From a section of a Bryan Cox interview: http://www.avclub.com/content/feature/random_roles_brian_cox
X2 (2003)"William Stryker"
BC: Bryan Singer's sense of narrative is second to none. He's a brilliant narrative director. But it was a bit of a roller-coaster ride with him. These big blockbusters, they do take it out of a director, they really do. The stress factor is unbelievable. What I most remember is one time we didn't shoot. I came back in from Venice, Italy. I'd started filming in, like, June, and we went through to November, but I had this section in September where I was supposed to be off. And then I got a call, "Oh, you've got to fly in." They give you 24 hours to get on the plane. I waved goodbye to my wife and son, and I'm off. Venice to Vancouver. And then I got there for a scene where I've captured Pat Stewart, and I bring out my son, the boy in the wheelchair. We started doing the scene, and first of all, Bryan didn't like my costume. So the wardrobe department went off and changed my costume, then we came back and started shooting. And the actor who was playing my right-hand-man, my heavy, he wasn't on the call sheet. Bryan said, "Well, get him, find him." And so we went back to the dressing room while this actor was found and brought to the set.
So we've been sitting there since 10 o'clock in the morning, and it's now 6:30 in the evening. I get on the set, and we start doing the scene. And Bryan comes up to me and says, "You know, I don't think you're quite You're not really having an easy time with this scene." I said, "Well, you know, Bryan, it's been a difficult day. I flew in from Venice to do this scene, I knew this scene, but I haven't been able to get going. I just need two or three tries to go through it." He said, "Well, maybe we should do it tomorrow." And I said, "No, no, Bryan, I'm happy I'm here now. But we haven't shot anything all day, so you can't be too pleased." "No, I think we should wait for it." "No, Bryan, I'm very happy to " "No, no, it's a wrap!" And he wrapped the whole day's shoot. [Laughs.]
And everybody was kind of startled by this. But the truth of the matter was that it was his first day on a new set. And Bryan always used to slightly freak out on his first day on a new set. Well, not "freak out," but he had to get the measure of it. He always made up the time, and in fact, he was well under schedule by the end of the film. But the producers of course went nuts, seeing dollar signs and wasted money for the day. I could see Bryan all day, taking the set in and thinking, "How am I going to shoot on this?" The storyboarding is different from actually getting there on the day, and really understanding how it isespecially on those sets, which were so enormous. He cracked it, though, and after that, it was just plain sailing. A really interesting guy. A very talented director.
X2 (2003)"William Stryker"
BC: Bryan Singer's sense of narrative is second to none. He's a brilliant narrative director. But it was a bit of a roller-coaster ride with him. These big blockbusters, they do take it out of a director, they really do. The stress factor is unbelievable. What I most remember is one time we didn't shoot. I came back in from Venice, Italy. I'd started filming in, like, June, and we went through to November, but I had this section in September where I was supposed to be off. And then I got a call, "Oh, you've got to fly in." They give you 24 hours to get on the plane. I waved goodbye to my wife and son, and I'm off. Venice to Vancouver. And then I got there for a scene where I've captured Pat Stewart, and I bring out my son, the boy in the wheelchair. We started doing the scene, and first of all, Bryan didn't like my costume. So the wardrobe department went off and changed my costume, then we came back and started shooting. And the actor who was playing my right-hand-man, my heavy, he wasn't on the call sheet. Bryan said, "Well, get him, find him." And so we went back to the dressing room while this actor was found and brought to the set.
So we've been sitting there since 10 o'clock in the morning, and it's now 6:30 in the evening. I get on the set, and we start doing the scene. And Bryan comes up to me and says, "You know, I don't think you're quite You're not really having an easy time with this scene." I said, "Well, you know, Bryan, it's been a difficult day. I flew in from Venice to do this scene, I knew this scene, but I haven't been able to get going. I just need two or three tries to go through it." He said, "Well, maybe we should do it tomorrow." And I said, "No, no, Bryan, I'm happy I'm here now. But we haven't shot anything all day, so you can't be too pleased." "No, I think we should wait for it." "No, Bryan, I'm very happy to " "No, no, it's a wrap!" And he wrapped the whole day's shoot. [Laughs.]
And everybody was kind of startled by this. But the truth of the matter was that it was his first day on a new set. And Bryan always used to slightly freak out on his first day on a new set. Well, not "freak out," but he had to get the measure of it. He always made up the time, and in fact, he was well under schedule by the end of the film. But the producers of course went nuts, seeing dollar signs and wasted money for the day. I could see Bryan all day, taking the set in and thinking, "How am I going to shoot on this?" The storyboarding is different from actually getting there on the day, and really understanding how it isespecially on those sets, which were so enormous. He cracked it, though, and after that, it was just plain sailing. A really interesting guy. A very talented director.
I think you just described every director and studio relationship that's ever existed.
I would much rather a director be like this than otherwise, and these are the directors that consistently produce quality products.![[A]](https://superherohype-data.community.forum/avatars/l/70/70800.jpg?1270390582){kind=avatar}
