Learn English Robert De Niro Passion always trumps Common Sense with BIG subtitles

Dean green beans University leadership

faculty staff parents friends and the

2015 class of New York University’s

Tisch School of the Arts thank you for

inviting me to celebrate with you today

Tisch graduates

you made it and

think about that the graduates from the

College of Nursing they all have jobs

the graduates from the College of

Dentistry fully employed the Leonard and

Stern School of Business graduates

they’re covered the School of Medicine

graduates each one will get a job the

proud graduates of the NY School of Law

they’re covered and if they’re not who

cares they’re lawyers the English majors

are not a factor

they’ll be home writing their novels

teachers there all be working shitty

jobs lousy pay yeah but still working

the graduates in accounting they all

have jobs

where does that leave you envious of

those accountants I doubt it

they had a choice maybe they were

passionate about accounting but I think

it’s more likely that they used reason

and logic and common sense to reach for

a career that could give them the

expectation of success and stability

reason logic common sense at the Tisch

School of Arts are you kidding me but

you didn’t have that choice did you you

discovered a talent developed an

ambition and recognized your passion

when you feel that you can’t fight it

you just go with it when it comes to the

arts passion should always trump common

sense you aren’t just following dreams

you’re reaching for your destiny you’re

a dancer a singer a choreographer and

musician the filmmaker a writer a

photographer a director a producer and

actor an artist yeah you’re the

good news is that that’s not a bad place

to start now that you’ve made your

choice or rather succumb to it your path

is clear not easy but clear you have to

keep working it’s that simple you got

through Tisch that’s a big deal or to

put it another way if you got through

Tisch

big deal

[Applause]

well it’s a start on this day of

triumphantly graduating a new doors

opening for you a door to a lifetime of

rejection it’s inevitable

it’s what graduates call the real world

you’ll experience it auditioning for a

part or a place in a company it’ll

happen to you when you’re looking for

backers for a project you’ll feel that

when doors close on you while you’re

trying to get attention for something

you’ve written and when you’re looking

for a directing or a choreography job

how do you cope with it

I hear that valium and vicodin work I

don’t know you can’t be too relaxed and

do what we do and you don’t want to

block the pain too much without the pain

but when we talk about though I I would

make an exception for having a couple of

drinks if hypothetically you had to

speak to a thousand graduates and their

families are the commencement so

[Applause]

