Directing Tips

This interview had this idea about directing non actors

Just before the shoot, I would read the scene for them so they wouldn't strictly memorize the dialogue.

We had lots of long scenes; some were seven minutes long. [This rehearsal process] makes those scenes even more magical because it creates unrepeatable moments. The actors are living the scene for real at that point, six minutes in. They can’t rationally think about the acting.

In the direction process with the child actor, I said, "Do not talk if you don't believe in what you are going to say. If you don't feel it will be real, just breathe until you do." For me, the best moments in the film are the breaths of this little girl. In some moments, she doesn't say anything because she’s just thinking and concentrating and waiting for the exact moment where she believes what she's about to say.