William H. Macy

Okay.

Okay.

It's our turn. Okay. And this notion of imaginary circumstances, it just... It's always been a good place for me. I really, really like it. Which is not to say I don't get nervous, I do. Which is not to say I don't get frightened, I do. But nerves and fright can sometimes debilitate you and they don't me. It brings me up.

It's our turn. Okay. And this notion of imaginary circumstances, it just... It's always been a good place for me. I really, really like it. Which is not to say I don't get nervous, I do. Which is not to say I don't get frightened, I do. But nerves and fright can sometimes debilitate you and they don't me. It brings me up.

Do you think it has to do with the parts you're playing? Do you know what I mean? They're pretty vulnerable people in general.

Do you think it has to do with the parts you're playing? Do you know what I mean? They're pretty vulnerable people in general.

They're all different kinds. I've certainly played the hapless fellow who gets the shit kicked out of him. But I've played powerful people and I've played funny people and sad people. I've played bold and I've played meek. That doesn't matter. It's the whole notion of putting yourself in the imaginary circumstances and letting it go.

They're all different kinds. I've certainly played the hapless fellow who gets the shit kicked out of him. But I've played powerful people and I've played funny people and sad people. I've played bold and I've played meek. That doesn't matter. It's the whole notion of putting yourself in the imaginary circumstances and letting it go.

My favorite kind of actor is the one that the way I describe it is he or she just doesn't give a shit. Like me, don't like me. Approve of what I'm doing or don't approve. I don't care. This is what I'm going to do. They just don't care. And it makes them bulletproof and it makes them magnificent.

My favorite kind of actor is the one that the way I describe it is he or she just doesn't give a shit. Like me, don't like me. Approve of what I'm doing or don't approve. I don't care. This is what I'm going to do. They just don't care. And it makes them bulletproof and it makes them magnificent.

Did you, okay, so you started, I mean, not started, but a lot of your early stuff was with Mamet, right? Right. He, I've read a bunch of his books. He has a very outside-in approach. to acting right he his it seems to be just appear that you're experiencing the thing that you i need you to experience it's not he doesn't seem to care about process at all

Did you, okay, so you started, I mean, not started, but a lot of your early stuff was with Mamet, right? Right. He, I've read a bunch of his books. He has a very outside-in approach. to acting right he his it seems to be just appear that you're experiencing the thing that you i need you to experience it's not he doesn't seem to care about process at all

No, he does. And he's the smartest guy I've ever met when it comes to technique. Please tell me about that because that wasn't my understanding. I met him at Goddard College, a little hippie school up in Vermont that sadly no longer exists. But there were no rules. No tests, no grades, no nothing. It was the height of the hippie educational movement.

No, he does. And he's the smartest guy I've ever met when it comes to technique. Please tell me about that because that wasn't my understanding. I met him at Goddard College, a little hippie school up in Vermont that sadly no longer exists. But there were no rules. No tests, no grades, no nothing. It was the height of the hippie educational movement.

And Dave had just gone to the neighborhood playhouse for a year, wasn't invited back, came back to Goddard where he had graduated and started teaching essentially the Meisner technique, which is Stanislavski method. And he put his stamp on it. So he's big on technique. But his technique is about... In order, what is the playwright trying to say? What is the task?

And Dave had just gone to the neighborhood playhouse for a year, wasn't invited back, came back to Goddard where he had graduated and started teaching essentially the Meisner technique, which is Stanislavski method. And he put his stamp on it. So he's big on technique. But his technique is about... In order, what is the playwright trying to say? What is the task?

What is your task according to the playwright? And to translate that into something that you can do in real time in front of people and you can succeed at it or fail at it. It's specific and it takes a bit of time to analyze these scripts a la his technique. What you're referring to is that he freed us all up of feeling anything, which is genius. You don't have to believe it.

What is your task according to the playwright? And to translate that into something that you can do in real time in front of people and you can succeed at it or fail at it. It's specific and it takes a bit of time to analyze these scripts a la his technique. What you're referring to is that he freed us all up of feeling anything, which is genius. You don't have to believe it.

And it couldn't matter less because the reality of storytelling is that the audience wants to jump in And they only won't jump in and have an experience if you give them reasons not to. And so put a crown on me and a cloak and put me on a throne and announce me as the king. I'm the king. I don't have to think like a king. I don't have to feel like a king.

And it couldn't matter less because the reality of storytelling is that the audience wants to jump in And they only won't jump in and have an experience if you give them reasons not to. And so put a crown on me and a cloak and put me on a throne and announce me as the king. I'm the king. I don't have to think like a king. I don't have to feel like a king.