Featured Post

Let's End the Specious Argument of Beloved Dead Masters

In particular, let's end the "argument" between Adler and Strasberg.  There is no substance to their false reasoning upon whi...

Monday, December 26, 2016

Jeff Daniels in 'Blackbird' -- Notes on Technique



There are interesting comments from this veteran actor regarding his work in Blackbird.  What surprised me was his anecdote about his director's (Joe Mantello) direction about how "it needs to be spontaneous...if it's on your mind, let it come out of your mouth...don't manufacture some motivation with your objective that you learned in acting class 20...."

Jeff Daniels had an "objective" in this interview, and he described what was on his mind; that is, he was thinking and describing his thoughts.  Was he able to articulate everything that was on his mind? Was he aware that he had an "objective"?  Was he aware that what he was trying to do (his "objective") in this interview is no different from the behavior of the character he created?

Some of the points of view expressed in this interview reinforce my contention, expressed elsewhere on this blog, that the teaching of the basic technique, that is, Stanislavski and his colleagues as interpreted by the members of the Group Theatre has been lost in the tangential dogmatic "argument" between Adler, Strasberg and Meisner.