s t i l l n e s s.
Stillness.
Taking one’s time. Listening. Really listening and not just waiting for the other actor to finish speaking their last line. Making dialogue feel natural and spontaneous. To appear as if what you are saying hasn't been memorized but rather coming from inside you, from somewhere where truth smolders like coals waiting to be stoked.
Well, that's it, isn't it? That's acting. It's what every actor to strives for in every performance. Stillness.
Again, I am talking about acting for film and television here. Stage acting is a totally different animal.
Stillness.
To me stillness is that perfect balance of where the character and I become one. The struggle between telling a story and performing written lines has ceased. The two sides have merged. There is a truce, a balance has been achieved. The waves have stopped crashing into one another and there is calm.
All that's left to do is say the words.
Stillness doesn't mean becoming a rock. It just means being so in the moment...so in character...so at peace with everything...that your performance can't seem anything but true.
Notice I said true and not real. They're not the same thing. They're close but they are two different ideas. You can't be real without first discovering the truth. It just won't work the other way around.
I know. I know. All this seems a little too Take the stone from my hand, Grasshopper.
That's a fair assessment in that there is some zen aspects to becoming aware of your stillness. You don't have to walk on hot coals, however, unless, that is, you just want to do because it's just another thing you can say you did.
Your performance has to be true. This is only going to happen once stillness has been achieved.
To some this skill comes naturally. To some this skill comes after years of work. You've seen actors who have mastered stillness but you've never stopped and said, 'My God he's so still.' If you have then you've pulled yourself away from the performance, the scene, the movie or television show you're watching. And if you've disengaged, then the actor you're watching wasn't really doing their job.
Anthony Hopkins is a brilliant actor and a master of stillness. This skill didn't come naturally to him though. He has said that as a young actor he beat the furniture and worried about his motivation.
He's mellowed with age. "I have learned to become still," Hopkins has said.
"Acting is really nothing more nor less than common sense. I don't actually rehearse the scenes; I just go over and over them until they feel natural. Then I show up on time and see what happens. I have learned to let the audience do the work."
"The key," Hopkins teaches, "is to do less."
Stop thinking. Stop worrying. Just fucking doing it.
That's where I struggle. Oh, my brain. My fucking brain.
At some point during my formative years my father said to me, "Why don't you use your head? What were you thinking? Were you thinking? Why don't you try thinking?"
Well, Pop. I hope you're happy. I'm thinking. All the time. Thinking. Thinking. Thinking. My brain never stops. Ever. Even now, as I'm typing this sentence, there are twelve thoughts running through my head like commuters cramming onto a crowded subway and struggling to find a spot to settle.
Stillness? I think about stillness in my acting all the time. Even when I'm trying to be still. My acting coach would say, "Just relax" and I would try but then I would start thinking about not thinking. I'd try to relax enough to stop thinking but then I'd start worry about not worrying and thinking about not thinking and then I'd worry that it was obvious I was thinking and worrying and then I find myself adrift in a sea of worry and thinking and psychological bullshit and well...
Your performance has to be true. This is only going to happen once stillness has been achieved.
To some this skill comes naturally. To some this skill comes after years of work. You've seen actors who have mastered stillness but you've never stopped and said, 'My God he's so still.' If you have then you've pulled yourself away from the performance, the scene, the movie or television show you're watching. And if you've disengaged, then the actor you're watching wasn't really doing their job.
Anthony Hopkins is a brilliant actor and a master of stillness. This skill didn't come naturally to him though. He has said that as a young actor he beat the furniture and worried about his motivation.
He's mellowed with age. "I have learned to become still," Hopkins has said.
"Acting is really nothing more nor less than common sense. I don't actually rehearse the scenes; I just go over and over them until they feel natural. Then I show up on time and see what happens. I have learned to let the audience do the work."
"The key," Hopkins teaches, "is to do less."
Stop thinking. Stop worrying. Just fucking doing it.
That's where I struggle. Oh, my brain. My fucking brain.
At some point during my formative years my father said to me, "Why don't you use your head? What were you thinking? Were you thinking? Why don't you try thinking?"
Well, Pop. I hope you're happy. I'm thinking. All the time. Thinking. Thinking. Thinking. My brain never stops. Ever. Even now, as I'm typing this sentence, there are twelve thoughts running through my head like commuters cramming onto a crowded subway and struggling to find a spot to settle.
Stillness? I think about stillness in my acting all the time. Even when I'm trying to be still. My acting coach would say, "Just relax" and I would try but then I would start thinking about not thinking. I'd try to relax enough to stop thinking but then I'd start worry about not worrying and thinking about not thinking and then I'd worry that it was obvious I was thinking and worrying and then I find myself adrift in a sea of worry and thinking and psychological bullshit and well...
Yeah. I'm a mess and unless I conquer my demons, unless I relax, I'm fucked. Not just as an actor but as a human type person.
This is what my coach is saying. Over and over. This is what my wife is saying. Over and over.
THIS IS WHAT THE UNIVERSE IS SAYING. Over and over. Stop thinking and unfuck yourself, Jody.
GET OUT OF YOUR HEAD.
I 100% agree. I really need to unfuck myself.
I need to stop the movie playing inside my head and just breathe. I need to stop creating the movie first. Then I can walk out on it. Easier said than done.
I'm never going to be able to relax, though, until I do. I am working on it. I am a work in progress. Progress is slow but every day I come closer to...
Hang on. I'm thinking about some other things.
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