The West Wing's Bradley Whitford Explains Aaron Sorkin's Speedy Dialogue
Actor Bradley Whitford has recently offered a glimpse into what it's like to approach writer Aaron Sorkin's speedy dialogue. Whitford worked closely with Sorkin in his massively successful White House drama, The West Wing. In the series, Whitford portrayed the character of Josh Lyman, for which he was awarded a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2001.
Sorkin is a screenwriter famous for his fast-paced, witty dialogue. The style has led to much success for the writer, including an Academy Award win for penning The Social Network. It's become the norm for any Sorkin piece to be a non-stop battle of verbal wits between all the characters onscreen. While this can be very exciting for an audience, it can often be a lot of work for the actors who have to handle Sorkin's dialogue. Due to this, performers who appear in his works are often asked exactly what it's like to work with Sorkin.
In a recent episode of Variety's "Actors on Actors," Whitford described just what it's like to handle Sorkin's dialogue. While talking to fellow West Wing actor Marlee Matlin, he described how Sorkin writes as if he is "racing just ahead of the audience." Whitford stated that this was part of what made The West Wing "so addictive" and went on to say that the main lesson he took away from Sorkin's signature style was that he had to learn his lines as fast as he could. Sorkin is a notorious perfectionist that insists actors stay on script. According to Whitford, he would have to get the technical aspect of learning his lines out of the way early, so that his performance would not be hindered by the complicated dialogue. See his full quote below:
"You know, it's an interesting thing, because Aaron knows what he's saying, these characters know what they're saying, but Aaron is racing, like, just ahead of the audience. He's remarkably articulate, but he is pulling you. It's crystal and clear, but the mind of the story is racing just ahead of the audience, which is, you know, when it works, part of what makes it so addictive.
It was something that taught me that, uh, just learn your lines as fast as you can. Lines on that, you would not only have to get them memorized, but you would - After I had them memorized I would do endless repetitions of it because you had to get it subconscious, so that technical aspect of the performance was removed and then your blood can flow. If you're just trying to remember complicated lines, you know, you're, like, walking like a llama."
Matlin agreed with Whitford, having struggled herself with Sorkin's specificity on the The West Wing. Matlin is a famously deaf actress and had to use a lot of sign language during her time on the show. According to Matlin, Sorkin would not even allow her to paraphrase in her sign language. In Matlin's mind, it would have been alright, as she thought most viewers wouldn't know sign language. However, Matlin stated that Sorkin's response was that she, "had to be as specific as the script is."
While the specificity and speed of the dialogue may be quite a hurdle for any actor to overcome, Sorkin has certainly proved that he knows exactly what he's doing when he writes. Sorkin has become one of the most successful screenwriters in Hollywood, and in more recent years has even become a relatively successful director as well. His first two directorial efforts (Molly's Game and The Trial of the Chicago 7) have both been Oscar-nominated, and many people think his newest work, Being the Ricardos, is on the same track. It's clear that Sorkin brings passion into every aspect of his work, and despite it being a difficult job for his actors, they seem happy to have worked for him.
Source: Variety (via YouTube)