In Praise of Sam Ward

Keep your hands on the wheel Sam!

Quite early on in the shoot, I was travelling back in the car with Sam
and he said that he thought all of his acting was crap – so long as the
director liked his worked he was OK, but he still didn’t think much of
his ability.  Once people have see his work in "I've Seen Angels", they'll
agree that his acting is tremendous, and that he is an outstanding young
talent whose at home on the screen.
Sam's already had a bit of acting experience, appearing in BBC Wales's short
"Edna's Bench" as part of the It's My Shout training scheme.  In
"I've Seen Angels"the acting challenges are more extensive and demanding,
and certainly involved a lot more work.  Sam is a highly intelligent actor -
he thinks a lot about what he's going to do - he'll talk and discuss his role,
backstory and subtext at length - but there's always a danger that this
intellectual process will get in the way of the simple truth of the work.

Sometimes this is difficult, very difficult.  It can be something as simple as
lying down and just breathing, or it can be as challenging as a passionate
love scene.  To the untrained mind this sounds wonderful, a beautiful
young woman seducing you.  Not so much fun when there's a room full of people
watching you and scrutinizing your every move, look and gesture.
Here is the crux of this sometimes painful, often frustrating but
ultimately exciting working relationship: the director is the viewer,
the actor the viewed.  The actor is exposed, vulnerable.  The success
of his contribution hinges on his ability and willingness to allow himself
to be viewed without being able to view himself.  This means he must surrender
completely to his feelings, impulses and simple choices without knowing if
they're working or not.  He depends on the director to stand in for the
audience and to tell him whether his efforts succeed; he cannot evaluate his
own performance.  His central paradox is that this dependence frees him.

Sam intuitively understands this paradox - it's why he is such a sensitive and
intuitive young actor.  Sam is such fun to work with.  He is a kindred spirit.  It was such a joy to see him watch a reasonably finished rough cut of the film recently and for him
to see his work in all its power, detail and honesty - hopefully for him to realise
that his work is outstanding and certainly not 'crap'.