Shawnee Smith reprises her role as Jigsaw's protegee in the third film of the Saw movie franchise, Saw III. The Saw movies have become a Halloween tradition and actress Smith says she's happy to be one of the crucial members of the Saw family.
The Evolution of Amanda: Smith had no idea her character from the original Saw film would go on to be the central character in two sequels. “Not at all. There seems to be a kind of force, like in the sense of ‘may the force be with you’, there's like a force behind this - I hate to say ‘franchise’ because then it kind of puts these connotations on it. We'll go big and say this philosophy, this Saw philosophy, right? But it's kind of got like this force of its own. I mean, I haven't seen part three yet, but the bits that I've seen edited, and what I know we filmed, it was as if there was this.. It was all meticulously laid out and planned, and all these threads were like purposefully woven into this rich fabric. This character [has an arc] which is so hilarious because for years I did Becker, but it was a joke that I never had an arc (laughing). And it totally snuck up on me that I have this arc that just has kind of no beginning. Somehow it all connects in a meaningful way.”
The Approach to Saw III and Working with Tobin Bell: ”It was funny, like I'm a pretty intuitive actor. I'll meticulously search for truth. (Laughing) And Tobin's like a whole other level, right? I'll never work the same after working with him. He raised the bar. Acting is a tennis match so the better your opponent, the better you're going to be. If I was a superstar and could choose my cast, I would always choose people who were better than me, because then you rise to [their level]. .And Tobin is incredibly industrious. He's instinctual, but he's also very meticulous mentally about it.
There were a lot of things in Saw II, choices that I made, that were just kind of intuitive. I didn't really think about them a lot. And after doing Saw III, I watched Saw II again and it was really kind of freaky. You know, like choices that I made just kind of on an intuitive level made sense. Maybe it's that ‘force’ thing. Or luck. Who knows?”
Releasing the Tension: Smith says goofing off between takes is a must. “You have to! I think about this all the time: I was a kid and I did Iron Eagle. I was working with Lou Gossett, Jr. He was doing the scene where he was just... I mean, it was intense. They'd say, ‘Action,’ and spit was flying out of his mouth. He was so razor-focused. They'd say, ‘Cut,’ and he'd be like, [casually] ‘So, anyways…’ Like in the middle of a joke. And then, ‘Okay, rolling, action!’ Right back there. I said, ‘How do you do this?’ And he said, ‘Oh my gosh, Shawnee, if I tried to stay in this state all day long, I'd be wiped.’ You know, like you've got to be conservative about your energy. And the more you do it, the more confidence you get that it'll be there when you reach for it.
That's another gift of making these movies the way that we make them. I mean, I hope Darren Bousman never has a bad movie experience, but to start his movie career with these two films...it can't get better. It can get bigger, but that's going to be tricky, right? That's probably where it's going to get awful. Somehow, when it gets bigger, whatever it is, right, the quality of it just dissipates. It's the approach, maybe.”
Smith continued, “In that kind of environment, you, as an actress, you feel safe to relax and play and experiment and grow, and take the chances. That's such a gift. Cut from that to my two different days on two different Michael Bay movies where I thought like, ‘Why the hell did I ever think I could act?’ I mean, I couldn't hold a drink. I had four lines, I couldn't say any of them. I'm like supposed to pour the tea and serve, and he's like, ‘You're talking like an idiot! They're right here! Talk to them like a human being!’ I'm like, ‘Oh my God, I've got to go kill myself!’"
Page 2: Fart Jokes and the Problem with Deviled Eggs
