:08:46,720 --> 00:08:48,880
technique is to be able to recognize

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00:08:48,880 --> 00:08:50,720
what is a good accident and what is a

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bad accident. So I found that very very

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00:08:53,839 --> 00:08:57,279
relevant to me as a young actor try

189
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especially when I was in the process of

190
00:08:58,880 --> 00:09:01,120
trying to learn technique. Finally I

191
00:09:01,120 --> 00:09:02,880
could sort of see a light at the end of

192
00:09:02,880 --> 00:09:05,279
the tunnel. I could see a reason for

193
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learning technique and the reason is

194
00:09:07,680 --> 00:09:10,320
that eventually you will you will be

195
00:09:10,320 --> 00:09:12,720
able to let it go but you can't let it

196
00:09:12,720 --> 00:09:16,800
you can't let it go until you have it.

197
00:09:16,800 --> 00:09:20,399
So you can't say oh as a sort of I don't

198
00:09:20,399 --> 00:09:22,959
know 19 20 year old actor I'm going to

199
00:09:22,959 --> 00:09:24,560
be an actor without technique I'm just

200
00:09:24,560 --> 00:09:26,880
it's all just going to be improvised and

201
00:09:26,880 --> 00:09:29,360
absolutely brilliant. Well, it won't be.

202
00:09:29,360 --> 00:09:31,600
It'll just be a mess, actually, you

203
00:09:31,600 --> 00:09:36,279
know, and Francis Bacon recognized that.

204
00:09:40,240 --> 00:09:42,959
If you're a young actor and you get the

205
00:09:42,959 --> 00:09:44,800
chance to do, I don't know, a long form

206
00:09:44,800 --> 00:09:46,560
series or something somewhere where

207
00:09:46,560 --> 00:09:49,600
you're going to be on the set every day

208
00:09:49,600 --> 00:09:51,040
watching, working with different

209
00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:52,399
directors, working with different

210
00:09:52,399 --> 00:09:54,080
cinematographers,

211
00:09:54,080 --> 00:09:57,200
um different camera people, different

212
00:09:57,200 --> 00:10:00,959
dolly pushers, um just working on a film

213
00:10:00,959 --> 00:10:03,360
set with all those incredibly

214
00:10:03,360 --> 00:10:06,000
um expertise

215
00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:08,800
um technicians that you are privileged

216
00:10:08,800 --> 00:10:11,360
to work with

217
00:10:11,360 --> 00:10:14,240
um that's very very valuable. I would

218
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say grab that chance um if you want to

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become a film actor um because the the p

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the pure practice of doing that every

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day will be invaluable for it. I've

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noticed this when I work with actors um

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who've had that experience and how

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extraordinarily adro and free they are

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therefore on a film set. Um

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uh so so in my personal experience

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working on the set of Prime Suspect, I

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learned how to hit marks, how to

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I learned if a siren's going off, it's

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going to spoil the take and and you're

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going to have to do that take again. Um,

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I learned how to give off camerara lines

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to actors in such a way that it it keeps

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their energy going, that gives them

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something. Um, I learned um, you know,

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how when to shout, when not to shout,

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and uh, I learned just I learned all

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those technical requirements of of film.

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And it's wonderful. I've had the great

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privilege of working with two or three

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actors who understand that uh technique

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as it's second nature to them and um

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that's always very inspiring when on top

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of it being second nature to them they

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are utterly free within it like

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Alpuccino is. Um this is why we all love

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we actors we love Alpuccino because

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there is this

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uh body this this this platform of

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incredible

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technical knowledge but on that platform

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he dances like a free spirit. He just

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never betraying the technique but

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utterly free within it and that is I

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think that is what we all aspire

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when you're filming, you know, unlike in

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the theater, obviously in the theater

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you move linearly forward through the

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play. Um, and your whole energy and your

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and the the storytelling is is a part of

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that process. in film, and it's often

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been the case with me, you literally

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shoot the last scene in the film first

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thing or in the first week. You're

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shooting the last scene and and that can

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lead you up the garden path because

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sometimes you make decisions that later

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on you realize were were not not

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absolutely right. Um, but there you go.

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That that's what happens. Um,

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here it's very important to um talk to

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the continuity person and I I'm always I

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always go what's just happened? What

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happened before this? What's the next

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scene? What's the next shot? And and

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another very important thing to to begin

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to grasp is how it's going to be edited.

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So, not just what is the next scene

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um after this, but maybe what is the

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next shot after this, you know, is and

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you can sort of tell this from the

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script. You know, here you're in closeup

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and the next scene maybe is a, you know,

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takes place outside and you think, ah,

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they're probably going to cut from my

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closeup to a big wide of the landscape.

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Um, I'm not saying you should be think

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about that necessarily, but um,

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sometimes it can um, modulate your

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performance in the sense of you can

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think, you know what, uh, it's a good

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idea to be really fast here or no, this

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is a moment I can take some time because

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you can get a sense of the rhythm of the

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cutting of how the the film rhythm

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rhythmically is going to play out. So,

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that's quite sophisticated, but um uh in

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certain circumstances, it's not a bad

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idea to kind of be aware of this. But

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anyway, shooting out of sequence um

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the continuity person is your friend.

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I think it from my experience

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uh you can plot out a certain amount but

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actually it's uh and I guess if push

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comes to shove it it's a valuable thing

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to be able to fall back on if if you're

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confused and you don't quite know where

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the hell you are what you're supposed to

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be doing. You suddenly remember, oh yes,

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that's right. my dog died in the scene

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before, so I'm going to be upset from

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that and that's why I'm that's why I'm

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shouting at my child. So to make that

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connection is probably a good idea. And

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my other feeling and and we're talking

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about planning too much.

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I always I try very hard on turnover

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action. I want my line, my feeling, my

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response maybe to what the line is not

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to come this way at me, but to come this

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way at me. So it kind of takes me by

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surprise. It comes

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bilaterally at me, not face on. That's

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the only way I can describe it.

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I want it to be almost random or to take

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me by surprise. And again, I will come

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back to Al Pacino, who I I've never

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spoken to him about this, but I feel the

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way watching I had the great privilege

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of watching him work on a film my

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husband directed called De Devil's

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Advocate and just seeing the way he just

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shakes it all up constantly. There is no

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master plan. It's it's it's a question.

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of course he knows who his character is

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and and and he's and all of that is

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solid and the the base is solid but upon

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the base and I've said this before he's

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dancing

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and um

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so anyway I I don't I don't like to plan

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too much.

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White Nights was the first time I'd had

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to work standing opposite someone who's

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a big star, you know, and I'm quite

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intimidated by big stars. I'm not

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intimidated, that's not the right word,

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but I'm a little bit overwhelmed and

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fanny about them. And if I'm going to

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work with a big star, I get up in the

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morning, I say, "Do not make a fool of

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yourself. Don't talk too much.

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Don't, you know, don't be sick of

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fantic. Don't laugh at their jokes too

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much. Um, you know, just be yourself,

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Helen. Just be yourself. That's all you

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have to do. And then I walk up and

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there's Bruce Willis or there's, you

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know, um, uh, um, a big star. I I just

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fall apart. You know, Nick Cage.

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Luckily, they've always been so kind to

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me that it's made it easy for me. But,

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uh, you know, I' I I I'm hopeless. Um

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so and likewise working with Parishnikov

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you know the extraordinary and um an

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icon a legend at that time

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he was all just at the height of his

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powers. So, you know, an incredible

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artist that I'm working opposite. Um,

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and you know, to to look across the the

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set and see there's

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the goth standing there, you know, and

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and that knocks you off your balance,

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off your acting balance. So, you know,

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get over that.

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What I tell myself, and I'm telling you,

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get over that. You know, you have as

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much reason to be there as they do.

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that's why you've been cast. Um, you

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have as much um, uh, value at that

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moment in time as they do. That's why

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you're in the scene. So, just really get

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over that. Be yourself and um, be proud.

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Don't be arrogant. That's not good. Um

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but you know be proud to be yourself and

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give yourself your the full value the

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same value that they have actually

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because although they are great stars

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they are also very often as insecure as

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you are actually.

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Don't tell anyone I told you so.

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It's funny with film you can't really

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rehearse film. You can recurse literally

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where I think I'll sit in this scene or

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you know I think I'll walk across there

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or um you know you can reorganize the

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text in rehearsals. I think we'll cut

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that bit out. Why don't we why don't you

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say that there? And a lot of that goes

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on in rehearsal. But to actually

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rehearse the emotional

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moment of the scene, you always want to

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save that. And often when I work with

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inexperienced actors and um uh you know

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if you're the star one of a better word

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very of very often they do your closeup

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first which is can be good can sometimes

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not be good but um because they don't

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want you to over have to overdo it and

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and I work with a young actor and

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they're next to the camera and they're

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giving their all and I go up to them and

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I say don't don't it's fine don't act

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Wait, wait till the camera's on you.

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Save it. You can just give me the lines.

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I don't need any acting. That's fine.

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Um, just save it for for your closeup,

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your your turn. Um,

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but anyway, so you can't, you know, you

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can't rehearse that stuff. Um

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incidentally the only other actor the

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only actor who gives so much off camera

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he gives more almost than he gives on

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camera and it's a one I have to say it

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is a wonderful thing is Alpuccino

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because he loves acting so much he

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cannot say the lines without acting it.

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I'm not like that but but it's it's a

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beautiful thing. This is a man who loves

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actors. Loves acting. He finds it just

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the one of the most important things in

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the world to do and um be inspired by

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him because I certainly am.

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I was given a wonderful piece of film

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acting advice which I will share with

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you. It's the most valuable advice I

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personally have ever had and it came

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from a a an actor producer called Bob

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Balaban.

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I was doing a film with him here in

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Hollywood and I uh it was the first film

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I'd ever done in in America and it was

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on one of those wonderful M Hollywood

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stages, the big massive glorious

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historic Hollywood stages. At the time

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it was called MGM, but it's subsequently

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it's become known as Sony. Magical place

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for me, full of history.

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Um anyway, I'm in this scene and I'm

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playing a Russian uh

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um captain of a spacecraft

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and um I'm watching and there are

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American actors around me. We're playing

199
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this ensemble scene and I'm watching

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them

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in awe and wonder. I'd already done

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Prime Suspect, so it wasn't like, you

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know, I was chopped liver, so to speak,

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but

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how do they do that? They're so natural,

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you know, how they just like speaking.

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It's fantastic. I've always been a great

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admire of American film. Ever since I

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actors, American actors, ever since I

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was in the theater in the early days and

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the English actor actors tend to look

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down their noses a little bit at

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American act, film actors. It's not real

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acting kind of attitude.

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It so is real acting. Um, but anyway, I

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was watching them just in awe at at

217
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their ease and the natural way. They

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just all spoke together. It sounded like

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people just having a conversation.

220
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So um I was express expressing this to

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Bob Balaban and he said um this is what

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00:11:10,560 --> 00:11:12,800
I think when you're doing film. I think

223
00:11:12,800 --> 00:11:16,959
it's like it's like

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00:11:16,959 --> 00:11:21,040
sending an arrow. And he said your

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performance turnover action from that

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moment

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is you

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sending an arrow. Now you're aiming at a

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you know you're aiming at your target.

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whatever your target is, it's like anger

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or sadness or, you know, frustration or

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confusion or whatever it is, whatever

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you're playing.

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So, you send your arrow off. He said,

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once you've sent your arrow off, forget

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about it. It's gone. There's nothing you

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can do about it. Let it go. Let it land

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where it will. You don't know whether

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it'll be in the film or not. If it is in

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the film, you don't know whether the

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audience will get what you're trying to

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communicate or not. Maybe you're trying

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to convince them of of one thing and the

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music comes in and and tells the

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audience something completely different.

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Basically, let it go. And that was the

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most wonderful piece of advice. And I

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really would advise you guys when you're

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out there on the set working, you do

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your thing. You do it as best as you

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possibly can. You aim to the target you

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want to aim it in, but let it go once

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it's gone. The next arrow is another

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time. But every time, just put it out

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there and let it go. Don't angst about

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it when you get home. I always used to

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do that. I go home, oh god, I should

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have done that line this way. Why didn't

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I do it that way? And then I prep do the

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lines again. Oh, that was brilliant. Why

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didn't I do it like that? Um,

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stop that. Just let it go. Tomorrow's

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another day. That's gone. Move forward.

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Um, so that was great advice from Bob

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Balaban. Thank you, Bob.

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Be patient with other people's process.

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Every actor has a different process.

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Some are very noisy on the set and very

4
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funny and they have to make a lot of

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noise and they have to uh you know

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shout. Other actors have to be really

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quiet and really silent in the corner

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and why isn't he talking to me? You know

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what what what did I did I do something

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wrong? Everyone has a different rhythm.

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Some actors need a lot of takes to get

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to what they you know the essence of

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what they are going to do. Others actors

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do it in the first moment.

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Some actors need really quiet

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concentration before they work. I I

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worked with an actor once who every time

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before a take he would start telling a

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story or start on a joke which he knew

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he wasn't going to get to the end of

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that joke on action. So literally on

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turnover he'd start telling the story

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and then action and then he'd drop the

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joke or the and start acting and maybe

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that was his way of it was very

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distracting for me. It was really

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annoying, but because I'm the other sort

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of actor, I want to quietly concentrate.

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Um, but it was his way of doing it. So,

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you have to find, you have to learn to

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work with other people.

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I think what's very important also to

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understand when you're in the the middle

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of a performance, be it in a film or on

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the on the stage, you know, you're on a

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train that you can't get off. In the

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theater, 7:30, curtain goes up, you've

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got to do it

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on a film, on television, turnover,

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action, you've got to do it. And

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sometimes there are elements that are

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just pissing you off or that are making

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it life difficult for you. It's

44
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incredibly hot or it's cold or an actor

45
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is annoying you or a you know there

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something that is really making you feel

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uncomfortable. My only advice there is

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you use it. Just incorporate it into

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your performance as we do in real life.

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You know, if something is kind of

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annoying us, oh, this chair is so

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uncomfortable, you know, whatever it is,

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just use it. Incorporate it into your

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performance. I learned this very clearly

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once a long time ago. I was doing a play

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um in the theater and

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uh the actor I was playing opposite

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uh and I was supposed to in the play be

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madly insanely in love with to the

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extent that I would was going to give up

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everything for him everything and

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basically sacrifice in the end my life

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for him I couldn't stand him he just

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really really annoyed me and I found him

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physically

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unattractive,

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repulsive actually.

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And I just, you know, I couldn't not

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express this. And we did a run through

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quite late on when we'd rehearsed it and

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we did this run through and a very very

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astute actor came up to me at the end of

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the run through. He was playing quite a

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small role, but he was a darling and

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I've I've always thanked thanked him for

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this. Um, he came up to me. He said, "I

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know what's going on. I understand. I I

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I can see because I can see how you feel

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about him. You're showing it in your

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performance." He said, "Just use it.

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Just everything that you find

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unattractive about this man, turn it

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into the most that's that's what you

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love about him. You love that very thing

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that you're feeling

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resistant to.

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Open yourself up to it and love that in

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him. And it was the most brilliant note.

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It was a brilliant note because from

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that moment on I did exactly that. It

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didn't stop my real feeling about him.

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But in my performance I could just tw

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turn it on its head. Turn the feeling on

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its head. So

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if you're finding something that is just

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grinding on at you when you're preparing

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a role, just find a way of incorporating

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it, of using it. You could you play a

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little psychological trick upon

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yourself.

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I find that um before a take I just have

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to close my mind. I just have to

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concentrate my mind down. Just bring it

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all down.

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remind myself very simply of the

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character I am, where I am, maybe my

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secret story I want to tell that I

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talked about earlier.

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And then I just let it happen. And then

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sometimes it's great and sometimes it's

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not so great. And then I then I say, "Do

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you mind if I have another?" Um

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the really annoying thing that's

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happened to me often is when I say, "Do

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you mind if I have another?" And they

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say, "Oh, yes. All right. All right.

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Yes. Yes. I think have we got time? Yes,

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we got time. All right. Yes, she can

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have another. And then I do it exactly

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the same way. It's like, oh no. Oh god,

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what do I do now? Um, that's really

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embarrassing when that happens. And

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that's happened many, many times. I

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always thought with a queen before every

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take, I would go like this. How How did

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it go? I would go

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because the queen seemed to me, the

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queen Elizabeth Windsor

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seemed to me like a submarine. She was

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like a submarine

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w moving through the waters but with

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this periscope

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looking looking all around. that inside

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this submarine her were all these

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feelings, these emotions, this history,

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everything, everything that she was as a

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human being, but that was underwater.

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And the thing that was out was just the

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these eyes looking like above the

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surface at everything that was going on.

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So I would always go like this to go

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back and in and then out through the

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eyes.

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A film set is a very distracting place.

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A theater is a very distracting place

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actually. You know, you got the wings,

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you got what's going on in the wings

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while you're working on stage, and you

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can see it out of the corner of your

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eye. You know, there's an awareness of

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the of the flies. There's the audience,

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there's the guy asleep in the front row

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that you have to flick to wake him up.

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That's what I did once. I flicked him

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with my shaw. Um

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um anyway, you know, there are many

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distractions and our job as actors is to

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concentrate now and I I've witnessed

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this and I've experienced it a little

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bit myself right now as I'm talking to

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you. I can see out of the corner of my

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eye little group of people just over

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there watching the monitor.

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I can see them out of the corner of my

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eye. Some actors would say, "Please, you

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guys move out the way. I I can't

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concentrate with you there." Um, in

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general, I I don't do that because

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because you

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because it's all a bit fake, isn't it? I

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mean the camera's there and the light is

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there and the microphone's there and

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it's a wall. So my job I I see as an

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actor is to overcome those elements and

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to

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enter into my world

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emotionally and psychologically and cut

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all that out.

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Um

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uh or use it, play with it, be aware of

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it and and and make it a part of your

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performance. Um but a a film set is is

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an enormously distracting place and and

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if you are having to play something very

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intense

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with great great deal of concentration

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maybe great emotional um output

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I you just have to

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uh

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some actors compartmentalize and they

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can go okay done that I'll just hold

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that there for now. Now I can go and

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talk and chat and you know have tea and

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make a joke and but it's here all the

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time. I've worked with a an actress

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Naomi Harris. Unbelievable.

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Unbelievable that she could do this.

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Incredible. I've never seen it anything

199
00:09:27,120 --> 00:09:29,839
like it before in Collateral Beauty. She

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00:09:29,839 --> 00:09:31,680
had this scene to play where she's just

201
00:09:31,680 --> 00:09:35,040
lost her child and I'm playing the scene

202
00:09:35,040 --> 00:09:37,839
with her. So, I watched this go on and

203
00:09:37,839 --> 00:09:40,160
she had to be it was a very complicated

204
00:09:40,160 --> 00:09:44,000
setup, difficult um camera setup and she

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had to play this scene where she's

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devastated at having lost her child. She

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00:09:49,920 --> 00:09:54,320
had to do it 20 at least 20 times. So,

208
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and I was watching her just with awe.

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She was unbelievable because

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00:10:00,880 --> 00:10:03,680
it was turnover action. Oh, so and she'd

211
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give it everything cut. Sorry, Naomi.

212
00:10:07,279 --> 00:10:09,200
We're going to have to do it again.

213
00:10:09,200 --> 00:10:12,959
Okay. She's a British girl, of course.

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Um, and she'd in between she'd be having

215
00:10:15,680 --> 00:10:18,079
a cigarette, chatting. Okay. Ready,

216
00:10:18,079 --> 00:10:20,880
Nomi? Yeah, I'm ready. Sit down. Bang.

217
00:10:20,880 --> 00:10:23,839
She's right in it. And she did this like

218
00:10:23,839 --> 00:10:26,800
20 or 30 times. And every time she was

219
00:10:26,800 --> 00:10:28,720
unbelievable.

220
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This is extraordinary. This is

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extraordinary acting.

222
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My real inspiration in acting, I've

223
00:10:41,440 --> 00:10:44,160
always said this, are babies and dogs.

224
00:10:44,160 --> 00:10:46,480
Speaking of dogs,

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00:10:46,480 --> 00:10:48,720
because dogs and babies when they're on

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00:10:48,720 --> 00:10:50,880
the screen, I mean, don't you find they

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00:10:50,880 --> 00:10:53,440
are mesmerizing? You can't take your

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eyes off them. The greatest actor in the

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world could be on the screen with them

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giving an unbelievable performance, but

231
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really you're mesmerized by the dog or

232
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the baby because there is a presence to

233
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them. There is a absolute

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this is me and that's all I am and I'm

235
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just here I am and it's you know you

236
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can't take your eyes off it. So um I'm

237
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always reaching for that dog like baby

238
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like state. I never reach it because in

239
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the end I'm not a dog or a baby and I

240
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have a story to tell and I have to tell

241
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that story um you know with interest

242
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with excitement with drama with emotion.

243
00:11:39,760 --> 00:11:42,800
Um, but I would love to be able to do

244
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all of that and be a dog and a ba or a

245
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baby.

246
00:11:51,760 --> 00:11:54,959
I don't look at my performances. I I

247
00:11:54,959 --> 00:11:57,440
don't study them. I don't I don't go to

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the monitor. I don't watch what I've

249
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done. I can't handle that. Some people

250
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can. I can't. Don't feel like you have

251
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to do that or don't feel like you don't

252
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have to do it. It's really your choice

253
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and I believe it's your choice. It's not

254
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the director's choice. It's your choice.

