A Constant Forge Page #12

A month or two later,

I was talking to Tony and Tony said...

"That's interesting. I had my lines

a week or two in advance for that scene. "

John deliberately gave Lelia her lines

at the last minute...

so there would be a hesitancy,

an uncertainty in her delivery.

You actually see Tony helping her out,

cuing her in.

I have the feeling that

I'll never, you know, be smart...

and I'm never going

to get the things that I want.

And, uh - Oh -

What do you feel like?

Tell me what you feel like.

- I feel like I'm in a -

- In a cocoon and you can't get out?

That's right.

John had the wisdom

to foster that carryover...

between what you really feel and what

you're able to play in your character.

Let me give you an example...

of real meat-and-potatoes direction.

Gena has just tried

to cut her wrist.

Mommy! Mommy!

I'vejust rassled the razor blade

away from her.

The kids are a problem.

I don't want them to be around.

It's not something they should see.

I gotta get rid of'em.

And when I came out of the kitchen...

I went up these three steps

and down three steps...

and into the living room...

and I started to play the scene.

It was terrible.

Terrible!

I did it a couple of times...

each time worse than the other.

This is something

thatJohn very rarely did.

He came to me and he said,

"See these three steps?"

I say, "Yeah. "

He said, "You're going up these three steps,

and then there's a little platform...

and then you go down three steps

and go in the living room. "

I say, "Yeah. "

"Yes, that's right. "

He said, "When you go up

these three steps...

"before you go

down these three steps...

"stop...

"and take a deep breath...

and then play the scene. "

- Mom. What's the matter, Mom?

- I don't understand.

Well, I was amazed

what an effect that had on me.

Because by stopping

and taking that breath...

somehow, all the wildness...

the desperation...

uncontrolled...

in taking that razor blade

away from her...

that was put at rest...

and now I had a clear purpose...

in mind.

I was going to do something.

And instead of screaming...

I came out and I said -

- Stop what you're doin'.

- Mom?

Stop what you're doin'.

That made a big difference...

in terms of the thrust...

of what I wanted at that moment.

If you don't get down off the couch,

I'm gonna knock you down.

And then, of course,

the writing of the scene -

John would never have you

just walk into a room...

and decide that,

out of love and desperation...

to stop this woman

from descending into madness...

you were gonna go up and whack her.

I'll kill you!

I'll kill ya!

There had to be another element.

I'll kill those sons-of-bitchin' kids!

That other element is the struggle.

And what's the struggle?

You got three kids.

So you gotta pick up one

like a loaf ofbread under your arm...

you got another one

you grab by the hand...

and you gotta take 'em upstairs.

The third one then runs back down.

You gotta let one go

to run and get the other one.

There's an absurd comic element...

in the midst

of the wife losing it.

Those are the kind of human obstacles

that have to be overcome.

They want to know

if you're all right.

I said, 'John...

we're tripping over these kids. "

He said,

"Gena, do you really believe...

"the children living in this house...

"knowing what's happening...

"between their mother and father...

"are gonna stay in their rooms

and listen?

Of course they aren't. "

And I said - I just had it in my mind

that it seemed like too much.

But when I looked at it,

it was so real.

Of course.

Of course they're gonna be there.

Up the stairs, down, back,

down through the rooms, right after you.

I often thought

how easily he saw that.

You know you look just like your father?

You're Daddy's girl.

I love you.

When Peter looks at the one child...

and the child turns towards him

and makes that fist...

as if to say, "You stupid bastard,

I love you, but you can be a jerk" -

There's something to be gained from

all these moments of the film about life.

The mistakes that you make in your own life...

in your own personality...

are assets on the film.

People expect

too much from themselves.

They wanna look great.

We always look for great causes,

for clear answers.

I know it doesn't make any sense,

but that's what you should be doing.

I work hard to have the actors

not be better than they are.

The strange thing is that in this way

they reveal themselves as human beings.

Whatever his method was...

he was always gonna get to

the place that he wanted to get.

But he was going to allow the actors

that thing of...

"This time I'm gonna go left, this time right,

depending on what I get from this guy...

or depending on

the mood I'm in this take. "

- Hey, do you need any help, boss?

- No!

No! No, I don't need any help!

It may have been without changing lines,

or it might have changed the lines a little bit.

There may have been an emphasis.

But you could not lose sight

of that person who was in front of you...

or they were gonna just blow by you-

you were gonna get lost.

That risk was always in the movies.

He let you go.

Ifhe had to bring you back, he did.

You just did that with John.

Somehow,you just opened everything up.

If you didn't do it for yourself,

he would set the scene so it happened.

When he'd take Dorothy home,

Maria's left at the window.

And I couldn't do it.

Whatever it was he wanted,

he wasn't getting...

and so, um...

he quietly walked up to me,

I turned to speak to him.

He slapped me across the face.

And he said,

"Don't you dare cry.

Don't you dare cry. "

And what do you do

when somebody says don't cry?

You try not to cry very hard...

but the hurt and embarrassment-

And it does come across.

He did get that moment.

He'd have been a great

football coach too, you know.

He'd have been a -

These guys would've thrown their bodies

into action for a guy like that.

He had a, you know -

And sometimes you look at his face -

there's almost a Lombardi grin.

You know?

He was - He was a contact guy.

Everybody wanted to be in his class.

It was all terribly mysterious to me.

I'd watch and watch and watch

and finally he said...

"You've got to do a scene.

Do a monologue. Do something. "

So I did this monologue

from Oscar Wilde's Salome.

And they applauded afterwards,

and I said, "Yeah! Okay!"

The next thing that happens

is that he said...

"Well, you know, uh,

there are things you missed. "

"Moi, miss something?"

I said, "Well, what? I mean,

what could I have missed? What was it?"

He said,

"Do the improv with me.

"I'm John the Baptist and you're Salome,

and you want my head.

And do the monologue. "

Well, he was ferocious.

And the more ferocious he got,

the crazier I got.

I was grabbing his hair

and pulling his head and doing lines...

and I was in a rage-in a rage

that this guy insulted my best work.!

It finally was all over with.

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