For me, being a director is about watching, not about telling people what to do. Or maybe it's like being a mirror; if they didn't have me to look at, they wouldn't be able to put the make-up on.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Being a director is almost like being another sort of character, but you're out of view.
When I'm a director, I look at myself the actor as a completely different person. It's somebody else up there, an actor playing a role. I keep myself out of it.
As a director, I also get to sit and watch actors and learn from them in a way that I don't get to do when I'm just acting.
As a director, you never think about how an audience would respond. You can think about that, but you will never change what you're going to do.
Being open to what's happening in front of you is the most important thing about being a director. To allow the magic to exist and to be light enough on your feet to harness it as it's happening. That's what makes cinema interesting.
I do think that's so much a part of what being a director is - in working with actors - to really try and be sensitive to what each actor needs to get to where he wants to be.
The most nurturing of directors can make you feel too comfortable, and you don't really push for that extra whatever.
For me, as an actor, it's always about getting out of my own way. I can put so much pressure on myself to keep up and make my director happy instead of being in the moment.
So many people have said this, but it's true: 95 percent of what I do as a director is casting and getting people who can bear the load of what you're asking them to do and creating this emotionally safe environment.
Ultimately, as a director, you try and tell people where to look, but unlike film or television, where you force them to look at something, you can't control it completely.