Have noticed that you can find books on every aspect of acting except listening? There is no book called Listening for Actors or An Actor Listens.
This is strange considering that in acting classes you’re told that talking is easy and that listening is hard. For actors, talking is action. Words are action. Characters speak for a reason, to get something from another character.
Most actors listen in preparation to speak but without a clear purpose making their listening passive. But actors are told not to listen passively.
So what can actors do? The first thing is to note that every character, like every person, listens in his or her own particular and peculiar way.
Second, remember that hearing and listening are different. Hearing means “perceiving with the ear sounds made by someone or something.” While listening means “giving one’s attention to sound, taking notice of and acting on what someone says.” So be sure to consider whether your character is actually listening or just hearing.
Next, notice that when someone is speaking we hear different things and we listen for different things. We listen to or hear the words being spoken and the kind of language being used. We hear the tone of voice and the speaker’s tempo and rhythm. We hear the speaker’s breathing and that gives us clues to their subtext and attitudes. We also hear the sound of our own inner-voice responding or thinking about other things. People don’t listen 100% of the time and it is possible that your character isn’t listening that intently either.
So as you examine your scenes and relationships, think about how your character listens, what he or she is listening for and when he or she is actually listening as opposed to just hearing.
Finally, instead of just underlining the words you speak, underline the words that your partner says that prompt you to speak. Underline the words that you are listening to, responding to. By doing this you will begin to understand when your character is listening and how they actually listen in their own particular way.
© Eric Barr. All rights reserved