255
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It's your work. And I think you should

256
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be if you want to watch it, do a lot of

257
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actors don't. And I'm one of those

258
00:12:24,320 --> 00:12:27,440
actors. I mean, if if the scene is a big

259
00:12:27,440 --> 00:12:29,440
wide and it's there's some physical

260
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thing that you're missing, then I'm

261
00:12:32,160 --> 00:12:34,000
happy to watch the monitor and say, "Oh,

262
00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:36,320
I see. Yeah, I got banana around that."

263
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And or whatever. you know what banana

264
00:12:38,240 --> 00:12:42,399
ising walking in a curve. Um

265
00:12:42,399 --> 00:12:44,000
uh

266
00:12:44,000 --> 00:12:46,800
you know to to to sort out a phys

267
00:12:46,800 --> 00:12:48,800
physical something physical within the

268
00:12:48,800 --> 00:12:51,440
shot um it's very useful to look at the

269
00:12:51,440 --> 00:12:54,320
monitor but anything to do with acting I

270
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can't look at the monitor. I think

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that's going back to my letting the

272
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arrow fly and letting go of it. If you

273
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go and look at it on the monitor you're

274
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not letting go of it. You're kind of

275
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obsessing over it. and I don't want to

276
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do that. Um, so I don't study my work. I

277
00:13:14,320 --> 00:13:17,120
maybe I I'll pick up on it, you know, at

278
00:13:17,120 --> 00:13:20,720
at 2:00 in the morning, like 3 years

279
00:13:20,720 --> 00:13:22,399
later when it's on television, and I

280
00:13:22,399 --> 00:13:24,399
suddenly sort of see I'll I'll watch a

281
00:13:24,399 --> 00:13:26,800
scene that I've done and go, "Oh, God,

282
00:13:26,800 --> 00:13:29,040
that was terrible, Helen." Or, "Oh, not

283
00:13:29,040 --> 00:13:33,720
bad." But um

284
00:13:35,120 --> 00:13:37,200
uh

285
00:13:37,200 --> 00:13:38,880
you can't I don't think you can learn by

286
00:13:38,880 --> 00:13:41,120
watching yourself because you learn the

287
00:13:41,120 --> 00:13:44,639
wrong things. You learn, oh, I shouldn't

288
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do that with my eyes or oh, you know, I

289
00:13:47,519 --> 00:13:49,200
shouldn't I shouldn't put my chin down

290
00:13:49,200 --> 00:13:51,839
like that. I've got a double chin or um

291
00:13:51,839 --> 00:13:53,600
oh, my nose looks weird like that. I

292
00:13:53,600 --> 00:13:56,000
mean, I hate

293
00:13:56,000 --> 00:13:59,040
what you have to do

294
00:13:59,040 --> 00:14:01,360
when you're acting is you have got to

295
00:14:01,360 --> 00:14:04,160
let go of vanity. Doesn't mean you can't

296
00:14:04,160 --> 00:14:06,800
be conscious of what you look like. And

297
00:14:06,800 --> 00:14:08,560
constructing a character through hair

298
00:14:08,560 --> 00:14:11,279
and makeup is very important.

299
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And if you feel profoundly uncomfortable

300
00:14:13,360 --> 00:14:15,360
in what you're wearing or how your hair

301
00:14:15,360 --> 00:14:18,000
is, you got to go and fight the hair

302
00:14:18,000 --> 00:14:20,240
people or the costume people about that

303
00:14:20,240 --> 00:14:23,199
because you must not feel paralyzingly

304
00:14:23,199 --> 00:14:26,399
uncomfortable. Those those are your

305
00:14:26,399 --> 00:14:29,600
tools to work and and you must have

306
00:14:29,600 --> 00:14:32,560
whatever tools allow you to work in the

307
00:14:32,560 --> 00:14:35,360
best way that you possibly can. So, you

308
00:14:35,360 --> 00:14:36,880
know, if you do feel uncomfortable,

309
00:14:36,880 --> 00:14:40,160
fight about it, but not for the wrong

310
00:14:40,160 --> 00:14:42,560
reasons, not for reasons of vanity,

311
00:14:42,560 --> 00:14:44,800
always always to do with the role,

312
00:14:44,800 --> 00:14:47,600
always to do with the character. Um,

313
00:14:47,600 --> 00:14:49,519
I've never understood that good side,

314
00:14:49,519 --> 00:14:52,160
bad side thing. How can that How can you

315
00:14:52,160 --> 00:14:54,399
act if you've only got one side of your

316
00:14:54,399 --> 00:14:56,800
face to act with? That's ridiculous, you

317
00:14:56,800 --> 00:14:59,120
know? And anyway,

318
00:14:59,120 --> 00:15:01,360
you know, who looks better on what? It's

319
00:15:01,360 --> 00:15:03,279
your face. it maybe it's a little bit

320
00:15:03,279 --> 00:15:04,639
different on this side but you know

321
00:15:04,639 --> 00:15:06,560
that's ridiculous.

322
00:15:06,560 --> 00:15:08,480
So I mean I don't think that exists

323
00:15:08,480 --> 00:15:10,000
anymore but I've always found that

324
00:15:10,000 --> 00:15:12,160
absolutely absurd.

325
00:15:12,160 --> 00:15:16,800
Um but anyway so I think it's really

326
00:15:16,800 --> 00:15:18,399
important

327
00:15:18,399 --> 00:15:21,600
uh young or old whatever age you are is

328
00:15:21,600 --> 00:15:24,560
to let go of a certain kind of vanity.

329
00:15:24,560 --> 00:15:27,279
It's hard to do and and I think that's

330
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the trouble with watching yourself is

331
00:15:29,120 --> 00:15:31,839
you you don't watch your performance

332
00:15:31,839 --> 00:15:34,560
really in that objective way. You know,

333
00:15:34,560 --> 00:15:36,720
you're watching other stuff and it then

334
00:15:36,720 --> 00:15:39,120
then you're going to fall into overly

335
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technical things. I've I've worked with

336
00:15:41,839 --> 00:15:45,519
actors who are unbelievably brilliant

337
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film technical actors. They know their

338
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camera angles.

339
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They know exactly if the camera is like

340
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this and if it's at this angle. They

341
00:15:57,600 --> 00:15:59,600
know exactly what to do with their head,

342
00:15:59,600 --> 00:16:02,079
how to turn it, how to look, how to look

343
00:16:02,079 --> 00:16:05,199
around, where to ey line. They

344
00:16:05,199 --> 00:16:09,440
incredible, incredible, but they're not

345
00:16:09,440 --> 00:16:11,440
acting.

346
00:16:11,440 --> 00:16:13,759
They're performing brilliantly for the

347
00:16:13,759 --> 00:16:17,920
camera and it can work

348
00:16:17,920 --> 00:16:20,959
and they make may get to be very famous

349
00:16:20,959 --> 00:16:22,959
for doing that.

350
00:16:22,959 --> 00:16:25,440
But they're not actually acting. And

351
00:16:25,440 --> 00:16:28,000
when it's very interesting then when

352
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something is required of them to act

353
00:16:32,079 --> 00:16:35,199
imaginatively go into a world and lose

354
00:16:35,199 --> 00:16:38,320
themselves in that but maintain the

355
00:16:38,320 --> 00:16:40,000
technical

356
00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:41,839
awareness.

357
00:16:41,839 --> 00:16:45,680
They can't do that. It's impossible.

358
00:16:45,680 --> 00:16:48,639
So um

359
00:16:48,639 --> 00:16:51,120
you can be both kinds of actors. And I'm

360
00:16:51,120 --> 00:16:54,720
not being judgmental here at all. My my

361
00:16:54,720 --> 00:16:57,519
great my one great rule is that there

362
00:16:57,519 --> 00:17:01,040
are no rules. There are no rules.

363
00:17:01,040 --> 00:17:03,600
Anything is possible.

364
00:17:03,600 --> 00:17:07,039
Anything is possible actually. And you

365
00:17:07,039 --> 00:17:08,559
know as as you get older and you have

366
00:17:08,559 --> 00:17:10,400
more and more experience, you you just

367
00:17:10,400 --> 00:17:12,240
learn that lesson more and more and

368
00:17:12,240 --> 00:17:14,799
more. So I I have no rules about

369
00:17:14,799 --> 00:17:18,959
anything. Um it's just the kind of actor

370
00:17:18,959 --> 00:17:21,280
that I am.

371
00:17:21,280 --> 00:17:22,959
That's why I'm saying I don't want to

372
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watch myself. I don't want to

373
00:17:24,319 --> 00:17:28,079
deconstruct it in that way at all. It's

374
00:17:28,079 --> 00:17:30,000
the inner journey that I'm interested

375
00:17:30,000 --> 00:17:32,400
by. And the inner journey only happens

376
00:17:32,400 --> 00:17:34,640
when I'm doing it. Once I'm doneing,

377
00:17:34,640 --> 00:17:36,559
once I've done it, it's over. It's

378
00:17:36,559 --> 00:17:40,480
finished. It's out of my hands.

1
00:00:07,359 --> 00:00:10,080
When the t TV series Prime Suspect came

2
00:00:10,080 --> 00:00:13,599
along for me, um

3
00:00:13,599 --> 00:00:16,080
it was it was groundbreaking in many

4
00:00:16,080 --> 00:00:19,600
ways. Although in reality in the real

5
00:00:19,600 --> 00:00:23,439
world that particular ground of of women

6
00:00:23,439 --> 00:00:26,640
trying to break glass ceilings in their

7
00:00:26,640 --> 00:00:29,679
various professions had

8
00:00:29,679 --> 00:00:32,640
it was at least at least let's say 10 15

9
00:00:32,640 --> 00:00:35,840
years out of date in a interesting way

10
00:00:35,840 --> 00:00:39,440
that was why the series gained such

11
00:00:39,440 --> 00:00:42,559
attention because I think women of all

12
00:00:42,559 --> 00:00:45,360
uh professions heaved a sigh of relief

13
00:00:45,360 --> 00:00:49,280
because Finally, their struggle was

14
00:00:49,280 --> 00:00:53,320
there on the screen.

15
00:01:01,039 --> 00:01:04,199
Come in.

16
00:01:04,479 --> 00:01:07,879
Hello, Jane.

17
00:01:08,080 --> 00:01:09,760
This may not be the right time, sir, but

18
00:01:09,760 --> 00:01:11,760
under the circumstances, I'm not quite

19
00:01:11,760 --> 00:01:14,400
sure when would be the right time.

20
00:01:14,400 --> 00:01:16,159
I'm offering to take over the murder

21
00:01:16,159 --> 00:01:19,040
investigation.

22
00:01:19,040 --> 00:01:20,799
I don't have to tell you that I am

23
00:01:20,799 --> 00:01:22,720
qualified to handle this investigation

24
00:01:22,720 --> 00:01:27,000
and that I have been waiting for

25
00:01:27,520 --> 00:01:29,840
well I don't have to tell you how long

26
00:01:29,840 --> 00:01:32,479
18 months and in that time I've had to

27
00:01:32,479 --> 00:01:34,000
handle more paperwork than I did at

28
00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:35,600
Reading for my whole 5 years dealing

29
00:01:35,600 --> 00:01:39,079
with sex cases.

30
00:01:39,280 --> 00:01:41,520
I know DCI Sheffield was at a crucial

31
00:01:41,520 --> 00:01:43,840
stage of the investigation. I have to

32
00:01:43,840 --> 00:01:46,960
see his wife this afternoon.

33
00:01:46,960 --> 00:01:49,600
Don't expect me to make any decisions

34
00:01:49,600 --> 00:01:51,119
now.

35
00:01:51,119 --> 00:01:52,560
This is not the right time.

36
00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:55,119
Well, when is the right time? Look, I am

37
00:01:55,119 --> 00:01:57,040
the only officer of my rank who's

38
00:01:57,040 --> 00:01:59,280
continually overstepped, sidestepped,

39
00:01:59,280 --> 00:02:01,600
whatever. Just give me the chance to

40
00:02:01,600 --> 00:02:02,479
prove that I can.

41
00:02:02,479 --> 00:02:05,360
You don't have to prove yourself to me.

42
00:02:05,360 --> 00:02:07,920
In this particular scene, I have to play

43
00:02:07,920 --> 00:02:09,920
the, you know, the the the righteous

44
00:02:09,920 --> 00:02:11,840
politeness. And because you're in the

45
00:02:11,840 --> 00:02:14,239
system, you have to be obedient to the

46
00:02:14,239 --> 00:02:17,520
system. You can't make waves, but you

47
00:02:17,520 --> 00:02:19,680
want to, you know, make your case at the

48
00:02:19,680 --> 00:02:21,760
same time. So, it was a sort of double-

49
00:02:21,760 --> 00:02:23,760
layered thing that was happening in the

50
00:02:23,760 --> 00:02:26,640
scene. And this, of course, is where the

51
00:02:26,640 --> 00:02:28,959
close-up is a wonderful thing, you know,

52
00:02:28,959 --> 00:02:32,959
because you can play the subtleties of

53
00:02:32,959 --> 00:02:36,959
of um thought and of of

54
00:02:36,959 --> 00:02:39,760
intention, what emotion, whatever it is,

55
00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:42,560
in a closeup. And in in that and in in

56
00:02:42,560 --> 00:02:44,239
that particular scene, I seem to

57
00:02:44,239 --> 00:02:46,400
remember a lot of it is in a a wide

58
00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:47,920
twoot.

59
00:02:47,920 --> 00:02:51,120
And then suddenly as she's realizing

60
00:02:51,120 --> 00:02:54,239
that she's failing in her attempt to

61
00:02:54,239 --> 00:02:57,840
take over this this this case and she's

62
00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:00,239
having to deal with her anger, her

63
00:03:00,239 --> 00:03:03,840
disappointment, her resentment,

64
00:03:03,840 --> 00:03:07,680
and her and her thought of how am I

65
00:03:07,680 --> 00:03:08,959
going to get over this? I'm going to get

66
00:03:08,959 --> 00:03:11,760
over this in some way.

67
00:03:11,760 --> 00:03:15,440
Well, that's not enough, Michael.

68
00:03:15,440 --> 00:03:17,120
I'm getting sick to death of this

69
00:03:17,120 --> 00:03:19,280
so-called Metropolitan Police Survey

70
00:03:19,280 --> 00:03:21,040
being thrown at me. So, all right.

71
00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:23,120
Apparently, 90% of the time, the general

72
00:03:23,120 --> 00:03:25,840
public would prefer a male officer. But

73
00:03:25,840 --> 00:03:27,680
until one of us gets a chance to prove

74
00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:30,400
that that survey is a biased, outdated

75
00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:32,720
load of close friendship,

76
00:03:32,720 --> 00:03:36,000
a man who I respected highly, died right

77
00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:39,440
there. And now, inspector, is not the

78
00:03:39,440 --> 00:03:42,879
time to thrust your women's rights down

79
00:03:42,879 --> 00:03:45,760
my throat.

80
00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:50,280
I'll get back to you.

81
00:03:50,560 --> 00:03:52,319
And there there the close-up is

82
00:03:52,319 --> 00:03:55,440
fantastic because without any words, you

83
00:03:55,440 --> 00:03:59,120
can you can express all of those things.

84
00:03:59,120 --> 00:04:01,280
You have to think them, but you can

85
00:04:01,280 --> 00:04:04,680
express them.

86
00:04:08,560 --> 00:04:10,879
When I was doing uh Prime Suspect, a

87
00:04:10,879 --> 00:04:13,360
wonderful actor was playing a a very

88
00:04:13,360 --> 00:04:15,120
strong role and he was fantastic in in

89
00:04:15,120 --> 00:04:18,720
the role. Tom Bell, he's sadly died, but

90
00:04:18,720 --> 00:04:22,240
um he was a very well-known actor in in

91
00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:24,800
in Britain at the time. And I go on the

92
00:04:24,800 --> 00:04:26,479
set to play the f my first scene with

93
00:04:26,479 --> 00:04:28,720
him. And I have my line, whatever my

94
00:04:28,720 --> 00:04:33,000
line is. And and he he says

95
00:04:33,360 --> 00:04:36,880
I go, "Has he has he top stop speaking?

96
00:04:36,880 --> 00:04:40,240
Is it time for me to speak?" And uh and

97
00:04:40,240 --> 00:04:44,840
I say my next line. Then Tom goes

98
00:04:45,680 --> 00:04:48,400
and I can't hear him at all. And cut.

99
00:04:48,400 --> 00:04:50,639
And the sound person says, "Tom,

100
00:04:50,639 --> 00:04:52,960
darling, sweetheart, um can you just,

101
00:04:52,960 --> 00:04:54,960
you know, lift it up a bit? just be a

102
00:04:54,960 --> 00:04:56,320
little louder because it's very

103
00:04:56,320 --> 00:04:58,479
difficult to hear what you're saying.

104
00:04:58,479 --> 00:05:00,800
And Tom goes, "Okay, yeah, yeah." And

105
00:05:00,800 --> 00:05:03,199
they say, "Okay, action." I say my line,

106
00:05:03,199 --> 00:05:06,080
Tom goes, "He

107
00:05:06,080 --> 00:05:09,360
goes even quieter." Of course, the

108
00:05:09,360 --> 00:05:11,520
direct result of that is when you see it

109
00:05:11,520 --> 00:05:13,280
on the screen, you can absolutely hear

110
00:05:13,280 --> 00:05:15,759
what Tom is saying quite clearly. But

111
00:05:15,759 --> 00:05:18,560
I'm kind of talking like this because

112
00:05:18,560 --> 00:05:21,840
I'm I'm talking at a normal level, but

113
00:05:21,840 --> 00:05:24,639
Tom is talking so quietly. the sound guy

114
00:05:24,639 --> 00:05:26,479
had to kind of, you know, bump up the

115
00:05:26,479 --> 00:05:29,440
sound. So anyway, it's um that was a

116
00:05:29,440 --> 00:05:31,120
lesson to me because I didn't know about

117
00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:33,520
that kind of stuff. Not that Tom Tom I'm

118
00:05:33,520 --> 00:05:35,120
not saying Tom was doing it deliberately

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against me, not at all. But that was

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just the way he did it, you know. And I

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didn't realize at that point really how

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very quietly you can speak on screen

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because the microphone will actually

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pick it up.

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You know, some film making is very

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challenging. You might have a very long

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take where uh you have a lot of lines

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and maybe a lot of movement and a lot of

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a lot of marks to hit. Um if it's

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particularly difficult stuff to learn,

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which it often is, it's procedural.

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I mean, I just have my lines written all

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luckily what you if you're working in a

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police station, there's lots of paper at

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work everywhere. So I would uh as the

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scene was being set up and I began to

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understand where the camera was, I would

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judiciously in different places write

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down you know little pieces of dialogue

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that I thought maybe I was a little bit

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dodgy on you know um so you know there

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are many many tricks of the trade. I

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mean I I would I be friendly with your

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cameramen because you need them. Um,

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uh, I would put my lines up sort of just

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down there.

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Prime Suspect One, uh, was directed by a

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a wonderful director called Chris Manol,

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who with his cinematographer

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created a very specific look for the

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piece. Um and and that was very much

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part of why why the piece was successful

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was this extraordinary um at the time

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very challenging but very interesting

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way of shooting. He was working with a

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very long lens in a very low light. Now

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any cinematographers here understand

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that means you have a very very shallow

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field of focus. So you can literally if

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I did this literally that

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uh on set I'd be out of focus in some in

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some setups and he would have a moving

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camera this very slow as this camera

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over here is moving very very slowly

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picking me up um but on a very long lens

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with a very slowm moving camera within

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very low light with me moving. So it I

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had to hit marks so accurately hit marks

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literally on one and lean on one foot

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and not sway backwards or forwards or in

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any way whatsoever but maintain

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naturalism and um the performance and

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the emotion and and all of that. So um

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there again is a a very clear example of

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the the two-track brain you have to

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have. I mean, I had never shot

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uh uh anything with those sorts of

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intense technical requirements, but of

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course, the result was a wonderful

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visual because it was very grainy. It

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was very it you always felt like you

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were um you know um sneaking a look at

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someone. you always felt the the camera

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was viristic was was sneaking up on you

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and it gave it very very atmospheric

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feeling. So, it was worth it. And that's

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the other thing to remember is when

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you're working with directors who who

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have these kinds of or cinematographers,

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usually it's the director and

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cinematographer working together on the

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look and they are they are they have

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created a very specific kind of way of

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shooting. Work with that. Don't resist

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it. Don't go, "Oh, I can't do this."

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Yeah. Work with it. You always can do

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it. Um, don't resist it. Learn. Use it

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as a learning experience. Go look down

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the I'm forever

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begging the cameraman, can I just have a

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look down the lens? Can I just see? I

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mean, now you can go and look at the um

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the monitor, but to me, the monitor

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doesn't tell the story. It's only really

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by looking down the lens, you can really

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see what the story is, if you like,

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visually. And so I'm I'm I very often

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ask if I can look down the lens just to

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have a sense of of what the

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cinematographer is creating.

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I think if you're lucky enough to to

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find yourself in a position and maybe

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you know you guys will be out there

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creating your own product if you like

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and and I do advise as many of you who

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have the inspiration to do that do so

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because when you're not working uh and

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you're not practicing and it it's very

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debilitating

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difficult uh um make your own product if

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you can you know find friends to work

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with. Make one's a producer, one's a

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director, and you know, and a couple of

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you are the actors and and just make

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your own thing, whether anyone sees it

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or not. But what you will have at the

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end of that is a little piece of work

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that you can then show to a casting

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director. You know, you can do it

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nowadays with iPhones. You're you're

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you're in a much more advantageous

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position than I ever was in in in that

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respect. Um I don't know. you know,

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there have been whole movies made with

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very good movies made with iPhones. So,

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you you're now in a position where you

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can actually create your own product.

