{"id":10657,"date":"2010-11-08T11:08:08","date_gmt":"2010-11-08T16:08:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.filmbuffonline.com\/FBOLNewsreel\/wordpress\/?p=10657"},"modified":"2018-09-01T09:40:27","modified_gmt":"2018-09-01T13:40:27","slug":"john-august-teaches-jessica-alba-what-a-screenwriter-is","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.filmbuffonline.com\/FBOLNewsreel\/wordpress\/2010\/11\/08\/john-august-teaches-jessica-alba-what-a-screenwriter-is\/","title":{"rendered":"John August Teaches Jessica Alba What A Screenwriter Is"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>When it comes actress Jessica Alba, I think we can all agree that she is not the sharpest tool in the shed. Sure, she’s pretty, but she’s also pretty dumb. Not Megan Fox levels of dumb, but still so dumb it turns out that she recently admitted in an interview with Elle<\/em> magazine that she didn’t know what a screenwriter’s job was. Well, maybe she didn’t say it quite like that, but the gist was there. Don’t worry, though, Big Fish<\/strong> and The Corpse Bride<\/strong> scripter John August has stepped up<\/a> to set Ms. Fox straight.<\/p>\n

I have to believe she was misquoted, or excerpted in some unflattering way, because Jessica Alba couldn\u2019t have actually said this:<\/p>\n

“Good actors, never use the script unless it\u2019s amazing writing. All the good actors I\u2019ve worked with, they all say whatever they want to say.”<\/p>\n

Oh, Jessica. Where to start?<\/p>\n

Scripts aren\u2019t just the dialogue.<\/strong> Screenplays reflect the entire movie in written form, including those moments when you don\u2019t speak.<\/em> Do you know the real reason we hold table readings in pre-production? So the actors will read the entire script at least once.<\/p>\n

Following your logic, you\u2019ve never been in a movie with both good actors and amazing writing.<\/strong> That may be true, but it might hurt the feelings of David Wain, Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re saying your co-stars who delivered their lines as written are not \u201cgood actors.\u201d<\/strong> Awkward.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re setting dangerous expectations.<\/strong> So if an aspiring actor wishes to be \u201cgood,\u201d she should say whatever she wants to say? That\u2019s pretty terrible advice.<\/p>\n

Screenwriters can be your best friends.<\/strong> We are pushovers for attractive people who pay attention to us. I wrote that bathtub scene in Big Fish because Jessica Lange made brief eye contact with me. So if you\u2019re not getting great writing \u2014 and honestly, you\u2019re not \u2014 ask to have lunch with the screenwriter. I\u2019ve seen you on interviews. You\u2019re charming. That charm could work wonders.<\/p>\n

Again: I know that quotes often come out in ways we never intended. It\u2019s lacking context \u2014 though the photos are lovely. (Hi, Carter Smith!) I\u2019m calling this out just so we can all hopefully learn something.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And here endeth the lesson for today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When it comes actress Jessica Alba, I think we can all agree that she is not the sharpest tool in the shed. Sure, she’s pretty, but she’s also pretty dumb. Not Megan Fox levels of [click for more]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[84],"tags":[2173,1217],"series":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-10657","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-news","7":"tag-jessica-alba","8":"tag-john-august"},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t