See and respond to the other actor’s emotional changes. If your partner changes emotionally, react with an equal or greater level of energy to her change. This doesn’t mean that you should go through a lot of gyrations or facial expressions. If you have an emotional experience, you don’t have to do anything, because that experience will come through to the other actor, and, more importantly, to your audience. As you get better at seeing with a child’s eyes, you will respond more and more intuitively.
One of my favorite moments is in the film Legends of the Fall with Brad Pitt. Pitt’s character, returning after the first World War, rides up the hill toward the ranch. The ranch hand sees him in the distance and calls to the colonel, played by Anthony Hopkins; Julia Ormond and Aidan Quinn, who plays Pitt’s brother, each experience an emotion that we see and understand. They do this without words, facial gymnastics, or silly indications. They actually experience the emotions, and we see them.
(Close-up. The Indian ranch hand hears the horses. He turns and looks over the hill. The other ranch hand sees the Indian and also turns.)
RANCH HAND Colonel.
(He points out the distant figure on horseback, and they look with anticipation as Pitt approaches the ranch house.)
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CLOSE ON JULIA ORMOND
(She watches Pitt through the screen door. We see the inter-nal experience she is having, and we know that she is in love with Pitt. Quinn comes down the steps, unaware that his brother has returned.)
CLOSE ON QUINN
QUINN
I’m going to town . . . it’s a . . .
(He stops in midsentence when he sees Ormond staring out the window. He sees what she is feeling and realizes she is in love with his brother.)
(Quinn feels disappointment, and we see it. When Ormond becomes aware of his presence, she turns and looks at him.
She is ashamed of her feelings, lowers her head, and runs up the stairway. Quinn looks out the screen door toward his brother.)
This scene is a perfect example of truly seeing. Each actor intently sees what is going on with the other, and, without words, each has an emotional experience that is clearly communicated to the audience.
Listening
Sharpening your listening sense almost instantly increases your effectiveness as an actor. Listen, really listen, to everything the other actor says.
Force yourself to listen. Hear the tone of his voice. Is he louder or softer than I am? Am I responding to his emotional tone? Listen as a young child listens.
In As Good As It Gets, Jack Nicholson plays an obsessive-compulsive man.
He is sitting alone in a restaurant and takes out his plastic eating utensils.
Helen Hunt, who plays a waitress in the restaurant, interacts with Nicholson.
When you view this scene, watch how the talented Nicholson is absorbed in lis-tening to Hunt’s tone and inflection.
HUNT
Are you afraid you’ll die if you eat with our silverware?
NICHOLSON
We’re all going to die. I’m going to die, you’re going to die, and it sure sounds like your son is going to die.
(Hunt stares at Nicholson. Silence. Nicholson looks up, realizing he has made a mistake.)
HUNT
If you ever mention my son again you will never be able to eat here.
(Watch Nicholson’s reaction as he listens to her. He is frightened. He can’t talk. But he listens.)
HUNT Do you understand?
(Nicholson listens to her so intently that he is transfixed.
We have no doubt that he really and truly hears her every word and sees her emotion.)
HUNT
Do you understand me you crazy . . . ?
(Nicholson is speechless. He listens so intently, it is a struggle for him to speak.)
HUNT Do you?
NICHOLSON (struggling) Hun . . . Yes
HUNT
Okay . . . I’ll get your eggs.
Touching
Touch relaxes you and invokes intimacy. Touch heightens your awareness of the other actor and allows you to believe what she is saying or How to Increase Your Concentration 65
doing. Often, in class, two actors doing a scene will be a little stiff or un-relat-ing. Then one of them touches the other on the arm, and you can see them both instantly relax and become intimate. Almost always, a scene goes better if in some way you touch the other actor or she touches you. Touching focuses your concentration and releases your inhibitions. The actual root meaning of “act-ing” means “to do,” “to carry out an action.” Physical movement, which includes touching, can evoke an emotional response.
At the climax of As Good As It Gets, Nicholson kisses Hunt. It is an unemotional kiss and not very exciting. Nicholson takes a moment, then—
NICHOLSON
I can do better than that.
Nicholson’s second kiss is spontaneous; he caresses her hair and shoulders.
The touch tells us that he cares for her. The touch works on a subconscious level and tells the audience more than the kiss.