I think I do have a way of predicting - not always accurately - what is a nerve-wracking day for actors, what may be a difficult scene or a difficult moment, how small - and it may be down to one line - a thing maybe that is upsetting or undermining a performance.
It's a lot easier to act when the writing is good. Nothing is more frustrating than trying to figure out 'Well, why did I say this next?'
I think when you're dealing with very tenuous scenes and difficult and heavy subject matter, it's important to be close intimately with your cast as friends, and be able to diffuse a lot of that tension and trust each other with the work.
Sometimes when I do a musical, they'll be a scene that comes up, and I'm like, 'Oh, I hate this scene,' but you get through it.
I've always liked horror films, but I have discovered that shooting for scenes in which you play a spirit is not easy.
The most important thing when you're shooting difficult scenes is that you have a supportive team who will buck you up emotionally.
It's never really fun to have to cry in a scene or anything like that.
Filming is physically and emotionally hard, especially acting in something like this, where we go into the honest feelings of these people. But it's also very exciting because there's an adrenaline that's pumping (through you) when you're doing these scenes.
The romance stuff is easy. A sex scene... that's hard, because you don't know what to do. Those scenes are awkward.
I've played horrible people and done horrible things, and there were moments on 'The Knick' where it was super uncomfortable - some of the things I had to do and say.
Of course, it's always complicated to shoot a sex scene.
