Ask Judith: Submission #28

Submission Number: 28
Submission ID: 112
Submission UUID: ad3feece-7c87-4832-8f3d-1d439f7c7605
Submission URI: /web/ask-judith

Created: Mon, 10/23/2023 - 06:57 AM
Completed: Mon, 10/23/2023 - 06:57 AM
Changed: Tue, 12/26/2023 - 12:58 PM

Remote IP address: 138.207.228.132
Submitted by: Anonymous
Language: English

Is draft: No
Webform: Ask Judith
Submitted to: Ask Judith
Robert
Hi Judith!

I'd like to ask your advice on casting heavies, criminals, obnoxious or ridiculous characters. I often need to reach out to actors directly (rather than through an agent) and knowing how sensitive they are, I'm afraid of hurting their feelings by asking them to play such roles. Could you please offer any advice on this? Thank you very much!
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  • “I took a seminar with an acting teacher named Judith Weston. I learned a key insight to character. She believed that all well-drawn characters have a spine, and the idea is that the character has an inner motor, a dominant, unconscious goal that they’re striving for, an itch that they can’t scratch. I took to this like a duck to water.”

    ANDREW STANTON [from his Feb 2012 TED Talk] writer-director, FINDING DORY, WALL-E, FINDING NEMO, A BUG’S LIFE; director, BETTER CALL SAUL, STRANGER THINGS; writer, TOY STORY, TOY STORY 2, TOY STORY 3

  • "Judith's method is wonderful because it is practical. She has given me numerous tools to solve problems on the set and to earn the trust of actors. Her classes and her book are invaluable resources to any director."

    LAWRENCE TRILLING, director, GOLIATH, RECTIFY, PARENTHOOD, MASTERS OF SEX, PUSHING DAISIES, DAMAGES, BROTHERS AND SISTERS, NIP/TUCK, MONK, SCRUBS, INVASION, ALIAS, FELICITY

  • "Thank you for teaching me how to direct actors. Taking your classes made me believe I could direct. Taking your classes gave me a base, a foundation, a framework to find my own style. To step out on faith. I'm forever grateful. Love and respect to you, magnificent Judith Weston." 

    AVA DuVERNAY, director, WHEN THEY SEE US, QUEEN SUGAR, A WRINKLE IN TIME, SELMA, SCANDAL, MIDDLE OF NOWHERE

  • "Everything you taught me was more than useful. I am deeply grateful."

    ALEJANDRO GONZÁLEZ IÑÁRRITU, director, THE REVENANT, BIRDMAN, BIUTIFUL, BABEL, 21 GRAMS, AMORES PERROS