Actors are often taught to explore emotion—but what if emotion is actually the last part of scene preparation? In Episode #441 of Casting Actors Cast, casting director, actor, author and teacher Jeff Dreisbach introduces a practical four-step approach to scene analysis: WANT, NEED, BEHAVIOR and EMOTION... Read More
From the show: Casting Actors Cast
About
Actors are often taught to explore emotion—but what if emotion is actually the last part of scene preparation?
In Episode #441 of Casting Actors Cast, casting director, actor, author and teacher Jeff Dreisbach introduces a practical four-step approach to scene analysis: WANT, NEED, BEHAVIOR and EMOTION.
Begin with the writer: Why does the scene exist? Then discover what your character needs from the other person, explore the mental and physical behaviors used to pursue that need, and finally allow emotion to emerge as a result of what happens in the scene. This episode explores why preparing emotional results can limit spontaneity, how behavior creates character, why acting remains relational, and how better preparation can actually create greater freedom in performance.
If you have ever tried to “be sad,” “get angry,” or manufacture a feeling in an audition, this episode may help you approach your work from an entirely different direction.
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Transcript
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There is something actors do all the
time that I completely understand.
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They get a scene, they read it,
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they discover that something terrible
has happened in the scene,
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and almost immediately they make a
decision.
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This is a sad scene.
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Or the character's furious.
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This character is terrified, this
character is heartbroken.
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And then
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the preparation begins.
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How do I become heartbroken?
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How do I get angry enough?
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How do I make this feel more emotional?
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And right there,
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before the actor has
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even really started,
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we may have a problem,
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because emotion has suddenly become the
assignment.
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And I'm beginning to think that emotion
may actually actually be the last thing
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we should prepare
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welcome to casting actor's cast.
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I'm Jeff dry's back.
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I want to give you a very simple way of
thinking about scene preparation
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it's not designed to replace
danislavsky.
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It's not replacing meisner.
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Nobody needs to remove their udahogen
books from the shelf.
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And I'm certainly not showing up with
stone tablets from the acting gods
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saying, good news.
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Everybody, we finally figured it out.
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No, no, this is really much simpler.
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It's really an organizational tool,
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a way.
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Many of the things actors already
understand in putting them into an
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order that I think makes
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preparation
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clearer
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and much more playable.
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So let's talk about that.
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The order is this,
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want
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need
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behavior,
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emotion,
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four things.
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But the order matters, because I think
actors sometimes start at number four
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and then spend the entire audition
trying to reverse engineer number 12
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and three.
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So let's start with want.
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And right away, I'm going to use that
word a little differently than actors
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normally do.
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When actors here want, they usually
think, what does my character want?
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And that question has been part of
acting training forever,
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and it is an important question.
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But I want to start one step earlier
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before we ask what the character wants,
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ask what the scene wants.
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Why did the writer, writer write this
scene?
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What has happened here?
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What does the audience need to
understand when this scene is over that
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they did not understand when it began?
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That is the writer's intention.
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And I think it's one of the most
overlooked pieces of active preparation.
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Because actors are not only portraying
people,
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we are telling stories.
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And a scene exists because something in
the story needs to move.
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Someone discovers something.
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Someone changes their mind, a
relationship
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shifts.
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Information gets revealed.
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As decision gets made.
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Someone leaves, someone stays,
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someone realizes that the person they
trusted has been lying to them for
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twelve years,
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which is also known as Tuesday night
television.
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See something changes.
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So before I ask myself,
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how emotional should I be?
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I want to know, why is this scene here?
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That question can save an actor.
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Enormous amounts of unnecessary work.
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Because sometimes we see auditions
where the actor has created all kinds
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of interesting emotional activity.
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There are tears there's tension,
there's anger.
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There's a dramatic inhale that suggests
somebody somewhere should probably call
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an ambulance.
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And yet, the actual scene has
disappeared.
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The actor is performing an emotional
experience,
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but the story isn't moving.
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And those are not necessarily the same
thing.
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Here's an example.
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Imagine a scene where a daughter tells
her father she is leaving town.
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Now an actor might immediately decide,
this is heartbreaking
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m,
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but why did the writer write the scene?
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Perhaps the important event is not that
she's leaving.
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Perhaps the important event is that the
father finally realizes
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she no longer needs his permission.
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You see, that's different.
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Maybe the scene exists
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because the daughter has spent her
entire life trying to please him, and
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for the first time,
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chooses herself.
