#9: Where is the moment?

7/11/24

This week I’ve had a lot of talks about the creation of ideas as it relates to acting. And every single day as humans interacting in the world, we do this. We “create” words and thoughts each time we speak. 

What does this mean?

When you wake up, you do not live off a script. You may know the people you are guaranteed to talk to but you don’t know every single word you are going to say. Take stock of this today - I promise you do this:

Let’s say someone says to you “how was your dinner with X”. and you start telling a story about that dinner. You may say “it was good. But he seemed off”. Put an ellipses between “seemed” and “off”. 

“It was good. But he seemed… off”. 

Now read them back to back. 

“It was good. But he seemed off”.

“It was good. But he seemed… off”.

In one of these, the word OFF is invented/discovered/created in the moment. In the other, it’s just a planned observation. 

Sometimes the writer will handle this for you but I am definitely someone who believes that the punctuation is occasionally negotiable :) It is the actors job to activate words through phrasing and their technique. 

This is a tough skill and will be developed over time. BUT… try to observe your conversations today. You will be amazed at how often you “discover” words and the people around you! 

Dreams Don’t Die 

Julie