Excerpts from Sigourney Weaver's remarks at the "Inside the Actors Studio" television program
James Lipton: - l'm going to conclude with one of,
I think, your most riveting performances, and that is the vengeful torture victim
in "Death and the Maiden". This is another film that you initially
turned down, didn't you? Why?
Sigourney Weaver: - I just didn't want to go to France for 4 months,
and my daughter was small, and she was just entering school, and 1 think I was
probably also scared because I thought - "What do I know about what this
woman's been through, in terms of being put in prison and molested and tortured
in prison?" So it was a big journey, and I think, originally, when he came
to me, I was not ready to
James Lipton:- He?
Sigourney Weaver: - Roman Polanski - a great director. But the second
time, because my husbandhe said, "Oh you got to do this." - and so
I decided I should dojt.
James Lipton: - What was your experience with Roman Polanski, as a director?
Sigourney Weaver: - What was wonderful about him was that he really has
the courage not to - he doesn't story board, or any of that stuff. He wants
to see what the actors do each morning - and we were working in order of that
long night between these 3 people. He would see what we came up with in rehearsal,
and then he would actually plan the shots around what we did.
James Lipton: - How did you approach that role of Paulina?
Sigourney Weaver: - Roman said, basically without saying this - "1
don't have time to work that specifically with you on the part" - so he
said - "There's this great guy - l've worked with him - Jack Waltzer.
He'll do some work with you, that will help you do the part." - and so,
while we were making the film, I started to work with Jack, who
James Lipton: - In Paris?
Sigourney Weaver: - In Paris. We just - it's hard to sum up quickly,
the kind of work he does. But, basically, having worked with the 3 greats -
Sandy Meisner, Lee Strasberg, and Stella Adler - basically, he works with you
to find the essence of whatever the character is experiencing, in each scene,
or as a whole - to find an essence within yourself, that is like a kernel of
that - and it's a very powerful way of working. Ifs very visceral. You stay
out of your head completely. And everything that you do - for instance - you
do actually figure out what your actions are, but you do it by experiencing
it almost physically, before you then translate it into words. My theory, actually
about acting - one of the great things about acting, is that all actors can
depend upon - regardless of where you are in your studies - is that the body
never knows you're acting. If you keep your body loose - this is not Jack
- this is actually me, but you keep your body really loose - that when you play
a scene, especially for the first or second time, your body does not know ifs
acting - if there are things going on physically - if there are things you hear,
or see, or smell, or taste - whatever - your body thinks ifs the real thing
- thinks ifs life, and you can absolutely trust it to take you in the right
directions. I think a lot of what I was working on with Jack was getting
to the point where I could absolutely not know what was going to happen, but
be totally prepared, in a very specific way, with that character's - with everything
I need to know about that character, so whatever Roman would ask me to do, I
could do. I made a lot of mistakes working on that film, because this is the
first time l'd tried this out - but they were ali mistakes I could learn from.
James Lipton: - (To audience) Please join me in thanking our "perfect
contemporary heroine". Thank you, Sigourney.