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Um, and in doing so, um, you will be

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your own producer as I found myself in a

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sense on prime on prime suspect and

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there for me the most important thing we

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had a great casting director so that was

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taken care of. The most the most

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important thing for me was the two

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things actually the writer

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and the cinematographer. I knew that we

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would get good directors. So, and we did

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we had wonderful directors who again

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went on to become movie directors, but

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um the the writer was the very important

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element and I never wanted prime suspect

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to become kind of a cookie cutter

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version of what went before. I wanted

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each one to be its own thing. And in

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order to to achieve that, I said to each

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of the writers, make this your own. You

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can take this character anywhere you

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like. This I want this to be your your

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piece of work. Don't forget all the ones

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that went before. Just they don't exist

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anymore. This is yours. You take this,

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you tell the story you want to tell. And

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for me that was very important. It gave

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the writers liberty to invent to to make

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it personal to them. Um, so that was my

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decision as as a as a as as a producer.

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I I did a a piece uh for television.

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Elizabeth the first. Well, she was

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actually very emotional. She wasn't all

4
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cool and calm and controlled. She was

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highly emotional, highly extreme. Um,

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but you know, if you're doing that kind

7
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of stuff, it it really helps to,

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as I say, think fast.

9
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I'm out of control, but I've got to pull

10
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it back. But sometimes you can't think

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that fast. And if you can't, as I said,

12
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don't think. Just don't think. Just go

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there without thinking. And then you can

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and then you'll find your feet into what

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you're doing.

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There is a scene where I'm encouraging

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the troops um uh to go into battle

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against the the Spanish Armada. You'll

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see I I seem to remember I start off on

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on a platform making the speech to the

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people, but I remember

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talking to the director and and saying,

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"I think this should be much more

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intimate. I think she should be down

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there amongst them. you know, she's

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really really appealing to them as a

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woman, obviously as a leader, but more

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as a a a British and English at that

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time, English person, and basically

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saying, "We're all in this together, and

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if you die, I'm going to die with you."

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So, I thought it was very important that

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she be right there in amongst with them,

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not a sort of remote figure, you know,

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making a beautiful speech from a

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distance. My loving people,

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my loving people.

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And that's where,

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you know, staging is very important and

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and and you must feel free to speak up.

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If you feel a piece of staging is wrong

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for your your character, your role in in

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that moment of the drama, you must have

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the courage to speak up. Um, a complaint

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I always have very often about

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directors,

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especially on television, it happens a

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lot, is that they decide to do a walk

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and talk in a scene. You know, people

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are walking along while they're playing

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the scene. And so often it's so wrong

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for what these two people are saying to

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each other. I think they would never

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ever say those words to each other on

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the move. Directors and cinematographers

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obviously often like that because it

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gives movement or they they know they

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need to get from this point to that

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point and how the hell are we going to

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do it? Oh, I know. Let's do a walk and

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talk. But um really be aware of that.

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And I've I've personally very often said

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to directors, I'm sorry, I cannot play

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this scene on the move. I can I can move

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up to this point in the scene. that th

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those words that intention I would have

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to stop look at the other person in the

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eye and play the scene eye to eye. In

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this scene obviously um I I I felt very

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strongly that it would be good to move

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it, you know, it was not a moment to

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stand still. It it was a m a moment to

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move amongst the guys and and um and

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hopefully it it worked. um you know

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there there's I think the moment of

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grabbing the earth I and I remember

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thinking because we were we had to shoot

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that that film very fast. We didn't have

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time for for many takes and we didn't

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have time for much rehearsal or anything

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you know you were you were like moving

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like an express train. So finding myself

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down there obviously then I could reach

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down and and grab the earth. I think

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that was a mo a moment I sort of

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improvised on the spot. I suddenly

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thought, there it is. There's the earth.

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I'm talking about it. I can I can bend

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down and grab it.

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I am come among you as you see at this

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time, not for my sport or recreation,

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but resolved in the midst and the heat

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of the battle to live or die among you

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all.

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to lay down for my God, for my kingdom,

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and for my people my honor and my blood.

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Even

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Even in the dust.

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It's a very very famous moment in

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British history.

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um and a very famous speech. It it is

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the the literally the words that

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Elizabeth the first um used. It's the

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most magnificent speech about um encou

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about about loyalty about nationhood

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about about going into battle. Um and uh

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and because it was a famous speech

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obviously it's quite intimidating to say

109
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think um how are we going to do this? So

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the first thing um obviously is to have

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the vocal ability to be able to speak

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loud enough and be be um be truthful in

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the sense of the pitch that you would

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have had to have used for that number of

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people. U so that again goes back to the

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whole concept and understanding of voice

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and the importance of voice. Um but then

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within that to be able to have a modern

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invention or a modern um uh a modern

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approach to the language which I I tried

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very hard in that speech to enliven it

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with with um just with character with

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personality. I thought you know there

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are many different ways of playing that

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very speech as there are in any speeches

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can be done multiple multiple different

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ways. I felt it was very important to

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communicate uh you know it's not der

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it's not um oh my god we all might die

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kind of thing it's let's go for it and

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if we die we die for our country and you

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know it's um it's not joyful but I I I

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felt that Elizabeth first at that moment

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in time has got to in infuse her people

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with with courage and with loyalty and

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and and it's not a moment to be kind of

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during and heavy and and so I guess that

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was my my artistic choice definitely

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at the end of the speech I she becomes

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emotional and as far as I remember I

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think that was something that I felt

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coming up in me. I feel I felt it a

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little bit just now. I felt it a little

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bit watching it again. But um I think

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that was something that happened at the

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moment. And very often you find

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something that's happening and it's

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weird, you know, as you guys know, you

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can have your brain is operating on two

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completely different tracks at the same

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time. And here is your pure and clean

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and and natural emotional track. And and

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whatever

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you're you're allowing to happen on that

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track is happening. And on this track is

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thinking, "Oh, that's good. I think I'll

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use that. Oh, wait a minute. I've got a

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my backster camera. I've got to turn

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around to show it to the camera." And

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and you see I I kind of turn around to

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show. So it doesn't delegitimize it as

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an emotional truth. But at the same

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time, you do have these two tracks going

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simultaneously. And I guess that's that

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there in that moment is the learning of

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technique in understanding that I'm in a

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I'm probably in a midshot, but the

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camera's behind me. I think the shot

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that they will use at this point, if

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you've got two cameras working, is that

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shot. So, I'd better show what I'm

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feeling to that camera. Doesn't stop you

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feeling it. Doesn't mean you're not

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feeling it. You are. But you have the

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expertise to understand. You better get

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it on camera.

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The extras were all Lithuanian. They

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didn't understand English and they'd

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never heard of Elizabeth the First. You

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know, it's not part of their history.

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Why should they know? So, they were very

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l lackluster and very uninterested in in

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this in this speech. and they they

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didn't really know about, you know, they

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they didn't feel it in their hearts. You

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could tell they weren't, yeah, you know,

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they they weren't really impassioned.

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Um, so, but the Lithuanians are great

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basketball players. They love

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basketball. And at that time, there was

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a big basketball match coming on up

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between Lithuania and I can't remember

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some other country. Um, and the whole

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country was a buzz with this coming

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basketball game. So, I went with the

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translator. I went to the um to the um

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extras and I said, "Look, I know you

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don't know who Elizabeth the First is,

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but just imagine you're at the

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Lithuanian basketball game and your team

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are about to win. You know, there's a

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really important point. They're about to

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get that point and you while just cheer

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your team as if you know you're cheering

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them on to win." and it completely

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transformed their um you know their

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their uh their contribution to the

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scene.

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There was another scene in Elizabeth the

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first that was a technical challenge.

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Um, and this was a very long a long one

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of those long long developing shots

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where basically a whole emo a long long

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emotional scene is played out where she

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thinks her lover is well she her she's

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told that her lover has left is leaving

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and she just completely loses it

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completely emotionally loses it.

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um and then goes through the whole

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process of then understanding that um

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that he's already gone, having an

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emotional breakdown, and then having to

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pull it all together and then realizing

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she's done it all in public. And that's

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very dangerous to reveal that kind of

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emotional as a as a as a as a monarch.

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Adam, it's too late. The Earl of Essex

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has already left. He rode for Falmouth

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overnight. He's on his way to Lisbon.

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On his way.

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Did you say

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his way?

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Madam, had we known, we would

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would have would have. I can't what you

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would have done. You traitorous dog. You

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I'll send you all to the gallows. You

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let him get away.

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Where is some condition of princesses

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laid bare for all the world to see?

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One word of this and you die.

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So you know a lot of complicated things

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to express and the director brilliantly

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I think actually decided to do this in

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one take but this is very challenging

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for an actor because because it's very

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technical you know doing something in

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one take means the camera is basically

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going in front of you. You must maintain

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a certain distance. So you and the

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cameraman are working like a a pard

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together. Um and and this is where you

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must have a good relationship with all

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cameramen always. It's very important

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relationship. Um so you know you have to

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be technically aware of of the distance

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so you're not out of focus. Um also the

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positioning also the speed and then and

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then with all within all of those very

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specific technical requirements

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basically be out of control. So you're

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but you're in you're in total control in

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one way and completely out of control in

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another way. Another example

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incidentally of the train traveling on

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the two you know on on this two track

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thing on on this track you're

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technically aware of exactly what's

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happening when you're in darkness when

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you're in shade when you've you know

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when you're going too fast too slow

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whatever it is. And on this track is

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your absolute emotional life is being

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played out in the in the deepest and

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most total sort of way. Um and you know

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th those sort of takes absolutely are a

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challenge but um also of course they're

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the most wonderful moments in our craft

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when when really the you know the

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technical and the artistry the desire

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for artistry come together and something

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very beautiful can be made.

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I think in in in takes like that you

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know the timing of the take the timing

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of the of the turns of the emotion are

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in your hands as an actor you know

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there's not cut you know there's no the

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00:14:20,240 --> 00:14:22,639
edit is not going to create your

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performance for you. You have to create

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it yourself and you have to have a sense

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of timing and a sense of timing is of

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great importance in the world of drama

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in general both from a director's point

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of view from an actor's point of view uh

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uh from an editor's point of view but

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timing is everything to understand when

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you can take a pause to understand when

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you must go fast to understand when

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you've got a switch like in the speed of

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lightning from one emotion to another.

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Um we talked about this a little earlier

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but um timing is is of paramount

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importance and when the timing timing is

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in your hands as an actor in these kinds

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of long takes you can't afford to be

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self-indulgent.

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You you this of all times is when you

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really have to um

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uh

309
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listen to obviously listen to your

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emotion but allow your emotion to play

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in in real time not in sort of fake

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acting time for want of a better word.

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So it's it's not self-indulgent. It's

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and and at moments like that you must

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never in a sense be looking at yourself.

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You must not be watching yourself. You

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must drop that um that consciousness of

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yourself completely

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um and and simply pay play through the

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moment, the intention, the emotional

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journey in as in as real a time as you

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possibly can. And then it won't be dull

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and boring.

1
00:00:15,920 --> 00:00:16,960
Prime Minister.

2
00:00:16,960 --> 00:00:20,240
Good morning, Majesty. Sorry to disturb,

3
00:00:20,240 --> 00:00:21,760
but I was just wondering whether you'd

4
00:00:21,760 --> 00:00:24,880
seen any of today's papers.

5
00:00:24,880 --> 00:00:26,800
We've managed to look at one or two.

6
00:00:26,800 --> 00:00:27,760
Yes.

7
00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:29,840
In which case, mine. There was a scene

8
00:00:29,840 --> 00:00:34,320
in the queen uh where she's getting a

9
00:00:34,320 --> 00:00:36,079
call from the prime minister asking her

10
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to come down to London to uh to be with

11
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the people and to cry with them and to

12
00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:45,120
be a part of this extraordinary

13
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sort of to my personal mind mass

14
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hysteria that was sort of building to

15
00:00:52,160 --> 00:00:54,800
to the royal family to the queen who'd

16
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been through the second world war. She'd

17
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been through major

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trauma,

19
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you know, uh, and and the way Britain

20
00:01:04,559 --> 00:01:06,560
got through the Second World War was

21
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through res to their mind through

22
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restraint, through self-discipline,

23
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through um, you know, gung-honess,

24
00:01:13,760 --> 00:01:15,600
whatever, you know, a stiff upper lip

25
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and all the rest of it.

26
00:01:17,759 --> 00:01:20,479
So, this was suddenly an alien world for

27
00:01:20,479 --> 00:01:22,400
the queen. Anyway, there's this phone

28
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conversation where this is proposed by

29
00:01:25,680 --> 00:01:29,200
Tony Blair, the the great politician who

30
00:01:29,200 --> 00:01:32,479
understood what was needed. Um, but it's

31
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foreign language to the queen.

32
00:01:34,079 --> 00:01:38,920
Response might be necessary.

33
00:01:39,200 --> 00:01:40,880
No,

34
00:01:40,880 --> 00:01:43,280
I believe a few overeager editors are

35
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doing their best to sell newspapers and

36
00:01:45,119 --> 00:01:47,119
it would be a mistake to dance to their

37
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tune.

38
00:01:47,920 --> 00:01:49,759
Under normal circumstances, I would

39
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agree.

40
00:01:51,360 --> 00:01:53,520
But

41
00:01:53,520 --> 00:01:55,840
well, my advisers

42
00:01:55,840 --> 00:01:58,640
have been taking the temperature among

43
00:01:58,640 --> 00:02:01,280
people on the streets

44
00:02:01,280 --> 00:02:04,159
and well, the information I'm getting is

45
00:02:04,159 --> 00:02:06,960
that the mood

46
00:02:06,960 --> 00:02:08,479
is quite delicate.

47
00:02:08,479 --> 00:02:10,959
I always felt to find the sort of slight

48
00:02:10,959 --> 00:02:13,120
slight lightly comedic side of it was

49
00:02:13,120 --> 00:02:16,879
valuable. So her cleaning her in in in

50
00:02:16,879 --> 00:02:18,640
the process of the conversation I have

51
00:02:18,640 --> 00:02:21,280
her cleaning her glasses with her

52
00:02:21,280 --> 00:02:24,000
sweater, you know, not with a hanky

53
00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:26,160
specially set aside, but like we all do,

54
00:02:26,160 --> 00:02:28,239
you know, cleaning it with her sweater,

55
00:02:28,239 --> 00:02:30,319
you know, and and looking through the

56
00:02:30,319 --> 00:02:32,800
glasses as this conversation's going on.

57
00:02:32,800 --> 00:02:35,760
So little little things like that,

58
00:02:35,760 --> 00:02:39,440
anything like that that you can add to

59
00:02:39,440 --> 00:02:41,840
to the scene, to the situation. This is

60
00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:44,959
where props are absolutely invaluable.

61
00:02:44,959 --> 00:02:48,160
At the same time in that scene,

62
00:02:48,160 --> 00:02:51,120
there's a cutaway to the her lang in her

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00:02:51,120 --> 00:02:54,160
tension and her the un inner tension

64
00:02:54,160 --> 00:02:57,040
that's going on. Uh you see her laying

65
00:02:57,040 --> 00:03:00,879
these pens down in a very neat precise

66
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precisely se uh spaced row. So to me

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that was that could indicate without me

68
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having to indicate it but it could

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indicate an inner sort of real fierce

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tension.

71
00:03:15,200 --> 00:03:17,040
So what would you suggest prime

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00:03:17,040 --> 00:03:19,599
minister? Some kind of a statement?

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00:03:19,599 --> 00:03:21,599
No ma'am.

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I believe the moment for statements has

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passed.

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00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:30,560
I would suggest flying the flag at half

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00:03:30,560 --> 00:03:32,879
mast above Buckingham Palace.

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As I said, the very valuable things

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about research is you you can suddenly

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find really unexpected little things and

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00:03:40,720 --> 00:03:44,560
in the um but the very meaningful I

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think so in the uh in my research for

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Elizabeth Windsor, I read this book

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about her. It's called The Little

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Princesses and it's a book about by the

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nanny um about them as young young girls

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and she tells this story of the queen

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getting up as a young girl getting up as

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Princess Elizabeth getting up in the

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middle of the night. She's angsting

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every night before she goes to bed. She

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has a a series of little toy horses, of

93
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course, and she lines them up so their

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hooves are ex in an exact row before she

95
00:04:17,919 --> 00:04:20,320
goes to bed. And they have to be exactly

96
00:04:20,320 --> 00:04:23,919
right. And Crawy, the nanny, talks about

97
00:04:23,919 --> 00:04:26,960
Princess Elizabeth getting up,

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00:04:26,960 --> 00:04:29,360
worried, suddenly worried that one of

99
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the little horses things are slightly

100
00:04:31,440 --> 00:04:36,800
out of line. Um, and that that said to

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me, this is someone possibly with a an

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obsession with neatness, with

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organization.

104
00:04:44,320 --> 00:04:46,800
So, I brought that in in a very small

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way while she's on the phone. I wanted

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and I asked the director to do a cutaway

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of her lining her pens up in a very

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precise neat nice exactly spaced kind of

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row which physical things like that when

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00:05:03,199 --> 00:05:06,560
you are playing a role it's you know

111
00:05:06,560 --> 00:05:08,720
sometimes a little tiny physical thing

112
00:05:08,720 --> 00:05:11,199
like that can do so much more than a

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00:05:11,199 --> 00:05:14,479
long speech that's why I always say cut

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it's all right cutting lines sometimes

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you have to replace it with something

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else. And if if you find in your work

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you don't need that, but you do need

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that, but it's not in the script, fight

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for that. Fight for it. Ask for it.

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Fight for it. Explain why you want it.

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00:05:34,160 --> 00:05:37,360
Do it in the right way. Don't demand at

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the last minute, but you know, try try

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00:05:40,479 --> 00:05:44,759
and make that happen.

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I've always been a proponent of the of

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the uh the fact that it's very often

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it's great not to have lines. Um and and

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00:06:00,320 --> 00:06:03,440
obviously not having lines forces you

128
00:06:03,440 --> 00:06:07,680
into um well working with your face,

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00:06:07,680 --> 00:06:11,280
with your emotion, with the

130
00:06:11,280 --> 00:06:15,039
just with your inner feelings. Um there

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00:06:15,039 --> 00:06:18,639
was a scene for example um in the queen

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uh where which is absolutely which is

133
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was a great advantage very ba based on

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absolute truth. This really happened.

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You know there's a lot of antagonism

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towards the royal family at that point.

137
00:06:32,479 --> 00:06:33,759
They don't know if they're going to be

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go out there and have you know rotten

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fruit thrown at them. It's the first

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time in their lives they have ever

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00:06:40,479 --> 00:06:43,360
confronted a hostile nation. and they've

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00:06:43,360 --> 00:06:46,319
only ever seen sick fancy and groveling,

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00:06:46,319 --> 00:06:48,479
you know, before then. So, they go out

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and it it was an act of courage. They

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00:06:50,560 --> 00:06:52,319
had no idea what they were going to face

146
00:06:52,319 --> 00:06:56,080
when they went out there. And I tried to

147
00:06:56,080 --> 00:06:58,639
express the fear of that in in the

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00:06:58,639 --> 00:07:00,800
beginning of the shot. There's a there's

149
00:07:00,800 --> 00:07:02,960
a sense of fear.

150
00:07:02,960 --> 00:07:07,280
There was film of of the of this moment.

151
00:07:07,280 --> 00:07:09,280
So I had the great advantage of being

152
00:07:09,280 --> 00:07:11,680
able to watch the film, the exact

153
00:07:11,680 --> 00:07:14,080
movement of the queen, the way the pace

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at which she was walking and how she was

155
00:07:16,479 --> 00:07:19,680
holding her hands and all of those um uh

156
00:07:19,680 --> 00:07:23,280
literal things. Um

157
00:07:23,280 --> 00:07:25,039
but I

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00:07:25,039 --> 00:07:27,759
you know so you have to there's a sense

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00:07:27,759 --> 00:07:31,199
of fear there's a sense of distaste

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00:07:31,199 --> 00:07:34,560
because this whole thing of flowers and

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00:07:34,560 --> 00:07:36,800
weeping and all the rest of it was a bit

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00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:39,440
dis a bit sort of not very British you

163
00:07:39,440 --> 00:07:40,960
know so there's a slight sense of

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distaste this is not how we do it here

165
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so you've got the fear you've got the

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distaste

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00:07:47,919 --> 00:07:49,520
um

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00:07:49,520 --> 00:07:52,080
you've got the horror

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00:07:52,080 --> 00:07:55,280
of the whole situation, the sadness, the

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pain of it. Um, at the same time, you

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00:07:59,840 --> 00:08:02,800
must maintain that sense of dignity and

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00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:04,560
royalty.

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00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:07,440
Hello. You like me to place those for

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00:08:07,440 --> 00:08:08,160
you?

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00:08:08,160 --> 00:08:11,160
No.

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00:08:11,599 --> 00:08:15,400
These are for you.

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00:08:15,840 --> 00:08:19,160
For me?

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00:08:21,199 --> 00:08:23,840
Thank you.

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00:08:23,840 --> 00:08:27,479
Thank you very much.

