The Great Acting Blog: “Don’t Take My Word For It… “
… “Your chances of making a living or making a better living are increased by writing something that you would want to write badly enough that you would actually go out and raise the money to direct it. You’re much better to do that because otherwise you’re just going to waste twenty years waiting for the good will of your inferiors. If you really, really want to make a film—go film it for God’s sake, go steal a camera and get it done rather than trying to interest some second-class mind to help make your script a little bit worse.” – David Mamet
It’s David Mamet day over on the terrific Cinephelia And Beyond blog. They’ve put together a wonderful resource, with interviews, commentaries and insight. Some of the content has appeared on The Great Acting Blog in the past, but there’s plenty that hasn’t.
Especially good is Jeremy Isaacs’ 1998 “Face To Face” interview with Mamet, where he discusses acting, playwriting, theatre, plus his life and career. It’s 37 minutes long but well worth the time. I’ve pasted some nuggets below, but the full interview can be found here.
“if the teacher and directors … aren’t capable of describing what they require in simple English, then those teachers and directors don’t know what they’re talking about.”
“[actors] should learn their lines, understand very, very simply what the character in the script is doing, and try to find a congruent action for themselves, which is physically capable of being done.”
“That’s what the violent myth means, the Western or the shoot-em-up. It’s not an invitation to go out and kill people. It’s an attempt to do away with intolerable, unresolved perception.”
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