The term "actor direction" poses a problem in itself. Who directs who and how? The confusion may arise from the English term “director,” which designates the person who directs a production (just as a “movie director” designates a film-maker). It is worth recalling that in Hollywood's early days, the main job of film-makers was to direct actors on the set. In fact, there is actually a job which consists of setting the pace for actors, guiding them, reassuring them, highlighting them, helping them to reach the full potential of their artistic talent for their sakes, and for the film itself.
This book offers fascinating contributions by Olivier Assayas, Patrice Chéreau, Michel Deville, Karim Dridi, Bruno Dumont, and Claude Lelouch, each of whom defends a different vision of film-making. Despite their diverse opinions, they all attest to having the same appreciation of actors. All speak frankly about their experiences and, beyond the anecdotes, describe their relationship with actors, their expectations and their work styles. These are actual lessons on the cinema — not just theories — presented undogmatically. No “method” has all the answers: the most interesting thing to be learned from these “real-life cases” is precisely that each of the latter is linked to the personality of unique films and singular film-makers.