Tips for Directing Actors

Often when people think of working with actors, they think you just give them their character motivation and send them on their way. But the director/actor relationship is far more complex, so let’s go over some simple tips that you as a director can do to help keep you and your actors happy.

First up, casting. Casting is key and if you’ve done it right, then your job as a director on set should actually be fairly easy. By casting talented actors that listen to and adapt to your direction, you're ensuring you’ll get the performances you want while on set.

Next up is positive feedback.

Acting might look easy on the surface, but it’s actually extremely difficult. You want to be sensitive to the fact that your actors are working hard to obtain and maintain a specific emotion, and reaching deep emotional places can be mentally challenging and exhausting for them. So make sure you recognize that and applaud your actor’s good performances.

And speaking of, pro tip. If there’s multiple actors in a scene, make sure you give positive feedback to each one, so no one actor ever feels singled out or like they are underperforming. Failure to do so could make them feel insecure about their performance.

Also, be sensitive to the mood of the scene and maintain that vibe even when the cameras aren’t rolling. This helps your talent remain in their character’s frame of mind.

So for example, keeping it light hearted and fun by cracking jokes when the cameras aren’t rolling works well for a comedy, but would be the wrong tone for a serious dramatic scene.

Next up, let’s talk about how to give direction.

You never want to give critiques like “be happier” or “be sadder” as these aren’t really tied to character motivation. Instead, if you want an actor to “be sadder” remind them of their character’s emotional pain caused by another character’s actions, and give them an actionable goal for the scene.

For example, maybe you have a character that has found out her boyfriend has cheated on her. In this scenario, I would give the actress vivid descriptions of how the other actor cheated on her and remind her of her motivation in the scene. Maybe she wants to exact some of her emotional hurt back on him? Maybe she wants to get him to confess?

By giving your actors story related objectives and scene goals that they can relate to, instead of generic critiques, you’ll end up with more authentic performances.

Next up, every actor is different.

Recognize that all actors are different and some might need more takes than others to nail their performance. Some might knock it out of the park on the first take, while others might need five or six. Get a feel for how many takes each actor needs in rehearsal and allow enough time in your schedule for each.

Next up, don’t waste an actor’s time. Actors are used to sitting around on set, but it’s still good to be courteous of their time. If call time is at 8am but a specific actor isn’t needed till a scene that’s shooting after lunch, then have a custom call time just for them then. They’ll appreciate you being conscious of their time.

And finally and most importantly, you have to trust your actors.

A good director/actor working relationship is built on trust, and you have to have faith in their talents. If you don’t, they will start to feel creatively stifled and you most likely won’t get the best performance out of them. So trust in your actor’s abilities and they will trust in your vision.

For example, in my short film Hold Up, I trusted that actress Marissa Skell would find a funny and unique way to portray a scene where her character had to search through a dumpster for her beloved lost painting. And boy did she surprise me by vaulting into the dumpster and creating a truly hilarious performance.

Let me know about a time you trusted your actors and it paid off in a major way in the comments below.

Alright, now that you have these tips under your belt, you and your actors will be sure to have a happy working relationship!

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