But maybe that's the point. Maybe wisdom isn't a performance art. When I find myself in the absurd position of sitting in the director's chair, I try to sit quietly. I try to leave the actors alone as much as possible. I try not to burden the atmosphere with a lot of talk.
Talk is cheap.
As Shirley Chisholm said, I am not interested in what people say. What I am interested in is what they do. The use of language to avoid acting is further complicated by the maze of lies we don't identify as lies, hiding our secret fears and insecurities. To me, endless self-involved talk kills impulse. I like to think that as a director I create an atmosphere of trust and, most important, play, in order to ease actors into the scary plunge of acting.