What does directing an emote do? Do you just tell them, "Be cuckoo"?

The director usually gives the actor some sort of motivation. Are you just a normal person? Are you happy? Are you gruff and angry? Are you cocky and confident? Are you a Han Solo? Or what kind of a personality are you? The actor thinks about what the direction is and then they make acting choices. And the acting choices, well, you see it, that drives the character. You can see how both of these actors, who are pretty much doing the same performance, are doing different things, even though they're within the same character.