“You gotta respect Bill (Sadler) for even coming in and trying this. You literally have to come in and shoot the biggest, hardest scene you have in the movie—that’s a lot to ask from an actor.”
Producer Chris Moore
(On Sadler taking a role at the last minute for The Battle of Shaker Heights)
In Project Greenlight 2 (Part 4) I touched on how well the experienced crew shinned in the 2003 HBO Project Greenlight 2. After completing the 13 part series on DVD, it is the actors that really put themselves out there. First to be subjected to a first time writers script, then to a duo of first time studio directors, and then to have the HBO crew documenting every ounce of production flaw they can find.
Shia Labeouf, then just sixteen shines from the minute he’s on HBO cameras and does a knock your socks off audience and continues throughout the making of to see his dedication to the craft of acting. In episode 9 there is a scene the directors have trouble finding the scene and actress Amy Smart says of having to work for two directors, “The only downside of having two directors is just too much direction for one person to take.”
The screenwriter Erica Beeney and the producers Chris Moore and Jeff Balis add their two cents to help the situation only frustrating the directors further. Smart adds, “When directors know what they want they are specific about getting what they want. And if the director’s really wishy washy then it leaves everyone clueless.”
When the director’s of The Battle of Shaker Heights point blame at Moore and Balis for stealing the trust of the actors, Moore points out, “I think the thing that established the distrust is you and Kyle came in different doors and literally gave the exact opposite notes. That’s not us establishing distrust.”
But eventually they nail the scene to everyone’s satisfaction. Again it’s a good example of the collaborative, and sometimes frustrating process, of making films. Another difficult situation is when one of the key roles has to be recast the day before the shoot. Actor Bill Sadler, best known to many as Heywood in The Shawshank Redemption, ends up accepting the role just 12 hours before he’s supposed to shoot a key scene in the film.
“On Shawshank Redemption we had two weeks of rehearsal to get to the place to make it look like we were a bunch of men who had been together for 19 years, and here we had 60 minutes.”
Bill Sadler
“I probably have more respect for Bill than anyone else on the set, because the fact that he came in—got the script yesterday—and had the balls to say, ‘You know what? They need me now. I’m going to do this.’ That’s great.”
Shia Labeouf
All part of the filmmaking process. And it reminded me of when I made a short film in college and cast a former TV star who lived in Big Bear, California but who didn’t show up in L.A. in the day her part was scheduled to be shot. (A phone call told us a medical condition prevented her from making the 2 hour trip.) One of the other actors called an actor friend named Gabriella Sinclair who came in and did a bang up job reading lines shortly after getting the emergency phone call.
One of the great benefits of being in LA or New York City is access to so many talented actors. And student films and Project Greenlights aren’t the only productions that have to replace an actor at the last minute. Two of the best examples off the top of my head was when an actor dropped out of The Truman Show and Ed Harris stepped in at the last minute for the roll of Christof. And when Richard Crenna had to replace Kirk Douglas on First Blood at the last minute when Douglas left the set over creative differences.
[…] “You gotta respect Bill (Sadler) for even coming in and trying this. You literally have to come in and shoot the biggest, hardest scene you have in the movie—that’s a lot to ask from an actor.” Chris Moore In Project Greenlight 2 (Part 4) I touched on how well the experienced crew shinned in the […] Original Source… […]