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The Actor's Director
Any individual in any vocation brings their own style and flair to their job. No two lawyers, plumbers, or film producers do their jobs in identical ways. The lucky ones leave their mark, and even raise the bar.
This is particularly true in creative professions, where an individual is judged on the marketability of their uniqueness; some intangible that sets them apart.
The job, or privilege, of directing a film is as much a position of management as it is one of art. A director is at the epicenter of a collection of other professionals, each with their own specialized skill set, trying to do right by the film. Directors, in a sense, by virtue of the fact that they have a responsibility to make the best film possible, have a responsibility to every single person who shares in their vision.
Ideally, a director and his or her producers will surround themselves with good people so that the director can concentrate on their movie with full confidence that the little things are being attended to properly.
To be sure, Pete was surrounded by good people who had his best interests in mind. Despite some miscues on-set, the chains were loosened for Pete to find his own directorial style. And before the ink is even dry on his résumé, the argument can be made that Pete is a consummate actor's director.
Remember, for a number of years before Pete hit the Hollywood jackpot, he was selling health insurance in Chicago. One skill Pete brought with him to the set was his knack for getting along with people. There is little to dispute that Pete Jones is, in the purest sense, a people person. The ability to get along with different personalities is part instinct, part conscious effort, and Pete's good will trickled down on his Chicago set.
But perhaps where it paid off in spades was with his talented cast. It was a charming and clever script that piqued the interest of his leads, but it was Pete Jones who closed the deal.
"I liked Pete from the first minute I met him in New York," admits Aidan Quinn who plays the Irish-Catholic patriarch "Joe O'Malley." "I took to his sense of humor and his sense of play instantly. And he was smart. The first thing any writer/director needs to do is write a great part, which Pete did."
So a shoeshine and a smile may get the likes of Aidan Quinn, Kevin Pollak, and Bonnie Hunt to your set, but then what? After all, Pete had never directed actors before, let alone seasoned professionals.
Admittedly, Pete did not have a master plan. "First, I told my actors who these characters were in my mind. I knew who I thought they were, but then our conversations became a dialogue."
With a talent pool consisting of the likes of Quinn, Pollak, and Hunt, Pete was in good hands. "I am not an actor or an acting coach, and I knew that my actors did not need me to tell them how to deliver a line. You would never see me speak a line to an actor, and say 'try it that way.'"
Sure, Pete had ideas about how the emotion of a line or a scene may play out, and he would tee that up for his talent. Pete explains, "I knew the script better than anyone, and I could tell Aidan before a take, 'this is where Joe is at his most angry, or most emotional.' And then I let Aidan do the rest."
A good lesson for any director, and one Pete seemed to know naturally, is 'trust your talent.' Once Pete would get his take, he would likely let his actors do it their way. "I would always let them improvise, say a line their way, and some of the best moments in the film are credited to my actors, because some of it was never in the script."
Aidan agrees. "Pete was not precious about the written word. It was always a collaborative process, and that is something an actor always appreciates."
Critics and audiences are singing praises about the performances of "Stolen Summer," and there is no question that it begins at the top.
But will Aidan Quinn ever work with young Pete Jones again? "I told Pete he has to hire me again, or I will kill him."
Pete would be wise not to take any chances.
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