The other day, I was on my way to teach or direct and was planning on focusing on character wants that day. I had accidentally left my “bag of wants” at home, so I had to create more wants on slips of paper for my actors to draw out of a hat later for their scenes.
I want you to love me.
I want your respect.
I want you to like me more than you like yourself.
I want you to be my friend.
You annoy me, but I want to have sex with you.
I neatly wrote these thoughts and more like it in my notebook on the busy train. A few stops before I had to get off, the woman on the inside of my seat excused herself to get off the train. As she got up, she looked at me with a considerable amount of pity.
