I want to attack and to lead my life with vigor, but I'm in the watching stage at the moment. Younger actors feel pressure to bring a pop to every scene; as the roles get bigger, I'm finding you can add layers and do less scene-to-scene.
'Everwood' I think provides a unique feeling, an emotional experience. And other shows on TV don't have the acting talent to do that. Each one of our actors can do a serious scene and a humorous scene, and can do it all within the same sequence. They can go from a heartbreaking moment to a humorous moment.
It's no good in a scene to have one actor lie down because the scene says it's the other actor's moment. Each actor has to believe that with extra will, the outcome of a scene can be different. An actor can win the scene if he exerts the most powerful will in that moment.
When you're working on a scene, both in the script phase and also in the moment, you look around and you wait for the lightning bolt to strike you and based on your instincts tell you what the right thing to do is here. And that can result in anything from a change of dialogue to the realisation that what you thought was a dramatic scene should actually have some humour. And maybe if you stage it this way it's funnier, or if you put the camera here it tells a different story. That stuff is kind of everything when you're a director.
You must believe in your own instincts and your own instincts at any particular time and believe that they were the right ones for any given situation. So, there's no point ever of kind of regretting something because you can't properly remember the exact circumstances in which you were playing out this particular scene. You have to believe in your intuition and your instinct at that moment.
I think as a leader, as a captain, it's important to back your instincts, whatever you feel. Yes, it is important to take advice from your colleagues, but in the end what your instincts tell you, you should back that.
Comedy is similar to hockey... in only one way. You get a lot of credit for assists. So I try to serve whatever the intention is, be it the joke or the story or the scene or the moment or the kiss, even if it's not my joke or moment.
Test audiences are notorious for getting kind of itchy when people talk too much, and you have to trust your instincts that they don't necessarily understand that you're not digesting the movie on a scene-by-scene basis.
As an actor, you always find your way. You have whatever preparation techniques you use, and you just go with the scene when you're on set. You can only plan so much when you're working, because things have to come naturally in the scene.
When I'm in a session with someone I don't know, I like hanging out for a moment and talking and seeing if we can find some similarities in whatever conversation we're having. The best thing is when you just go for it - just do something that feels good and makes you feel free in the moment.
When I feel something in my gut, I can feel it physically. But my instincts seem to come from a different place - they feel headier to me, and I get the wrong scent, and go off on these whims where I think that something is happening when it's not.
The thing about running is, if I run in the morning before work, I feel like I'm ahead of the day. Whatever work I've done in terms of preparation or research or thinking about the scene or the character, it all kind of crystallizes in that moment in the morning. And sometimes I have the best ideas then.
The reason I go for the designers is because they make me feel good. It's about finding clothes that make you feel good as a woman. If I like it, I'll wear it. You have to go with your instincts and not be led by trends.
I look at it scene-by-scene. Whether it's a historical character or not, whatever, on the page is one thing and delving into the history or somebody is one thing, but making something work for an audience in front of a camera is another exercise and you bring whatever authenticity you can to it.
Surrendering only refers to this moment, whatever "is" at this moment - to accept unconditionally and fully whatever arises at this moment.
I feel like if you shoot one scene all day long or you take two days to do a scene, that scene is going to be stale.