While actors and directors may speak different languages, actors must understand what a director means when he or she speaks. The primary difference is that directors tend to speak in terms of results while actors speak about actions and the process. Directors want actors to go faster or slower, to be happier or sadder. They want you to raise the stakes, add more colors, or be bigger. Therefore, the actor has to take these adjectives, adverbs, and descriptions that the director uses and convert them into verbs that can activate the work.
When the director tells you to do something faster, he wants you to get to or move through the emotional moments more quickly. That means that the character cannot dwell too long or delve too deeply into an emotion. To move ‘faster’ try an objective that doesn’t require so much effort or simplify the obstacles so you can get through them more easily.
On the other hand, if the director tells you to slow down, take your time, go deeper, and explore each more moment more completely. This can be achieved by finding an objective that causes you to probe more and get more involved.
If the director gives you the emotional note they want you to end on, you need to think about the character’s emotional arc in the scene. Where does it start and where does it end. Then find compelling objectives that give you more to do and as you pursue your character’s need the emotions will follow.
Actors may be from Mars and Directors may be from Venus but we are working together. As an actor it is your job to translate director-speak into actor-speak. And that usually involves finding a more active verb, a more compelling objective, or a tougher obstacle to get over.
Eric Barr. All rights reserved