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00:08:27,680 --> 00:08:29,280
You'll see in the scene a little girl

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00:08:29,280 --> 00:08:31,039
offers her a bunch of flowers and says

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00:08:31,039 --> 00:08:33,599
they're for you. And many people who

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00:08:33,599 --> 00:08:35,440
were there at the time said the queen

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00:08:35,440 --> 00:08:38,719
almost broke down at that moment. And I

185
00:08:38,719 --> 00:08:40,399
had a feeling it was a turning point for

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00:08:40,399 --> 00:08:43,360
her. You know, you have to find a way of

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00:08:43,360 --> 00:08:45,519
expressing all of those things. And the

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00:08:45,519 --> 00:08:48,720
only way to do that is through thought.

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00:08:48,720 --> 00:08:52,959
Is to is to shut yourself shut your mind

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down.

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00:08:54,480 --> 00:08:57,279
Bring yourself into that world and think

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00:08:57,279 --> 00:08:59,360
your way through it as you're as you're

193
00:08:59,360 --> 00:09:01,839
doing it. And and that requires a

194
00:09:01,839 --> 00:09:04,240
particular kind of concentration, a

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00:09:04,240 --> 00:09:06,640
particular thought process.

196
00:09:06,640 --> 00:09:10,880
Um that is basically is the and therein

197
00:09:10,880 --> 00:09:13,760
resides the absolute kernel the center

198
00:09:13,760 --> 00:09:16,720
of what acting is and it's to do with

199
00:09:16,720 --> 00:09:21,040
your imaginative journey

200
00:09:21,040 --> 00:09:23,680
into yourself with control with

201
00:09:23,680 --> 00:09:26,320
technique with all the rest of it. But

202
00:09:26,320 --> 00:09:29,519
basically, you have got to be able to be

203
00:09:29,519 --> 00:09:34,080
the kind of person who can imaginatively

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00:09:34,080 --> 00:09:38,560
put yourself absolutely into a position

205
00:09:38,560 --> 00:09:41,200
and think those things through, but feel

206
00:09:41,200 --> 00:09:43,600
them through. So, it's not like, oh, now

207
00:09:43,600 --> 00:09:45,120
I've got to think that, now I've got to

208
00:09:45,120 --> 00:09:47,760
think that, now I'm thinking that. Those

209
00:09:47,760 --> 00:09:49,920
things have got to wash through you like

210
00:09:49,920 --> 00:09:53,279
a like a wave on a shore, like a a

211
00:09:53,279 --> 00:09:58,399
ripple on a on a pond. They've got to,

212
00:09:58,399 --> 00:10:00,880
you know, just wash through you. And

213
00:10:00,880 --> 00:10:04,160
you've got to allow yourself to be

214
00:10:04,160 --> 00:10:07,680
an open receptor for that and allow your

215
00:10:07,680 --> 00:10:10,480
face to express that without pulling

216
00:10:10,480 --> 00:10:14,000
faces, but allow that to be shown on

217
00:10:14,000 --> 00:10:16,160
your face. It happens through through

218
00:10:16,160 --> 00:10:17,440
your eyes. It happens through your

219
00:10:17,440 --> 00:10:19,519
little twitches on your face, your

220
00:10:19,519 --> 00:10:22,399
eyebrows, whatever it is. You know, I

221
00:10:22,399 --> 00:10:24,399
don't know how it happens. I have no

222
00:10:24,399 --> 00:10:27,839
idea. I'm kind of not in control of it.

223
00:10:27,839 --> 00:10:29,839
I mean,

224
00:10:29,839 --> 00:10:33,200
uh, you know, the the eyes on screen are

225
00:10:33,200 --> 00:10:34,880
obviously an incredibly important thing

226
00:10:34,880 --> 00:10:39,600
and and a look, you know, to camera

227
00:10:39,600 --> 00:10:42,560
can be very strong. Um, maybe that

228
00:10:42,560 --> 00:10:44,480
wasn't very strong. I don't know. But,

229
00:10:44,480 --> 00:10:48,079
you know, a look can be very strong um

230
00:10:48,079 --> 00:10:50,640
in the right place. Of course, you don't

231
00:10:50,640 --> 00:10:52,320
ever look straight at the camera. you

232
00:10:52,320 --> 00:10:54,640
look to one side, but to allow your eyes

233
00:10:54,640 --> 00:10:58,560
to be seen. And and the great the great

234
00:10:58,560 --> 00:11:02,399
movie stars that I've watched absolutely

235
00:11:02,399 --> 00:11:05,200
understand how to how to use their eyes

236
00:11:05,200 --> 00:11:08,240
and and the power of a look. But a look

237
00:11:08,240 --> 00:11:10,800
just for the for its own sake doesn't do

238
00:11:10,800 --> 00:11:13,839
anything. There has to be thought behind

239
00:11:13,839 --> 00:11:16,160
the look. There has to be emotion behind

240
00:11:16,160 --> 00:11:17,920
the look. There has to be something

241
00:11:17,920 --> 00:11:20,399
going on inside of your head behind the

242
00:11:20,399 --> 00:11:23,360
look. Otherwise, it just becomes a a

243
00:11:23,360 --> 00:11:24,959
silly

244
00:11:24,959 --> 00:11:27,839
affectation.

1
00:00:07,600 --> 00:00:10,960
Okay, picture's up. Camera A set.

2
00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:12,559
Camera B set.

3
00:00:12,559 --> 00:00:14,400
Okay, lock it up, guys. Last looks if

4
00:00:14,400 --> 00:00:18,280
you need it. This is for picture.

5
00:00:19,279 --> 00:00:21,840
Looking at my mark. Have to stand on my

6
00:00:21,840 --> 00:00:24,480
mark.

7
00:00:24,480 --> 00:00:27,279
Yep. Now, this is what happens just

8
00:00:27,279 --> 00:00:29,599
before you do a take. You're in your

9
00:00:29,599 --> 00:00:31,439
world. You're in your character. You're

10
00:00:31,439 --> 00:00:34,000
in your environment. Wherever that is.

11
00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:35,760
It might be ancient Rome. You know, it

12
00:00:35,760 --> 00:00:38,640
could be anywhere. But at this point,

13
00:00:38,640 --> 00:00:41,200
you have to cut all this stuff out of

14
00:00:41,200 --> 00:00:43,040
your world. You have to maintain your

15
00:00:43,040 --> 00:00:45,280
concentration,

16
00:00:45,280 --> 00:00:47,280
refind your character, refind your

17
00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:48,800
environment,

18
00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:53,879
and now maybe you're ready to work.

19
00:00:56,719 --> 00:00:59,719
Mark.

20
00:01:01,840 --> 00:01:03,840
And now we're ready to go.

21
00:01:03,840 --> 00:01:05,439
Action.

22
00:01:05,439 --> 00:01:07,439
And when the director calls action, you

23
00:01:07,439 --> 00:01:09,920
don't have to say action straight away.

24
00:01:09,920 --> 00:01:11,439
You don't have to start acting straight

25
00:01:11,439 --> 00:01:13,760
away. you just if if you need a little

26
00:01:13,760 --> 00:01:15,920
more time just to pull yourself down

27
00:01:15,920 --> 00:01:18,720
from all this amazing distraction you've

28
00:01:18,720 --> 00:01:22,479
had to deal with um just in in preparing

29
00:01:22,479 --> 00:01:24,799
to come up before you come on the set

30
00:01:24,799 --> 00:01:27,520
and then coming on the set you know a

31
00:01:27,520 --> 00:01:29,840
set is an incredibly distracting

32
00:01:29,840 --> 00:01:31,840
environment and it's all about

33
00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:34,320
maintaining concentration I'd like just

34
00:01:34,320 --> 00:01:36,880
for one second to show you the world

35
00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:39,040
that I'm living in that's a part this

36
00:01:39,040 --> 00:01:41,040
little world is nice but look at this

37
00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:43,759
other world that I'm living in.

38
00:01:43,759 --> 00:01:45,840
So, you see, here's the camera crew that

39
00:01:45,840 --> 00:01:47,920
I'm looking at. There's my director who

40
00:01:47,920 --> 00:01:49,520
always insists on wearing a bright red

41
00:01:49,520 --> 00:01:52,159
hat so that, you know, he really stands

42
00:01:52,159 --> 00:01:55,680
out, which is like very annoying. Um,

43
00:01:55,680 --> 00:01:58,399
here's a beautiful sound operator, I

44
00:01:58,399 --> 00:02:00,240
bet. I mean, look what she's doing. It's

45
00:02:00,240 --> 00:02:04,159
extraordinary. So, I'm That's what I'm

46
00:02:04,159 --> 00:02:06,240
looking at. That's what's in my ey line.

47
00:02:06,240 --> 00:02:08,160
Just outside of my ey line is a whole

48
00:02:08,160 --> 00:02:11,599
other world. I have to just concentrate.

49
00:02:11,599 --> 00:02:14,160
All of my thought, my mind, my

50
00:02:14,160 --> 00:02:18,319
imagination has to go into very often a

51
00:02:18,319 --> 00:02:20,879
little um square, a little mark on the

52
00:02:20,879 --> 00:02:23,440
camera. So, this is what I'm acting to.

53
00:02:23,440 --> 00:02:25,840
This is the my ey line. This is where I

54
00:02:25,840 --> 00:02:27,840
have to pour all my emotion or my

55
00:02:27,840 --> 00:02:30,640
thought or my feeling into this red this

56
00:02:30,640 --> 00:02:32,879
little square by the side of the camera.

57
00:02:32,879 --> 00:02:35,440
The actor who's maybe giving me the off-

58
00:02:35,440 --> 00:02:38,160
camerara lines will be standing around

59
00:02:38,160 --> 00:02:40,160
about here where at the moment my

60
00:02:40,160 --> 00:02:42,080
director is standing. But I don't look

61
00:02:42,080 --> 00:02:44,319
at him. I look at the little red dot. I

62
00:02:44,319 --> 00:02:45,920
just hear the lines coming from off

63
00:02:45,920 --> 00:02:48,920
camera.

64
00:02:53,040 --> 00:02:55,360
I want to step back a bit now and talk

65
00:02:55,360 --> 00:02:57,920
about what happens when you first walk

66
00:02:57,920 --> 00:02:59,840
onto the set. It's a new set. Maybe

67
00:02:59,840 --> 00:03:01,519
you're bit, you're playing a, you know,

68
00:03:01,519 --> 00:03:03,440
medium-sized role, a small role, a

69
00:03:03,440 --> 00:03:05,920
larger role, whatever it is. You walk

70
00:03:05,920 --> 00:03:08,239
onto this set full of strangers. Now,

71
00:03:08,239 --> 00:03:10,159
maybe you've been on sets before, so you

72
00:03:10,159 --> 00:03:12,000
have an understanding of you certainly

73
00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:14,239
by now probably know who the AD is

74
00:03:14,239 --> 00:03:16,080
because the AD has come to get you out

75
00:03:16,080 --> 00:03:18,480
of the makeup or out of your trailer. He

76
00:03:18,480 --> 00:03:20,800
said, "They're ready for you on set."

77
00:03:20,800 --> 00:03:22,800
Now, I have a little trick I'm going to

78
00:03:22,800 --> 00:03:25,519
share with you. On my first day of

79
00:03:25,519 --> 00:03:29,280
shoot, I always go to the set early. I

80
00:03:29,280 --> 00:03:31,360
make sure that I'm ready in hair and

81
00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:35,040
makeup earlier than they need me. Not an

82
00:03:35,040 --> 00:03:37,120
hour earlier, but you know, 10, 15

83
00:03:37,120 --> 00:03:39,440
minutes earlier. And I walk onto the set

84
00:03:39,440 --> 00:03:42,080
before they're ready. And the the AD is

85
00:03:42,080 --> 00:03:43,599
always saying, the second AD is who's

86
00:03:43,599 --> 00:03:45,680
the person who comes to collect you out

87
00:03:45,680 --> 00:03:47,120
of your trailer is always saying, "No,

88
00:03:47,120 --> 00:03:48,319
no, they're not ready yet. They're not

89
00:03:48,319 --> 00:03:50,080
ready yet." I say, "I don't mind. That's

90
00:03:50,080 --> 00:03:51,519
fine. I'm just going to go down and see

91
00:03:51,519 --> 00:03:53,840
what's going on." And it's a very good

92
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way to let the set know. Let the first

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AD do know, the second AD know that you

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are going to be on top of this.

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The other thing I always say when I

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first arrive on the set is I talk to the

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first AD and the second AD and I say

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always come and knock on my door. Tell

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me if the set is ready. if I'm not ready

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for whatever reason, I've got a big

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makeup change or, you know, there

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something's gone wrong with my costume

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or I need to be miked up. Um, another

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thing being miked up. But anyway, uh,

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you know, um, or all all those elements.

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I can say to the second AD, I'm really

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sorry. I will be ready in about 10

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minutes. I will be with you in 10

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minutes, but I want to know when the set

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is ready. I don't want you to hovering

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outside. Oh, she's not quite ready yet,

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sir. Sir, she's not quite ready. We

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don't quite know why. You know, as long

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as I know the set is ready, I will have

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already found out because I listen to

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what the cameraman and the director have

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been talking about. So, I know what the

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next shot is. I know the size of the

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camera I of the lens. I know if it's a

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two shot. I know if it's a close-up. I

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know if it's a wide. I know if it's two

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cameras, what the lenses are. So I know

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what the issues are for my hair and

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makeup and costume. So if for example,

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you know, it's a big wide and the light

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is going but my wig isn't stuck down, I

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will say to the makeup person, don't

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stick the wig down. It doesn't matter.

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It's a big wide. The light is going.

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Let's get out there and shoot it. So

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this is where I I feel it's very

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important to be constantly aware of the

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um of the technical

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uh requirements of any any particular

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shot. Uh and and lurk, you know, I I'm

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always lurking behind the camera. Not I

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don't intrude, but I'm kind of lurking

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listening listening to what they're

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saying, listening to the second first ad

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saying, "Well, we're losing the light

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of, you know, we've only got half an

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hour to shoot this." So, I think, "Oh my

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god, they've only got half an hour to

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shoot and it's my big scene, so I better

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get myself prepared for this." Um, it's

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I have to say, you know, for me that's

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what makes the the fun of the whole

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thing, you know, but if as I said

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earlier, if if you're walking on the set

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for the first time, nobody knows you,

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maybe you're not playing a very big

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part, just hang around on the set, get

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to know people, introduce yourself, and

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start learning because we are all, as I

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said, apprentice apprentices. This is an

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apprentichip business.

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And the other thing distraction

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is that it's not just these four, five

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people around the camera. Um, but you're

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looking here and just beyond this

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square. You can see all kinds. You can

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see the lights, you can feel the mic,

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the sense of the mic. You see babies.

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That's why I love babies. You know, the

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babies are always like

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staring at the mic and dogs as well.

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That's why such good actors, you know,

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they're just in the moment in the moment

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looking at the mic. Um uh but anyway,

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you know that it's all all potentially

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extremely distracting and um I'm sure

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some of you have seen the films of

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actors blow losing it because someone

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was just walking across in their ey line

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when they're in the middle of something.

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And sometimes people really don't

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understand the depth of concentration

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that that an actor has to have at

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particular moments of not just

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remembering the lines but the the

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continuity of the steps where you're

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standing, the movement, the and and the

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emotion of the scene. So a great deal of

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concentration is needed at certain

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moments. And um a and you just have to

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find a way of just closing all that

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down. Um

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and it it's to do it's to do with

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imagination really. I keep coming back

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to this word imagination.

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But you know you have to be so deep in

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your imagination into your into your

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story into the necessity to tell your

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story that none of that really matters.

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You know there are bit there's basically

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a closeup

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3/4

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two shot and then the wide or there's

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traveling shots. I mean many different

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shots but that's sort of sort of the

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canvas within which you're working as an

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actor. And for each size of shot there

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are slightly different

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um not requirements but you know

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obviously if the shots here then what my

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hands are doing down here read you know

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if I'm doing something nervous or

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that will read

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it here it doesn't matter what I'm doing

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down here this is not going to read you

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know it's not going to tell any kind of

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story and likewise a full shot what your

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feet are doing can tell the story um in

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a big wide the way you walk, the way you

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your whole body that your whole body

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language can tell the story. Um it's

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it's it's funny, you know, people often

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say to me, "What's it like to work with

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John Mulovich or you know, it must be

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amazing to work with Alan Rickman?" Um

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and I always say I yes, it would have

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been great to work with John Malovich.

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The only time you actually work with

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another actor in film is in a twoot

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where the two of you are in the scene.

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What both of you have to say matters.

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It's not so much in a wide or wide is

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about the location, about the

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environment. It's not about the

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performance, about the psychology. A

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twoot is and that's where you get to

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actually

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um react to and and work with an actor.

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Otherwise, you know, I'm I'm basically

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in a closeup where where you really in a

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sense should be working with the actor,

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looking him or her in the eyes, really

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re reacting to each other. You're not.

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you're working to a little pink cross on

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the side of the lens as close to the

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lens as possible because that gives you

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a really direct eyline as opposed to if

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I'm talking here to this person here or

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my eyelines over there. You see what a

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huge difference it is if I'm talking

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very earnestly over here or if I'm

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talking very earnestly there. You know,

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there's a big difference between those

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two ey lines. Um but very often I'm on

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this ey line. It's an intimate moment

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where I'm talking to my partner about

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the death of our child or something and

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I'm talking to this pink cross and the

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actor that I'm working with is feeding

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me the lines. So, I have to I hear those

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lines. I can't look at him in the face.

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Um, but I have to obviously I hear those

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lines, but it's it's an incredibly

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unnatural, you know, relationship. So,

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you're not actually working with the

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person. The way you maybe are working

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with the person is when you've prepped

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the scene in the um in the in the

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trailer or in the dressing room. The two

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of you maybe have read the scene

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together. Um those are the moments you

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work together to produce what you feel

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the scene is. Otherwise, you know what

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guys, you're working with the camera.

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And that's why I think to

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feel the people around the camera being

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kind of a part of your world, a part of

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your energy, a part of your support

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team. I I think that's um I I personally

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I think that's very important.

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Very often a a film crew is extremely

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respectful, but sometimes they're moving

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around and it's in your ey line. And if

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that happens, don't feel um intimidated

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um you know on on the cut on the next

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take. Just go to the first ad and say,

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"Oh, it's getting a bit busy. Can you

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just quieten everyone down a bit because

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I need a little more concentration?" And

285
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I think you're I think that's you're

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allowed to do that. So Danny uh is is uh

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is on the dolly and he's the person who

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pushes the camera backwards and

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00:12:44,079 --> 00:12:46,480
forwards. And again, a very important

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relationship that you can have with the

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dolly grip because sometimes you're

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moving and the camera's moving and he is

293
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the one who's having to pull the camera

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at exactly the same rate as you're

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moving. So be conscious of what he's

296
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having to do and say, "Am I going too

297
00:13:00,959 --> 00:13:02,959
fast? Am I going too slow?" You know, is

298
00:13:02,959 --> 00:13:05,760
it okay for you? Um, you know, these are

299
00:13:05,760 --> 00:13:07,680
all decisions that get made in a

300
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combination between the the dolly

301
00:13:10,000 --> 00:13:12,240
operator, the the director and the

302
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cinematographer. But, um, you know, be

303
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conscious and make a relationship with

304
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that guy because you are working

305
00:13:19,279 --> 00:13:21,680
directly with that guy. And here's Key

306
00:13:21,680 --> 00:13:24,480
who is our camera operator. And again,

307
00:13:24,480 --> 00:13:27,360
he's the one actually who really sees

308
00:13:27,360 --> 00:13:29,839
your performance. Very often uh the

309
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director wants to be the operator

310
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because he or she wants to look down the

311
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lens and and be really engaged with the

312
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performance. That person is the closest

313
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person to your performance. Um I never

314
00:13:44,000 --> 00:13:45,920
go to look at v video village. I never

315
00:13:45,920 --> 00:13:48,160
go to look at my performance afterwards

316
00:13:48,160 --> 00:13:50,880
because I don't think it is a true

317
00:13:50,880 --> 00:13:53,120
really reflection that little screen.

318
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This is the guy key who who is really

319
00:13:56,639 --> 00:13:59,680
watching the performance and if I hear

320
00:13:59,680 --> 00:14:02,959
um uh the camera operator say well that

321
00:14:02,959 --> 00:14:06,000
was pretty good I feel very happy with

322
00:14:06,000 --> 00:14:08,880
what I've done or if you feel that he

323
00:14:08,880 --> 00:14:11,600
hasn't got it you know be very sensitive

324
00:14:11,600 --> 00:14:14,800
to u the guy operating the camera it's a

325
00:14:14,800 --> 00:14:17,760
collaboration between us all of course

326
00:14:17,760 --> 00:14:21,279
the beautiful moment is between you and

327
00:14:21,279 --> 00:14:25,120
that little spot on next to the lens.

328
00:14:25,120 --> 00:14:27,600
That's the that's the center of the

329
00:14:27,600 --> 00:14:31,279
whole thing. But it's the work of all of

330
00:14:31,279 --> 00:14:35,639
us that's making that work.

