Ask Judith: Submission #4

Submission Number: 4
Submission ID: 88
Submission UUID: ab76c78b-3120-4b6d-ae7b-8c3ac21bb35d
Submission URI: /web/ask-judith

Created: Thu, 07/08/2021 - 03:07 PM
Completed: Thu, 07/08/2021 - 03:07 PM
Changed: Tue, 12/26/2023 - 12:58 PM

Remote IP address: 47.151.130.166
Submitted by: judith
Language: English

Is draft: No
Webform: Ask Judith
Submitted to: Ask Judith
Name Dave Watson
Email (optional)
Question Congratulations on the 25th Anniversary Edition of Directing Actors. What did you notice differently writing this edition?
Reply Thanks for asking this—because I followed an unusual process writing this book! In April 2019 I was approached to make an audiobook of the original Directing Actors, which came out in 1996. I’d always wanted to do an audio version and voice it myself—but at this point, so many years after the book had been written, it felt like it needed updating. So the audiobook, which came out in September 2019, is different from the original paperback. Then Michael said, let’s do a new print edition—it’s perfect timing for a 25th anniversary edition. At first I thought it would be a matter of sprucing up the punctuation from the audiobook text—but then I decided to work with an editor (E. Amato—she is great!) and go all out on a complete revision and updating of the original book. I’d been teaching throughout the 25 years since the original book was written and had so much more to say. The 25th Anniversary Edition expands and deepens the central concepts of the original, with many more, completely updated examples and references. And it contains a lot of new material—a totally reworked chapter on Emotional Event; a scene from The Matrix used for a Script Analysis demonstration; a more detailed Rehearsal chapter, to guide directors in learning how to rehearse; a brand new chapter on Directing Children. I hope it will be clarifying for readers of the original and helpful to a whole new generation of directors, actors, and writers.
Approved Yes

  • “I am eternally grateful for your help.”

    TAIKA WAITITI, writer-director, JOJO RABBIT, THOR RAGNAROK, HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE, WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS, BOY, EAGLE VS SHARK, FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS

  • “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