Guy Ritchie is indeed one of the most commended filmmakers in Hollywood, who has given some of the most cinematic masterpieces to audiences worldwide. But even he has one notorious habit that could lead the actors working on his projects to some serious trouble, just like what Eiza González almost ended up in recently while working on The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare with him.
This infamous habit is none other than his rule of thumb, which is basically to prepare to be unprepared while shooting, considering all the changes he makes on the spot with the dialogue and stuff. However, fortunately, González managed to escape the trouble while shooting this Henry Cavill-starrer through only one clever move she took while working on her accent for the film.
Eiza González Cleverly Escaped Trouble Through One Move
Guy Ritchie unarguably works a lot differently than many other filmmakers in the entertainment industry, and this difference mainly stems from his habit of improvising on the sets of his projects. This means that he could end up making modifications to the dialogue or the way the scene has to be shot right on the spot, and the actors would have to adapt to it.
Obviously, this notorious habit of his leaves a lot of his actors baffled about what to do. But for Eiza González, it was different — not only because she has worked more than once with Ritchie, but also because of the clever thinking that eventually helped her with how she had to carry out her dialogues and the accent she had to sport in the movie.
During a recent interview with Collider following the release of her recent masterpiece TMOUW, she shared the same. While revealing how “there was a lot of pressure” in the start because she and co-star Babs Olusanmokun were the only ones who began filming so soon, she also explained what this particular film taught her.
Sharing all of this while also revealing the clever decision that saved her from trouble, González said:
“I learned in this particular film is there’s never enough over-preparing, meaning I was very happy that I prepared the accent for so long. Because for a big chunk of time, I was preparing the scenes and the dialogue with the accent, and so at one point, I was like, ‘I think I should just expand and learn the rules of the accent and whatnot.’”
Just like that, instead of going overboard and overpreparing everything for her role as Marjorie Stewart in The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, the Baby Driver actress chose to work smart to adapt fully to the new accent that she sports in this film. And fortunately for her, things ended up working in her favor, for that very day, a tremendous improvisation happened on set!
TMOUW Cast Feels Working with Guy Ritchie Requires Being Adaptable
As it turned out, Ritchie had decided to go with new dialogues that very day and ended up making specific changes to the script. But since González had prepared in advance — and pretty intelligently, at that — she was able to adapt to the changes made in the script and still give a performance that leveled up to the director’s expectations.
As the Ambulance actress continued to say:
“Thank the Lord I did because on the day, like zero of the dialogue that was written on the original script made it. Then you just have to adapt. I would have been screwed.”
This came with another piece of advice from her to the rest of the actors from around the world who might be dreaming of working with a filmmaker like Guy Ritchie, as González said: “Overly preparing in advance is a great point, but also on the day, just being open to being adaptable and getting the scene in the right place it needs to be.”
Added to this was Olusanmokun’s comment, who plays Mr. Heron in the movie: “Be ready to throw it all away. It leaves you free to take in what Guy then gives you.” Well, needless to mention, if you wish to work with Ritchie, you need to possess the brains and the cleverness as the TMOUW cast does!
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is out in theatres now.