331
00:14:40,399 --> 00:14:42,480
The other really important team on the

332
00:14:42,480 --> 00:14:45,920
on the set is sound. And here we have a

333
00:14:45,920 --> 00:14:48,720
vet holding this incredibly long, very,

334
00:14:48,720 --> 00:14:51,920
very heavy and difficult thing. She's in

335
00:14:51,920 --> 00:14:55,760
a difficult physical position. Um, but

336
00:14:55,760 --> 00:14:57,600
you know, often sound is is blown

337
00:14:57,600 --> 00:14:59,199
because there was a truck going by or

338
00:14:59,199 --> 00:15:01,519
there was an airplane flying over or the

339
00:15:01,519 --> 00:15:03,440
camera was creaking or a light is making

340
00:15:03,440 --> 00:15:06,079
a noise and you have just done the most

341
00:15:06,079 --> 00:15:08,880
brilliant performance of your life and

342
00:15:08,880 --> 00:15:12,160
it's blown because of a sound issue. Um,

343
00:15:12,160 --> 00:15:14,720
that's always a very delicate moment. I

344
00:15:14,720 --> 00:15:17,360
if there's a sound issue, even if I

345
00:15:17,360 --> 00:15:19,839
think I'll never be that good again,

346
00:15:19,839 --> 00:15:22,399
I'll always ask say yes, I will do

347
00:15:22,399 --> 00:15:27,360
another take for sound because um in my

348
00:15:27,360 --> 00:15:29,120
experience of watching movies and and

349
00:15:29,120 --> 00:15:31,839
you you know you guys have done this sat

350
00:15:31,839 --> 00:15:34,320
in the in the cinema, watched a movie

351
00:15:34,320 --> 00:15:36,720
and if the sound is thin, if it's not

352
00:15:36,720 --> 00:15:39,600
rich, if it's not full, if it's not

353
00:15:39,600 --> 00:15:43,360
deep, um the whole movie suffers.

354
00:15:43,360 --> 00:15:45,760
Doesn't matter how beautiful and in

355
00:15:45,760 --> 00:15:48,240
focus and fantastic performances going

356
00:15:48,240 --> 00:15:51,680
on on the screen. If the sound doesn't

357
00:15:51,680 --> 00:15:55,360
is thin and and not you know not not to

358
00:15:55,360 --> 00:15:57,680
either you can't really hear it or you

359
00:15:57,680 --> 00:16:00,480
know sometimes sound is not good. It it

360
00:16:00,480 --> 00:16:05,000
absolutely destroys the whole scene

361
00:16:09,040 --> 00:16:11,279
obviously on on the set for your

362
00:16:11,279 --> 00:16:14,959
continuity. Um, the script supervisor is

363
00:16:14,959 --> 00:16:17,279
a very important person. But in terms of

364
00:16:17,279 --> 00:16:19,920
your literal continuity here, was my

365
00:16:19,920 --> 00:16:22,399
shirt like this or was it like that or

366
00:16:22,399 --> 00:16:24,240
was my, you know, was my hair like this

367
00:16:24,240 --> 00:16:26,399
or was it like that? And when did I

368
00:16:26,399 --> 00:16:28,800
scratch the side of my face? Was it on

369
00:16:28,800 --> 00:16:30,639
that line or that line? That those sort

370
00:16:30,639 --> 00:16:35,199
of specific continuities is um uh is

371
00:16:35,199 --> 00:16:38,079
important. Annoying but important. But

372
00:16:38,079 --> 00:16:40,240
much more than that, where the script

373
00:16:40,240 --> 00:16:43,600
super supervisor is a huge help is to

374
00:16:43,600 --> 00:16:47,040
remind you of the I hate the word arc,

375
00:16:47,040 --> 00:16:49,519
but yes, the story of your story. You

376
00:16:49,519 --> 00:16:51,360
know, what happened three scenes before,

377
00:16:51,360 --> 00:16:53,440
what's going to happen in two scenes,

378
00:16:53,440 --> 00:16:56,560
what happened lit what the shot before

379
00:16:56,560 --> 00:16:58,560
this shot is that? And then we're

380
00:16:58,560 --> 00:17:01,920
shooting into this. So, you're aware of

381
00:17:01,920 --> 00:17:04,720
the rhythm of that or how sweaty you

382
00:17:04,720 --> 00:17:07,439
should be or

383
00:17:07,439 --> 00:17:09,679
you know, have just been running or, you

384
00:17:09,679 --> 00:17:12,559
know, all of those things. Um,

385
00:17:12,559 --> 00:17:17,480
they are an invaluable tool for you.

386
00:17:20,799 --> 00:17:23,120
If I'm working with a young actor who I

387
00:17:23,120 --> 00:17:25,839
feel is inexperienced,

388
00:17:25,839 --> 00:17:28,880
um, gosh, I don't know. All I can do is

389
00:17:28,880 --> 00:17:33,039
be as as collaborative and as collegate

390
00:17:33,039 --> 00:17:36,720
as possible. And also I I feel we're all

391
00:17:36,720 --> 00:17:38,960
in the same boat. And it doesn't matter

392
00:17:38,960 --> 00:17:41,919
if you've done a you know 500 movies or

393
00:17:41,919 --> 00:17:45,440
it's your first movie. The reality is

394
00:17:45,440 --> 00:17:48,320
turnover action. Your mug is on the

395
00:17:48,320 --> 00:17:53,200
screen and that's all there that's at

396
00:17:53,200 --> 00:17:56,720
that moment that is king if if you like.

397
00:17:56,720 --> 00:18:02,000
Um, and we're all ultimately in the same

398
00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:05,760
uh boat, as I say, of of of um of

399
00:18:05,760 --> 00:18:07,760
needing to find concentration, of

400
00:18:07,760 --> 00:18:11,200
needing to find a performance. Um, so

401
00:18:11,200 --> 00:18:13,679
the best I can do personally for a for a

402
00:18:13,679 --> 00:18:17,360
young actor is just to give them respect

403
00:18:17,360 --> 00:18:20,880
and um and

404
00:18:20,880 --> 00:18:23,600
and and try to make sure that they feel

405
00:18:23,600 --> 00:18:26,240
that they are in an equal position to me

406
00:18:26,240 --> 00:18:29,200
because actually guys you are. I know

407
00:18:29,200 --> 00:18:30,720
you don't feel it and you feel oh

408
00:18:30,720 --> 00:18:32,400
there's the big star or there's the star

409
00:18:32,400 --> 00:18:35,200
and how you know and I'm I've just got

410
00:18:35,200 --> 00:18:37,760
these three lines but you know what when

411
00:18:37,760 --> 00:18:39,679
those three lines are when the camera's

412
00:18:39,679 --> 00:18:42,880
on you and you've got those three lines

413
00:18:42,880 --> 00:18:45,039
you are the one you are the one who

414
00:18:45,039 --> 00:18:48,880
counts. So just give that moment your

415
00:18:48,880 --> 00:18:52,360
all really.

416
00:18:56,240 --> 00:18:58,640
The other thing about film acting is is

417
00:18:58,640 --> 00:19:00,880
that accidents are sometimes great and

418
00:19:00,880 --> 00:19:02,720
and that's what I learned from uh you

419
00:19:02,720 --> 00:19:04,799
know from my book um interviews with

420
00:19:04,799 --> 00:19:06,960
Francis Bacon and he talks about the

421
00:19:06,960 --> 00:19:09,360
good accident. Don't be afraid of things

422
00:19:09,360 --> 00:19:14,160
going wrong, you know, or or or um you

423
00:19:14,160 --> 00:19:17,280
know, unexpected. The unexpected in in a

424
00:19:17,280 --> 00:19:20,320
funny ways is what you're is is what

425
00:19:20,320 --> 00:19:22,720
you're searching for because you want

426
00:19:22,720 --> 00:19:26,480
your performance to be unexpected to

427
00:19:26,480 --> 00:19:28,320
you. It it it needs to have that

428
00:19:28,320 --> 00:19:30,480
presence and that reality and the

429
00:19:30,480 --> 00:19:33,760
immediacy of the unexpected. So once

430
00:19:33,760 --> 00:19:36,320
something really unexpected happens,

431
00:19:36,320 --> 00:19:38,960
just go with it. Don't go, "Oh, cut, you

432
00:19:38,960 --> 00:19:40,640
know, I'm sorry. I can't work with this

433
00:19:40,640 --> 00:19:44,559
dog." You know, go, "No, got a camera.

434
00:19:44,559 --> 00:19:46,640
I'm going down to the dog. Follow me,

435
00:19:46,640 --> 00:19:49,280
please." Or whatever you do. Just But

436
00:19:49,280 --> 00:19:51,919
use it until until the director calls

437
00:19:51,919 --> 00:19:54,480
cut.

1
00:00:18,640 --> 00:00:21,680
you know, like um like we were talking

2
00:00:21,680 --> 00:00:24,960
before working with costume designers

3
00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:27,439
um and the incredible importance of

4
00:00:27,439 --> 00:00:29,840
really sometimes very small details to

5
00:00:29,840 --> 00:00:33,040
tell the story of your character that um

6
00:00:33,040 --> 00:00:35,040
that maybe the costume designer hasn't

7
00:00:35,040 --> 00:00:37,600
thought of. Um you know that

8
00:00:37,600 --> 00:00:39,440
relationship with with your costume

9
00:00:39,440 --> 00:00:41,600
designer is incredibly important in

10
00:00:41,600 --> 00:00:45,280
building your character. But likewise

11
00:00:45,280 --> 00:00:48,079
the work with the set decorator can be

12
00:00:48,079 --> 00:00:52,320
very very important. Um because the

13
00:00:52,320 --> 00:00:54,320
environment, if your character has an

14
00:00:54,320 --> 00:00:55,920
environment, their apartment, their

15
00:00:55,920 --> 00:00:59,120
flat, I don't know, um you know, if it's

16
00:00:59,120 --> 00:01:01,840
their personal environment, that

17
00:01:01,840 --> 00:01:04,080
environment obvious obviously is going

18
00:01:04,080 --> 00:01:06,720
to tell the story of the character um as

19
00:01:06,720 --> 00:01:09,280
much as the costume is. But sometimes

20
00:01:09,280 --> 00:01:10,960
there are elements of your character

21
00:01:10,960 --> 00:01:13,119
that the the set decorator has or the

22
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production designer with the set

23
00:01:14,560 --> 00:01:18,000
decorator hasn't quite grasped and why

24
00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:20,640
should they? they're not living in your

25
00:01:20,640 --> 00:01:23,680
character the way you are. So, you know,

26
00:01:23,680 --> 00:01:26,720
it it um your

27
00:01:26,720 --> 00:01:30,000
personal contribution to the set. Again,

28
00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:32,079
don't be destructive. Don't come in and

29
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say, "This is completely wrong. I'm

30
00:01:34,640 --> 00:01:37,520
going to, you know, um but you know, you

31
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I think you're entitled to make

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suggestions. Um

33
00:01:42,240 --> 00:01:44,240
just say, you know, I would love I don't

34
00:01:44,240 --> 00:01:46,560
know. I see I mean looking for example

35
00:01:46,560 --> 00:01:48,880
in this set that I'm I'm looking in

36
00:01:48,880 --> 00:01:50,560
beautiful nice pieces of furniture a

37
00:01:50,560 --> 00:01:53,280
little bit modern and that but you know

38
00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:56,479
as I say mid-century so an older person

39
00:01:56,479 --> 00:01:58,799
could have had this furniture from when

40
00:01:58,799 --> 00:02:01,040
they were young now it's become an

41
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antique this actually happened in my

42
00:02:03,200 --> 00:02:06,079
life my furniture is suddenly antiques

43
00:02:06,079 --> 00:02:09,280
like very upsetting but anyway this

44
00:02:09,280 --> 00:02:12,000
could be seen if you are hip a hip young

45
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person in this environment it becomes

46
00:02:14,800 --> 00:02:17,440
hip. If you're an older person, it

47
00:02:17,440 --> 00:02:19,920
becomes kind of antique and period. It's

48
00:02:19,920 --> 00:02:22,080
it's what they had from when they were

49
00:02:22,080 --> 00:02:25,520
first married. So, I'm imagining maybe

50
00:02:25,520 --> 00:02:28,640
that in this set lives an older woman.

51
00:02:28,640 --> 00:02:30,720
She lives on her own. You know, I'm

52
00:02:30,720 --> 00:02:33,200
thinking, okay, if she lives on her own,

53
00:02:33,200 --> 00:02:34,879
this would be the place that she mostly

54
00:02:34,879 --> 00:02:36,560
sits, wouldn't it? So, I'm going to

55
00:02:36,560 --> 00:02:39,120
[ __ ] this little area up and I'm going

56
00:02:39,120 --> 00:02:42,160
to ask like um and props are very very

57
00:02:42,160 --> 00:02:44,879
kindly. This is great. That looks like

58
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someone that she is something that she

59
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or her mother might have made. This is

60
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great. Again, it's got that sort of

61
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older feeling. So, I'm going to start

62
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just making this set just look more like

63
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somewhere that someone sits.

64
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Maybe in the scene, for example, maybe

65
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this is a prop you're going to use in

66
00:03:06,879 --> 00:03:09,040
the scene. And this is if that's the

67
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case, it becomes really important that

68
00:03:11,360 --> 00:03:15,200
that prop tells the right story.

69
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So I'm looking at this maybe in the

70
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scene it says the character has a cup of

71
00:03:20,400 --> 00:03:22,640
coffee and this is what the props people

72
00:03:22,640 --> 00:03:23,840
have brought. They brought this

73
00:03:23,840 --> 00:03:26,480
beautiful elegant

74
00:03:26,480 --> 00:03:30,799
correct period but elegant sort of um

75
00:03:30,799 --> 00:03:33,280
thing and uh for her to have a coffee

76
00:03:33,280 --> 00:03:35,840
and you and you think no someone living

77
00:03:35,840 --> 00:03:37,599
on their own unless they're a certain

78
00:03:37,599 --> 00:03:40,480
kind of person you know my character

79
00:03:40,480 --> 00:03:42,959
would never do this so I'm I'm going to

80
00:03:42,959 --> 00:03:45,760
change this out please decorator do you

81
00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:49,599
mind if I change this for maybe I don't

82
00:03:49,599 --> 00:03:51,360
know

83
00:03:51,360 --> 00:03:53,519
a cracked old cup That's what she has

84
00:03:53,519 --> 00:03:56,879
her coffee in in this cracked old cup.

85
00:03:56,879 --> 00:04:00,400
So, what else can I I want this room to

86
00:04:00,400 --> 00:04:03,920
look untidy. I want it to look like, you

87
00:04:03,920 --> 00:04:05,599
know, like it's completely lived in.

88
00:04:05,599 --> 00:04:08,480
Maybe I'll put you know what a paper is

89
00:04:08,480 --> 00:04:11,200
always useful. Only makes your paper

90
00:04:11,200 --> 00:04:14,319
kind of look looks maybe red, you know,

91
00:04:14,319 --> 00:04:16,560
sitting there somewhere.

92
00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:21,359
Um uh and this area much too clean. So,

93
00:04:21,359 --> 00:04:24,160
I wonder if she's the kind of person, Do

94
00:04:24,160 --> 00:04:25,360
you think she's the kind of person who

95
00:04:25,360 --> 00:04:28,160
has fake flowers or real flowers? That's

96
00:04:28,160 --> 00:04:31,360
a thought, isn't it? Um, I think maybe

97
00:04:31,360 --> 00:04:33,120
she's pretty cool. And they've got some

98
00:04:33,120 --> 00:04:36,800
nice real flowers here.

99
00:04:36,800 --> 00:04:40,160
So, maybe she's likes real flowers, but

100
00:04:40,160 --> 00:04:42,560
this is a little too elegant.

101
00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:45,440
This is kind of good. This is again this

102
00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:48,320
tells a better story for me because that

103
00:04:48,320 --> 00:04:52,240
is it's a fake arrangement and it looks

104
00:04:52,240 --> 00:04:54,560
kind it looks like it could be dusty. I

105
00:04:54,560 --> 00:04:56,000
might even say would you mind making

106
00:04:56,000 --> 00:04:58,320
those a bit dusty? So these are little

107
00:04:58,320 --> 00:05:00,479
details that I don't think the audience

108
00:05:00,479 --> 00:05:02,880
will ever actually notice. But somehow

109
00:05:02,880 --> 00:05:05,919
then when you walk into the environment

110
00:05:05,919 --> 00:05:08,000
feels like you it feels like yours. It

111
00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:10,240
feels like your characters. So I'm I'm

112
00:05:10,240 --> 00:05:14,160
just going to put these in over here.

113
00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:17,840
Um, this is just all too tidy. I'm just

114
00:05:17,840 --> 00:05:20,240
going to make that a little messier. I

115
00:05:20,240 --> 00:05:22,400
don't know what have I got here. I've

116
00:05:22,400 --> 00:05:24,880
got rope, but I don't think she's a

117
00:05:24,880 --> 00:05:26,479
murderer. So, I'm not going to put that

118
00:05:26,479 --> 00:05:29,919
in. I don't know why rope somehow tells

119
00:05:29,919 --> 00:05:33,039
murder. Speaks of murder in some weird

120
00:05:33,039 --> 00:05:35,919
way. Maybe it's that Hitchcock movie.

121
00:05:35,919 --> 00:05:39,479
Wasn't it called Rope?

122
00:05:40,400 --> 00:05:43,840
Anyway, books. Not no too too tidy. Too

123
00:05:43,840 --> 00:05:45,840
tidy. Maybe I'll put that off center a

124
00:05:45,840 --> 00:05:48,720
little bit. There we go. Maybe I think a

125
00:05:48,720 --> 00:05:51,919
lot more books section. And maybe shall

126
00:05:51,919 --> 00:05:53,759
we say that she's a bit of an

127
00:05:53,759 --> 00:05:55,280
intellectual

128
00:05:55,280 --> 00:05:58,600
in her

129
00:05:59,360 --> 00:06:03,840
what happens. Sorry. Sorry. Props. Um

130
00:06:03,840 --> 00:06:05,440
anyway, maybe she's a little bit of an

131
00:06:05,440 --> 00:06:08,240
intellectual was. So maybe a chess set

132
00:06:08,240 --> 00:06:10,960
would be cool, you know. And where would

133
00:06:10,960 --> 00:06:13,039
the chess set be? Was she playing with

134
00:06:13,039 --> 00:06:15,520
it or is something Is it something she

135
00:06:15,520 --> 00:06:17,440
doesn't play with anymore? So, it's down

136
00:06:17,440 --> 00:06:20,479
there and it's missing a couple of its

137
00:06:20,479 --> 00:06:22,560
little guys have fallen over. That's

138
00:06:22,560 --> 00:06:24,720
good actually. Maybe a little bit good.

139
00:06:24,720 --> 00:06:26,720
There we go.

140
00:06:26,720 --> 00:06:29,520
Uh oh, this is great.

141
00:06:29,520 --> 00:06:31,919
Thank you, Props. Look what Props have

142
00:06:31,919 --> 00:06:34,720
supplied. Knitting. Perfect. Now, we

143
00:06:34,720 --> 00:06:36,960
kind of have an idea

144
00:06:36,960 --> 00:06:39,520
of who she is. And the other thing is if

145
00:06:39,520 --> 00:06:42,400
if you're putting in props that are

146
00:06:42,400 --> 00:06:45,039
important for your character,

147
00:06:45,039 --> 00:06:47,360
be aware of the shots that are going to

148
00:06:47,360 --> 00:06:49,360
be, you know, the the kinds of shots

149
00:06:49,360 --> 00:06:51,600
that are going to be made so the thing

150
00:06:51,600 --> 00:06:53,680
gets in shot because otherwise it's a

151
00:06:53,680 --> 00:06:55,840
bit of a waste of time, but kind of, you

152
00:06:55,840 --> 00:06:57,840
know, have have the thing in shot so

153
00:06:57,840 --> 00:07:00,880
it's telling another story. So here we

154
00:07:00,880 --> 00:07:04,240
setting up a situation. She knits. She

155
00:07:04,240 --> 00:07:07,599
reads the paper. She tucks herself in

156
00:07:07,599 --> 00:07:09,360
because she gets a little bit cold at

157
00:07:09,360 --> 00:07:11,919
night. Maybe a couple more cushions

158
00:07:11,919 --> 00:07:14,400
actually. Maybe. But I like these sort

159
00:07:14,400 --> 00:07:17,280
of older looking ones. Don't really

160
00:07:17,280 --> 00:07:19,120
match,

161
00:07:19,120 --> 00:07:21,039
you know.

162
00:07:21,039 --> 00:07:23,120
No, that's too posh. See, that one I I

163
00:07:23,120 --> 00:07:25,599
would find too posh.

164
00:07:25,599 --> 00:07:30,000
So, um maybe another one of these.

165
00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:31,680
I don't know. It's all beginning to bit

166
00:07:31,680 --> 00:07:33,520
look a bit too grand for me. So, no, I'm

167
00:07:33,520 --> 00:07:36,960
not going to put those in actually. Um,

168
00:07:36,960 --> 00:07:39,280
boxes. Oh, you know what? I'm thinking

169
00:07:39,280 --> 00:07:40,960
maybe

170
00:07:40,960 --> 00:07:44,319
maybe like she drinks. Does she drink?

171
00:07:44,319 --> 00:07:46,720
If she does drink, she's a bit of an

172
00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:49,280
alky on the quiet, you know. Obviously,

173
00:07:49,280 --> 00:07:51,280
maybe beer. I mean, a beer would be a

174
00:07:51,280 --> 00:07:53,919
funny thing, wouldn't it? To sort of

175
00:07:53,919 --> 00:07:55,840
slip in somewhere here. I'm not quite

176
00:07:55,840 --> 00:07:58,879
sure where that could go, but anyway,

177
00:07:58,879 --> 00:08:01,199
you can see the kind of thing I'm doing.

178
00:08:01,199 --> 00:08:03,440
I'm just basically trying to funk it up

179
00:08:03,440 --> 00:08:06,960
as much as possible. And this is where

180
00:08:06,960 --> 00:08:09,039
set uh decorators are absolutely

181
00:08:09,039 --> 00:08:11,440
brilliant. And and if you say to your

182
00:08:11,440 --> 00:08:14,800
set decorator, this is good.

