Listen, there are some movies that are set in stone and the writer or the director does not want to change, but I've never worked on a movie, including my own, that didn't take advantage of a rehearsal process.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
As an actor you have to bring to the table your creative input. But when a director like Ridley Scott says I want you to do this this way, you know when he gets to the editing room he has a reason for it. It's like watching a masterpiece.
I'm a theater actress. I love rehearsal. I could have six weeks of rehearsal and think it's not enough. But on film, you don't get that luxury.
With film, so much is in the director's hands. Once something is cut together - unless you're in the editing room - you don't really remember what the alternatives are. The exercise in theater is night after night, you are doing the same play, but you have another opportunity to explore.
On a film, they'll always say there's going to be a rehearsal period, and there never is.
Movies alone have the hideous capacity to do everything for you. So in directing movies, you have to figure how to leave things out - because when you leave things out, you evoke the imaginative participation of the audience.
I love rehearsing, but a lot of directors don't, and some actors don't.
A lot of directors prefer the solitude of the editing process, but I revel in the craziness of what a film set is.
I learned that the best way to work is to allow the scene to live on its own before making major adjustments, whether in rehearsal or on film.
In general, I don't even have the luxury of rehearsal time on most films that I make. It is just a scene-by-scene full cast read through. It's very much just doing the rehearsal sometimes the day before, at the end of the day, but just on the spot as the scene unfolds.
When you're working on a film, it's not theater; you don't have a few weeks of rehearsal. A lot of times you are showing up on set, and you've never been to the place; you've never met the other actors you're working with.