Steve Buscemi – You know his face from nearly 100 films. One of the most recognizable faces in Hollywood. He hits the nail on the head with this excerpt from a recent interview. When working with artists, let them bring their own vision to the table first. Then tailor it as it fits the directors vision. If you don’t give them the chance to do their thing, you miss out on many golden gems.
Q: How does your background as an actor affect your directing?
BUSCEMI: Casting is everything. Getting the person that you imagined is this character and then seeing what they bring to it. That’s why you hire them, so why tell somebody first what it is you want? I’m more curious to see what they bring to it and then be inspired by it and say: “OK, what if you tried this?” or “What would happen if … ?” I guess it’s the stuff that you don’t get to say as an actor to another actor if you’re just acting in a scene. (Laughs) You cannot do that.
I completely agree with Mr. Buscemi, in fact this is my exact train of thought when it comes to directing. I think we’ve had a conversation about this Conrad. 🙂 If you can cast a show well, then you don’t have to work so hard, you can really have fun with it!!
Yes, we did have a conversation about this! One of the reasons I did a post about it. Sometimes being a good director is doing nothing at all. 🙂
Have you guys seen the clip of him fighting with the director of his new movie Delirious?
http://youtube.com/watch?v=XwZVzf9VuzA
Its pretty awesome.
Didn’t look like a director to me. Looked like someone trying to goad Buscemi on and waste his time. That was very rude to do to Buscemi and he handled it well.