Kevin Smith Learns Less Rehearsal Is More

Kevin Smith has always been a self professed "rehearsal Nazi", insisting on at least three weeks of actor/actress prep before cameras roll. But as Smith explains in his latest Blog entry, that he's learned to "lighten up and do more on-set tweaking than anything else." Smith explains his progress, going step by step through his filmography.

"It's weird to work one way for so long, and slowly realize it's not necessary anymore; that it was just something you did when you didn't know any better. I hired pros; aside from on-set tweaking and an extra take or two, they don't need to be broken like wild horses or worked like puppets. Those days are behind me now. Now I spend more time thinking about/working on what the flick's gonna look like – which, I guess, should be the primary job of the director."

It basically seems to me that the rehearsals began to shrink as the level of professional talent began to grow. But on to his next film – Zack and Miri Make a Porno. Smith held two days of rehearsals (one of which was actually more of a read-through than anything else).

"I've got a guy [Seth Rogen] whose inflections I wrote for/to reading the scenes and sounding like he's not acting at all, as much as being the character. I've got a chick who could read the Bible aloud and make it seem charming. They're naturals. They're excellent. There's no need to sweat inflection or do drills; they innately get what they're reading and say it like I heard it in my head when I wrote it. And while they're not off-book yet, I've learned a thing or two about actors and their lines-memorization abilities since that "Chasing Amy" rehearsal back in '96; I'm not sweating that kinda thing anymore."

The only other interesting bit worth noting:

"Purcell (the man behind Mooby) has created another stellar corporate logo for our fake world (as well as a few not-so-corporate logos, and a brilliantly simple chair-back design)."

Principal photography on Zack and Miri Make a Porno begins next Monday.