Transcript
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Acting isn't just what you say, it's
how you respond.
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The secret sauce.
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Listening
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today we'll talk about why reacting
truthfully is your most powerful tool
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as an actor.
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Well, hello.
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And who welcomed the gasing actor's
cast?
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So glad that you're here, we're going
to be talking and focusing on one of
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the simplest and most overlooked
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skills an actor can have.
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And that is listening.
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See, here's the thing, too many actors
prepare for auditions by obsessing over
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their own lines, their choices, their
emotional beats.
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But honestly, some of the most powerful
acting happens in the spaces between
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the words.
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Now I've done some episodes quite
recently, as a matter of fact, about
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silences, those beats, those moments.
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And I think that this is a nice
compilation
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of those,
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taking those beats and those moments
and really talking and flipping the
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script on something else.
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And that's the listening cause.
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Real listening leads to real reacting.
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And I tell you, reacting is what
creates performances that feel alive,
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they feel natural and authentic.
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If you can master the art of listening,
you'll unlock a secret superpower that
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sets you apart in every audition and in
every performance.
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Before we jump into this, let's just
say thank you for tuning into casting.
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Actress cast.
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It's a pleasure bringing these podcasts
to you.
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If you haven't done so already, please
do check out the website, casting
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actors cast, all one word dot com.
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You're going to find some really
interesting information there.
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You're going to see some past episodes.
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You're going to see jeff's jots, which
are corresponding show notes to each of
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the episodes.
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Also, there's, my new book is out as
available.
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It's called bookedit.
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And then there's a form that says, dive
into the talent pool.
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When you do that, you feel out that
form, then it opens up some previews
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for you.
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One is a book I wrote on doing voice
over work.
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The other is the gosh it's such,
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it's about auditioning, but it's like
casting secrets what they don't tell you.
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I finally took me a second.
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Remember the title,
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casting secrets what they don't tell
you.
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And that's only if you fill out that
form that is diving to the tallent
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pool, gives me your name and your email
address.
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Listen.
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I don't do anything with that
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again.
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I just want to thank those of you
who've sent me letters and
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correspondents and reviews of the show.
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Gosh.
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You know what that means the world to
me.
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And I'm really excited that this
podcast is continuing to grow the way
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that it is on the Broadway podcast
network.
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And I'm looking forward to many, many
more episodes coming up in the future.
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As long as you let me know that you're
out there listening.
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I will absolutely
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dedicate some time and some effort into
presenting these podcasts for you.
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All right, let's talk about listening.
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When I say listening,
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what I'm really saying is
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reacting.
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Listening is equal to reacting.
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See, acting is not delivering
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lines.
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Listening is a dialogue.
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Your reaction is half the scene's truth.
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When you truly hear your partner,
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the audience sees the story unfold in
real time.
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And that's why presence matters.
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Listening means being fully in the
moment and not just planning your next
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line or the way you're going to react
next, your next expression.
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So here's an example, think of a great
actor in a courtroom drama.
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Or maybe it's a romantic comedy.
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Their best moments
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are often silent reactions.
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So here's a tip
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I want you to drop your agenda
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when you're working on a scene or an
audition,
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trust that the scene will carry you
forward.
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You don't have to be responsible for
everything that takes place in the scene.
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The scene is written.
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What you need to do is simply
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drop
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the hidden agenda that you have in
terms of the way you're going to perform.
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So nonverbal reactions, like body
language, posture, breath, eye contact,
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they all communicate engagement.
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So for example, a moment where you can
look away, a pause before speaking, or
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even a deep breath,
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can be so much more telling than any
line you've given.
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Enjoy the spontaneity of those moments.
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The best auditions I ever see as a
casting director
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is when something spontaneous happens
in the audition.
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Something unplanned,
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something that even the actor maybe
didn't expect.
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They did their homework so much,
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and they know the character so much
it's in them, and so now they have a
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different attitude in the work.
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And that is, let's just see what
happens in this moment
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on camera.
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Those kind of subtle choices often
become the emotional highlight of the scene
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listening.
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I also want to draw your attention to
what I call scene partner focus.
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Make your partner,
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the most important person in the room.
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I'm fond of saying this when I'm
teaching a class.
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And that is,
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the scene is never about you.
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It's about the other person.
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Are they understanding you?
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Why are they reacting this way?
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What can you say to make a difference?
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All of those are things that you're
putting on the other.
