A lesson learned while filming Madame

Improvisation.

Scary - yes. Fun - yes. Rewarding – sometimes... 

I grew up watching Harvey Keitel films and was thrilled to work with him on Amanda Sthers’ wonderful film MADAME. Amanda's one of my favourite directors & a brilliant writer.

What Harvey would sometimes do was this:

He'd play the scene and the lines as is but then at the end of a take, he'd throw in some improvised lines before The Cut.

You had to be ready for it, because if you responded, he'd respond and we’d keep going until The Cut was called.

He called these moments “The Pearls.” 

This is an unthreatening way into improvisation on a set (both for you, other actors and your director). If The Cut’s called, forget it – no sweat – but sometimes, if Camera rolls on, you can find a Pearl or be thrown one to shine.

Here's a clip of an improvised exchange between us. Harvey's first line begins the improvisation and my final line is back to scripted:

harvey-keitel-improvisation-acting

More next time…

Or you can have a read of this post on self-taping. But who is this guy writing this - find out about me.