The West Wing's Bradley Whitford Explains Aaron Sorkin's Speedy Dialogue
Actor Bradley Whitford has recently offered a glimpse into what it's like to approach writer Aaron Sorkin's speedy dialogue. Whitford worked closely with Sorkin in his massively successful White House drama, The West Wing. In the series, Whitford portrayed the character of Josh Lyman, for which he was awarded a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2001.
Sorkin is a screenwriter famous for his fast-paced, witty dialogue. The style has led to much success for the writer, including an Academy Award win for penning The Social Network. It's become the norm for any Sorkin piece to be a non-stop battle of verbal wits between all the characters onscreen. While this can be very exciting for an audience, it can often be a lot of work for the actors who have to handle Sorkin's dialogue. Due to this, performers who appear in his works are often asked exactly what it's like to work with Sorkin.
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In a recent episode of Variety's «Actors on Actors,» Whitford described just what it's like to handle Sorkin's dialogue. While talking to fellow West Wing actor Marlee Matlin, he described how Sorkin writes as if he is «racing just ahead of the audience.» Whitford stated that this was part of what made The West Wing «so addictive» and went on to say that the main lesson he took away from Sorkin's signature style was that he had to learn his lines as fast as he could. Sorkin is a notorious perfectionist that insists actors stay on script. According to Whitford, he would have to get the technical aspect of learning his lines out of the way early, so that his performance would not be hindered by the complicated dialogue. See his full quote below:
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