‘Drinking Buddies’ director thrives on improvisation
Filmmaker Joe Swanberg is the first to admit that not all actors would want to work with him. “I love improvisation and there are some actors who don’t,” he told the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.
Swanberg, whose new comedy “Drinking Buddies” opens Aug. 23 at the Nitehawk Cinema http://www.nitehawkcinema.com/ in Williamsburg, is famous in the movie business for his improvised, low budget films. He works without a script, just a basic outline, and asks his actors to improvise their scenes. It’s a process that some actors thrive on and others shy away from.
“There are actors who like to disappear into a role. And I respect that. With improvisation, you can’t hide. You have to bring a lot of yourself into it,” Swanberg said in a phone interview on Aug. 19.
But for those actors who enjoy the process, it can be artistically rewarding. “It is a different challenge and actors like to challenge themselves,” he said. His philosophy is to come to the set with an outline and nothing more. “I like the idea of setting the wheels in motion and then letting the actors own the characters,” he said.