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[Music]

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the great movie director one of the most

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awarded of all time if not the most

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William Wier had a simple formula he

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thought 90% of directing films was

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script and casting and then he said the

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other 10% was knowing how to get out of

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the way when you've done the first two

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things correctly um there there's a lot

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to be said for that casting is vitally

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important uh and um and it's a process

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not to be trifled with to be taken very

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seriously a director can guide a

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performance in some instances maybe if

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you're working with a child or a very

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specific actor with a set of um

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tremendous strengths but you know

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another set of weaknesses it might be

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possible to really mold a performance

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but it's rare when that succeeds um you

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you the the director really really needs

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the actors to be uh strong and

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especially in film there has to be some

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kind of connection between the the the

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you know the actor the performer and

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that character that that that you could

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just readily accept now there's some

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great great character people who who can

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surprise you and they can they can

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create that connection in ways that you

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never would have expected but that

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connection is still there Merill Street

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you know leaps to mind um Dustin Hoffman

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some amazing uh characterizations and

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you know they don't seem very much like

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Dustin Hoffman at all and yet you know

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uh believe me Tom Hanks is nothing like

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Forest Gump uh but but there's a there's

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an innate connection there that I think

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if a director at and talk to any of

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those actors before they were going to

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tackle a role where they were going to

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transform themselves they were they were

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still building on something that they

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understood and and felt um so you know

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you you have to be very meticulous about

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the casting

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[Music]

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process all of directing boils down to

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taste you were talking a lot about

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techniques and

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options and possibilities and at the end

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of the day it always comes back to that

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that sense of what's good what's right

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and you have to keep trusting that

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feeling these things are not academic U

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you know uh issues they they are they're

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creative they're aesthetic when you're

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looking at an actor's work whether

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you're watching other movies or

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television shows or plays that they're

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that they're in uh and and you're trying

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to make the decision about about the

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casting you do have to you have to

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follow your your gut conversations with

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them will matter a lot sometimes uh

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other factors will come into play that

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by the way that actor has very little

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control of for example if you're

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building a uh you're casting a family

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well if you put everybody's picture up

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on a wall do you feel like they're a

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cohesive unit can they look like a

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family and the answer may be uh no with

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you know with actor or an actress that

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you're that you're really

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considering as an actor

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myself often disappointed by going in

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auditioning and not getting a

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role I was shocked when I began

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casting

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because I realized that as a

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director most of the most of the people

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that you're looking at in a casting

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session can do the role in other words

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they're talented enough they're

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experienced enough they're intelligent

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enough of course they can play the

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role but of course most of them don't

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get the role you have to select the

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one and and there are so many

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intangibles that come into play there

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and again those um boil down to

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[Music]

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taste now I would suggest a few other

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things to look

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for I believe

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that compatibility is important and I

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don't just mean

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Congeniality because you know it doesn't

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matter if a person is uh Pleasant or

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Sullen or funny and kind none of those

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things matter again what matters is what

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you get inside those framelines and what

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that actor can do with those with those

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scenes but you need a kind of creative

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compatibility you need to believe

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that that that actor

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um and that character and your

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sensibility is going to create a strong

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Foundation um and if in conversation you

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believe that the actor disagrees with

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your approach you either have to think

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it through and and and ask yourself is

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the actor right here and am I wrong

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which is possible because actors are

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smart and they think about characters in

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a very particular very profound and Deep

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Way often but if there's a if there's a

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disconnect the chances are you're not

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you're not going to benefit Your Story

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by trying to talk them out of their

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ideas even if they're Pleasant about it

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and they try their best they're they're

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not going to own their ideas so it's

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very important that they be able to put

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their personal stamp on their ideas now

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of course you're going to you're going

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to give directions and suggestions and

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they're going to have to do some things

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that might be outside their comfort zone

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that's you know those are are the

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particulars those are the specifics but

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looking holistically at should this

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person be you know in this film or this

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television show you you have to look at

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that creative compatibility and be

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honest with yourself about

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it when I'm auditioning an actor and by

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the way I don't always audition actors

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very often I just know I want somebody

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in a role and and there's also a kind of

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an you know an easy consensus you're

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talking to your friends you're talking

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to the people uh you know involved in

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the project uh you mention somebody's

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name as it relates to a character and

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everybody goes oh my God that would be

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great and you know if you have a meeting

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or a phone call or a conversation and

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you sort of see that there's good good

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chemistry you know you just you just

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want that person in the role you know

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trust that I've I've never I've never

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gone wrong with that that kind of

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thinking but whenever I'm working with

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an actor and I think they're you know I

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have a question as to whether they're

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really right or not

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um but there's something about them

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intrinsically that I think you know

