Director Oliver Stone believes actors are like lawyers in that they should be thinking, feeling and questioning their roles. One actor that does it well is Blake Lively who he compared to Meryl Streep.
Oliver Stone has directed every major Hollywood actor from Angelina Jolie, Colin Farrell, Anthony Hopkins, Tom Cruise, Nicolas Cage, and most recently "Gossip Girl" Blake Lively in his big screen adaptation of SAVAGES. While most novice actors will be tempted to solely follow his direction, the Academy Award-winning director wants his actors to be their own "advocates" for their roles. Blake Lively, according to the SAVAGES director, was the "most aggressive in terms of questioning everything in the script" for her character of O. Blake fought to create her character with "heart and hope" rather than the punk rock rebellion as written in the novel. Blake Lively during an interview promoting SAVAGES said Stone " wants you to fight with him."
In a recent interview with the prolific auteur for his film SAVAGES, CineMovie relayed to Stone the comment made by Lively, which he found surprising.
"I'm glad she thinks I did like it. Probably because I was smiling. No, I think it's good. Every actor is the best advocate for his own... is a lawyer for his own self-defense. A good actor will be thinking, feeling, questioning. Blake was one of them."Stone went on to say Lively brought an "elegance" and "sophistication" to the O character that was missing in the book by Don Winslow. He tells CineMovie the 25-year-old's acting method reminds him of Meryl Streep. "She has a concept of script," he says. Although Stone and Streep have never worked together, the Wall Street director knew Streep when she was starting out. Lively's smarts and looks brought back memories of the young Streep. Given those shared qualities with Streep, Stone says Lively could "go all the way" and have Streep's career. "She's got the chops."
Stone's other SAVAGES leading lady Salma Hayek called the director "generous" and "welcoming" of her input into her villainous role as Elena. She quite enjoyed the team work with the director, but she did warn that if an actor doesn't contribute in shaping a character -- you're in trouble. "He will not like you if you didn't have something to give."
For the next generation of actors, that is good advise for anyone dreaming of working with the 66-year-old filmmaker. SAVAGES is currently playing in movie theaters.
