William H. Macy
William H. Macy
William Hall Macy, Jr.is an American actor, screenwriter, teacher and theater director. His film career has been built mostly on his appearances in small, independent films, though he also appeared in summer action films. Macy has described himself as "sort of a Middle American, WASPy, Lutheran kind of guy... Everyman"...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionMovie Actor
Date of Birth13 March 1950
CityMiami, FL
CountryUnited States of America
I love making movies, I love the differentness of it, I love writing. But I've always liked television. I grew up on television.
Directing is a huge amount of work with very little payoff, and a quarter of the money, and nine times more time spent.
You should know the lines, be prepared, get sleep, and have the script analyzed so you're ready to rock and roll.
Sometimes, directors are afraid to stop shooting, because the second you stop and say, "We got it," and move on, you'll never get another chance. And they're terrified to get in the cutting room and not be happy. So they just keep shooting.
Ultimately, a more experienced director realizes that you've got to stop sometime and just move on. They're braver about that.
You have to do whatever you can to limit the things that could make you feel insecure.
It's hard on an actor when you have to do a scene 45 times and you know damn well that three of the angles a director is shooting will never make it into the movie.
You'd much rather act with a pal, someone you know really well. That way, you can cut all the niceties and go right to insulting each other.
I don't know if it's fair to say that it's a bad time for movies. It seems to me that throughout the entire history of filmmaking, every year there have been about two really wonderful movies, about 10 others that are pretty good, and a whole pile of garbage.
To a certain extent. I'm a fan of rehearsal on the day [of the shoot], more than getting together a week beforehand.
The only reason an indie gets made is because someone has a burning passion to do it and won't take no for an answer, as opposed to a big film, which is like a train that starts rolling down the tracks and nothing can stop it.
A good director is very well prepared, and knows exactly how he's going to cut the film, so the shooting is as efficient as possible.
With an inexperienced director, a lot of times the days go on to 14, 15, 16 hours. It goes horrendously overtime. And because of the lack of money, they just keep you there, regardless of the hours.
The roughest part is showing up. Once you throw yourself into the scene, it's just great fun to let it all go and not be self-conscious, and stop questioning whether you're sufficient.