www.hollywoodreporter.com: Jennifer Lawrence opened up about one of the differences between working with female directors and male directors, revealing that she believes women directors don’t “overdirect” like men do.
During a recent post-screening Q&A for Die My Love, Lawrence reflected on working with director Lynne Ramsay on her new film and explained how the experience was different than working with a male director.
9 comments:
I really do appreciate Jennifer Lawrence speaking up and discussing a topic like this. Though I have often had a lot of similar thoughts to this one, and more so what she is describing, I think that the term overdirecting describes this perfectly. Especially with the description of the performance Lawrence had to give in the movie, I can already imagine the interactions between actresses and male directors in my head. Another thing that I love about this article is highlighting Ramsay as a director, and the traits that make her a great director. It also highlights her skills on set and her value as a director, being known for something more than the fact that she is simply a female director, and that's what makes her different. As a female who has directed before, there is a very positive viability I feel now that this conversation is out there and being had.
I think this distinction is very interesting and I’m not exactly sure why it happens. But I do agree that when working with male directors and managers, they tend to leave less room for collaboration and “overdirect” in the way Jennifer Lawrence is speaking of. I think theres definitely different styles of directing and each director is different, and sometimes different productions require different styles of leadership, but I tend to notice that directors who leave more room for the actors/designers to collaborate with each other and let the show evolve through trust often have better results in the show they’re directing. This also goes to show that supporting female directors is very important because that is how we get a diversity of leadership styles and a diversity of artistic elements in media. This article makes me think of interviews that were done with the actors in Greta Gerwig’s Little Women, where they expressed similar experiences to Jennifer Lawrence in working with a female director on a majority-female show.
I find the point that Jennifer Lawrence makes here very fascinating and a really important conversation to be having. I've definitely notices the diffrent directing styles of people I've worked with, and I find it really interesting how people differ. I love when directors have a vision and ideas, but then do give actors and designers room to be creative. Obviously sometimes then they do need to give more direction, but it feels more collaborative, genuine and it means each person is more involved and invested and can have ideas that build upon each other. The shows I've worked on that I've enjoyed the most are the ones that have a majority female creative team and cast, I think it's just a more pleasant environment especially as someone who is female presenting. Not that all male directors and creatives aren't good people to work with, but I often have faced more pushback and condescending behavior from them.
I think this a very very fair observation and shared experience among most individuals! I agree that this is common amongst male directors and most definitely male directors that work on high production films and pieces. A big part of being a successful director is by networking and selling yourself. Not just your craft or your portfolio. Which creates a cause and effect situation where male directors are just really into themselves, and a little bit self obsessed. It's really important to let your actors feel what they are feeling, and to give them the space to make unprompted decisions. This allows a piece to feel more genuine and vulnerable. Female directors also experience a lot more criticism, and don't get things handed to them as easily through networking compared to male directors, which creates an atmosphere that is a lot more weary of how everyone in the space is feeling and working. Which is a crucial aspect of directing. Overall, women just have more empathy which creates a safer and more genuine world.
I appreciate that Jennifer Lawrence speaks what she feels. I almost wonder if there is some sort of social or biological component that makes it feel like men overdirect while women build a world and let things run then give notes to correct or continue. Is it that the role director makes some people feel like they have to micromanage and be overly involved or it won’t be their work? When really the job isn’t to micromanage the small things, but to make sure the overall piece is cohesive and works together. Freedom with boundaries and clear communication allows for things to grow organically and freely, whereas being married to ideas or stuck in the details bogs down the process and makes it feel exactly like that just another process. Each director has their own process, and I think Ramsay’s process is an interesting approach that gets the entire team on the same page quickly and allows trust to flourish. It resembles what happened with Friends years ago where the director took the core cast members on a week long trip, so that they could actually become friends off screen and it reflected onscreen that the work had happened.
I think that this is quite interesting in the fact that I think it would be cool to sit down and watch side by side films that have directors “over direct” and the ones who don't. In a way I wonder if the ones that don't will have more of a free feeling. I think allowing actors to really interpret their characters and give their own “flavor” to them can lead to really good films. I like to think of Heath Ledger's performance as the Joker. This was an actor that no one thought would be fit for the role and he went and put his own twist on it. He is now the most well known joker of all time. I also could imagine that as an actor it could be difficult working with a director who is very anal about things. In another sense it could be good because you would have a person their guiding you. I think their also is a burden on an actor of making sure that they have the right idea of their characters.
This is lucca by the way
I think shes definately on to something here. Theres a standard that most men hold people to in that when they are given control they are soicetly trained to see it as their right and to take advantage of that, using actors more as dolls more than actors. I think as women theres a lot more internal conflict we face when weilding power. If you make a desicion that is fueled by emotion you risk being "illogical and hysterical." If you're too comanding you aren't self assured, you're a bossy pain to work with. A lot of the times this has turned into us getting good at slight direction and hoping that the natural instincts of the actor will be whats needed. We are just under very different microscopes and I'm glad Lawrence brought it up.
As a female technical theater student who plans on moving into directing in the future, I am often curious about the difference between male and female directors. Male directors are more often hired, but when I hear about life-changing directors, they are mostly women. I like what Jenifer Larwarnce talks about, how male directors tend to overdirect and how female directors tend to direct in a way that leads the actors' emotions and acting choices to come from them and their artistry. I think it is interesting how they describe working with a male director as controlling and neurotic, and how it gets to a point where they just want to be in charge and have to feel like they are in control the whole time, and how it feels like it isn't about the art anymore. While her experience with a female director led her to feel like everyone was welcome to add their artistry, and it wasn’t about who was in charge, but it was about all these artists coming together to create the best work they could.
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