Jerry Weintraub, the producer, might be a pain in the ass, but he really knows how to treat his actors.
Garry Shandling was an actor's actor. He really cares about the performance. It was really interesting to watch him talk about motives and motivation and stuff. He really knows the craft.
When the major studios flourished many years ago, an actor was groomed, developed, and worked frequently at his craft. The studios really took care of their actors.
There are moments when it's unbelievable how people who work on the hair or on the little bit of skin here, they have no other care or interest since this part of their job is the only thing that needs to look good. So you have to push everybody to the side so that you can have a connection with your actor and give some air to your actor.
With actors, it's really about feeding them all the time. I don't get involved in their process. I try to do the opposite, feeding them, feeding them, feeding them, and you can see very easily how they react to it.
My job is the same if I'm making a new musical or making a play for sixty-five people or doing a live television broadcast. The job is to take care of the actor; the job is to create an environment where they can excel and try to access all their attributes.
Making a film, you do need stamina, whether you're doing fight scenes or not. It's important to keep fit. I'm not talking about having perfect abs and stuff, but you've got to be on top of your game, especially if you're playing the lead. You have to look after yourself.
I always try to be careful when an actor who is like 70 walks onto my set at work, I don't want them to get called in five hours early or block shoot something. I think you need to treat them with respect and dignity.
That really sets great directors apart from good directors: their ability to make you feel like you matter, even if your part is much smaller. That's one thing I found with most of the great directors I worked with: They all have that skill. Not everyone takes the time.
It was really cool because you can tell that she directs in a way that she wants to be spoken to, as an actress. That's really nice, and you appreciate that. Dealing with the actors was more important to her than anything else, which was really nice.
I think there needs to be more care taken for the actor. You know, we are not props!
A director's job is like parenting. You have to look after your actors like children, pay attention to each of their different abilities.
Sometimes when you do fight scenes you think, "Oh, I'll be hit in the face," because people get carried away with their vanity and want to look too cool to care, but we were all really careful with each other.
