We had a little wardrobe malfunction the other night. What's the lesson learned from something like that? It was obviously an unfortunate incident. It kind of made me sad on two accounts:
- I was very sad that we live in an age when someone takes a picture of another person in a vulnerable moment and rather than delete it.
- I'm sorry that we live in a culture that commodifies sexuality of unwilling participants, which brings us back to Les Mis because that's what my character is.
This is the kind of classic trap question that you often get in these sorts of interviews. The journalist wants an embarrassing story, but the actor wants to talk about what they're working on. And Anne Hathaway handles it brilliantly. She uses what's called a bridge back and it's perfect for difficult questions.
Step one is you acknowledge what they say briefly. It was an unfortunate incident. She owns it without dwelling upon it.
Step two, you connect to the bigger picture. We live in an age when someone profits from non-consensual photos. This moves the frame from her mistake to the culture.
Number three, she then returns to her point, which brings us back to Les Mis. What she's doing is so clever. She's turning what is quite a difficult question into a thematic connection. And it works perfectly because it doesn't give him the soundbite that he wants. She is able to refocus the conversation on what she wants. And she does it without being defensive.
Bridge backs are absolutely perfect for those moments where people are asking what's called question statements, which are not really questions. They're just kind of statements or they focus on random pieces of data that are not really relevant. You need to have this skill to move the conversation back to the point that you want to talk about.
When do you think this could be relevant for you? Let me know in the comments.