183
00:08:14,800 --> 00:08:18,160
Some old coat just hanging around maybe

184
00:08:18,160 --> 00:08:20,720
here. Um if you say to your set

185
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decorator, look, I it's a great set.

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It's just far too tidy. Please just make

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it more untidy. Make it messier.

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Maybe things on the floor.

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Maybe more books or something on the

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floor. I don't know what. Something. Uh,

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cigarettes. That's good. If you want to

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have a sense person smokes, again, put

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it somewhere. I, you know, if I put this

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down here, I'm sure the camera can't see

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it. So, if I want it to look a little

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bit messy, I'd put it there. Put these

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there. I'm building up a little nest for

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myself here. So, you know, I can really

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imagine. And even if you never see that

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your character do this, you know, you I

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can see her tucked in here, can't you?

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Like, oh, I'm tucked in. I got my [ __ ]

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Sorry, my sigies. I got my coffee.

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I've got my newspaper

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that I don't actually read. I kind of,

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you know, here's my character. I've got

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her. She's right here. Lovely. So,

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that's just a like a tiny indication of

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of personalizing the space for your

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character. Now, of course,

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this very same set, the same same walls,

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the same furniture and everything

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can tell a completely different story.

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if you're telling if you're I if it's

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your space and um if it's a completely

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different character.

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So, here I'm walking onto a set

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um and my character is actually this

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actually happened to me when I was doing

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Prime Suspect, um a TV show about the

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police woman and she was obsessed with

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work. That's all she thought about was

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work. She didn't care about home

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decoration or comfort. She was hardly

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ever at home. And I remember walking on

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the set for the first time and it was it

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was a nice set. It was clean. It was

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appropriate for the character, but what

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was missing was the characterization of

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the situation, which I thought, you know

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what, this woman would not have had

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time. Yes, she's been in in this

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apartment for 2 months, but she still

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hasn't got round to putting a picture up

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on the wall. So, I would say and and I'm

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going to say right now to the um to our

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set decorators to help me out with this.

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I want to make this look like it's

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someone who's living here, but they

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haven't unpacked properly. So, how do we

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tell that story? And the first thing we

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is we do we take everything out not the

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furniture but you know all the accutra

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the books can go the boxes can go this

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can go the pictures can go uh that lamp

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can go and um and we'll see where we go

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from there. Um and then we'll start

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putting other elements in that uh that

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tell the story that I want I want my

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character's story to be told. I mean the

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other thing is if if you're doing your

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own production and it's so brilliant

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that nowadays you can do your own

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production with your iPhones with

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whatever and I so advise you if you are

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an actor you you know you haven't got a

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gig you're struggling as we honestly we

258
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all do at one point or another um so

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you've decided to make your own movie

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and you're making it in your own

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apartment or your mom's apartment or

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wherever um

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think of these elements ments. How do I

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change this environment to tell the

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story I want? So, I love this. This is

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lovely. This is like like this is like

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the empty stage. So, okay guys, what I

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want is um boxes. Boxes that look like,

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you know, they're half unpacked, not

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quite. And again, think about where you

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place these things. You want them to be

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in shot but not too obvious, you know?

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So maybe I'd put one over in the corner

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there, you know, maybe a pile of them in

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the corner like she's and it's it's

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great. They've got bits of paper in

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maybe, you know, something. Maybe the

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books have come out of the boxes and

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they're on the floor. If that's okay,

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I'm going to do that. Excuse me, just

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one second.

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Maybe I can use my famous rope.

283
00:13:02,639 --> 00:13:05,120
So let's do the the book. the, you know,

284
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the books are here, the ropes there.

285
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That was, that was in the packing. Um,

286
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oh, I think, you know, this is someone

287
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who's got no food in the in the free in

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the fridge. So, I think a pizza box

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would be brilliant in this environment.

290
00:13:21,600 --> 00:13:24,399
Um, so do we have a a pizza box would be

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00:13:24,399 --> 00:13:27,680
great. And also, oh, here we go. Thank

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00:13:27,680 --> 00:13:30,240
you. That's great. Oh, you got it. Look

293
00:13:30,240 --> 00:13:33,200
at that. as a now I would say and here

294
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very kindly the um set decor I asked for

295
00:13:37,920 --> 00:13:39,920
an empty pizza box but you know what

296
00:13:39,920 --> 00:13:42,399
this is too big that would not be a

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oneperson pizza box would it and to me

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these little details as I said earlier

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on are um

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are insignificant the audience maybe are

301
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never going to notice it but you as a

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00:13:55,440 --> 00:13:57,279
character will know it and when you walk

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on 90% of what you're doing is is live

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is you are living in your imagination.

305
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To fully realize your character, you

306
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have to be fully within the imagination

307
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of the character and the real elements

308
00:14:12,480 --> 00:14:15,279
around you all feed into that

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00:14:15,279 --> 00:14:18,240
imaginative journey you're making. So, I

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would walk on stage say, well, either

311
00:14:20,000 --> 00:14:23,120
she's really fat, she eats a lot of

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pizza, which is legitimate, um or this

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would be much too big. No one in their

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right mind would order pizza this big.

315
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But never mind. Let's let's pretend she

316
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eats a lot of pizza. This is cool. You

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00:14:36,480 --> 00:14:38,320
know, something like that. That could be

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maybe on the floor open

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like it was, you know, it was from last

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night. And then this is from tonight and

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she's that's something she's working on

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tonight. And then I think maybe like a

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beer. You know, the one thing she does

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have is a beer

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and an opener cuz you need a an opener

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with a beer.

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That's a story, isn't it? Let me have a

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look at I'm going to have to step back

329
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and have a look at it. Just a sec.

330
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Yeah, that's cool. I mean, that tells

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another story, doesn't it? Although

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actually

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what I might do is because of this

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environment, I might actually make this

335
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over here.

336
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There's something sort of more sad about

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it over there, not even using the table

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that you're supposed to be using. You

339
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know,

340
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maybe I don't know, maybe it's better

341
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the other way around. But anyway, that's

342
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another alternative that, you know, the

343
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comfy area is ignored. She never settles

344
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down. and she just sits on the sofa,

345
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grabs something to eat, and is out the

346
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door.

347
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So, um,

348
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you know, that's, as I say, um,

349
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use your imagination,

350
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use the tools at at at your disposal,

351
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but use them with imagination.

352
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Think of the scene, think of the um what

353
00:16:12,399 --> 00:16:14,079
literally physically what you're going

354
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to have to do in the scene. therefore

355
00:16:16,160 --> 00:16:19,600
where your props be should be

356
00:16:19,600 --> 00:16:22,399
and much more important what kind of

357
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props they are. So um you know we dealt

358
00:16:25,600 --> 00:16:27,279
with that a little bit in costume which

359
00:16:27,279 --> 00:16:29,759
was uh which is equally important. The

360
00:16:29,759 --> 00:16:31,440
choice of the watch, the choice of the

361
00:16:31,440 --> 00:16:34,079
glasses, you know where the jewelry

362
00:16:34,079 --> 00:16:38,320
goes. Um all of these elements build up

363
00:16:38,320 --> 00:16:40,639
and as I say the audience don't

364
00:16:40,639 --> 00:16:43,440
necessarily notice it as we don't none

365
00:16:43,440 --> 00:16:47,199
of us notice the elements in our in our

366
00:16:47,199 --> 00:16:49,839
beings that that tell the story of our

367
00:16:49,839 --> 00:16:52,079
of our characters. We don't really

368
00:16:52,079 --> 00:16:55,680
notice it until we really study and

369
00:16:55,680 --> 00:16:57,759
start deconstructing.

370
00:16:57,759 --> 00:17:00,079
And that incidentally, this is this is

371
00:17:00,079 --> 00:17:02,320
nothing to do with sex, is why you

372
00:17:02,320 --> 00:17:04,240
should always watch people out there on

373
00:17:04,240 --> 00:17:07,760
the street. My mantra as an actor is

374
00:17:07,760 --> 00:17:09,360
that real life is always more

375
00:17:09,360 --> 00:17:11,280
interesting than anything we can make

376
00:17:11,280 --> 00:17:14,480
up. So take from real life, you know, as

377
00:17:14,480 --> 00:17:17,439
a little psychological exercise, you

378
00:17:17,439 --> 00:17:19,199
know, uh if you're stuck in a traffic

379
00:17:19,199 --> 00:17:21,120
jam or if if you're on the bus or on the

380
00:17:21,120 --> 00:17:22,880
subway,

381
00:17:22,880 --> 00:17:25,360
just pick one person out

382
00:17:25,360 --> 00:17:28,240
surreptitiously. Don't stare, but and

383
00:17:28,240 --> 00:17:30,480
look at every detail of what they're

384
00:17:30,480 --> 00:17:33,360
wearing. everything from from the, you

385
00:17:33,360 --> 00:17:35,440
know, how clean their fingernails are

386
00:17:35,440 --> 00:17:37,840
to, you know, when they last had their

387
00:17:37,840 --> 00:17:40,000
hair cut or what belt they're wearing

388
00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:43,760
or, you know, how old their jeans are or

389
00:17:43,760 --> 00:17:46,160
every little detail and and just start

390
00:17:46,160 --> 00:17:48,960
constructing in your mind who that

391
00:17:48,960 --> 00:17:52,480
character is. And it's amazing how, you

392
00:17:52,480 --> 00:17:54,640
know, how in depth you can get. Of

393
00:17:54,640 --> 00:17:56,720
course, you walk past that person on the

394
00:17:56,720 --> 00:17:58,799
subway and it's just another person on

395
00:17:58,799 --> 00:18:01,600
the subway. And in the same way, in a

396
00:18:01,600 --> 00:18:03,520
way that's how your character will be on

397
00:18:03,520 --> 00:18:06,000
the on the in the film or on on the

398
00:18:06,000 --> 00:18:08,720
television or or in the production.

399
00:18:08,720 --> 00:18:11,280
There are details within that that that

400
00:18:11,280 --> 00:18:14,320
are unnoticeable, but they all it's

401
00:18:14,320 --> 00:18:18,799
incrementally all builds up to a certain

1
00:00:13,280 --> 00:00:16,560
So, I've talked about um props being

2
00:00:16,560 --> 00:00:18,640
such an important marker of your

3
00:00:18,640 --> 00:00:22,400
character. It's as as much of a marker

4
00:00:22,400 --> 00:00:24,640
of your character as your costume is or

5
00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:28,000
your your hair or your makeup. All of

6
00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:30,800
those elements come to build the

7
00:00:30,800 --> 00:00:32,719
understanding of this character. Now

8
00:00:32,719 --> 00:00:34,480
you've chosen your props. You know, I

9
00:00:34,480 --> 00:00:36,079
think for this scene I want a nice

10
00:00:36,079 --> 00:00:39,520
little posh um teacup.

11
00:00:39,520 --> 00:00:42,559
Um now get to know your props. Now

12
00:00:42,559 --> 00:00:45,200
practice with them. go on the set when

13
00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:46,879
uh you know when the when the camera is

14
00:00:46,879 --> 00:00:48,399
being set up, when the lights being set

15
00:00:48,399 --> 00:00:50,719
up, find yourself a quiet little corner

16
00:00:50,719 --> 00:00:52,879
and just keep practicing with your props

17
00:00:52,879 --> 00:00:54,480
over and over and over and over and over

18
00:00:54,480 --> 00:00:57,360
again until it becomes second nature.

19
00:00:57,360 --> 00:01:00,480
Never go on set and find your prop, you

20
00:01:00,480 --> 00:01:02,879
know, your you have to take the top off,

21
00:01:02,879 --> 00:01:05,040
you have to put it back and you go, "Oh

22
00:01:05,040 --> 00:01:07,200
my god, look, this is wrong." You know,

23
00:01:07,200 --> 00:01:10,000
learn that the lid goes in this way.

24
00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:13,200
learn uh you know, learn what the pour

25
00:01:13,200 --> 00:01:14,799
is like if you're pouring something out.

26
00:01:14,799 --> 00:01:16,880
And incidentally,

27
00:01:16,880 --> 00:01:19,040
this is an important thing about props.

28
00:01:19,040 --> 00:01:21,520
Just be conscious of the noise of props

29
00:01:21,520 --> 00:01:23,520
sound. Aren't you pleased that I'm

30
00:01:23,520 --> 00:01:27,759
saying this? Really? Um because if you

31
00:01:27,759 --> 00:01:30,080
put your cup down in the middle of your

32
00:01:30,080 --> 00:01:32,000
your speaking, especially in the middle

33
00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:33,600
of someone else speaking, you know,

34
00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:36,240
there's this awful noise off camera

35
00:01:36,240 --> 00:01:38,960
maybe. Not so bad if it's on camera, but

36
00:01:38,960 --> 00:01:41,600
even on camera, it can be a pain. So,

37
00:01:41,600 --> 00:01:43,520
just be aware, especially with cups and

38
00:01:43,520 --> 00:01:46,640
sauces. They're incredibly noisy things.

39
00:01:46,640 --> 00:01:48,640
Um so, be aware of the sound of your

40
00:01:48,640 --> 00:01:51,520
props. But above all, learn your props.

41
00:01:51,520 --> 00:01:53,280
Practice with them. especially if you

42
00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:56,399
have to, I don't know, serve food or

43
00:01:56,399 --> 00:02:00,000
have some complicated prop thing. Um,

44
00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:02,000
really, really practice because it will

45
00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:04,880
trip you up otherwise. And especially if

46
00:02:04,880 --> 00:02:06,479
you're doing television, you know,

47
00:02:06,479 --> 00:02:08,720
television moves like this in the speed

48
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of light. No one's got the time to wait

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for you to learn how the clasp on your

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purse works. You know, they don't have

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the time. So, get your purse. You've got

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to open it. Open it. Close it. do it

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00:02:22,560 --> 00:02:24,720
over and over again. Learn if it's

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awkward, if it's terrible. Also, if you

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have have props very, as you often do,

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inside something, make sure they're

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always in the same place. I know where

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my glasses are. I've got to get them

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out. I will put them where I want them

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to be, which in the thing now. I can get

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them out. I know exactly where they are,

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you know. So,

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that's important. Also, this Oh, this is

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this is bad.

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00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:54,800
lighters. As night follows day, a

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lighter will not work on the first go.

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I have a very good props person on this

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film. She's made sure that my lighter

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does work on the first go, but so often

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it doesn't or if it's worked a million

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times, it suddenly doesn't work. So, you

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know, get to know your cigarettes. Also,

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if you're if it's cigarettes,

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you know, investigate all the different

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ways that you can smoke. You know, this

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this tells one story. You know, I love

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cigarettes. They're such great props. No

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wonder they were so popular for so long.

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The best prop in the world,

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you know, that there was a famous film

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director,

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David Lean, English film director, who

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always used to smoke his cigarette like

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this and an incredible affectation, you

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know. So, that's kind of that would be a

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00:03:45,280 --> 00:03:46,720
pretty cool little character thing to

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00:03:46,720 --> 00:03:48,239
do, especially if you've got a small

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role. You know, it's cool to do little

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things like that.

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00:03:52,959 --> 00:03:56,799
Um, but anyway, find ways of of making

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your prop your own. You belong, it

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belongs with you. You are familiar with

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it. It wasn't just handed to you this

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morning by wardrobe, you know. It's it's

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something that lives in your character's

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life with you. Um, if you don't smoke,

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00:04:11,439 --> 00:04:14,640
you have to smoke on on screen. Um, I I

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I played a role in a Prime Suspect of a

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of a woman who was a chain smoker but

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was desperately trying to give it up.

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So, um, it was very important that I

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communicate to the smokers out there

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that I I was a smoker even though I

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don't smoke at all. So, I just made sure

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in every almost every scene a cigarette

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was either in my hand or it was in, you

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know, in the teacup. There was a there

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was a lit cigarette around 90% of the

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time. And then I chose one moment in the

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film in the story to really inhale,

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which is painful to do if you don't

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smoke. But I knew really to sell it. I

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had to do this once to the smokers out

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there watching. So, I chose this one

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moment when I'm not going to do it now

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because it's too horrible to do, but um

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where you just

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suck it down, you know, the full whammy.

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Um and and you know what, it was

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interesting because um so many people

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thought I was a smoker from that and I

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absolutely am not, but they saw me just

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just inhale just the once one scene in a

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dramatic moment when I knew it would be

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in the film. I did it to tell the story.

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It's all about telling the story.

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That's how non-smokers smoke

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sometimes. And you know, you see

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Humphrey Bogot do this. Go watch

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Humphrey Bogot. You'll find something

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to kind of play with. I remember I was

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doing a scene a long time ago in a film

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called Some of the Son, was it? No. No.

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uh Cal a film about the troubles in

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Northern Ireland and I was pretty

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inexperienced at the time and um I

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wasn't really very good in this scene. I

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didn't I was sort of awkward and I

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didn't know what to do. The director

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very cleverly I was a scene in a farmard

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um stably thing and there was a piece of

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rope there. It was actually hanging like

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this. He said, "Why don't you just play

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with that robe while you say while you

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talk?" And it was immediately sort of

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liberated me. It uh it it told its own

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story. It it wasn't a personal prop like

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a like a purse or a cigarette or or a

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cup, but it it was a random thing, but

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in the in the playing with it, it I

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don't know. It distracts. Not distracts,

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00:06:45,440 --> 00:06:48,000
that's not the right word. diverts. It

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diverts and which is you often see in

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real life. Real life never comes at you

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straight on like a like an express train

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very you know life comes at you from all

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angles and and that's what I was

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00:07:02,960 --> 00:07:05,520
speaking about earlier on about your

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00:07:05,520 --> 00:07:07,919
it's great when your line your

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performance comes obliquely at you. In

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other words, it it takes you by

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surprise. You didn't expect to be saying

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those words and suddenly pop here they

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are coming out of your mouth as these

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words right now coming out of my mouth

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mouth. But sometimes just you know just

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having something to play with just can

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divert in a right way. So it just takes

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you out of the obvious the

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straightforward the obvious. So quite

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nice to have something to play with. But

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also incidentally,

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00:07:40,639 --> 00:07:43,360
don't do it just to distract and just to

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be annoying. And don't do it when

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someone else is speaking. That is really

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annoying. I've experienced that

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especially on stage quite a few times

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and that's enraging.

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Continuity is a whole other thing. You

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know, continuity is a is a is a tough

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00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:06,400
one to address. And um if you're making

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your own movie, you'll probably really

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00:08:08,800 --> 00:08:11,280
come to understand continuity because

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00:08:11,280 --> 00:08:13,680
you'll be editing it and you'll realize,

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00:08:13,680 --> 00:08:16,000
oh god, you know, she's got a handbag on

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00:08:16,000 --> 00:08:18,400
the wrong shoulder. Why did I do that?

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00:08:18,400 --> 00:08:20,400
That whole scene is destroyed because

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00:08:20,400 --> 00:08:22,560
her handbag is on the wrong shoulder.

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00:08:22,560 --> 00:08:24,720
Doesn't cut with the with the reverse

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00:08:24,720 --> 00:08:28,639
shot, you know. So, um give do

191
00:08:28,639 --> 00:08:31,680
yourselves a favor. Honestly, continuity

192
00:08:31,680 --> 00:08:33,760
is a pain in the butt.

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00:08:33,760 --> 00:08:36,399
It is. And we all hate continuity

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00:08:36,399 --> 00:08:39,279
because it interferes with your mind

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00:08:39,279 --> 00:08:42,159
process. It interferes with the natural

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00:08:42,159 --> 00:08:45,360
flow of the emotional scene, whatever it

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00:08:45,360 --> 00:08:49,519
is. But if you do a great take

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00:08:49,519 --> 00:08:53,120
and if through your your own fault, your

199
00:08:53,120 --> 00:08:55,440
continuity is wrong, you know, you're

200
00:08:55,440 --> 00:08:57,360
holding something in your closeup that

201
00:08:57,360 --> 00:08:59,200
you weren't holding in the wide or in

202
00:08:59,200 --> 00:09:02,560
the twoot, they can't use that closeup.

203
00:09:02,560 --> 00:09:04,399
Doesn't matter how brilliant you were in

204
00:09:04,399 --> 00:09:07,920
it, they can't use it. So I always think

205
00:09:07,920 --> 00:09:10,720
of continuity, it's a pain, but in a way

206
00:09:10,720 --> 00:09:14,800
I'm protecting my own performance by

207
00:09:14,800 --> 00:09:16,800
trying to make sure as much as I can

208
00:09:16,800 --> 00:09:19,519
that the continuity is right, you know,

209
00:09:19,519 --> 00:09:22,000
and and continuity is right down to this

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00:09:22,000 --> 00:09:26,399
lock of hair, you know, sometimes. Um,

211
00:09:26,399 --> 00:09:28,240
you know, some people's mantra is

212
00:09:28,240 --> 00:09:30,320
basically continuity sucks. You know,

213
00:09:30,320 --> 00:09:32,640
forget about it. let's just shoot, be

214
00:09:32,640 --> 00:09:35,120
free. And you know, that's a lovely

215
00:09:35,120 --> 00:09:38,480
attitude to have. But um and it depends

216
00:09:38,480 --> 00:09:40,000
on the style of the film making, the

217
00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:41,440
style of the filmmaker that you're

218
00:09:41,440 --> 00:09:43,920
working with. If it's yourself making

219
00:09:43,920 --> 00:09:46,160
the film, you have to decide what kind

220
00:09:46,160 --> 00:09:49,440
of a movie you want to make. But um

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00:09:49,440 --> 00:09:51,600
continuity is very very important and

222
00:09:51,600 --> 00:09:53,920
props in a sense are a part of that.

