"For a London play, rehearsal time would be four weeks for the entire show. In films, I'd spend six weeks on the big dance numbers to get them perfect before the actual shooting"
About this Quote
Matthews is quietly puncturing the fantasy of effortless glamour. The line looks like a simple comparison of schedules, but its real target is how different industries manufacture “natural” charisma. On the London stage, four weeks is a brisk, collective sprint: the show has to cohere fast because performance is live, repeatable, and forgiving in its own way. A little roughness can read as spontaneity; energy papers over seams.
Film flips that logic. Six weeks on “big dance numbers” before shooting isn’t indulgence, it’s insurance. The camera is ruthless, the edit is permanent, and the musical number isn’t just choreography - it’s a brand asset, a poster promise. Matthews is describing a factory reality: perfection is produced, not discovered. Rehearsal becomes pre-production, where risk is eliminated so that the set can run like a machine. The subtext is labor, especially the kind that vanishes behind a smiling close-up. “Get them perfect” carries a whiff of pressure: perfection for whom, and at what cost to the body?
Context matters here: Matthews comes from the era when British musical cinema was competing with Hollywood polish, when a star’s legitimacy depended on looking both dazzling and effortless. Her comparison also sketches an artist adapting to a technological shift. Theater training builds stamina and presence; film demands precision, repeatability, and a willingness to let the camera - and the cutting room - own the final performance. She’s not complaining. She’s letting the audience glimpse the scaffolding that makes the dream stand.
Film flips that logic. Six weeks on “big dance numbers” before shooting isn’t indulgence, it’s insurance. The camera is ruthless, the edit is permanent, and the musical number isn’t just choreography - it’s a brand asset, a poster promise. Matthews is describing a factory reality: perfection is produced, not discovered. Rehearsal becomes pre-production, where risk is eliminated so that the set can run like a machine. The subtext is labor, especially the kind that vanishes behind a smiling close-up. “Get them perfect” carries a whiff of pressure: perfection for whom, and at what cost to the body?
Context matters here: Matthews comes from the era when British musical cinema was competing with Hollywood polish, when a star’s legitimacy depended on looking both dazzling and effortless. Her comparison also sketches an artist adapting to a technological shift. Theater training builds stamina and presence; film demands precision, repeatability, and a willingness to let the camera - and the cutting room - own the final performance. She’s not complaining. She’s letting the audience glimpse the scaffolding that makes the dream stand.
Quote Details
| Topic | Movie |
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