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could really work and having been an

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actor myself always trying to give an

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actor every opportunity to to impress

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and and and sort of um you know G give

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their best to the audition uh I'll

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often ask them to do it again and and

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and and think of a direction to give

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them it might not even be a Direction I

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Would really give on a shooting day it

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might it might be that their their

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instincts are fundamentally correct but

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I usually uh test the waters of my

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making a suggestion offering an

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adjustment and seeing how they handle it

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because it's it's also useful to know is

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this somebody who has that kind of

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command of their of their talent of

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their instrument or do they get locked

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in on a particular I you know sort of

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idea a way of presenting the scene a way

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of approaching the scene and the

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dialogue within it and if so you need to

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know that and then say all right well

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they're com this is their this is how

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they see it this is how they feel it

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they've obviously prepared it that way

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and this is what they do and when you

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push them outside of that prepared

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approach they're they're going to be a

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little bit at Sea and lost and you just

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want to note that there are other people

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who you know are improvisational and

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inspired and they can begin to uh you

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know to work with the scene in some

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remarkable ways and then you begin to

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say there's another element here this

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person could actually improve the

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writing they they could refine the

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character they could think of of details

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that none of us have have considered um

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you know that's always an exciting

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prospect when you can find that

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[Music]

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person I have definitely made some

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mistakes and missteps in casting and uh

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um probably the the only painful moments

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of having to replace somebody on on a

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production um have have really been the

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handful of of times when I realized that

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I made a mistake in the casting uh and

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it's never never been the actor's fault

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it's not that they're showing up late or

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unprofessional or any of those things

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that you can talk to a person about it's

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it's usually that on some fundamental

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level they're not clicking with the role

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and the character the way you thought

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they should and it's apparent to you

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and uh there have been other times when

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um especially with you know people

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playing smaller roles they're just

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coming in for the day where you know you

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realize that um this that there's a u

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there may have been someone else who

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could who could have brought more to

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this role and and yet for practical

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reasons you know you you uh you you make

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it work you know you you shoot more

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coverage on them so that you're going to

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have more options to help build the

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performance um you may

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stage the scenes in ways so that they're

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not they're not they're not really

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featured uh all that much uh if somebody

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is really struggling with their dialogue

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or with a character or grasping

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something you might might suggest to a

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director to Stage the scene more kind of

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over their shoulder and so that when you

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come around and shoot them for their

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lines or their reactions you have you

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know a lot more control it's always

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always going to be the the the specific

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shot for the specific moment and you

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know then you you do a number of takes

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and choose the ones that that work the

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best so in film you can do a lot of

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things to help make make a performance

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work better uh but without meticulous

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thorough casting uh in the beginning

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especially with lead roles you're um

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that that's that's going to be um you

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know a huge U detrimental

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um sort of misdirection for the for the

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for the

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[Music]

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movie so there's there's Talent there's

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skill

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intelligence um those things are

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important there there's also this other

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intangible quality which is um let's

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just call it

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chemistry and if you feel like that

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actor can can EMB body the spirit of

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that character in some honest way in

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some way that either entertains you or

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moves you or fascinates

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you um you should really respond to that

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and keep note of that and that should be

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a tiebreaker so you might have several

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people who can play the part one person

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might even be you know maybe a little

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more experienced a a little more

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creative a little more talented but I

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would give the nod to the person who

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seems to inhabit the character in a more

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natural uh spontaneous kind of way

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assuming that they they do have the

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talent and the skills to be able to give

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you give you what you need uh as an

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actor that's that then they're they're

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bringing that X Factor to a role and and

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cameras film it's more important in film

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than it is in the theater this this

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factor that I'm talking about because

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you know uh lenses do kind of see into

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Through The Eyes into the soul and um

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and it's you um it's a much more subtle

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process and the more connected that a

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film or television actor is to the

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character um the more we as audience

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members just believe it and lose

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ourselves in it whenever possible I uh I

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try to bring the actors together before

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the final casting in pairs especially

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you know U if they're going to be

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friends or or you know uh uh you know

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parent and

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child um loved ones you know I I try to

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see them uh together and certainly the

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in the in the major roles very often

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I will bring uh the actors who have

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already been cast in to actually

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audition with finalists so that I can

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quickly see where there's a a natural

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Rapport uh and a and a and a chemistry

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and just observe it and again it's a

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it's a very uh you know

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elusive um imperfect process and I often

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toss and turn during the casting process

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it is it's one of the only phases of

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making uh a movie or a television show

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that I find really really

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unsettling because these These are the

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decisions that are going to transcend

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the director's ability to solve a

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misstep um you know be other than some

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drastic measure like having to let

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somebody go and recast