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Now the scene is not simply about
sadness.
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It's about independence.
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Or perhaps the father secretly wants
her to go, but cannot bring himself to
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say it.
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Now the scene is about release.
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Same dialogue,
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different story telling.
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The emotional possibilities begin to
multiply once we understand what the
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scene is doing.
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That is why I like beginning with the
writer.
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The writer gives us the architecture
the actor gives that architecture life.
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So the first question becomes,
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what does this scene need to accomplish?
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And sometimes I literally recommend
that actors write one sentence,
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no poetry, no dissertation.
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You're not submitting this to the Nobel
committee.
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One sentence.
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This scene exists so that
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dot and finish it.
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This scene exists so that she discovers
he lied.
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The scene exists
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so that he finally asks for help.
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This scene exists
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so that the audience realizes she
already knows.
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This scene exists so that their
relationship changes from professional
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to personal.
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That becomes your north star,
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because now you know what story you are
helping to tell.
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And there's another benefit
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it gets the actor out of themselves.
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That may be one of the most useful
things preparation can do.
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Instead of how my doing,
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is
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this emotional?
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Enough?
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Am I interesting?
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Do they like my choices?
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You begin with, what story am I serving?
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That's a much healthier place to work
from,
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and frankly a much more professional
one,
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because actors sometimes become so
involved in creating a character that
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they forget they are participating.
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In a larger piece of story telling.
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The scene does not exist so that you
can demonstrate the fascinating
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complexity of your inner life.
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I know, disappointing, but there it is.
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The scene exists because the story
needs it
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so want,
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in this framework,
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belongs to the story.
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What does the scene want?
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What does the writer need from this
scene?
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That is step one.
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And once we know that,
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we can finally turn toward the
character.
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Because now becomes need.
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And this is where the work becomes
personal.
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Not personal in the sense of, I'm going
to think about something terrible from
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sevenths grade.
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Personal in the sense of relationship.
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What do I need from you?
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That question changes everything.
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Because acting is rarely about having
feelings alone in a room.
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Even when you are alone in the room,
someone is usually present psychologically
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someone you need, someone you miss,
someone you hate, someone whose
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approval you want,
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someone you're trying desperately not
to think about while clearly thinking
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about them every three seconds.
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Human beings are relational creatures.
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Characters are too.
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So once I understand what the scene
needs to accomplish, I ask, what does
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my character need from the other person?
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Not?
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What do I need to feel?
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What do I need from them?
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I need you to believe me.
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I need you to forgive me.
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I need you to stay.
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I need you to leave.
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I need you to stop.
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I need you to stop treating me like a
child.
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I need you to tell me the truth.
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I need you to respect me.
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I need you to admit that you were wrong.
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I need you to love me.
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Now something begins to happen.
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Because the scene has direction,
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there's energy moving between people.
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And that is very different from the
actor thinking, I need to be angry here,
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angry at what?
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For what?
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Toward whom
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to accomplish?
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What?
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Emotion without direction, can become
theatrical wall paper.
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It decorates the scene, but it doesn't
necessarily drive.
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It.
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Need gives, emotion, somewhere to go.
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And I think this is where actors often
discover that seems they thought were
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about emotion are really about
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persuasion
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or protection,
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or survival or connection.
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A character screaming, I hate you
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may actually be saying,
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please don't leave me.
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A character saying, I'm fine
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may desperately need someone to
recognize
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that they are not fine.
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00:10:02,102 --> 00:10:04,304
A character saying, I don't care
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00:10:05,71 --> 00:10:08,8
may need the other person to prove that
they do
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that.
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Contradiction is where acting gets
interesting, because human beings are
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almost never as simple as the sentences
they speak.
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I sometimes think the actor's job is
discovering the sentence underneath the sentence.
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What am I really asking from you?
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Once you know that
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you have something to play
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00:10:30,30 --> 00:10:31,364
and notice what has happened?
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We still haven't talked about emotion,
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have we?
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We have story, we have relationship,
and already the scene is alive.
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That leads us
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to behavior.
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00:10:46,813 --> 00:10:49,916
And this is where preparation becomes
especially practical,
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because need tells me what I am
pursuing.
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00:10:53,219 --> 00:10:56,156
Behavior tells me how I pursue it
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00:10:57,457 --> 00:10:59,392
let's say, I need you to forgive me
fine.
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How do I behave
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m?