rejection might sting but my feeling is

that often it has very little to do with

you when you’re auditioning or pitching

the director or producer or invested me

just have something with someone

different mind that’s just how it is

that happened to me recently when I

auditioned for the role of Martin Luther

King in Selma which was too bad because

I could have played the hell out of that

part I felt it was written for me but

the director had something different in

mind and you know she was right

it seems the director is always right

don’t get me wrong David Oh yellow Oh

was great I don’t think that I would

have cast a break but I got two more

stories these really happen

I read for Bangla drum slowly seven

times the first two of the three times I

read for the role of Henry Wiggins the

part eventually played by Michael

Moriarty I read for the director I read

for the producer then they had me back

to read for another part the role of

Bruce Pearson I read for the director I

read for the producer I read for the

producer and his wife I read for all of

them together it was almost like as long

as I kept auditioning they would have

time to find someone they liked more I

don’t know exactly what they were

looking for but I’m glad I was there

when they didn’t find it another time I

was auditioning for a play they kept

having me back I was pretty sure I had

the part and then they went with a name

I hated losing the job but I understood

I could just as easily lost a job to

another no-name actor and I also would

have understood it’s just not personal

it can really be nothing more than the

director having a different type in mind

you’ll get a lot of the direction in

your careers some of it from directors

some from studio heads some from money

people some from writers though usually

they’ll try to keep the writer out of

there at a distance

and some from your fellow artists I

loved writers by the way I keep them on

the set all the time listen to all of it

and listen to yourself I’m mostly going

to talk about these I these ideas and

movie actor terms but I think this

applies to all of you you’ll find

comparable situations and all the

disciplines the way the director gets to

be right is you help him or her be right

you may start out with different ideas

the director will have a vision you will

have ideas about your character when

you’re you’re young actors starting out

your opinions may not be trusted as much

as they will later on in your career

you’ve been hired because the director

saw something in your audition you’re

reading in you that fit their concept

you may be given the opportunity to try

it your way but the final decision will

be the directors later in your career

when there’s a body of work to refer to

there may be more trust from the

director but it’s pretty much the same

thing you may have more opportunities to

try it your way and may think the

director has agreed to your take agreed

your take is the best but if it’s a

movie

you’ll be not you’ll be nowhere near the

editing room where the director makes

the final decision it’s best when you

can work it out together as an actor you

always want to be true to your character

and be true to yourself but the bottom

line is you’ve got the part and that’s

very important as a director or producer

you also have to be true to yourself and

to the world a film a dance a play

they’re not tensely where artists get to

play and express their individuality

their works of art that depend on the

contributions and collaboration of a

group of artists and it’s a big group it

includes production and costume

designers directors of photography

makeup and hair stage managers assistant

directors choreographers etc etc many

more than name that I won’t now everyone

plays an important part in essential

part a director or producer

choreographer or company artistic

director these are powerful positions

but the power doesn’t come from the

title the power comes from trust respect

vision

work and again collaboration

you’ll probably be harder on yourself

than any director I’m not going to tell

you to go easy on yourselves I assume

you didn’t pick this life because you

thought it would be easy you may have to

answer to a director for a job but you

also have to answer to yourself this

could create conflicts for you you want

to play the role your way and the

director has a different idea discuss it

with the director maybe there’s a

compromise a Zoe there always should be

the space to try it both ways but don’t

make it but though but don’t make a

production but don’t make don’t make a

production out I guess this is some

typos here because it’s not a democracy

on the set or on the stage someone has

to make the final decision someone has

to pull it all together that’s the

director so don’t be obdurate no one’s

going to see you do it in the quote

quote unquote

right way if you’re not on the stage or

in the movie I can answer the question

that’s on all of your minds right now

yes it’s too late to change your major

to directing while preparing for my role

today I ask the new a few Tisch students

for suggestions for the speech the first

thing they said is keep it short and

they said it’s okay to give a little

advice it’s kind of expected and no one

will mind and then they said to keep it

short it’s difficult for me to come up

with advice for you who have already

said upon your life’s work but I can

tell you some of the things I tell my

own children for first whatever you do

don’t go to Tisch School of the Arts

get an accounting degree instead then I

contradict myself and as corny as it

sounds I tell them don’t be afraid to

fail

I urge them to take chances to keep an

open mind to welcome new experiences and

new ideas

I tell them them I tell them that if you

don’t go you’ll never know you have to

have them just to have to be bold and go

out there and take your chances I tell

them that if they go into the arts I

hope they find a manner churring and

challenging community of like-minded

individuals a place like Tisch if they

find themselves with a talent and a

burning desire to be in the performing

arts I tell them when you collaborate

you try to make everything better but

you’re not responsible for the entire

project only your part in it you’ll find

yourself in movies or dance pieces or

plays or concerts that turn out in the

eyes of the critics and audiences to be

bad but that’s not on the not on you

because you will put everything into

everything you do you won’t judge the

characters you play and you shouldn’t be

distracted by judgments on the works of

the works you are in whether you’re

working for Edward or for Rico Fellini

or Martin Scorsese your commitment and

your process will be the same by the way

there will be times when your best isn’t

good enough there can be many reasons

for this but as long as you give your

best you’ll be ok did you get straight

A’s in school if so good for you

congratulations but in the real world

you’ll never get straight A’s again

there are ups and there are downs and

what I want to say to you today is that

it’s ok instead of rocking caps and

gowns today I can see all of you

graduating in custom TSO a t-shirts on

the back is printed rejection it isn’t

personal

and on the front your model your mentor

your battlecry next you didn’t get that

part that’s my point

next you’ll get the next one or the next

one after that you didn’t get that way

this job at the white oak tavern next

you’ll get the next one or you’ll get

the next gig tending bar at Josie’s

[Applause]

you didn’t get into Juilliard next

you’ll get into Yale or Tisch

you guys like that joke so it’s okay no

of course choosing tissues like choosing

the arts it isn’t your first choice it’s

your only choice I didn’t attend tissue

for that matter any college or my senior

of high school or most of the junior

year it’s still I felt part of the Tisch

community for a long time I grew up in

the same neighborhood as dish I’ve

worked for and with a lot of people who

attended tissue including Marty Scorsese

class of 64 as you learn your craft

together you come to trust each other

and depend on each other this encourages

taking creative risks because you all

have that the sense that you’re in it

together it’s no surprise that we often

work with the same people over and over

I did eight pictures with Marty and plan

to do more he did about 25 with his

editor Thelma Schoonmaker who he met at

Tisch when she worked on a student film

in the summer of 63 other directors

Cassavetes Fellini Hitchcock came back

to the same collaborators over and over

almost like a repertoire company and now

David O’Russell and Wes Anderson are

continuing that tradition try to

treasure the associations and

friendships and working relationships

with relationships with the people in

your classes and your early work you

never know what might come from it there

could be a major creative shift or a

small detail that can make a major

impression in taxi driver Marty and I

wanted Travis Bickel to cut his hair

into a mohawk an important character

detailed but I couldn’t do it because I

needed long hair for the last tight

that was starting right after taxi

driver and we knew a false mohawk but we

knew we knew a false mohawk would look

well false so we were kicking around one

day at lunch and decided to give it one

shot with the very best makeup artist at

the time dick Smith if you saw the movie

you know that it worked and by the way

now you know it wasn’t real

friendships good working relationships

collaboration you just never know what’s

gonna happen when you get together with

your creative friends Marty Scorsese was

here last year speaking to the 2014

graduates and now here I am here we are

on Friday at a kind of super-sized

version of one of Allison’s student

lounge hangout sessions you’re here to

pause and celebrate your accomplishments

so far as you move on to a rich and

challenging future and me I’m here to

hand out my pictures and resumes to the

directing and producing graduates

[Applause]

I’m excited and honored to be in a room

full of young creators who make me

hopeful about the future of the

Performing and Media Arts I know you’re

gonna make it all of you break a leg

next thank you

[Applause]