Susan Batson
Created the Black Nexxus acting studios in New York City and Hollywood, jointly operated with her son, Carl Ford. Ms. Batson received a John Hay Whitney Fellowship to study with Lee Strasberg, Uta Hagen, and Herbert Berghof in New York. She appeared in several plays on Broadway, including the original cast of “Hair.” She became a protégé of theater legends, Joseph Papp and Harold Clurman. Consultant with writer/director Spike Lee on several of his films, Ms. Batson was a producer of the Broadway revival and television production of “A Raisin in the Sun,” starring Sean Combs and Phylicia Rashad. Ms. Batson has worked with Nicole Kidman, Juliette Binoche, Tom Cruise, Jennifer Lopez, Chris Rock, Jamie Foxx, Sean ‘P Diddy’ Combs, Liv Tyler, Jennifer Connelly. A member of The Actor’s Studio, a recipient of a New York Drama Critics Award, LA Drama Critics Award, and an Obie. Ms. Batson is the author of the book Truth: Personas, Needs, and Flaws in the Art of Building Actors and Creating Characters.
What are you presently in the midst of?
Recently, I coached Juliette Binoche on a new film. I also coached Chris Rock on his Broadway debut in the play, “The Motherfu**er with the Hat.” And I’m working with Nicole Kidman on her new film, and with Deborah Cox, who is getting ready to do the story of Josephine Baker on Broadway.
Who were the greatest influences on you when you began your career?
My mother. She was a major activist. There was something about her public persona and her private self that always fascinated me and I really thought she had a great actress in her, I really did.
I remember when I got into The Actors Studio and someone said to me there was an actress I should look at – Kim Stanley. So I got a copy of the film, “The Goddess,” written by Paddy Chayefsky and I thought: “Oh my God!” That is the kind of acting I wanted to do. At that point, I had already done two Broadway musicals. Now I knew I had to learn what acting was.
Then I met Harold Clurman. I was doing a play in Los Angeles at the Mark Taper Forum, and I was told he was doing a workshop there. Well, I had to go to his workshop. I did a scene for him, and he said “Okay, Laurence Olivier…” and I nearly died. In no way did I find it complimentary; I was devastated. Everyone was telling: “No, it’s a compliment.” Of course, I felt I was overacting and carrying on in the scene. I don’t think I ever asked him what he meant. Little did I know that he really was a fan of my acting.
Is that how you were offered the understudy to Barbara Harris as Eve in Arthur Miller’s “The Creation of the World and Other Business?”
Yes, later he called. I had no idea that he had that much respect for me. I knew I had to become a serious actress. At the same time, Michael Stewart was doing a new musical, and wanted to write a part in it for me. But I wanted to be a serious actress.
Barbara Harris was the lead in the play Clurman was directing, Arthur Miller was the playwright, so I thought I was in heaven. I knew I had to do this. After I was cast as the understudy to Barbara, I would go to rehearsals and tell myself: “I’m going to be the perfect understudy, I’ll sit here and won’t ask any questions.” Barbara was an incredible actress to watch; it was like a light bulb would go off in her, and she’d light up the stage.
One day as I was leaving, the stage manger asked me: “Do you know all the lines?” I told him I did. “Just stay by the phone.” When the play opened in Boston, I had taken over the lead as Eve. We got such good reviews they were almost too incredible for a young actress to believe.
But then Clurman got sick, and I could feel a shift occur, Gerry Freedman came on board as director. At that point, Zoe Caldwell and I became friends (she was married to the producer of the play, Robert Whitehead). She became like a mentor to me. She would tell me: “Get an assistant, have a grey coat and no one will bother you.” I’d also see her jogging with a trainer; little did I know she was about to take over my role. Most people today would say, well, you had an amazing experience, and if Zoë Caldwell, who is a great actress, wants to take over the role, fine. I think when she saw I could make the character work, she wanted to play it. But I felt I was still being demoted to be the stand-by for her. So I called my mother. She was a political activist and she got a lawyer.
