@stephaniedabruzzo.bsky.social
* Showbiz hyphenate working at the feet of legends since 1993 * Character actor, puppets a specialty * Provider of voices & vocals * Writer * Emmy & Tony loser * Craig Shemin’s wife * she/her I’m a Person, Not a Brand.™️ www.stephaniedabruzzo.com
Happy International Women’s Day to all the strong women who are too frickin’ exhausted to open all those emails for 15% off beauty goop.
Screw it. I’m too tired to deal with the lipstick…
In this house, every day is Stephen Root Appreciation Day.
2026 basically
My post was not about that. It was about my fascination with how an actor like Duvall chose to interpret and convey Chayefsky’s great writing.
Great writing is the cornerstone but in the end, it’s creative collaboration that sometimes takes even the most brilliant writing to a whole other level.
That’s not what the post was about.
Of COURSE Chatefsky’s script was brilliant. I was talking about Duvall’s specific read, and his choice to bellow those words in his singular way in that particular moment. A different actor may have made a different choice.
The truth of this, right?
(we have all known/been a Herb at one time or another, haven’t we…)
Oh, I wish I’d been there too! But I can absolutely imagine and envision it, because it’s such an Emilio thing to do, and I know it must have sounded gorgeous. Thank you for sharing this with me. Sending love as always.
oooooooooooh!!
I just looked it up and the COLLECTOR OF WORDS doc is also on the new Criterion (which looks soooooo good!!)! Can’t wait for Barnes & Noble Criterion sale time!!
Yes!!
I’m sure you’ve seen it, but in case you haven’t: the PADDY CHAYEFSKY: COLLECTOR OF WORDS documentary (I think it’s on HBO MAX now) is fascinating… his scripts were so finely crafted and honed, but then all those incredible actors made his carefully chosen words feel so damn natural.
Right?? It’s a great exercise for acting AND writing!!
I often watch film performances and think about what the text looked like on the page and how the actor saw those words and came up with their choices…
… and the one I think about a lot is how Robert Duvall decided to put across “it’s a big, fat, big-titted hit” in NETWORK.
Singular perfection.
The “La Marseillaise” moment is my personal litmus test.
If the day ever comes when my eyes remain dry after watching it, that will be the day I know my soul has died.
once more, with feeling:
RIP Bud Cort. How else would you even pay tribute to him.
Aw, Tim… you are the sweetest.
(I love playing between scenes! And improvising with our puppet characters isn’t only fun for big ol’ hams like me, but it also sometimes informs new character relationships and/or traits. Sometimes we get so deep in it that we say things that actually surprise us.)
Thank you, Martin. That’s so lovely to hear, especially right now.
Thank you. It was unscripted.
It was shot in LA, but many East Coast puppeteers were invited to work on it, especially for the audience shots and the finale.
Downright surreal to see my name in this particular font.
And yes, I am aware that everything is terrible.
Downright surreal to see my name in this particular font.
Beautiful, and so very you. Please keep going!!
please
stay warm
stay wise
stay awake
stay aware
stay informed
stay intact
stay human
stay humane
stay creative
stay inventive
stay feisty
stay fiery
stay helpful
stay mindful
stay compassionate
stay committed
stay healthy
stay hellbent
stay sane
stay safe
please
stay
with
us
I’ve added the script for Wake Up Dead Man to my site. This is the final shooting script, so it has stuff that was cut and moved around, which I always think is more interesting to see than a conformed cleaned up version. Enjoy! www.rian-johnson.com/screenplays
1. Did you know that Girl Scouts has, for a long time, accepted trans girls and nonbinary scouts?
Trans kids are under attack. Every year, I make a thread of trans and nonbinary girl scouts you can get your cookies from.
Lets get our cookies from them this year in solidarity!
In light of my last post, in the midst of recent events, it may seem like I am angry about the wrong things.
Believe me when I say that I am angry about ALL of the things.
I just can’t find the words for the very worst of the things.