223
00:09:53,920 --> 00:09:57,680
Learning how to use props.

1
00:00:13,679 --> 00:00:15,440
You have to be very careful when you're

2
00:00:15,440 --> 00:00:17,520
dealing with writers or I don't say

3
00:00:17,520 --> 00:00:19,359
dealing with but in your relationship

4
00:00:19,359 --> 00:00:23,199
with the writer because a writer has his

5
00:00:23,199 --> 00:00:27,279
or her ego and this is their work and

6
00:00:27,279 --> 00:00:29,279
they it might have been a painful

7
00:00:29,279 --> 00:00:31,359
process. to get this script on the page

8
00:00:31,359 --> 00:00:33,520
or this scene on the page and they might

9
00:00:33,520 --> 00:00:36,320
have put an awful lot of effort into it.

10
00:00:36,320 --> 00:00:39,200
So, um you know, you you you must be

11
00:00:39,200 --> 00:00:42,640
very careful with with your relationship

12
00:00:42,640 --> 00:00:45,360
to that. Sometimes

13
00:00:45,360 --> 00:00:47,120
they haven't quite got it right or

14
00:00:47,120 --> 00:00:48,320
sometimes they've got it completely

15
00:00:48,320 --> 00:00:52,000
wrong. But nonetheless, you know what,

16
00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:54,160
you agreed to do the role, so it's your

17
00:00:54,160 --> 00:00:59,559
job to kind of make sense of it. Um,

18
00:00:59,680 --> 00:01:04,000
some writers uh want to work with you as

19
00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:06,320
an actor and others don't. And and

20
00:01:06,320 --> 00:01:08,320
really you you know you have to judge

21
00:01:08,320 --> 00:01:11,280
that and you have to judge whether it's

22
00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:14,000
appropriate or not to approach the

23
00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:16,640
writer and say if the writer is on set.

24
00:01:16,640 --> 00:01:18,240
It's always great if the writer is on

25
00:01:18,240 --> 00:01:20,720
set incidentally. And if the writer is

26
00:01:20,720 --> 00:01:22,960
on set, go and make a relationship. Say

27
00:01:22,960 --> 00:01:25,759
hi. Say how much you love their work.

28
00:01:25,759 --> 00:01:28,479
That's always a good thing to do. Um,

29
00:01:28,479 --> 00:01:30,400
and and make a relationship with them.

30
00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:33,119
So then you can approach them and say,

31
00:01:33,119 --> 00:01:35,360
um, you know, I I'm having a slight

32
00:01:35,360 --> 00:01:36,960
problem with this line in this scene,

33
00:01:36,960 --> 00:01:39,600
and I'm not quite sure why it's there.

34
00:01:39,600 --> 00:01:41,040
Could you maybe help me a little bit

35
00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:42,960
with that? So make a relationship with

36
00:01:42,960 --> 00:01:46,320
the writer if if if that's feasible, if

37
00:01:46,320 --> 00:01:48,079
that's possible.

38
00:01:48,079 --> 00:01:51,280
Um or I would say always treat the

39
00:01:51,280 --> 00:01:55,360
writer with respect because um they

40
00:01:55,360 --> 00:01:57,600
write they're on their own mostly when

41
00:01:57,600 --> 00:02:00,320
they work. They're isolated

42
00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:03,119
and and they don't know you know whether

43
00:02:03,119 --> 00:02:07,439
this thing is going to fly or not. So um

44
00:02:07,439 --> 00:02:09,840
I I would say treat a writer with with

45
00:02:09,840 --> 00:02:12,480
respect but

46
00:02:12,480 --> 00:02:14,480
but not so much that you can't

47
00:02:14,480 --> 00:02:17,440
contribute because in the end what we do

48
00:02:17,440 --> 00:02:19,360
on the screen is an absolute

49
00:02:19,360 --> 00:02:21,040
collaboration.

50
00:02:21,040 --> 00:02:24,480
The first moment of the inception of

51
00:02:24,480 --> 00:02:26,800
this baby that we we're all putting out

52
00:02:26,800 --> 00:02:29,040
into the world take take its little

53
00:02:29,040 --> 00:02:31,280
toddling steps out of the world. The

54
00:02:31,280 --> 00:02:34,400
moment of conception is the writer with

55
00:02:34,400 --> 00:02:37,840
his empty page. Then comes the director.

56
00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:40,080
Then comes the cinematographer, the

57
00:02:40,080 --> 00:02:44,400
production designer, the actors,

58
00:02:44,400 --> 00:02:47,440
uh you know and all of you have each

59
00:02:47,440 --> 00:02:51,040
time the editor, the music and all of

60
00:02:51,040 --> 00:02:53,840
these elements, all of them in every

61
00:02:53,840 --> 00:02:56,319
moment this little this work of art

62
00:02:56,319 --> 00:02:59,680
shifts and changes and gets added to and

63
00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:04,000
and morphs into something and you're all

64
00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:06,800
contributing to that, every one of you.

65
00:03:06,800 --> 00:03:11,040
So um be conscious of that uh that you

66
00:03:11,040 --> 00:03:16,519
are a part of a very complicated hole.

67
00:03:20,720 --> 00:03:23,360
Sometimes uh writers because they have

68
00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:25,280
so much to deal with they they haven't

69
00:03:25,280 --> 00:03:27,200
quite grasp they've got the scene right

70
00:03:27,200 --> 00:03:28,879
but they've got actually got it in the

71
00:03:28,879 --> 00:03:31,599
wrong order. And you as an actor because

72
00:03:31,599 --> 00:03:34,159
you your job as an actor is to make the

73
00:03:34,159 --> 00:03:36,799
mental connections between this word and

74
00:03:36,799 --> 00:03:39,280
that word, this speech and that speech,

75
00:03:39,280 --> 00:03:41,760
this relationship and that relationship

76
00:03:41,760 --> 00:03:44,080
and and we have to we have to

77
00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:46,480
subconsciously not subconscious

78
00:03:46,480 --> 00:03:48,000
consciously

79
00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:51,920
um make those psychological connections.

80
00:03:51,920 --> 00:03:54,879
Great writing. It's very interesting to

81
00:03:54,879 --> 00:03:58,640
me that good writing is really easy to

82
00:03:58,640 --> 00:04:01,519
learn. Bad writing is really difficult

83
00:04:01,519 --> 00:04:04,640
to learn because in good writing those

84
00:04:04,640 --> 00:04:06,640
subconscious those psychological

85
00:04:06,640 --> 00:04:09,840
connections are correct and in the right

86
00:04:09,840 --> 00:04:11,439
place.

87
00:04:11,439 --> 00:04:14,000
And with bad writing, no attention has

88
00:04:14,000 --> 00:04:17,759
been paid to the subconscious, to the

89
00:04:17,759 --> 00:04:20,560
psychological connections between, as I

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say, this word and that word, this

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speech and that, this sentence and that

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sentence and this speech and that

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speech.

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So um Bernard Shaw for example is you

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have these enormously long p speeches

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that are so easy to learn because he

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totally understood the psychological

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connection

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as you work through a speech.

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Bad writing is so difficult to learn

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because there is no connection. Why do I

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say that after that? It just doesn't

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make sense. But sometimes even in in a

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well-ritten scene, you will find that

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the uh the the words are all right, but

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they're just in the wrong order. And

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usually if you're working with a good

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actor, the two of you can work that out.

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And and and

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incidentally, work with your other

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actors. Take the time to knock on their

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door in the trailer. Do you mind if we

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just read through this scene? And

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instantly if you're a a supporting actor

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or you know really down on the on the uh

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call sheet and the other actor is up on

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the call sheet still don't be afraid of

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doing that and any actor worth his or

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her salt will say yes of course let's

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read through it.

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I mean early on in my career in my film

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career I was uh I was asked to be in a

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film called The Long Good Friday and

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this was a case where the script was a

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was a piece of literature. It was a

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wonderfully written script by a

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playwright called Barry O'keefe and it

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was a page turner. It had some the it no

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scene was too long. It was uh funny but

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it was serious. It was very dramatic. It

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was a wonderful wonderful script.

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um one of the maybe the five top scripts

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that have ever landed in my lab. The

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only trouble was the female character

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suck. The female character was

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one-dimensional,

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was cursory, was there just to be a kind

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of a plot device, uh was just there to

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be a kind of a female, you know, and it

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annoyed the hell out of me. But I wanted

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desperately to be in the movie because

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the rest of it was so great.

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Uh so I said yes, I would be in the

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movie. But I had I asked for big

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meetings with the producer and the

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director and the writer before a month

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before we shot to say I really want to

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do this but honestly this charact this

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female character is really

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nothing. There's nothing there and you

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know it's uninteresting. Why not make

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her into an interesting character? So I

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came up with all sorts of ideas which

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there I had studied the script to see

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where I could in insert this character,

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change the story so she became more

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embedded in the story. Um,

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so I gave them all these thoughts and

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these ideas and notes and stuff and I

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went away on holiday and I came back the

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day before we started shooting and the

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script landed in my here's the shooting

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script and this does happen a lot

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incidentally guys. Um, the shooting

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script can be a very different thing to

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the script you agreed to when you took

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the job. um the shooting script, nothing

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had been changed. Nothing. And I was

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kind of devastated because now I was

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locked into playing this role that I

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really

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I guess offended me for one of a better

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word, offended me for its for its um

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thinness.

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So I started

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went back to my notes about what I felt

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should happen and just on a daily basis

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I would rewrite the scenes I was in. I

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would go to the go to the director the

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night before. I was working on the scene

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that we're going to shoot tomorrow and I

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thought maybe you know I could say this

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and then maybe that and this this that

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and the other. So um I you know and

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obviously the poor director I had utter

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sympathy with him because he was on a

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very tight schedule and he did not want

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to hear this stuff. Um you know it just

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made his life more complicated and now I

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live with a director I really understand

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his problems. Um but I was really really

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felt very strongly that this was going

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to add to the movie. This was not

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detracting from the movie and it wasn't

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trying to make myself a bigger

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character. I was happy to lose scenes,

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lose lines. Um, but the scenes that were

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in and the lines that were in, I wanted

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to have meaning and character and

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complexity.

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So on a daily basis um I just took my

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courage into my hands and I and I sort

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of fought through on a daily basis to

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try and

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bring this character more into the movie

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and actually I succeeded. I only

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succeeded because I was supported in

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this by um Bob Hoskins who is my co-star

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and many co-stars

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would not want this because they don't

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want anyone else's role to be as good as

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they theirs is, you know, and they and

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you do get a little bit of that often.

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Um but um but Bob was incredibly

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generous and he understood I think that

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this was only going to make the film

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better. And when you're making these

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kinds of efforts and they're difficult

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because you know you're making you can

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maybe be making yourself unpopular and

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you have to learn how to do it in the

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correct way incidentally and the best

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and the correct way is to first meet

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with the writer and talk through these

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things with the writer. Meet with the

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producer, talk through them with the

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producer. Um not to make a big deal out

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of it. happen the night before almost

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but um communicate with them so it goes

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through which I subsequently learned

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instantly I hadn't learned this on long

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good Friday it must go through the

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correct channels and then it comes back

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to you and what happens is the first ad

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will come back to you the next day and

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say oh there's been a rewrite on that

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scene you would say oh really yes here

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are the new lines oh you know because

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they've gone they've been printed and

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you go oh yes there they are there my

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lines that I wrote last night they but

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they've now gone through the correct

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channel. Um,

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anyway, I was a squeaky wheel on the

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good long Good Friday and I never regret

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that because it did make it into a

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better movie and I know I've read um

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stories about Betty Davis um who did

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exactly the same thing and and in her

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memoirs she she she recognizes the fact

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that she was probably extremely annoying

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to the directors and the producers but

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she says, "I made my movies better. And

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I bet she did. I bet she did.

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On the long Good Friday, I did a couple

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of things. My my biggest intention was

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to bring her into the story, make her a

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player, if you like, in the story

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because so often women's characters,

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especially in that era, but even to this

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day, are they're watching the the story

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from the sideline, are craziely popping

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in to take their clothes off or kiss

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someone or wave them goodbye, but mostly

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they're watching from the sidelines. And

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um

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I first of all I

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the character originally was a sort of

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an East End girl. She was his his

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girlfriend from way back when. Um and I

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thought no, why not make her a posh

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girl? Much more interesting. A posh girl

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who's gone onto the, you know, a walk on

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the wild side with this relationship

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with this gangster. Um but she actually

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comes from quite a not not a posh not an

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upper class situation but a sort of what

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in England we we would call middle class

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upper middle class you know nice maybe

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she had a pony when she was young that

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sort of person but she wasn't an aristo

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that sort of upper middle class world

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nuvo ree probably um

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and smart and ambitious

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and

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and he recognizes in her and this is why

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they're together. If you like this is

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the backstory is recognized this smart

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ambitious

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girl woman who knows how to lay a table

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who knows how to pour a cocktail who

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understands the finer things of life and

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he's understood that she is a a very

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valuable um instrument uh very valuable

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not instrument that's not the right word

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very valuable partner for him to achieve

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what he wants in life. Um, and then once

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I'd kind of, if you like, created that

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backstory, then that gives that

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character the ability to go in and one

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of the scenes that I think I I don't

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think maybe I did write it. I can't

303
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remember. At least I very much suggested

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that it should be written and co-wrote

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it. um which was the scene between uh

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Victoria is the name of the character

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and and the visiting um American

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um gangster who she has to impress and

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has to bring on board with the whole

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thing. Um so there you see her in

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action, you see her an intrinsic part of

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what this group are doing together.

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Before in the original script, she was

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literally a girlfriend just watching

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from the sidelines.

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I've worked with many great directors,

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my husband being one of them, Taylor

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Hackford. Um but I also and I also had

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the um the wonderful advantage of

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working with one of the great American

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iconic um urs of American film Robert

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Alman and that was a very educative and

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extraordinary experience unlike any

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other film most films are basically the

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same you know even when it's Peter

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Greenway and people say what was it like

327
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to work with Peter Greenway well

328
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actually it was exactly like working

329
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with almost every other director

330
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The subject matter was completely

331
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different, but the way of working was

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the same. You know, master shot,

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twoshot, no overs, you know, cut away

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and we're done and dusted. Ra Bob um

335
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worked in a very different way. First of

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all, everyone is miked.

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So the sound and he felt this very

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strongly that the sound story of the

339
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film was as important as the visual

340
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story. And this is what gives his film

341
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such incredible sort of depth. You're

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looking at one thing, but you're hearing

343
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something over here that's maybe

344
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offscreen or it's or it's or it's

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blurring in the background. You're

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hearing it. You're picking picking it

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up. You get this sense of layers. Um,

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00:16:02,399 --> 00:16:06,880
and the way he shot uh was he would have

349
00:16:06,880 --> 00:16:09,839
one or maybe sometimes two cameras on a

350
00:16:09,839 --> 00:16:11,519
dolly going this way and then another

351
00:16:11,519 --> 00:16:13,519
camera on a dolly going this way. both

352
00:16:13,519 --> 00:16:15,120
constantly moving a bit like we're

353
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shooting this now. We have a camera

354
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moving over here and we have this the

355
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static camera here. But um and then

356
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everyone is miked. So everything you say

357
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is on the sound uh is recorded and can

358
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be used. Um, so that was very curious

359
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and interesting and and kind of

360
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wonderful and it was kind of liberating

361
00:16:36,320 --> 00:16:38,880
because it meant if you did happen to

362
00:16:38,880 --> 00:16:40,480
think of something brilliant to say. It

363
00:16:40,480 --> 00:16:44,320
was very scripted and actually very um

364
00:16:44,320 --> 00:16:47,279
choreographed. It wasn't all improvised.

365
00:16:47,279 --> 00:16:49,759
Not far from it. But if you did happen

366
00:16:49,759 --> 00:16:53,279
to improvise a line quietly to yourself

367
00:16:53,279 --> 00:16:55,360
off ca, you know, off camera, it would

368
00:16:55,360 --> 00:16:57,440
be picked up and it could or could not

369
00:16:57,440 --> 00:17:00,240
be used. Um, so he already had that

370
00:17:00,240 --> 00:17:04,240
freedom of approach. Um,

371
00:17:04,240 --> 00:17:07,839
funny story, I was uh I had I had very I

372
00:17:07,839 --> 00:17:10,240
didn't have a lot of lines in in Gosford

373
00:17:10,240 --> 00:17:14,400
Park. Very few lines. Um, but couple of

374
00:17:14,400 --> 00:17:18,160
nice little scenes. Um,

375
00:17:18,160 --> 00:17:21,919
but one of the scenes was the the the

376
00:17:21,919 --> 00:17:23,919
day that all the family arrive in the in

377
00:17:23,919 --> 00:17:25,679
the big house and the housekeeper I'm

378
00:17:25,679 --> 00:17:28,400
playing the housekeeper is in charge of

379
00:17:28,400 --> 00:17:30,799
uh of everything, you know. So, she's

380
00:17:30,799 --> 00:17:32,640
walking up and down. You put that there,

381
00:17:32,640 --> 00:17:34,240
you go, you take that to that room, you

382
00:17:34,240 --> 00:17:35,840
know, be careful of those. Where does

383
00:17:35,840 --> 00:17:37,520
the dog go? And, you know, so I had a

384
00:17:37,520 --> 00:17:39,840
lot of lines and um, oh, I've got a

385
00:17:39,840 --> 00:17:42,160
scene with a lot of lines. And so, I

386
00:17:42,160 --> 00:17:44,559
learned my lines and then, oh, it's next

387
00:17:44,559 --> 00:17:46,880
week. Oh, I'm doing my big scene next

388
00:17:46,880 --> 00:17:49,360
week, all my lines and then and oh,

389
00:17:49,360 --> 00:17:51,200
tomorrow I do my big scene tomorrow with

390
00:17:51,200 --> 00:17:55,120
all my lines and um and I turn up on the

391
00:17:55,120 --> 00:17:57,520
set and and I've got all my lines ready

392
00:17:57,520 --> 00:17:59,120
and I'm going to be strutting up and

393
00:17:59,120 --> 00:18:00,320
down, you know, being the center of

394
00:18:00,320 --> 00:18:03,120
attention and I'm going to love it. And

395
00:18:03,120 --> 00:18:06,240
um Robert says, "How how so how should

396
00:18:06,240 --> 00:18:08,000
we shoot the scene? What should we do?"

397
00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:10,880
H what should do we do? Oh, I know. He

398
00:18:10,880 --> 00:18:12,960
says, "Have we got the dog?" They say,

399
00:18:12,960 --> 00:18:15,120
"Yes, we've got the dog." Good. Let's

400
00:18:15,120 --> 00:18:17,760
have the dog running through everyone's

401
00:18:17,760 --> 00:18:22,160
feet and let's follow the dog. So, my

402
00:18:22,160 --> 00:18:25,360
whole big scene was just on this dog

403
00:18:25,360 --> 00:18:27,039
running through the feet of everyone

404
00:18:27,039 --> 00:18:28,640
with every all the bags and everything

405
00:18:28,640 --> 00:18:30,240
being unpacked and the dog running

406
00:18:30,240 --> 00:18:32,960
through and my voice off camera just

407
00:18:32,960 --> 00:18:35,919
shouting like sort of background noise.

408
00:18:35,919 --> 00:18:38,000
Um, and that was a lesson and that

409
00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:40,160
should be a lesson for you. you know

410
00:18:40,160 --> 00:18:42,640
what's on what whether you have a lot of

411
00:18:42,640 --> 00:18:46,160
lines on the page is not necessarily

412
00:18:46,160 --> 00:18:48,960
um going to have an effect in the in the

413
00:18:48,960 --> 00:18:52,240
overall picture of the film. Um but

414
00:18:52,240 --> 00:18:55,039
another two things that was an

415
00:18:55,039 --> 00:18:58,080
indication of of of Bob's freedom of

416
00:18:58,080 --> 00:19:00,000
approach. He shot all the upstairs stuff

417
00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:01,679
first and then and then all the

418
00:19:01,679 --> 00:19:03,679
downstairs stuff and I was downstairs.

419
00:19:03,679 --> 00:19:05,679
So I was second in the second lot of

420
00:19:05,679 --> 00:19:07,679
shooting. But in between the first and

421
00:19:07,679 --> 00:19:09,760
second lot of shooting, he wanted to to

422
00:19:09,760 --> 00:19:13,039
do a um photo shoot with the whole cast

423
00:19:13,039 --> 00:19:15,280
upstairs and downstairs. So I came in

424
00:19:15,280 --> 00:19:17,600
for that photo shoot. Een Atkins and

425
00:19:17,600 --> 00:19:19,760
we're all in our costumes now. And now

426
00:19:19,760 --> 00:19:21,120
it's lunch and we're going to do the

427
00:19:21,120 --> 00:19:22,960
photo shoot shoot in the afternoon and

428
00:19:22,960 --> 00:19:25,840
I'm having lunch with maybe with Eene or

429
00:19:25,840 --> 00:19:27,919
maybe with Bob, I can't remember. But he

430
00:19:27,919 --> 00:19:30,400
looks at Eileen and he looks at me and

431
00:19:30,400 --> 00:19:32,000
then he says, "Oh, I think I'm going to

432
00:19:32,000 --> 00:19:34,640
make you two sisters." This wasn't in

433
00:19:34,640 --> 00:19:38,640
the script. He decides there and then he

434
00:19:38,640 --> 00:19:40,080
said, "Is that all right with you?" And

435
00:19:40,080 --> 00:19:42,160
we went, "Well, yeah, I guess." You

436
00:19:42,160 --> 00:19:45,600
know, so brilliantly something that

437
00:19:45,600 --> 00:19:47,600
wasn't in the script, he sent he set

438
00:19:47,600 --> 00:19:50,240
this conflict up that was in the script,

439
00:19:50,240 --> 00:19:52,640
but now it's between two sisters, which

440
00:19:52,640 --> 00:19:54,799
gives it a much more, you know,

441
00:19:54,799 --> 00:19:57,200
interesting flavor. That was totally

442
00:19:57,200 --> 00:19:59,440
Bob's idea.

