Keep it Interesting
Actor story #1: Early in the filming of Stanley Kubrick's 1980 horror classic The Shining , Kubrick stops star Jack Nicholson in the middle of a scene, saying "No, this isn't working." "What do you mean?" says Nicholson. "You said you wanted it to be realistic." "Well...yes. But it isn't interesting." Nicholson made it interesting! Actor story #2: From Alan Arkin's wonderful autobiography An Improvised Life . Arkin relates how early his acting career he hit a wall. Nothing was working. He gets an offer out of the blue to join Second City in Chicago and decides to go, feeling he'd failed as an actor. Two years later he's back in New York and again submitting for roles. Only this time he thinks to himself, To heck with this! I'm tired of trying to figure out what casting wants. I'm just going to give them the most interesting version of me. Take it or leave it. And he starts booking roles. I've been thinkin...