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I once heard David O. Russell tell a story about putting together AMERICAN HUSTLE that really stuck with me... https://twitter.com/ScriptsByJames/status/1281993715070963712
Even before he had a script he had too many a-list stars who wanted to be in the movie and not enough parts for them. (Quelle horreur!) So there was a moment with a little bit of musical chairs over who-can-play what.
This is in the middle of post-production on SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK. After a long & exhausting day in the edit, Russell heads over to Jeremy Renner’s house to try to convince him to play the part of the Mayor.
At this point, Russell’s so deep into SILVER LININGS, not only did he not have a script, he wasn’t really sure what role the Mayor would play in the movie, just that he was going to be a part of it.
He gets to Renner’s house, starts out saying “Let me tell you why the Mayor is the most important character in this movie…” and he basically has no idea what’s going to come out of his mouth next.
CUT TO an hour later, and Russell leaves Renner’s house having convinced HIMSELF that the Mayor is the heart of the entire thing. (Which he totally is!)
So Russell’s lesson in all this: Any character you have, if you can’t picture yourself in Jeremy Renner's (or some comparable actor's) living room telling them why they JUST HAVE to do the part, you really don’t have a good character yet.