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00:11:02,328 --> 00:11:03,830
Maybe I become charming,
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maybe I become defensive.
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00:11:07,133 --> 00:11:08,968
Maybe I minimize what happened.
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00:11:09,936 --> 00:11:12,138
Maybe I take responsibility.
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00:11:13,73 --> 00:11:14,74
Maybe I make jokes.
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00:11:14,441 --> 00:11:15,241
Maybe I blame.
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00:11:15,875 --> 00:11:17,277
Maybe I blame somebody else.
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00:11:18,978 --> 00:11:25,552
Maybe I become completely still because
I am terrified that anything I say will
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make things worse.
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00:11:28,355 --> 00:11:29,923
Those are behaviors,
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and behavior is playable.
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00:11:34,260 --> 00:11:35,829
That word matters playable.
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Insecure may describe someone,
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00:11:39,632 --> 00:11:40,667
but seeking your approval
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00:11:41,768 --> 00:11:43,203
gives me something to do.
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00:11:44,504 --> 00:11:46,873
Loving may describe a condition,
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00:11:47,474 --> 00:11:48,975
but protecting you
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creates action.
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00:11:51,511 --> 00:11:51,811
Egotistical
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00:11:52,679 --> 00:11:56,516
might be accurate, but making
everything about myself gives the actor
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00:11:56,816 --> 00:11:58,84
a behavioral path.
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00:11:59,452 --> 00:12:01,755
This is a very important distinction.
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00:12:02,822 --> 00:12:04,624
Labels describe behavior.
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00:12:05,959 --> 00:12:08,161
Labels describe activities.
256
00:12:09,129 --> 00:12:09,629
And labels
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00:12:10,730 --> 00:12:11,31
activates.
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00:12:11,865 --> 00:12:15,35
Like, for example, if I say my
character is dishonest,
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00:12:16,169 --> 00:12:16,970
ok,
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00:12:17,871 --> 00:12:19,539
what does dishonesty look like?
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00:12:19,639 --> 00:12:20,173
Here?
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00:12:21,241 --> 00:12:22,442
Am I avoiding eye contact?
263
00:12:22,742 --> 00:12:23,543
Am I over explaining?
264
00:12:24,277 --> 00:12:25,378
Am I changing the subject?
265
00:12:26,12 --> 00:12:27,480
My becoming unusually helpful?
266
00:12:27,881 --> 00:12:31,851
Am I attacking you before you can
attack me?
267
00:12:32,819 --> 00:12:34,354
Suddenly the character becomes specific.
268
00:12:35,455 --> 00:12:39,526
And I like dividing behaviour into two
categories,
269
00:12:40,427 --> 00:12:42,228
mental behaviour and physical behaviour.
270
00:12:43,229 --> 00:12:46,633
Mental behaviour is what the character
is doing, psychologically,
271
00:12:47,300 --> 00:12:52,972
assessing, testing, protecting,
manipulating, avoiding, controlling, seducing,
272
00:12:53,239 --> 00:12:55,842
concealing, comforting, searching.
273
00:12:56,576 --> 00:12:57,911
Physical behaviour
274
00:12:58,411 --> 00:13:01,281
is how that psychology enters the body.
275
00:13:02,15 --> 00:13:03,216
Do I move toward you?
276
00:13:03,450 --> 00:13:04,284
Away from you?
277
00:13:04,417 --> 00:13:05,385
Do I become still.
278
00:13:05,785 --> 00:13:07,87
Do I fill the space?
279
00:13:07,387 --> 00:13:08,588
Do I avoid your eyes?
280
00:13:09,222 --> 00:13:10,557
Do I stare too long?
281
00:13:10,890 --> 00:13:12,625
Does my voice become faster,
282
00:13:13,126 --> 00:13:13,760
quieter,
283
00:13:14,227 --> 00:13:14,894
sharper?
284
00:13:15,462 --> 00:13:16,262
Do I touch you?
285
00:13:16,429 --> 00:13:17,797
Do I refuse to touch you?
286
00:13:17,931 --> 00:13:20,967
None of those things should become
choreography.
287
00:13:21,701 --> 00:13:22,902
We don't want line three.
288
00:13:23,69 --> 00:13:23,403
Look away.
289
00:13:23,636 --> 00:13:24,904
Line five, touch chin.
290
00:13:25,305 --> 00:13:26,906
Line seven, become emotionally
available.