443
00:19:59,440 --> 00:20:02,240
So that's another indication of his

444
00:20:02,240 --> 00:20:04,720
freedom. There's a scene between Kelly

445
00:20:04,720 --> 00:20:06,320
McDonald and I. Kelly McDonald is

446
00:20:06,320 --> 00:20:08,400
playing one of the young servants

447
00:20:08,400 --> 00:20:11,120
downstairs and she's uh an important

448
00:20:11,120 --> 00:20:13,760
role in the film. And there's a scene

449
00:20:13,760 --> 00:20:15,919
between Kelly and I. I'm playing the

450
00:20:15,919 --> 00:20:17,520
housekeeper.

451
00:20:17,520 --> 00:20:19,760
And um

452
00:20:19,760 --> 00:20:21,760
it's a nice long scene. It's a two page

453
00:20:21,760 --> 00:20:24,640
page scene, you know, lots of words

454
00:20:24,640 --> 00:20:28,400
uh for her and for me. And Kelly and I

455
00:20:28,400 --> 00:20:29,919
sort of look at look at the scene the

456
00:20:29,919 --> 00:20:31,440
day before we shoot because there isn't

457
00:20:31,440 --> 00:20:34,320
time to look at it with Bob. So, we look

458
00:20:34,320 --> 00:20:36,080
at it together to try and sort out what

459
00:20:36,080 --> 00:20:39,200
we think it's all about and we read

460
00:20:39,200 --> 00:20:41,280
through it and we say to each other,

461
00:20:41,280 --> 00:20:42,640
"What do you think this is about?" "I

462
00:20:42,640 --> 00:20:43,679
don't know. Do you know what it's

463
00:20:43,679 --> 00:20:46,480
about?" "No, I don't. I mean, I don't

464
00:20:46,480 --> 00:20:49,440
see why it's in the movie, quite

465
00:20:49,440 --> 00:20:51,760
honestly." So now the next day we go to

466
00:20:51,760 --> 00:20:54,320
shoot the scene. It's on the on the, you

467
00:20:54,320 --> 00:20:56,320
know, call sheet

468
00:20:56,320 --> 00:20:58,480
and the set's there and everything and

469
00:20:58,480 --> 00:21:00,799
we walk on set, Kelly and I, to do this

470
00:21:00,799 --> 00:21:02,320
and Bob says, "So what do you think this

471
00:21:02,320 --> 00:21:06,159
scene's about?" And we go, "Well,

472
00:21:06,159 --> 00:21:08,880
we don't know, you know." And then I

473
00:21:08,880 --> 00:21:12,159
have the timmerity to say, "I I don't

474
00:21:12,159 --> 00:21:14,799
think that this scene adds anything to

475
00:21:14,799 --> 00:21:17,919
my character that I can see or Kell's.

476
00:21:17,919 --> 00:21:19,600
It certainly doesn't advance the plot.

477
00:21:19,600 --> 00:21:21,760
It's not essential for the plot on any

478
00:21:21,760 --> 00:21:23,520
level.

479
00:21:23,520 --> 00:21:26,000
I don't think we need it in the movie.

480
00:21:26,000 --> 00:21:27,520
And he said, "I think you're right.

481
00:21:27,520 --> 00:21:30,320
Let's cut it. Moving on. Let's do the

482
00:21:30,320 --> 00:21:32,080
next scene." Everyone went, "What?

483
00:21:32,080 --> 00:21:34,159
Cutting it?" Yeah. He didn't call the

484
00:21:34,159 --> 00:21:36,799
producer, you know. He said, "Let's cut

485
00:21:36,799 --> 00:21:39,760
it. It was gone." And Kelly and I were

486
00:21:39,760 --> 00:21:42,400
not unhappy about that because we both,

487
00:21:42,400 --> 00:21:45,039
neither of us felt the scene really did

488
00:21:45,039 --> 00:21:47,039
anything.

489
00:21:47,039 --> 00:21:50,880
So that happened. But

490
00:21:50,880 --> 00:21:55,760
all along I'd felt, especially now Eene

491
00:21:55,760 --> 00:21:59,120
is my sister, I'd always felt there was

492
00:21:59,120 --> 00:22:02,400
a scene missing at the end of the film

493
00:22:02,400 --> 00:22:04,720
for um

494
00:22:04,720 --> 00:22:06,880
for the housekeeping, for my character

495
00:22:06,880 --> 00:22:09,440
and for the story.

496
00:22:09,440 --> 00:22:12,400
um which was

497
00:22:12,400 --> 00:22:16,559
the the the leaving of the son.

498
00:22:16,559 --> 00:22:18,080
Anyway, you'll have to see the film to

499
00:22:18,080 --> 00:22:19,200
know what it's about. I'm not going to

500
00:22:19,200 --> 00:22:20,960
tell you the story, but anyway, there

501
00:22:20,960 --> 00:22:22,720
was a scene at the end that I felt was

502
00:22:22,720 --> 00:22:25,679
missing. And it was a a very emotional,

503
00:22:25,679 --> 00:22:28,559
strong scene. And I went again, I had

504
00:22:28,559 --> 00:22:31,039
the tearity to go to Bob and say, I I

505
00:22:31,039 --> 00:22:32,400
think we're missing something at the

506
00:22:32,400 --> 00:22:34,960
end. I really do. And I would love if

507
00:22:34,960 --> 00:22:38,480
it's at all possible to shoot a scene.

508
00:22:38,480 --> 00:22:40,559
Now, I knew he was the kind of director

509
00:22:40,559 --> 00:22:42,400
who could let go of a scene very quickly

510
00:22:42,400 --> 00:22:44,320
and easily. I thought maybe he was the

511
00:22:44,320 --> 00:22:46,640
kind of director who could also put in a

512
00:22:46,640 --> 00:22:49,280
scene quickly and easily. And I said, I

513
00:22:49,280 --> 00:22:50,880
feel we're missing the scene and I would

514
00:22:50,880 --> 00:22:53,840
love to, you know, maybe write it and

515
00:22:53,840 --> 00:22:56,960
see show you what I'm talking about. You

516
00:22:56,960 --> 00:22:58,480
can take it away and rewrite it, but you

517
00:22:58,480 --> 00:23:00,159
know, just he said, "Yes, why don't you

518
00:23:00,159 --> 00:23:03,280
and Eileen go away and write it?" So Een

519
00:23:03,280 --> 00:23:05,600
and I went and sat in our dressing rooms

520
00:23:05,600 --> 00:23:08,320
and sort of improvised and wrote it

521
00:23:08,320 --> 00:23:10,799
between the two of us, presented it to

522
00:23:10,799 --> 00:23:13,120
him and he said, "Yes, I think you're

523
00:23:13,120 --> 00:23:15,440
right. We're going to shoot it." And we

524
00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:18,799
shot it. And um

525
00:23:18,799 --> 00:23:23,200
and it was it was an it was a very

526
00:23:23,200 --> 00:23:26,640
important scene for the resolution of

527
00:23:26,640 --> 00:23:29,039
the film.

1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,000
People

2
00:00:13,759 --> 00:00:16,000
say, "What are your what's your what's

3
00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:18,160
in a few words are your advice for young

4
00:00:18,160 --> 00:00:21,920
actors?" And I always say, "Be on time.

5
00:00:21,920 --> 00:00:24,320
Don't be an asshole."

6
00:00:24,320 --> 00:00:26,480
And that's it. That's really end of

7
00:00:26,480 --> 00:00:29,439
story. But anyway, don't be a time

8
00:00:29,439 --> 00:00:33,920
waster. But if you're not a time waster

9
00:00:33,920 --> 00:00:36,640
and uh you know you're there and

10
00:00:36,640 --> 00:00:38,160
prepared and all the rest of the things

11
00:00:38,160 --> 00:00:41,520
you have to be, then film sets pretty

12
00:00:41,520 --> 00:00:43,600
kind to you because you've earned it and

13
00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:45,760
you can say, "Look,

14
00:00:45,760 --> 00:00:48,079
let me just try one more time or six

15
00:00:48,079 --> 00:00:50,640
more times or whatever." But always be

16
00:00:50,640 --> 00:00:55,440
polite. Try to always be on time. Um,

17
00:00:55,440 --> 00:00:57,360
and and be as gracious as you can, but

18
00:00:57,360 --> 00:01:00,320
but be very careful. Be self-protective

19
00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:04,159
as well because sometimes what the film

20
00:01:04,159 --> 00:01:06,080
or the movie want for the film or the

21
00:01:06,080 --> 00:01:08,479
movie is not actually what is right for

22
00:01:08,479 --> 00:01:11,479
you.

23
00:01:14,880 --> 00:01:17,280
I didn't go to drama school. I have

24
00:01:17,280 --> 00:01:20,320
never been to a drama class,

25
00:01:20,320 --> 00:01:22,479
but I have worked professionally as an

26
00:01:22,479 --> 00:01:26,000
actress. And it's those, you know,

27
00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:28,080
sometimes complicated and sometimes very

28
00:01:28,080 --> 00:01:31,200
simple ideas and understandings that

29
00:01:31,200 --> 00:01:33,360
I've picked up that I'm I've tried to

30
00:01:33,360 --> 00:01:36,240
communicate with you. I hope you've had

31
00:01:36,240 --> 00:01:38,000
as good a time with me as I've had with

32
00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:40,479
you. This is the first time in my life I

33
00:01:40,479 --> 00:01:42,320
have ever actually talked about my

34
00:01:42,320 --> 00:01:45,200
career and my work in this way and it's

35
00:01:45,200 --> 00:01:47,439
been quite a journey for me. Thank you

36
00:01:47,439 --> 00:01:49,040
so much for coming on the journey with

37
00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:52,479
me. It's been an an education for me as

38
00:01:52,479 --> 00:01:56,640
well as for you. So, thank you.

1
00:00:13,519 --> 00:00:16,560
It's very interesting that some actors,

2
00:00:16,560 --> 00:00:18,320
no matter really where their background

3
00:00:18,320 --> 00:00:21,119
is, what what they come out of, are

4
00:00:21,119 --> 00:00:22,880
natural

5
00:00:22,880 --> 00:00:25,760
Shakespearean actors. And and I would

6
00:00:25,760 --> 00:00:29,599
quote here I would quote Marlon Brando

7
00:00:29,599 --> 00:00:32,000
in in in particular in one speech in

8
00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:33,600
particular friends Romans and

9
00:00:33,600 --> 00:00:35,840
countrymen. Lend me your ears. I come to

10
00:00:35,840 --> 00:00:38,879
bury Caesar not to praise him. Um the

11
00:00:38,879 --> 00:00:40,960
evil that men do live after them. The

12
00:00:40,960 --> 00:00:44,000
good is often interret interred buried

13
00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:47,440
with their bones. Um

14
00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:50,879
he does that speech with absolute

15
00:00:50,879 --> 00:00:53,199
pure Shakespearean. if you like

16
00:00:53,199 --> 00:00:56,239
Shakespearean actors expertise.

17
00:00:56,239 --> 00:00:58,239
He knows how to breathe. He knows how to

18
00:00:58,239 --> 00:01:00,719
carry on. And in incidentally speaking

19
00:01:00,719 --> 00:01:03,760
of voice, his voice is strong enough and

20
00:01:03,760 --> 00:01:05,439
powerful enough that you can believe

21
00:01:05,439 --> 00:01:09,119
that he's talking to 200 people.

22
00:01:09,119 --> 00:01:12,799
Um but at the same time he he imbuss it

23
00:01:12,799 --> 00:01:17,360
with his own natural sense of naturalism

24
00:01:17,360 --> 00:01:21,680
of of drama. Um, and I I think it's a

25
00:01:21,680 --> 00:01:25,040
it's a beautiful beautifully executed

26
00:01:25,040 --> 00:01:27,759
Shakespearean speech done by an actor

27
00:01:27,759 --> 00:01:30,560
not famous for Shakespearean actor and

28
00:01:30,560 --> 00:01:33,119
acting and actually much better than

29
00:01:33,119 --> 00:01:35,680
most of the other British very good at

30
00:01:35,680 --> 00:01:37,920
Shakespeare acting kind of actors in

31
00:01:37,920 --> 00:01:41,600
that film. Um, I I was I was blown away

32
00:01:41,600 --> 00:01:44,960
by it when I saw it many many years ago.

33
00:01:44,960 --> 00:01:47,759
Um, of course, since then, you know,

34
00:01:47,759 --> 00:01:49,759
there

35
00:01:49,759 --> 00:01:51,920
and if you want to watch great

36
00:01:51,920 --> 00:01:54,640
Shakespearean actors, you know, Olivier

37
00:01:54,640 --> 00:01:56,240
always

38
00:01:56,240 --> 00:02:00,159
um Olivier was famous in his day for

39
00:02:00,159 --> 00:02:01,920
naturalizing Shakespeare and it wasn't

40
00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:04,799
sort of acceptable when he first came to

41
00:02:04,799 --> 00:02:06,799
do Shakespeare because Shakespeare was a

42
00:02:06,799 --> 00:02:09,920
very declamatory thing at that point and

43
00:02:09,920 --> 00:02:11,760
all of the work really for the in the

44
00:02:11,760 --> 00:02:14,800
20th and 21st century has in finding a

45
00:02:14,800 --> 00:02:17,040
way to be truthful to the poetry of

46
00:02:17,040 --> 00:02:20,480
Shakespeare, utterly truthful to that.

47
00:02:20,480 --> 00:02:23,280
Um, but

48
00:02:23,280 --> 00:02:26,920
naturalize it.

49
00:02:30,239 --> 00:02:32,319
one day and I can't actually quite

50
00:02:32,319 --> 00:02:37,200
remember when it was I saw Anammani work

51
00:02:37,200 --> 00:02:38,720
and

52
00:02:38,720 --> 00:02:41,760
she be she became at that point and

53
00:02:41,760 --> 00:02:45,280
still is my my great inspiration for

54
00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:47,360
film acting

55
00:02:47,360 --> 00:02:50,000
also she was a theater actress which I

56
00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:51,599
thought was great I loved the fact that

57
00:02:51,599 --> 00:02:55,840
she was a theater actress as well um but

58
00:02:55,840 --> 00:03:00,239
on film there's something so alive about

59
00:03:00,239 --> 00:03:04,239
her. So

60
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it's it's it's the perfect combination

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of heightened but natural

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which is what really in a sense the

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greatest acting is why again back to

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Alpuchccino

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Mullen Brando the the ones we love the

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ones we really admire it's heightened

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often they become you know they fall

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because they go out on a limb they

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they're brave they they they have the

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courage to put themselves out there into

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into the world of poetry, into the world

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of of um

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heightened work, but at the same time

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with with a with with naturalism and and

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it's a very heady mix. And for me,

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that's what Anna Manani has. Um there's

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a scene in um there's an incredible

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scene in Mama Roma which is a film by

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Paselina. One of her early I think one

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of her early films. It's amazing scene

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where it's long one of those famous talk

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about Scorsesei. It's one of I think

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it's like a I don't three or four minute

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long shot where she's just walking

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towards the camera and the camera's

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tracking behind her. I don't know how

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they did it, you know, whether it was on

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a he was following someone on a bike or

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something. It's very steady. didn't

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didn't have steady cam in those days.

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So, uh she's just walking and talking

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and different characters come in and

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talk to her. She relates with them and

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they peel away and then someone else

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comes in. It's just a an amazing example

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of protracted concentration.

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And the greatest tool we have as actors

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is concentration. the ability to close

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things down and concentrate. Absolutely

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concentrate like a laser beam. Um

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amazing example of protracted

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concentration but with incredible

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li liveless. It's so alive and and

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that's that's where she she completely

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inspires me um is is in her liveless on

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the screen. She's not pretty. She's not

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ugly,

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but there's something very, as they say,

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sexy about her, but not in a in the sort

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of obvious way, in a very unobvious way.

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It was very interesting, I thought, when

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she worked with Mullen Brando in um

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Orvious Descending. It wasn't called

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Orpheus Descending. It was called The

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Fugitive Kind. It was from the play

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Orpheus Descending by Tennessee

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Williams.

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And apparently it was a marriage made in

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hell, the two of them. She just didn't

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get Marlon Brando and he just didn't get

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her apparently. This is what I read. Um,

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but to me in that movie and there's

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Brando, the sort of king of naturalism,

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but he looks affected in the movie. It's

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not real at all. Anna Manani is the one

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who seems real to me. I'd love to know

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your opinion. You should have a looked

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at it sometime. And another scene I

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think you should watch is um there's a

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wonderful scene in a film called

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Bellissima which is a film by Viscanti

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famous Italian director again uh think

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shot postwar uh in Italy black and white

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um it's a great film you should watch

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the whole film it's a wonderful film

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about actually about our job about

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acting so it's worth watching on that

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level but there's a great scene in it uh

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where Manani

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um is in trouble with her husband. They

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have a massive row and and all the

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neighbors come in and she kicks up this

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enormous fuss about the fact that he's

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been beating her and she's being very

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Italian and and shouting and oh he's

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beating me and oh it's terrible and you

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see how I'm treated and then the husband

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storms out and on a sixpence she turns

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and goes I did it you know it worked and

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you understand that it was a ridiculous

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performance you know and She she changes

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so quick. And that's another is a great

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acting lesson. I've talked about

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Shakespeare and the need to think. But

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what I didn't mention was the fact you

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must think fast.

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You can't think slow. Of course, you can

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take a pause. Sometimes you have to

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take a pause.

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You have to or you can or you should or

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you can try. You can play around with

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it. Pauses are great. But

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what can be electrifying

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is when people, as I say, turn on a

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sixpence. It's a phrase which I think

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refers to taxes in London. It could turn

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around really fast. um

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change from one emotion to another very

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fast without either think very fast or

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if you can't think fast enough don't

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think just do it without thinking

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uh it doesn't apply to everything but

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certainly in moments in Shakespeare

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um when you're having to move from one

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complex thought to another complex

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thought

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you have to think normally you have to

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think fast.

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Um and and you just have to trick

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yourself if you like into into thinking

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fast whatever it is. But uh when people

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think fast, when they can flash from one

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one thought, one emotion bang into

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another, it's it's it's electrifying. It

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it works. All I can say is it works. But

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um and and you see Manani do that in in

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that scene. You see her turn on a

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sixpence.

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If you're a young actor and you've done

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very little work maybe and really your

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exposure to our profession is through

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watching people, I would absolutely

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encourage that as much as possible to

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watch to learn. And as I say, watch

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critically. You're allowed to criticize.

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Say, "Well, I wouldn't do it like that."

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Um because it's all a part of the

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thought process and and uh

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just learning what works, what doesn't

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work in in your mind. Um

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and I think

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to a certain extent

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I mean what happens is things become

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culturally acceptable as as time rolls

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on different ways of acting become

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culturally acceptable. Different styles,

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different energies

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um become fashionable and then they pass

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on. Um

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so um and and you

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you will have your moment you know uh

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your time will be in the time that it is

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and it will have its fashions and its

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acceptable wonderful ways of acting and

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and other ways that are maybe not so

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interesting for the public at that time.

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Um, and so you will inevitably

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be drawn towards the kind of acting that

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is acceptable

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when you're act, you know, in your era.

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And and there's nothing wrong with that.

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You, you know, you will find yourself in

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the zeitgeist and that's where you

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belong. It's that's not to do with

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copying people. It's just to do with

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being influenced by by the way things

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are changing and moving and developing.

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And you should be a part of that. that

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that is absolutely you know you are a

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part of a particular wave and and you

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should be on that wave and and you're in

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the right place.

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Do you understand what I'm saying? Um

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I'm not I'm talking just about

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um moving the whole development of

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acting forward. To my mind,

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people now are so much better actors

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than they used to be when I was young.

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when I was younger, let's say, but when

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I was young, um, I look at acting on

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screen now and I think because there is

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so much work, it might not seem that way

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if you're an unemployed actor, but but

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in terms of the work that we we we are

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exposed to now on television and cable

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and and movies and, you know, and

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podcasts and uh there's a huge amount of

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material out there and I think I think

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actors are fantastic. Fantastic. Now,

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and I think it's to do and we're going

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back now. I'm going right back to the

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beginning of the day when I walked on

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and I said, "How how difficult is this

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just to walk naturally and normally as

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yourself?" But actually, I think as

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people are more and more exposed to um

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iPhones and they film themselves all the

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time and people are far more comfortable

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in front of cameras now than they were,

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you know, 30 or 40 years ago.

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um it was a more paralyzing thing for

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them. Um

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so I think a natural that's where acting

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has developed. You know that it's it's

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different now. The the whole idea of of

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improvisation of of uh of naturalism is

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is really embedded now it seems to me.

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Um

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and and you know you as an a as an an as

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a young actor are very very very much a

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part of that and it's not

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and I will learn from you.

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I will learn from you. Whenever I work

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with young actors I watch them like a

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hawk because I want to learn from them.

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I want to learn the way acting is moving

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and developing. It it it is a developing

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art. It's not fixed.

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So, um I feel I I learn much more from

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watching young young actors

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than anyone actually.