UCLA directing professor Brian Kite explains how he teaches students to inspire actors rather than follow a rigid formula. He shares a story from working with director Daniel Sullivan about how vision evolves through patient guidance, and why different actors need different kinds of direction.
And let's talk about now, Brian, the instructor at UCLA, the professor.
Professor Kite.
What was that like the very first time you—
someone called me professor.
Yeah, you donned the bow tie and the patches.
Yeah, I put the patch on my pipe. Well, it was strange. You know, at UCLA they don't— they try to hire the best people they can hire, and then they say, all right, go ahead. So it was strange for me when they said, okay, what textbooks are you going to need for your course? You know, here's your course you're going to teach. What textbooks do you want? Uh, what? You're not gonna tell me? I don't know. Hold on, let me get back to you on that. Then I gotta frantically research textbooks and figure out what textbook I want. Um, but they don't tell you what to teach. They just hope that they've hired the best people that are making a difference. And that's good, especially for directing, because directing, you can't just teach a general process. Every director is unique, and I'm trying to make them be the best director that they can be. Yes, there are certain tools that they have to have, but I don't just want to make another director that already exists. I want to try to encourage someone to be the next director who's doing something I've never thought of, who's creating something that's totally fresh and new. And sometimes when I see things in my classes, before I try to match them up to the, the lessons I've learned and say, no, that's wrong, I stop and think, maybe that's really right in a way I've never thought of before. And sometimes students do surprise me like that. So it was strange, and I always tell students, you know, call me Brian, and some of them say, okay, Professor Kite, like they— some just can't. But this is me. It sounds funny when they say it to me still. Professor Kite, is that me? Um, so it's great. I love it. Being forced to say it out loud definitely makes me a better director. I just have to say it. I have to say what's wrong or what's working and what's right in that moment and how it can be better.
And as you said, it's a difficult thing to teach somebody to convey that. What are some of the tips that you give somebody who's really just struggling at connecting with, say, an actor? The communication is just broken down.
You know, I try to say early on to my directors that directing— one of the major parts of directing is inspiring the artists around you to do their very best work. Actually, most people don't have any idea what directing is, period. Often theater people who are, or people who've worked for a long time, they say, really, what does a director do? I was like, it depends on what directors they've worked with. But people who are not theater people, they really, it's hard to know what a director does. But working with an actor who's having trouble, first of all, you can never give up. Directors lie in their beds at night and stare at the ceiling saying, how am I gonna make that moment work? How do I get this actor where they need to be? But first acknowledging that that's an artist over there is helpful, right? These are two artists coming together to create that moment. So once you kind of get that there, then it's guiding it and keeping your mind open to what they're doing. Maybe there's something to the moment that's more true in the way they're handling it. But if you don't believe it or it doesn't serve what you want from the whole play, then you're going to have to convince them why. You know, I worked with Daniel Sullivan as his assistant once, great director, and then on the first day of rehearsal, he kind of told me, oh, I think this is kind of how I want this character to be played, and then I watched in the rehearsal process and the actor was doing nothing like that. I was, you know, like, what are you doing? And he was kind of like, it's not a race. I mean, I know where the finish line is. I guess that is a race then. I know where the finish line is, but we're just in the beginning. And I swear I never saw Dan do much of anything. Once in a while he would walk up and maybe say something to the actor or say something to another actor about the way they were approaching that scene. And I swear by the end of our rehearsal period, it was exactly how he said it was going to be on day one. So sometimes it's subtle, and every actor is different. You have to figure out how does this actor work? Is it about giving notes in front of everybody so that Are they responsible for implementing those notes? Public shaming? I don't think that's a good idea, but sometimes that's what it takes. Or is it about quiet notes and separate talks and getting them to go differently? It's about their process and figuring it out, but never give up. Keep with them. They're an artist too, and together hopefully you can make it work. And eventually when you can't, you just beg the producer to fire them.
Which is you now sometimes when you're at—
So it makes it really easy sometimes. No, I don't think I've ever fired an actor for not getting there, so that's good.
