Emotional Safety and Consent When Directing with the Chubbuck Technique

Great acting doesn’t come from emotional chaos. It comes from emotional honesty—within a safe and structured environment.

If you’re a director using the Chubbuck Technique, your responsibility is twofold:

1. Help actors access real emotional pain and use that as fuel to fight for their character’s objective.
2. Create a safe, respectful space where actors can work without emotional harm.

Actors don’t come to rehearsal as blank slates. They bring their full life experience, including real people and personal/ painful events. When that’s handled with care, the work can be transformative. But when safety and consent are missing, the process can do real damage.

You’re not just building scenes. You’re building a safe space where actors can go deep and come back intact. That requires clear leadership, boundaries, and ongoing trust.

There’s a myth in some creative circles that “great art requires no boundaries.” But boundaries are not limitations—they’re what allow real risks to happen safely. Actors need to feel held in order to fully let go.

Why Emotional Safety Strengthens the Work

The Chubbuck Technique is rooted in truth. That truth is powerful, but it should never overwhelm or retraumatize the actor. Your job is to guide, not push. Protect, not poke. A safe space can still hold massive emotional stakes—because safety builds trust, and trust builds performance.

Six Tools for Directors

Here are six practical tools to keep your actors emotionally supported when working with the Chubbuck Technique:

Never assume permission. Ask before diving into emotional material or substitutions. Check in regularly—especially during challenging scenes. Even a quick “How are you doing with this?” makes a difference.

Make space for actors to say no, to ask for adjustments, or to pause. That’s not resistance. It’s professionalism.

You can build this into your process with hand signals, short forms, or a shared agreement. Model the same openness yourself. Let them hear you say, “Let me know if something crosses a line.” It shows you’re leading with care, not ego.

The Chubbuck Technique doesn’t focus on emotion for emotion’s sake. Every emotional choice should serve an objective—what the character wants—and the Tactics they use to get it.

This structure helps the actor channel emotion, not drown in it.

Ask questions like:

• “What are you trying to go after in this moment?”
• “How are you using the emotions you feel to get that?”

When emotion is tied to action, the work stays focused and productive.

Substitution – who the actor uses for the other character – is personal to an actor. It should stay private unless the actor chooses to share. You don’t need to know the backstory to direct effectively.

Stay focused on the scene, not the actor’s personal life. Ask:

• “What is your character fighting for?”
• “How is this feeling helping you win?”

This keeps the emotional work grounded and respectful.

After emotionally intense work, actors need a moment to regroup and ground. Build in time for a debrief.

Ask what they need:

• Do you need silence?
• A walk?
• A short talk?
  Let them choose, and make it part of the process—not an afterthought.

You’re not providing therapy. You’re simply helping them transition back from the scene.

Any form of physical touch—whether intimate, violent, or just close—must be choreographed and agreed upon in advance. Never improvise physicality in the moment. It breaks trust instantly.

Treat these scenes like dance: every move rehearsed, every gesture clear. Use an intimacy coordinator when needed. They don’t limit creativity. They protect it.

And remember: what felt okay yesterday may not feel okay today. Always check in.

If an actor shares something vulnerable, never use it to manipulate a performance. Don’t repeat it back to push them deeper. That’s not directing—it’s coercion.

If you see an actor getting overwhelmed, bring them back to the craft:

• “What is your character trying to achieve?”
• “How can you use that feeling as fuel, not as the end goal?”

Keep the work rooted in the 12 Steps of the Chubbuck Technique. Let the technique itself provide the structure and safety.

The Goal: Transformation, Not Re-Trauma

As a director, your job isn’t just to get the shot—it’s to get the truth safely. You’re holding space for some of the bravest work an actor can do. Respect that with clear systems, consent, and care.

Strong performances don’t come from pushing actors to their breaking point. They come from guiding them toward their power—with structure, honesty, and trust.