The Work

Making the Scene

Thursday, August 19, 2010.

Class was great yesterday. I want to commend everyone on their work and their willingness to take direction that opened them up in ways that not only served the scene but that served us as actors.

Sometimes certain circumstance require that we dig deep to have a full understanding of what the character may be going through. In these situations we can't afford to dilly-dally with the reality of the circumstances and walk away with just a representation or presentation of what the scene is about.

It may not always be a pleasant ride but it will always be a rewarding one.

Everyone took that risks yesterday but I would like to talk for a moment specifically about Joey and "In Cold Blood" because I think his work in particular illustrates my point. Joey played the role of "Perry" one of the two murderers of the Clutter family. The scene takes place after the murders. Perry and Dick are at a diner. Perry is struggling to come to terms with what he did. At first we explored the act of the crime and moral conflict that it presented and how Perry was dealing with what they did. The scene worked for the most part, we definitely saw a conflicted Perry and a Dick in denial, which is what the scene is about but there was something that needed to be expressed that was not fully being explored so after some probing we began to understand that something deeper was at play with Perry, something that he has been struggling with his entire life and that the murders were not just the result of a robbery gone wrong. Where Joey allowed himself to go to bring that reality to life took the scene to a whole new level and it did wonders for Dick who's denial of what they did was now been challenged in a way that required him to keep the world from collapsing around them. It was brilliant! After the the second take I asked Joey how he felt and he replied "depressed". What he discovered about Perry was very depressing but TRUE to what he was experiencing and Joey lived it fully throughout the scene and that's what made it CAPTIVATING to watch. Sometimes that's where we have to go. There's no way around it. I said to Joey "look it might not always feel great when we are asked to dig deep especially given these types of circumstances, but I guarantee you that it will be incredibly rewarding artistically and in other ways as well. Just trust that what your are exploring is serving you as an actor". Later last night when Jen got home she told me that everyone couldn't stop talking about Joey's work.

Paolo