291
00:13:28,274 --> 00:13:31,44
That's not acting, that's assembling
IKEA furniture.
292
00:13:32,278 --> 00:13:34,981
But behavioral awareness gives the
actor.
293
00:13:35,315 --> 00:13:35,849
Choices
294
00:13:36,249 --> 00:13:38,551
and choices create specificity.
295
00:13:39,152 --> 00:13:40,487
And here is an example.
296
00:13:41,54 --> 00:13:43,790
Two actors can have the exact same
need.
297
00:13:44,257 --> 00:13:46,92
I need you to believe me.
298
00:13:46,993 --> 00:13:49,929
Actor a pursues the need by explaining
everything.
299
00:13:50,497 --> 00:13:52,966
They become verbal, detailed urgent.
300
00:13:54,200 --> 00:13:55,35
Actor b, p, p, p, p, p, p, p, p.
301
00:13:55,35 --> 00:13:57,137
P pursues the same need by becoming
302
00:13:58,171 --> 00:13:59,673
completely calm.
303
00:14:01,141 --> 00:14:01,908
Same need,
304
00:14:02,509 --> 00:14:03,677
different behavior,
305
00:14:04,744 --> 00:14:07,213
and therefore a completely different
character.
306
00:14:08,415 --> 00:14:12,919
That is why I think behavior is one of
the most useful places for an actor to
307
00:14:12,919 --> 00:14:14,554
spend preparation time.
308
00:14:15,455 --> 00:14:17,424
Not how do I make this interesting?
309
00:14:18,91 --> 00:14:22,729
But how does this person behave when
they need something badly?
310
00:14:24,497 --> 00:14:25,598
That question
311
00:14:26,733 --> 00:14:27,834
creates character,
312
00:14:28,902 --> 00:14:31,71
and here's where the other actor
becomes essential.
313
00:14:31,471 --> 00:14:31,938
Because behavior
314
00:14:33,73 --> 00:14:34,574
cannot become fixed.
315
00:14:35,375 --> 00:14:38,411
I may enter the scene planning to
reassure you,
316
00:14:38,978 --> 00:14:40,313
but if you laugh at me,
317
00:14:40,814 --> 00:14:42,415
my behavior may change.
318
00:14:43,550 --> 00:14:44,784
Now I challenge you.
319
00:14:45,218 --> 00:14:46,720
If you challenge me back,
320
00:14:47,53 --> 00:14:47,721
I may react.
321
00:14:48,254 --> 00:14:51,24
If you suddenly become vulnerable, I
may soften.
322
00:14:51,791 --> 00:14:53,727
The need may remain the same.
323
00:14:53,860 --> 00:14:57,263
But my character changes according to
what I receive.
324
00:14:57,630 --> 00:15:00,333
And that brings us to the final part of
this process,
325
00:15:00,967 --> 00:15:01,768
emotion.
326
00:15:02,902 --> 00:15:04,604
The thing actors often prepare.
327
00:15:05,138 --> 00:15:05,605
First,
328
00:15:06,840 --> 00:15:11,211
I want to suggest something that may
sound radical, but isn't really.
329
00:15:12,178 --> 00:15:13,446
What if you didn't
330
00:15:13,613 --> 00:15:14,881
prepare the emotion?
331
00:15:16,16 --> 00:15:19,986
What if you prepared everything that
makes emotion possible?
332
00:15:20,987 --> 00:15:24,758
What if emotion is not something you
impose on the scene, but something you
333
00:15:24,891 --> 00:15:26,559
discover inside it?
334
00:15:27,460 --> 00:15:29,596
Because if I know what the story needs,
335
00:15:30,30 --> 00:15:34,868
I know what I need from you, and I know
how I tend to pursue that need,
336
00:15:35,635 --> 00:15:36,436
then something happens.
337
00:15:36,970 --> 00:15:38,71
When you respond,
338
00:15:38,838 --> 00:15:40,173
you give me what I want,
339
00:15:40,907 --> 00:15:41,775
or you don't?
340
00:15:42,575 --> 00:15:43,376
You surprise me.
341
00:15:43,610 --> 00:15:44,511
Do reject me.
342
00:15:45,78 --> 00:15:46,179
You misunderstand me.
343
00:15:46,179 --> 00:15:47,547
You forgive me, you betray me.
344
00:15:47,547 --> 00:15:51,351
And suddenly I feel something, not
because I manufactured it,
345
00:15:51,951 --> 00:15:53,453
because something happened.
