Eric Bogosian
The Other Side of the Coin
May 13, 1999.
In my last meditation, I did the piss dance and said lots of jaded, cynical things about the movie business. But if you were to visit my office and look over my shoulder you'd notice an odd thing. About half my work is in some way connected to the movies. How can that be if I hate it so much?
Two reasons. First of all, it pays. Secondly, there is always the slim chance that in spite of the many hurdles, something good can result.
On the other end of the spectrum, far away from the "hurly burly" of the business where nobody knows anything, there are people who work very hard and make good stuff. There are some generalizations about these people and I'd like to share those to balance the sour grapes of my earlier missive.
These are rules also.
People who act or direct or write for the movies, the good ones, do it because they are compelled to. Often they have been doing it since they were young. Often they are confused by the money and attention. Most of the people (especially directors) I've worked with love-love-love movies. Like chess fanatics who play games between games during a tournament, movie freaks watch movies endlessly, they live for it.
It takes a lot of guts to be a great dramatic film actor. When an actor works dramatically on film, they have to give a piece of themselves. Giving that up can range in feeling from discomfort to real emotional pain. Actors who return to that place over and over again (say, John Turturro) are courageous.
Great dramatic actors have terrific focus and concentration. They are not on set to hang out or make friends or make a career move. They are there to work. The best often stay isolated while working, don't mingle and try to stay "in character." Obviously it's hard to do this for sixteen hours at a stretch.
Film work is physically punishing. Actors have to learn to pace themselves and be able, at any time, to go to set and do the thing. Directors and Directors of Photography are on their feet for twelve to sixteen hours a day. They sit in those chairs with the names on the back for about a quarter of their work day. And after they're done shooting, they go look at dailies or edits or locations for the next day's shoot.
Writers must be willing to return to the work over and over again, rewriting persistently. Furthermore they must go through the ego-crushing process of having other writers re-write or watch the director or editor chop the scenes to pieces. It's a kind of zen-Sisyphus thing.
The good people in film are professional. Many drink, a few do drugs, but overall, the business demands an ability to show up and be at your best virtually all the time. Those who do not, do not last.
Most people working in film, including virtually every "dumb" actor I've met are very intelligent. Some of the sharpest intellects out there (Whoopi Goldberg, for example) go out of their way to be "just folks" when in fact their true nature is to be introspective, almost intellectual in their manner.
Although people can get rich and famous in this biz, almost always, things settle down to a normalcy after awhile. People in show business who do not get a satisfaction from their work, leave. Most, most people in this business, who are working, are middle/upper-middle class in their overall average income.
"Deleted." Face the fact, most things don't get made or don't ever get distributed.
It takes an uncanny amount of personal self-insight for anybody creative to know in what direction they should be moving. Mostly it's trial and error, which means there has be a certain persistence. This can be attributed to love of money or fame, but it can also be because the artist has a vision of the work they want to make.
Fellini said "I pull my pants down, everybody looks." The filmmaker or actor is making his or her best effort, then everybody and his uncle judges it. Not just a good effort, a total, defining effort. And then the world applauds or walks away.
You've been working six days, sixteen hours a day straight? That's OK. Keep going. Many people I have worked with in this business are never satisfied with their effort. Perfectionists, self-starters and non-quitters are the mainstay of this business. It's your show.
Although much of film work is surrounded by lavishness (huge trailers, black cars, entourage), in fact, for any normal person, "on location" is a lonely place. For some it is an opportunity to indulge in casual sex or booze or drugs; for some it is the only community they know and they are not lonely on set (I always feel this way about the make-up and hair crew); but for many, myself included, being on location means being away from family and friends.
I like theater because it's transitory and ultimately belongs only to the audience that is there for the show. I like film because it's permanent and can be seen again and again. All of this appeals both to a hunger for glory and the need to make something great.
