I want you to watch a feature film with the sound off. Sound boring? Get over it. This will change your film acting forever. As you look at the film I want you to notice the way the lead actors move versus the way the day players move. You will almost always find that the most famous and successful actors in a film move the least.
Some teachers refer to this as stillness. That is an inadequate description and a reductive concept that does not speak to the depth of this concern. In the on-camera classes I teach at Screen Actors System, I address this matter through a more rigorous strategy I call “minimum movement.”
Actors feel like they have to entertain. That is a noble desire. But I am going to ask you to please stop—stop feeling like you have to do something. I’m not saying you will never do anything in a film performance. But trust me, do more nothing.
There is a lot to nothing.
Look in the mirror right now. Now, stop making that pursed lip “good looking” face you make every time. Knock it off. Backstage, no doubt, has the best looking readership on Earth. You look great. I want you to just relax every one of the 43 muscles in your face. Now that is a work of
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