What is the key to being a good actor?
Brut asked Scarlett Johansson, Jason Schwartzman, and Jake Ryan about lessons they've learned at the release of their film, "Asteroid City," at Festival de Cannes.
#cannes2023
Brut asked Scarlett Johansson, Jason Schwartzman, and Jake Ryan about lessons they've learned at the release of their film, "Asteroid City," at Festival de Cannes.
#cannes2023
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Short filmTranscript
00:00One thing I learned about being an actor is to not anticipate anything.
00:06That is always, that's the key.
00:08I just learned that now, as an actor.
00:11That's a good one.
00:12That's a good one.
00:13You always have to remember to have fun, you know?
00:15That's it, that is important, yes.
00:17I chatted with Ryan Cranston about the movie.
00:19He's so specific on what he wants.
00:21Artistic frustration is inherent in the work itself.
00:26What do you think about the artistic frustration of being an actor?
00:29Does it make any sense?
00:30Yeah, I mean, I think that there's something sort of liberating about the boundary, you know?
00:35I think because you have the parameters and then you know where they are.
00:41And then you can exist within that.
00:43The boundaries are kind of needed.
00:46I love restraint, like obstacles and things like that.
00:50I like that.
00:51I think it's like, you know, do this in this amount of time.
00:54Maybe it depends on what you expect from a director.
00:57What do you expect from a director, actually?
00:59I try not to have too many expectations because they sometimes lead to disappointments.
01:03Yeah.
01:04That's true.
01:06Every time I work, I just pretend like I've never worked before so that I just, this is how this person does it.
01:13Right.
01:14You know?
01:15Yes, everybody's so different.
01:16Yeah.
01:17So freedom is not always a good thing then.
01:19No.
01:20Right, yes.
01:21Sometimes, I was saying earlier, like I have worked with directors that don't give any direction
01:26other than physical direction, and it's kind of isolating.
01:30It's sort of depressing, actually.
01:32I heard Woody Allen doesn't give any.
01:35Right.
01:36But he will tell you when he does not like something.
01:39While you're saying it, actually.
01:42Why are you saying it like that?
01:43You're like, wait, are we still working?
01:45Yeah.
01:46And what do you prefer?
01:47A lot of freedom?
01:48There are pros and cons.
01:49Like for certain, if you have too much freedom, then I start to, if I have too much freedom,
01:54I start to go on tangents and whatnot.
01:56Like, improv is fun.
01:58But working with Wes, again, like he's always, there's always a sense of delivery.
02:04There's always the actual script.
02:06It's such a good script as well that you can fall back on, you know?
02:11I'm wondering as well in which way a technique is important as an actor.
02:16No, you definitely can use technique.
02:18Yeah.
02:19Yeah.
02:20That can be very helpful.
02:22Yeah.
02:23And help you out of a bind.
02:25You know, I was playing somebody who existed in a film, and it was so daunting because I didn't want to,
02:32you know, you don't want to do an impersonation of somebody, but who is this person?
02:35And she had written an autobiography, so you get that, and I talked to her kids,
02:39but it's still like so abstract, you know?
02:42And so I started working with somebody who helped me, who did that dream thing where you kind of dream about something,
02:48and you sort of dissect it in this way through this person, and how would she feel, what does it mean?
02:52And, like, that was a great technique because I didn't have anything else really to, you know, I was really struggling.
02:59So I think techniques can be great.
03:01Last question.
03:02One thing you learned about being an actor?
03:04One thing I learned about being an actor is to not anticipate anything.
03:10That is always, that's the key.
03:12I just learned that now as an actor.
03:14That's a good one.
03:15That's a good one.
03:16Well said.
03:17Something that you can always keep in mind is that no matter what the project,
03:20whether it's, like, something super depressing, it's good to have your spirits raised.
03:23You always have to remember to have fun, you know?
03:26That's it.
03:27That is important.
03:28Yes.