Scarlett Johansson, Jason Schwartzman, and Jake Ryan at Cannes Film Festival

Brut America

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

Transcript

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.

Category

Transcript

Recommended