George Clooney on directing: ‘Forward momentum’ is important

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Whether a director is trying to coax a nuanced emotional performance or a death-defying stunt from an actor, earning their trust is an important part of the job.

Filmmakers George Clooney (‘The Ides of March’), Stephen Daldry (‘Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close’), Martin Scorsese (‘Hugo’), Alexander Payne (‘The Descendants’) and Michel Hazanavicius (‘The Artist’) recently visited the Envelope Directors Roundtable and discussed how crucial trust is on a set and how they establish it.

Clooney, who has worked on both sides of the camera, offered a different perspective. As an actor, he said, he inherently has faith in directors whose work he admires. ‘If I’ve seen movies of yours that I like and think are good,’ he said, ‘then I automatically have a trust.’

One of the challenges Clooney has faced in his transition to directing has been earning that same measure of trust with his own casts. ‘That’s a tricky thing to do,’ he said, but he attempts to do so by keeping things moving, having a point of view and being confident in his choices. ‘If actors smell blood in the water, the first thing they do is sort of take over,’ he said.

Hear more of what Clooney and his peers had to say in the video above, and check back tomorrow for a new video from the roundtable.

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— Oliver Gettell