Why Ridley Scott prefers working with bad material: “There’s nothing worse than getting a perfect script”
Ridley Scott has made some of the most successful movies of the past half-century. Alien, Thelma and Louise, and Gladiator are all vastly different films that were box office and critical hits when they were released. Other movies, Blade Runner most notably, were not successful when they hit cinemas but have become wildly popular after the fact.
Scott has shown time and again that he can make visually inventive films about engrossing characters in just about any genre, and he’s done so in a distinctly unsentimental manner. He isn’t the kind of filmmaker who will wax eloquent about the art of filmmaking. He’s more likely to tell an interviewer to fuck off than engage them in a philosophical dialogue about the deeper meaning of his craft. Now in his eighties, he’s making more movies than ever, and he lets the work speak for itself.
Whenever he does offer a glimpse into his process, however, it’s worth paying attention. He’s been making movies in some form or another since the 1960s, and he has picked up plenty of tips and tricks along the way. For example, his use of storyboarding is legendary at this point, and even convinced the producers of Alien to double their original budget.
However, one piece of advice he shared recently seems so counterintuitive that it sounds more like an underhanded joke than a filmmaking hack. During a director’s roundtable with The Hollywood Reporter, the Gladiator II auteur said, “It’s always good to be on thin ice cause that means you’re paying attention. There’s nothing worse than getting a perfect script and everyone relaxes and then you put it together and somehow it’s dull.”
A weak script, he insisted, means that everyone is forced to bring their best to the project rather than simply skate along with the certainty that it will work out no matter what. This is an interesting perspective for a director who is known primarily for the spectacle of his films rather than the scripts. Perhaps if he was working with material that was more focused on exquisitely written dialogue, we wouldn’t have the meticulous world-building and battle sequences that we do.
However, the screenwriters behind his films would almost certainly take offence at his statement, especially Callie Khouri, who wrote Thelma and Louise, and Drew Goddard, who wrote The Martian based on Andy Weir’s novel. Both films have exceptionally clever scripts in very different ways, and it’s impossible to imagine what they would be like without such carefully crafted dialogue. Both screenplays earned Oscar nominations, and Khouri won.
Having excellent scripts clearly didn’t handicap the actors on those movies either. Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon were both nominated for Oscars for their performances in Thelma and Louise, and Matt Damon, who carries his scenes largely solo, also earned a nomination even though science fiction movies, and especially science fiction comedies, rarely earn respect from the Academy.
But far be it from anyone to question Scott’s experience. His track record is formidable, and he’s raked in enough accolades over the years to have complete confidence in his own judgment. Still, anyone who gets to write a script for him will probably feel mixed emotions if they hear what he really thinks of their work.
