Listening but Not Listening
We’ve been talking about this all week in class, so as usual, it’s made it’s way into the blog. One of my top tips is not to listen to the words the other actor says. Don’t let yourself get caught up in them, they’re a bunch of baloney. They’re the same every night and you can’t be expected to respond to them freshly in each moment if you know the script as well as the other fella does. So pay no attention to what they’re saying TO you.
Instead, listen to the tone of voice with which they speak to you. Watch what they appear to be trying to DO to you. But block out the words, they’re not truthful, they’re actually a big fat lie. So if you want to react in truth, you need to respond to what the other actor is doing to you in each moment. It doesn’t mean ignore the other actor, it just means pay no particular attention to the words they’re using.
You see, when an actor tries to respond truthfully to the words that they hear, they already bring themselves into a lie. (Not to mention mouthing along without realising because they know their scene partner’s lines) Then when you respond with words that aren’t yours to words that weren’t theres, the lie grows, as you both try to fake the action/reaction process based on the content/ words of the script. Especially as you try to find the right way to respond to the content of their lines. But how can you? They’re not real, so the truth of the moment is infected with a lie. The content of the lines is nonsense, it’s gibberish, but the way that the other actor treats you in the scene, that’s real, that’s the truth, and that’s what you need to work from.
But you need to watch them closely and you need to listen closer, because when most actors act, they’re solely focused on themselves. This is the ultimate in self-consciousness. No wonder the actor is slagged off for being only about ME ME ME! Start every scene with your entire focus on the other actor(s), place your attention on them and work to actually change THEM. The characters can’t interact because the characters only exist as words on a page or in the imagination of an audience. For you, the actor, you must work from the perspective of total attention to your partner. You’ve got enough to concern yourself with, so block out their lines with focusing on what they’re doing and respond truthfully to that.
Listening but not listening. It’s a new skill for you to master.