Actors' reaction to different directors

I love the work that I do but there are days, like today, where I hate everything and everybody, lol.
 
nancy

and how many times have we all gone into work tired,or cranky,or just not "into it" or even said "i hate my job".

My favorite work of Joan Bennett was during the 1897 timeline.  I really loved her work there.

I agree. I LOOOOOOVE Judith!!

Did Joan Bennett ever express dissatisfaction with all the strange supernatural content of DS, as all that intensified, perhaps going over the top sometimes?   And did she see DS as a big step downward after having been a screen star?   From childhood on, I got that impression of JB, but I could have just been misareading her reserve.

From what I can gather from the tone of her interviews, JB may not have loved the show, but she didn't dislike it. I think she relished the movie more than the show, since that was more her bag.

From what I recall of a Mike Douglas Show interview with Joan, she came across as rather excited about the show as she mentioned vampires, ghosts, and werewolves. But I imagine Joan was much too gracious a woman to say otherwise for the TV cameras. I mean she was obviously there to promote the show and I doubt she would bite the hand that fed her. I know of a DS fan private interview Joan gave in her latter years and I imagine she was a bit more upfront about her feelings. I've never heard or seen it (that I can recall, anyway) but I know of some here that have and if we are lucky, maybe they will expound.

I wonder if anyone else has ever noticed how nervous and off-key Joan Bennett seems to act whenever Dan Curtis is directing?

I'll hazard a guess that differences you're noting in Joan's performances are more likely due to her impatience with his inexperience and inefficiency.  It's quite apparent in biographies about her that she was extremely organized and efficient (both privately and professionally), whereas Curtis' resume' as a director was seriously lacking.  And quite honestly, I can't say I've found her performance to be "off" under his direction; i.e., I thought she was quite good in the scenes leading directly to Naomi's [spoiler]heartbreaking suicide.[/spoiler]

She has admitted to her own nervousness, which had more to do with poor vision and the pace of a daytime serial.

I think she relished the movie more than the show, since that was more her bag.

Though her part in HoDS wasn't all that big, and it meant working entirely under DC's direction (see above post ).  It was during the filming that we got the well-known anecdote, "Aren't you Joan Bennett?"  "I used to be."

I'm sorry, I should've chosen my words better. What I meant was nervous, especially the first ones that he directed. It was like the boss coming to check on the workers.

I really like Dan's directing, especially the camera angles used. I have a lot of respect for him.

For the actors to whom this was their first or second job, I can understand their being nervous when the person who presumably hired them came back to direct some episodes.

As for people like Joan Bennett, I doubt very much she was nervous because DC was her boss and now directing.  She had worked with some of the best and most talented film directors in film history.  Dan Curtis, at that point in his career, was no where near being viewed as a great director.

Nancy

A very interesting topic.  I'm sure the directors had different temperments and actors had their favorites. If Lela Swift wanted the actors to project "big", certain actors found that appealing. Dark Shadows was larger than life and a certain amount of theatricality was fine, but overdoing it, as Grayson Hall sometimes did, didn't work for me. 

As far as Joan Bennet goes, I agree with the general consensus that once BC came on board, and after the Jason storyline, her importance on the show diminished. More time was spent on the supernatural elements (and special effects) and she, as well as a few others, became props. The balance went in favor of those elements that were popular. Once we had time traveling vampires, ghosts, witches and werewolves, it was hard  to get into a meaty domestic situation.

Frid certainly was overworked with the show and promotional work and it showed at times. When he was good, he was very good (as Mae West used to say!).