Really Talking, Really Listening

Twelve Angry Men, The Fugitive Kind, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, Network, The Verdict, Q&A, Night Falls On Manhattan – these are just a few of the films Sydney Lumet has directed over the years. I can’t think of better words to commit to heart before actors cold-read and rehearse.

“How can we get actors with totally different life experiences and acting techniques to look like they’re making the same movie? The answer is remarkably simple, but like all simple things, it’s hard to achieve. Just as in life, really talking and listening to one another is very, very difficult. In acting, that’s the basis on which everything is built. By now I have an almost set speech I make just before the first reading of the script. I will say to the actors, ‘Go as far as you feel. Do as much or as little as you want to. If you feel it, let it fly. Don’t worry if it’s the right emotion or the wrong one. We’ll find out. That’s what rehearsals are for. But minimally, talk to each other and listen to each other. Don’t worry about losing your place in the script as long as you’re really talking and listening to each other. Try to pick up on what you just heard.

“Sanford Meisner was one of the best acting teachers of my time. With beginning students, he spent the first month or six weeks getting them to really talk and listen to one another. That’s all. It’s the great common denominator where different acting styles and techniques meet.”

Making Movies, by Sydney Lumet

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