John Travolta Interview
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JoeUser Forums
Inside the Actors’ Studio is an hour-long show that is filmed in a university auditorium. Actors who are down-to-earth, articulate, insightful, and extremely interesting to listen to and learn from, are interviewed. I’ve enjoyed stumbling upon interviews of J. Lo, Drew Barrymore, and Kate Winslet (a goofy gal, she seems to be a little insecure, but her depth & expertise always shine through when she’s at her craft).
Yesterday my husband was watching a John Travolta interview. This guy is deep. A bunch of things stand out in my mind from that interview; here’s one of them:
Question from audience member: “Where do you find inspiration to bring a character to life when your creative well is dry?”
Mr. Travolta approached the answer from a profoundly insightful angle; adapting it to every-day life, that we can all associate with. He said something like,
“There was a time I was in a taxi cab. I became bored, as I was stuck in this cab with no one but the driver. I usually love having conversations with people, but in this situation I felt at a loss, and nearly succumbed to boredom. Until I decided to give the driver a chance. ‘So, where are you from?’ I asked him. (Cab driver responds, and I say,) ‘Oh, yeah?’ that’s fascinating because…’ and our conversation went from there. And by the end of the ride, that cab driver & I were best friends. You see, if you just give people a chance, life is full of fascination, and EVERY person is interesting at some level.
“So approaching a new character, we as actors are given complete creative ability to bring the character to life. Often it takes some studying, some empathizing, some work at walking in their shoes before the character begins to take shape. I remember asking [a certain director], ‘What do you want me to do? Where should I take this character?’ And his answer was, “I’m paying you to be an artist. You do the work.” To which I responded (he straightens up and smiles brightly), “Oh, yeah? Cool!” and I took over and brought the character to life.”
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Yesterday my husband was watching a John Travolta interview. This guy is deep. A bunch of things stand out in my mind from that interview; here’s one of them:
Question from audience member: “Where do you find inspiration to bring a character to life when your creative well is dry?”
Mr. Travolta approached the answer from a profoundly insightful angle; adapting it to every-day life, that we can all associate with. He said something like,
“There was a time I was in a taxi cab. I became bored, as I was stuck in this cab with no one but the driver. I usually love having conversations with people, but in this situation I felt at a loss, and nearly succumbed to boredom. Until I decided to give the driver a chance. ‘So, where are you from?’ I asked him. (Cab driver responds, and I say,) ‘Oh, yeah?’ that’s fascinating because…’ and our conversation went from there. And by the end of the ride, that cab driver & I were best friends. You see, if you just give people a chance, life is full of fascination, and EVERY person is interesting at some level.
“So approaching a new character, we as actors are given complete creative ability to bring the character to life. Often it takes some studying, some empathizing, some work at walking in their shoes before the character begins to take shape. I remember asking [a certain director], ‘What do you want me to do? Where should I take this character?’ And his answer was, “I’m paying you to be an artist. You do the work.” To which I responded (he straightens up and smiles brightly), “Oh, yeah? Cool!” and I took over and brought the character to life.”