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Let's End the Specious Argument of Beloved Dead Masters

In particular, let's end the "argument" between Adler and Strasberg.  There is no substance to their false reasoning upon whi...

Monday, January 23, 2017

When a Director Asks for a Result

Here's a quote from Meryl Streep in her interview regarding her performance of Florence Foster Jenkins:  “The last thing a really good director says to you is, ‘Be more lovely,’ to ask for the result,” she says. “So the result here is, ‘Sing badly.’ But I never thought about that. I thought about singing it as best as I could."  

Singing as best she could is an action.  I think the skill actors must achieve in order to prevent "indicated" acting is to be able to immediately transfer a director's request for a result into an action.  The ability to do that requires practice/rehearsal, and not after one has been cast in a production, but practice on a daily basis. 


Directors will frequently say, "be angrier," "be more flirtatious," "go slower, faster."  These adjectives are results, and an actor can't perform adjectives.  Only verbs will produce an action which will then give the director their desired result.