ON ACTING: Dialogue...and Actor's Confidence
The following is a note to those of you who are inhibited by the scripted text:
If dialogue were the critical component in a performance, they would have hired the writer to enact the part. S/he knows the words better than anyone.
Words are less important than the person who says them.
Think of it another way. The dress is only as important as the person who wears it to the party. Do you take the dress to the party or the girl who wears it?
Date a dull wearer of a beautiful dress; the dress soon loses it's luster.
Remember: Nobody's ever rushed to bed eager to put on clothes; in fact, they are generally the first thing removed. Same with words: don't let them get in the way!
Think of it like cooking vegetables: Most vegetables are alike (all right; some vegetables are grown better than others...but...) but the key to a good meal is the cooking. Great vegetables in the hands of a lousy cook taste unappetizing; average vegetables prepared by a great cook taste scrumptious. Do you go to an expensive restaurant because of the ingredients? Or do you go because of the way they are cooked...and served?
A great script in the hands (and mouth) of a lousy actor is a lousy performance.
An average script and dialogue in the hands of a great actor sometimes is uo for awards.
They pay great actors large amounts of money because they know how to make even the dullest (scripted) party seem like fun.
What kind of performance party would you like to be invited to: a fancy party attended by all dull people? Or a party thrown at a simple, small suburban home in the dull desert by the ten most exciting people in your town?!
Don't be intimidated by scripts. They are just the vegetables, furniture, dresses of performance: factoids there hoping to cooked, or sat on, or worn by exciting people.
Scripts need us actors more than actors need scripts. If reality TV has done nothing else, it's proven that!! Notice there's no TV show or film that simply lets the script scroll by without actors involved!!!
So, actors:...Don't be intimidated by scripted words. They should be grateful to have confident actors saying them! The reality: you be exciting; the words'll be exciting. You be dull; the greatest words in the world are not going to help you.
If dialogue were the critical component in a performance, they would have hired the writer to enact the part. S/he knows the words better than anyone.
Words are less important than the person who says them.
Think of it another way. The dress is only as important as the person who wears it to the party. Do you take the dress to the party or the girl who wears it?
Date a dull wearer of a beautiful dress; the dress soon loses it's luster.
Remember: Nobody's ever rushed to bed eager to put on clothes; in fact, they are generally the first thing removed. Same with words: don't let them get in the way!
Think of it like cooking vegetables: Most vegetables are alike (all right; some vegetables are grown better than others...but...) but the key to a good meal is the cooking. Great vegetables in the hands of a lousy cook taste unappetizing; average vegetables prepared by a great cook taste scrumptious. Do you go to an expensive restaurant because of the ingredients? Or do you go because of the way they are cooked...and served?
A great script in the hands (and mouth) of a lousy actor is a lousy performance.
An average script and dialogue in the hands of a great actor sometimes is uo for awards.
They pay great actors large amounts of money because they know how to make even the dullest (scripted) party seem like fun.
What kind of performance party would you like to be invited to: a fancy party attended by all dull people? Or a party thrown at a simple, small suburban home in the dull desert by the ten most exciting people in your town?!
Don't be intimidated by scripts. They are just the vegetables, furniture, dresses of performance: factoids there hoping to cooked, or sat on, or worn by exciting people.
Scripts need us actors more than actors need scripts. If reality TV has done nothing else, it's proven that!! Notice there's no TV show or film that simply lets the script scroll by without actors involved!!!
So, actors:...Don't be intimidated by scripted words. They should be grateful to have confident actors saying them! The reality: you be exciting; the words'll be exciting. You be dull; the greatest words in the world are not going to help you.
posted by Cliff Osmond at 5:29 PM
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