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   10-25-11

   David H. Lawrence XVII says:

   Answer: When presented with a request (or demand) by another actor in a scene where you’ve been given conflicting direction by the director, the director comes first.

   In the heat of shooting a scene, you may be taken aside by another actor and asked to do something: wait a beat before crossing, move a little earlier, cheat your head or body one way or the other, and all so that the other actor can accomplish something on camera.

   Always try to be accommodating when an actor asks your indulgence. If they have any sense of the camera’s location, they should be given every opportunity to maximize their ability to make their moments on screen live and breathe and be wonderful.

   But what about those situations where the actor asks you to do something that would be in conflict with a direction given to you by the director?

   
   

   Certainly, you can try your best to accomodate both, but in the end, the director rules. He or she is called the director because they are in charge of the direction of the scene, not the other actor. Being polite about it is key – not dismissing the other actor’s request with a flat out no, but actually discussing it and letting them know that you’ll do everything you can to get that done – politely pointing out the direction you’ve received from the director.

   Sometimes, it’s a no brainer to accomodate the other actors’ needs, sometimes, it’s not. I found myself on set doing a scene with an actor who wanted to get a wink at me in while the camera was on him, the scene being shot over my shoulder. He asked that I move a little faster to clear the scene so that that wink would be captured clearly.

   This was a two camera shoot, with A camera over my shoulder, and B camera on a wider shot from the side, capturing the entire movement. Unfortunately, if I’d moved faster, I would have hit my mark a bit too quick at the end of the scene. So, in one of the takes, I moved faster to accomodate the wink, and then as though my character was amazed at what I had just seen, I turned around and walked for a bit backwards to slow myself down, and hit the mark at the end of the scene properly. Both director and actor? Happy.

   
   

   Also, you can execute the scene the way the director asked, and if there’s time, ask to do it one more time with the other actor’s request in mind. That does two things: it makes sure that the director gets the shot he or she wants, and it shows a sense of cooperation with the other actor. And you and the director never know – that last take might end up being one that is useful.

   Sometimes, it’s a timing issue – your arrival or departure into or out of a scene is timed so that something happens to draw the eye to or from you or your scene partners. If you’re asked to change that timing, the whole scene may unravel, so that calls for a “do your best but follow the director” approach. But most of the time, an actor’s instinct that can be accommodated by a slight lean to the left or a look over your shoulder to the right might just make the scene that much more memorable.

   In the most egregious cases, an actor may attempt to take over direction of the scene. If you can’t manage to do the scene without an immense amount of distraction, it’s time to talk, quietly, to the 2nd AD or the AD about it. If it’s happening on stage, the stage manager should be your conduit.

   Your takeaway? The director comes first, and your fellow actor comes second. Learn the language of cooperation that will accommodate both.

   
   

   What’s your answer to this acting question? Let me know in the comments below.

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2. 

   3-7-13

   Olga K says:

   Great article and useful tips! My friend actually told me a story when he worked on the set of one of CBS’s shows and the director told him to “act more crazy” but one of the lead actors (not mentioning names) told him “not to”. Prior to the shoot my friend got some great coaching and his gut told him that he shouldn’t “act more crazy”. But he was conflicted, you know. The DIRECTOR told him to “be more crazy”! LOL But then, luckily, the lead actor got into a dispute with the director about how my friend should play the part. And eventually the lead actor won, and a friend of mine played it the way he felt he should have played it. That doesn’t happen too often, of course, but I thought it was an interesting incident :))

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