346
00:15:54,587 --> 00:15:57,424
This is a very different acting
experience.
347
00:15:57,791 --> 00:15:59,693
Emotion becomes consequence.
348
00:16:00,760 --> 00:16:02,495
And this is the phrase I want you to
remember.
349
00:16:04,30 --> 00:16:05,765
is not the instruction.
350
00:16:06,232 --> 00:16:07,200
Emotion
351
00:16:07,634 --> 00:16:08,802
is the information.
352
00:16:09,769 --> 00:16:10,603
It tells us.
353
00:16:10,970 --> 00:16:15,508
What is happening to the character as
they pursue what they need.
354
00:16:17,610 --> 00:16:18,712
Think about real life.
355
00:16:19,779 --> 00:16:23,316
You usually don't walk into an
important conversation thinking at
356
00:16:23,316 --> 00:16:24,17
exactly 317.
357
00:16:24,818 --> 00:16:27,854
This afternoon, I intend to become
devastated.
358
00:16:29,389 --> 00:16:30,23
You don't do that.
359
00:16:30,190 --> 00:16:32,325
It happens because something occurs.
360
00:16:33,59 --> 00:16:36,496
You hear something, you realize
something, you lose something, you get
361
00:16:36,663 --> 00:16:38,865
something, you desperately wanted
362
00:16:39,466 --> 00:16:41,267
emotion follows experience.
363
00:16:42,35 --> 00:16:44,4
Why shouldn't acting work the same way?
364
00:16:45,305 --> 00:16:48,641
Now, obviously, actors sometimes know
where a scene is headed.
365
00:16:49,209 --> 00:16:52,145
The script may say that the character
cries fine.
366
00:16:52,812 --> 00:16:55,682
The actor still has to arrive there
truthfully.
367
00:16:56,583 --> 00:17:00,320
And chasing the tears is often the
fastest way not to get them,
368
00:17:01,321 --> 00:17:03,189
because now you're monitoring yourself,
369
00:17:03,957 --> 00:17:04,824
am I feeling it?
370
00:17:05,158 --> 00:17:05,925
Is it coming?
371
00:17:06,493 --> 00:17:07,527
Should I blink less?
372
00:17:08,194 --> 00:17:09,763
Do my eyes look watery?
373
00:17:10,830 --> 00:17:14,501
Meanwhile, the other actress just
revealed that they have been having an
374
00:17:14,501 --> 00:17:18,338
affair with your sister, and you have
completely missed it because you are
375
00:17:18,438 --> 00:17:20,6
checking your tear production.
376
00:17:21,541 --> 00:17:22,876
Now, this is not ideal.
377
00:17:23,610 --> 00:17:27,313
The audience does not care whether the
actor has successfully produced the
378
00:17:27,313 --> 00:17:28,314
assigned emotion.
379
00:17:29,49 --> 00:17:31,851
The audience cares whether something is
happening.
380
00:17:32,986 --> 00:17:34,521
That distinction matters.
381
00:17:34,988 --> 00:17:35,855
Enormously.
382
00:17:36,756 --> 00:17:41,428
I have watched auditions where an actor
became emotional, and it was very affecting.
383
00:17:42,495 --> 00:17:46,766
And I have watch auditions where an
actor became emotional and absolutely
384
00:17:47,534 --> 00:17:48,468
nothing happened.
385
00:17:49,469 --> 00:17:50,837
Because emotion alone
386
00:17:51,871 --> 00:17:53,106
is not story telling.
387
00:17:54,174 --> 00:17:58,278
Sometimes the most moving moment in the
scene is the character trying not to
388
00:17:58,278 --> 00:18:00,313
feel what they are clearly feeling.
389
00:18:01,214 --> 00:18:04,784
Trying not to cry can be more
compelling than crying.
390
00:18:05,452 --> 00:18:09,456
Trying not to become angry can be more
dangerous than shouting.
391
00:18:10,357 --> 00:18:12,492
Trying desperately to remain
professional
392
00:18:12,826 --> 00:18:15,462
can reveal far more than collapsing.
393
00:18:16,96 --> 00:18:16,963
Emotionally,
394
00:18:18,431 --> 00:18:20,967
behavior gives emotion shape.
395
00:18:21,534 --> 00:18:23,370
Not because it is less important
396
00:18:23,937 --> 00:18:26,72
because it has to earn its place
397
00:18:27,841 --> 00:18:28,475
one.