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So if you place your attention fully on
them,
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your reactions will always be fresh and
real.
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So here's a bonus tip attached to that.
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This makes them better.
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Too
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generous.
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Listening elevates the entire scene,
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I promise.
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So here's a practiced tool.
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I call this a partner exercise.
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Is that I want you to improvise a short
scene where your only job is to listen,
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and I want you to respond naturally,
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think about recording it.
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And what's going to happen is you're
going to often notice that your most
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truthful acting happens when you forget
your own lines and just simply react to
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what's happening.
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That makes a big deal difference.
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So when working on a script, you have
to chart out the method by which you do
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it.
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I think that there's an important
structure to good listening.
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And that is spending
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more time in the head of the other
character
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when you're first learning the work.
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In other words, it's not about your
words
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really spend time in the head of the
other character.
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That way, when you start your words,
you're going to be able to have a
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better idea about the kinds of
reactions that make the most sense for
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your character in the scene.
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It's almost like a reverse psychology.
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Too many times I see actors wanting to
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digest their scene to the best of their
ability, and they spend very, very
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little time on the other character.
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In fact, many times, I think actors
look at just the cue lines so that they
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know when they come in.
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And why that's a problem is that it's
not helping you be fresh.
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It's not helping you be in the moment.
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But if you have the psychology of what
the other character is dealing with,
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you're literally able to have a
spontaneous reaction,
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because you know what's coming next.
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You're not projecting what's coming
next.
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You're treating it like it's brand new
for you.
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I hope that that makes sense.
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It's a very, very useful skill.
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So we're going to give you the bottom
line.
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We're going to give you a final
conclusion on the best way to listen
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right after this.
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So when we talk about the best way to
listen,
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there's a bottom line I want to share
with you.
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Please know that your greatest tool as
an actor,
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isn't your voice.
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I promise you, it's not just your look,
or even your choices,
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it's your ability to listen.
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Because you know what?
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When you listen, you react.
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And when you react,
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you're alive,
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you're in the moment.
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And that really does count.
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Here's some homework for you.
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I always like giving home work.
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I'm wondering if anybody's really doing
this o work, but if you do, I god bless
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you.
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Because I think this is really helpful
if you put it into action.
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I want you to find a scene this week,
and I want you to perform it with one
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simple goal,
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make your partner more important than
you.
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Make your partner more important than
you.
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In the scene, I want you to record it,
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watch it back, and notice how much more
authentic
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your work becomes when you're not
acting,
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but it's actually responding.
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Remember what I said at the beginning,
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listening
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is responding.
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And the emotional truth that you
discover
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when you're responding
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becomes very, very naturalistic.
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This is especially useful, I think, on
camera
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whether you're doing a film or a
television project,
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that kind of honest connection
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really just goes
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a long, long way.
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I promise you,
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the kind of projects that we're working
at mccorical cassing, we're doing some
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theater, but we're also doing
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three or four film projects as well as
a television series.
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And it's so interesting to me, seeing
those actors that understand their technique
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and be able to kind of flip in and out
whether that actor is doing a theater
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audition or that actor is doing a film
and television audition.
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It's so fascinating to me, because you
can tell instantly that technique that
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the actor has, and you know what
happens at that point.
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That also instills
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a level of confidence.
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And I'm not talking about bravado.
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I'm not talking about egoing out.
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I am talking about the assurance
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that the actor transmits to casting,
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letting us know that they know what
they're doing, they're in full control.
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But there's also something spontaneous
and fun to watch.
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That's amazing.
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I love seeing that.
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And you know, when I was an actor, and
I was an actor for twenty years, I
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didn't fully understand
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that as a technique.
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It took me a long time.
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I got there happily.
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But it just took a while for me to
fully understand that it wasn't about
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me in an audition.
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Making it about the other
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not only relieves you of a lot of
unnecessary stress,
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but it also allows opportunities for
creative beats, creative moments and a
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creative energy
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that literally makes that seem
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pop
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comes alive.
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Gosh, that was good, right?
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This has been a good episode.
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I'm really grateful that you tuned in
and we'll see you next time.
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This is casting actors cast.
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I'm Jeffrey driesback.
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Thank you so much for tuning in.
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And we're going to see you like I said
next.
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I'm saying the same thing over again.
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I've got to stop that anyway.
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Thanks for joining me.
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We'll see you next time.
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I'm casting actress cast.
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Ok, I'm done.
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Wow.
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I need a
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