The Great Acting Blog: “A Lack Of Confidence?”

The Great Acting Blog: “A Lack Of Confidence?”

The debate about how much space a director should give to an actor within a production rages on. Some say that the actor should do whatever the hell the director tells them to do while others think that manipulation is direction. One thing is certain though, the issue of trust, that is how much the director trusts his actors, is a real hot potato. The argument is that if the director doesn’t give the actor space to  do their work but is instead all over them like a hot rash, then it is because he does not trust them.

Let’s flip this around for a second.

Could it be that it’s not his actors the overbearing director doesn’t trust but himself. Perhaps this director has a lack of confidence in his own directing abilities. This means that if the actor does lose the plot horribly, then he is not confident that he possesses the tools to get that actor back on track. Consequently, he becomes controlling in the hope of preventing anything from going wrong in the first place. And if he doesn’t think the actors are up to the job from the word go, then why did he cast them?

We know that creativity is about trying things and seeing what happens. It’s about  using your imagination and taking the plunge. That’s what makes it so exciting. If the actor is robbed of this essential process, is it any wonder that the resulting performances lack energy and ambition and artistry? They become little more than a flat rendition of the director’s instructions, and the art of acting is diminished.

The director’s lack of trust in the actors, is more than likely a manifestation of his own lack of confidence in himself.

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