398
00:18:28,975 --> 00:18:31,344
But does the scene need to accomplish
399
00:18:32,312 --> 00:18:32,946
need?
400
00:18:33,613 --> 00:18:35,348
What do I need from you?
401
00:18:36,483 --> 00:18:37,584
Behavior?
402
00:18:38,251 --> 00:18:40,320
How do I pursue that need?
403
00:18:41,454 --> 00:18:42,255
Emotion?
404
00:18:42,822 --> 00:18:45,592
What happens to me because of what I
received?
405
00:18:47,293 --> 00:18:48,495
That is the order.
406
00:18:49,629 --> 00:18:49,796
Story.
407
00:18:51,798 --> 00:18:51,965
Action.
408
00:18:52,665 --> 00:18:53,266
Result.
409
00:18:55,535 --> 00:18:56,803
This does for the actor,
410
00:18:57,537 --> 00:19:01,307
it gives you something concrete to
prepare, without forcing you to decide
411
00:19:01,541 --> 00:19:04,144
and advance exactly how the scene must
feel.
412
00:19:05,78 --> 00:19:08,948
That's what makes preparation useful
without making the performance predetermined.
413
00:19:09,449 --> 00:19:12,952
And I think that is one of the great
challenges of acting.
414
00:19:13,787 --> 00:19:16,489
We have to prepare enough to know what
we're doing
415
00:19:17,57 --> 00:19:19,993
and remain free enough to discover what
happens.
416
00:19:21,227 --> 00:19:23,830
Those two ideas are not opposites.
417
00:19:24,998 --> 00:19:27,667
Good preparation actually creates
freedom.
418
00:19:29,69 --> 00:19:30,704
Imagine a Jazz musician.
419
00:19:31,638 --> 00:19:34,574
They know the instrument, they know the
key, they know the structure, they know
420
00:19:34,574 --> 00:19:35,208
the tune.
421
00:19:35,542 --> 00:19:37,911
And because they know all of that,
422
00:19:38,578 --> 00:19:39,512
they can improvise.
423
00:19:40,914 --> 00:19:42,415
Actors work the same way.
424
00:19:42,982 --> 00:19:44,684
Preparation should not make you rigid.
425
00:19:45,151 --> 00:19:46,419
Preparation should make you available.
426
00:19:47,554 --> 00:19:51,57
That's why I would never want an actor
to leave this episode thinking
427
00:19:52,92 --> 00:19:52,258
wonderful.
428
00:19:52,659 --> 00:19:54,894
Jeff has given me four more things to
control.
429
00:19:56,730 --> 00:19:56,896
Nano.
430
00:19:57,697 --> 00:20:00,800
If anything, I want you to control less.
431
00:20:01,401 --> 00:20:04,4
I want you preparing the conditions
432
00:20:04,904 --> 00:20:06,873
then letting the scene happen.
433
00:20:08,908 --> 00:20:12,12
Here's an exercise you can try with
almost any scene.
434
00:20:12,746 --> 00:20:15,48
Take the script and do not perform it.
435
00:20:15,782 --> 00:20:16,916
Just answer four questions.
436
00:20:17,317 --> 00:20:19,853
First, why did the writer write this
scene?
437
00:20:20,754 --> 00:20:21,921
Write one sentence.
438
00:20:22,255 --> 00:20:23,56
Second,
439
00:20:23,390 --> 00:20:25,291
what do I need from the other character?
440
00:20:26,359 --> 00:20:27,360
Again, one sentence.
441
00:20:28,728 --> 00:20:31,531
Third, what behaviors do I use to
persuade
442
00:20:32,599 --> 00:20:33,433
that need?
443
00:20:35,68 --> 00:20:36,803
Choose two or three possibilities.
444
00:20:37,704 --> 00:20:41,474
Maybe you reassure, maybe you provoke,
maybe you conceal, maybe you protect,
445
00:20:42,8 --> 00:20:42,742
maybe you dominate.
446
00:20:43,376 --> 00:20:44,10
And 4th,
447
00:20:44,678 --> 00:20:46,246
do not write down the emotion.
448
00:20:47,80 --> 00:20:48,314
Leave that one blank.
449
00:20:49,149 --> 00:20:50,717
Then I want you to play the scene,
450
00:20:51,51 --> 00:20:51,851
see what happens
451
00:20:52,919 --> 00:20:57,424
when you finish, ask yourself, what
emotional shifts actually occurred?
