I was doing an improvisation scene with another actor. The objective of the "improv" was simple; to do a small talk with another actor with a motive to get money out of his pocket. At first it sounded like an easy thing to do; go out there and fleece this guy.
So I went in on the stage with "the goal" dwarfing everything else in my mind. A few minutes into the scene I was struggling for words. And why? I was too focused on my motive. The motive was handicapping my thought process.
During the postmortem of the scene my teacher gave me the reason for my failure. I wasn't listening. I was too busy keeping the motive alive in my mind that I missed listening to my co-actor. Eventually I didn't have anything to react to!
Robert Downey Jr said he hates motive, during an interview on "Inside an Actor's Studio" (a TV show I am a big fan of). I was definitely too engrossed in my motive to even think about anything else. Maybe it is good sometimes to lose the focus just to see the bigger picture.
I'll share some lessons that Rango spoke on acting! Here I go:
- People, we've talked about this! Acting is reacting.
- People, I've had an epiphany! The hero cannot exist in a vacuum! What our story needs is an ironic, unexpected event, that will propel the hero into conflict.
Here are the same lessons in the video format! Enjoy!
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