Arthur Miller, at that point, who agreed while I had had great reviews at Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., still said: “I hear it differently. I wrote it for Zoe, and I hear Zoe doing it. It’s an artistic thing.” My mother said to the producers, this is the biggest mistake you will make. After all, it was Harold Clurman’s choice to have a black women play Eve in the story of creation. He felt it would give it a universal twist to the piece.
They told me to stay on for two more weeks till Zoe was ready. I was instructed to do a protest. I did a ‘sit-in.’ They wouldn’t know if I’d go on or not. Of course I would, but the stage manager would approach me, and then I’d go on. I did the two weeks. At that point I thought I needed a break from ‘show business,’ decided to get married, and had a child.
Three years passed, and I was offered another Broadway play, by Joseph Papp. “The Leaf People” on Broadway, but it closed so quickly, at that point, I didn’t know what to do. When I talked with Lee (Strasberg) and told him, he said to me: “Listen, I will give you a job. Teach what you do.”
I knew immediately that this man supported me as an actress, not for one second did I doubt it. The last time I saw him at The Actors Studio, he said to me: “It’s so important you get out into the world.” That was very important to me. Lee supported me, much like Harold Clurman did. For a young black actress, to have this kind of support gave me enormous confidence at the time. So I began teaching, and Herbert (Berghof) also was supportive of my work.
Would you say your teaching has changed since you began?
It has developed. I don’t even know if that’s the right word. I think it’s my realization.
I learned from Strasberg, you have to develop your own method. To be a true believer of that. I believe he meant everyone should have their own method. More and more I acknowledge each person’s instrument, they each have their own gifts, and I’m getting more and more look at the individual artist and appreciate each person that I work with; that’s exciting for me.
When I see young artists in my class finding their own method, I look at them and think: “Good, you’re figured it out.” They realize they have to do it their way. The only thing I can do as a third eye is to offer different ideas about acting and let them explore that, and hopefully help them get rid of any blocks that don’t allow their talent’s potential.
What makes a good acting coach? Is there a difference between teaching acting and coaching?
Teaching and coaching are similar. But coaching is very different from directing. I’ve come to realize I’m not as generous a director. As a director I lose my patience if the actor doesn’t do what I tell them to do. I want ‘xy and z’ and really will not tolerate anything but the best. As a coach you have to be extremely patient. I wait to see the actor’s own vision.
What has given you the greatest satisfaction working with an actress like Nicole Kidman on her roles?
I think if I can go to a film and lose myself in the film then I feel like we’re both winners. When I saw Nicole in “The Others,” and I didn’t think about the work and I jumped and got frightened, even though I knew the story, I was still frightened, that was very satisfying. I felt that with “The Hours,” I barely recognized her. That is the joy. With our work together on “Rabbit Hole,” I got absolutely lost in her character and circumstances.
How do you begin to work?
With Juliette (Binoche,) we dive into the material, dissect every word, every moment, every nuance. I also can get very lost in her work. She has great interest in the writer and in the text. Working on a new role requires us to start afresh all the time because the material is new therefore the approach to the material becomes new, as does the relationship with the writer. I know we'll make new discoveries together. I’ve been with Juliette for nine years, and Nicole for fifteen.
Is there an American style of acting?
For me, the only style is seeing if we can get to a truth that is valuable in the story-telling, in order to enlighten people. If we can find a truth that leads us to giving something to the story then we’re happy. Ultimately, everyone wants to be connected to tell the story the best way that it can be told.
What led you to write: Truth: Personas, Needs, and Flaws in the Art of Building Actors and Creating Characters?
They asked me to write about what I feel my process is. I wondered: Are they really interested in the work, or in the celebrities? They were interested in the work. When I meet young people with so much passion for the craft, it gives me hope there is a real possibility that we can revolutionize it and keep going. Even with the internet, with animation, reality TV, the spectacle that’s out there, I have a lot of hope these young people I’m working with will make something happen. Remember, I’m a child of an activist, so I believe in with great passion towards the art form, we can change things.