452
00:20:58,491 --> 00:20:59,526
Not what you planned,
453
00:21:00,93 --> 00:21:00,794
what happened?
454
00:21:01,695 --> 00:21:03,196
You may be surprised.
455
00:21:03,630 --> 00:21:07,367
The scene you thought was furious may
actually contain, humor
456
00:21:08,568 --> 00:21:12,172
the scene use that was heartbreaking
may contain enormous relief.
457
00:21:12,906 --> 00:21:16,810
The scene you thought was romantic may
actually be about power.
458
00:21:17,711 --> 00:21:21,281
And that discovery is one of the
reasons acting remains interesting.
459
00:21:21,715 --> 00:21:25,552
Because you can study a script for days
and still discover something.
460
00:21:26,119 --> 00:21:28,154
When another human being looks at you,
461
00:21:29,789 --> 00:21:30,724
that's the magic,
462
00:21:31,458 --> 00:21:32,25
not the emotion.
463
00:21:32,258 --> 00:21:32,959
You planned,
464
00:21:33,293 --> 00:21:34,894
the response, you didn't.
465
00:21:36,429 --> 00:21:37,397
So here's today's reset.
466
00:21:37,697 --> 00:21:41,935
The next time you receive a scene,
resist the temptation to decide how
467
00:21:42,35 --> 00:21:43,370
you're supposed to feel.
468
00:21:44,270 --> 00:21:44,437
Start.
469
00:21:44,571 --> 00:21:45,271
Somewhere else.
470
00:21:46,272 --> 00:21:47,374
Start with the writer.
471
00:21:48,408 --> 00:21:49,609
What does the scene want?
472
00:21:50,677 --> 00:21:51,544
Then move to relationship.
473
00:21:52,178 --> 00:21:53,446
What do I need from you?
474
00:21:54,414 --> 00:21:55,548
Then examine the behavior.
475
00:21:56,249 --> 00:21:57,917
How do I go about getting it?
476
00:21:58,752 --> 00:21:59,686
And only then
477
00:22:00,253 --> 00:22:01,921
allow emotion to arrive.
478
00:22:04,157 --> 00:22:04,791
Want
479
00:22:05,592 --> 00:22:06,226
need
480
00:22:06,726 --> 00:22:07,694
behavior,
481
00:22:07,994 --> 00:22:08,795
emotion.
482
00:22:09,796 --> 00:22:11,364
You don't have to force the last one.
483
00:22:11,931 --> 00:22:13,767
If the first three are alive,
484
00:22:14,267 --> 00:22:16,803
emotion usually knows where to find you.
485
00:22:17,637 --> 00:22:20,306
And that may be the most freeing part
of all.
486
00:22:21,74 --> 00:22:23,510
Motion isn't something you bring to the
scene.
487
00:22:24,310 --> 00:22:25,111
Sometimes
488
00:22:25,311 --> 00:22:27,514
it's what the scene does to you.
489
00:22:29,149 --> 00:22:31,217
I know, this was a lot, this dense
episode.
490
00:22:31,618 --> 00:22:33,153
You might want to listen to this again.
491
00:22:33,386 --> 00:22:35,989
Maybe that's a good suggestion as well,
492
00:22:36,589 --> 00:22:39,793
because I know there's a tendency for
me, with my energy and all the coffee
493
00:22:39,959 --> 00:22:42,95
I've had today, to go really fast with
this stuff.
494
00:22:42,262 --> 00:22:45,865
And I really, really want this to be of
value to you.
495
00:22:46,99 --> 00:22:50,103
So it might take you to go to the
website, for example, and download
496
00:22:51,371 --> 00:22:56,109
the jeffs jots, which is the blog that
corresponds to the episode.
497
00:22:56,676 --> 00:23:00,480
There are all kinds of ways that you
can kind of absorb this even more
498
00:23:01,81 --> 00:23:01,548
in the meantime.
499
00:23:02,15 --> 00:23:03,450
Thank you so much for joining me.
500
00:23:03,450 --> 00:23:04,184
I'm jeffer eisbach.
501
00:23:04,417 --> 00:23:05,885
And this is casting actors cast.
502
00:23:06,586 --> 00:23:08,655
And I will talk to you next time.
503
00:23:08,988 --> 00:23:09,155
Thanks.
504
00:23:09,289 --> 00:23:09,756
So,
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