A Treatise on Actors

So I got together this afternoon with the lead actor in my last film, just to give him a copy of the film (hopefully for his reel). Aside from being a great actor, Chris Prangley is just an all round nice guy. He told this great story about his role in an upcoming episode of Guiding Light, that he had just shot hours before meeting up, and the near disaster of it. It was cool to hear about the work he's doing, and his take on the whole 'business'. I've said it before, but for all the crap that actors sometimes bring with them, at the end of the day, there is no way I could do what they do. To put yourself out on the line, in front of an audience, and if the circumstances are right, you bare your soul. No thanks, I'll stick behind the camera. He also seemed genuinely interested to know about directing and writing and all that. I'm always trying to become a better director, so I hope my conversation with him will inform both of our work.

At the end of the day, audiences will forgive crappy editing, poor lighting, inaudible sound, out of focus shots, but they won't forgive bad performances. It's been said that 75% of filmmaking is casting, and I've found that to be true.