Tom O'Brien, Writer/Director/Co-Founder of Scene Study LA: I’m the boss,
I know how it should be and you have to get there.
Film Courage: What stops an actor from sharing themselves and their work?
Tom: Trust, if they don't trust the director, if they don't trust their fellow actors, if
they don't feel safe, they will tighten up, tense up. So whether I'm on set or in class, it's just
building that trust, making them feel, that it's a safe space for them to open up and try things.
I think that's the most important thing that I do as a director as an acting teacher is creating
that space where everybody can relax and play and find different things and try different things.
Film Courage: What if they don't trust themselves? Can you see that versus they don't trust others?
Tom: Yeah, yeah, you can see them editing themselves, you can see them being self-conscious
but I think again that comes back to creating that safe space where you're encouraging them
not like picking out negative things that they're doing but but coming at it from a more supportive
encouraging positive place and making actors are really sensitive creatures so and I know
having come from acting that one little note can really get in your head and throw you off
I have to always keep myself from giving a good note too because sometimes that'll throw them off
if you say like oh I love that moment do that in the next take I love that moment where you guys
said that thing and and then the next take you can see them in their heads sort of like oh here
comes the moment that he loved and it will never be as good so I have to that's the thing I have to
constantly keep myself from doing is like being supportive and acting like I like what's going
on but not being so specific that I get in their heads you say let actors play can you tell us what
this means yeah to try different ways of saying something to try a improvised line of dialogue to
maybe take a pause before that moment to to connect to their scene partner to to
just keep keep exploring it so that I'm not getting like six takes that are all
in the same sort of place that if it's a angry line maybe don't say it angry maybe say laugh
on one take track keep trying stuff so that's what I mean by play was being given freedom important
to you when you were taking classes let's say in New York City in the beginning do you remember
teachers that you felt maybe were more controlling versus ones that really let you do your thing and
you knew that's what worked yeah I think there's a whole sort of history of coming back to the
to the method book that I love so much the Isaac Butler book [The Method: How the Twentieth Century
Learned to Act] but like Lee Strasberg and that of berating people and I think that's a long history
with acting teachers of that sort of yelling at people and never acting like anything is any good
so I I sort of work against that I don't think that creates an environment where people want
to play and try things if they're constantly getting berated so I think you don't want to just
say everything's great and so you want to try and be constructive with your criticism but just not
in a way that's too berating or negative so that brings to the Mind an article I saw I think Wall
Street Journal Can A Boss Be Good if they Yell? [When the Boss Is a Screamer] and I'm wondering if
the same is for a director because I was thinking about it if the boss is then fair at other times I
think you would almost respect them in some sense yeah versus a boss that maybe doesn't yell but
then there's like other stuff that's not I mean that's interesting could it can a director be
good if they yell sure I mean Lee Strasberg was an amazing teacher even though he yelled at people so
I think you can be I think for me it's getting out of that mindset that a director is the boss it's
it's I think there's a lot of ego in directing and teaching and being being in that position
the ego can go wild with that so I think you have to constantly work against that and
be a collaborator and I don't want to direct unless I have to if it's going off the rails
I'll give you a note but if I can just cast really great actors and let them do their thing
great I don't need to micromanage and direct all the time do you think though we need to know who
to respect sometimes you have to what's the saying you have to meet people at their own
level sometimes to have them respect you do you do you think we need to sometimes
see that person take ownership of the ship yeah but I think that's about I think you see that in
their what they want and how they communicate and I don't think that has to be I don't think
respect comes from yelling at somebody or berating someone I think I think you can be respected and
be positive and supportive and be collaborative and I think just a lot of times probably because
of that like wanting respect I think directors tend to direct too much and it's I think it's
in in all aspects of the business actors love to act and act too much so I think it's
you have to take your ego out of it and just really focus on the work and the people that I've
worked with that do that those are the people that I respect I love when someone says I don't know
I don't know what this moment should be let's let's figure it out together
I don't think I don't disrespect them for that I think that means that they're still exploring the
moment they're trying to figure it out with the actors they're letting something be alive and I
respect that rather than somebody who's gonna pretend they know the answers all the time
find the character within them
um that's a tough one I mean if it's an are you talking about like in a set or in a class or
because I think that's okay I mean I guess I'm thinking of maybe really both anytime they're
supposed to play something and it just it's not giving it's not coming for you yeah I mean that's
why I would I would never direct something that I didn't get to cast because I think casting is
everything and directing so I've had the luxury of working with amazing actors so I haven't had that
problem on a set in a class it's different because you're getting new people all the time and people
are at different levels of experience I think there's always a version of the character that
they can find and it's a version their version of the character so it's not necessarily like
this is the character and you have to like go to the character and become this thing it's sort of
bringing those two things together like I want to see your version of this character
more than like trying to hit some note how do when to push an actor and when to leave an actor alone
well if they're not getting the scene or the or the moment in the way that you see it
then it has to be a communication but I think push is a tough word for me just because I think if you
push too hard you're not going to get what you want out of that actor so I think it's really a
delicate it's just a conversation about I like to ask questions a lot like what do you think
this moment is what are you what are you trying to do with this line like what what's your intention
here and because I think sometimes if you push too much you can push him away so it's a pulling
sounds like yeah it's more of just a conversation of just figuring it out together again rather than
it being like I'm the boss I know how it should be and you have to get there
rather letting it be a conversation of like maybe it's that vision I had but maybe it's
something else I always come back to that I love that line about you write
one movie you direct another movie and you edit a third movie so it's it it's always got to be alive
and if you get too controlling and try to make it something that you wrote six months
ago in the script it's not going to be alive and it's not going to be compelling you said
you had side jobs as a waiter yeah did you work in some hectic kitchens oh yeah yeah talk about
yelling and acting teachers yes chefs can be similar well I mean there's an element of show
yeah it's played up time and it's dinner time and you've got patrons that are waiting yeah
and there's a stress and so it's similar get out there but you're right that's a push yeah
that and needs to be obviously but whereas you're talking about asking questions and pulling maybe
yeah just having a dialogue with an actor and talking about it I mean hopefully that
can happen in rehearsal and you have enough time I mean sometimes when it gets really stressed and
you're losing the light and you got to get the shot and that's that's a different story but
but as much as I can keep it alive and exploring and finding things
I think that's the atmosphere you want to create I mean so many film sets that I've
been on it's just like about like okay did we get it okay next thing it's like
we're not being creative we're not exploring things we're just like getting the shot and moving
on to the next thing and it's like the the idea is just to get the day but then what are you making.