In the normal course of speaking, we have a thought we need to communicate and then we speak. Because we need oxygen to support and create sound, we also have to breathe. So speaking starts with a thought, continues with an inhalation, and ends with a word. Thought, breath, speech. That is the sequence behind everything we say.
Since actors are given words to speak, we don’t really have to think before we speak. The thoughts have been organized into words and we can just say them. The problem is that without finding the thoughts and intentions that lead to speaking, we end up reciting empty words that bore audiences and don’t connect to our acting partners.
One of the simplest ways to combat this problem and to get inside the lines you are given, is to slow down and think. During rehearsals take a pause before your line and come up with an intention that drives the character to say the words you are about to say.
Words are action and you are speaking to accomplish something. If you just recite your lines, they won’t be active; there won’t be a driving force behind them or a subtext underneath them.
Another way to think about the process of speaking is to see it as an iceberg and to imagine the words you speak as the visible ice above the waterline. Almost 88% of an iceberg is hidden below the water and your job as an actor is to create that huge mass of thoughts, emotions, and subtext that support the words you speak.
Start doing that by slowing down. Then think, breathe, and speak.
Eric Barr. All rights reserved
