Preface – xv
SPECIAL STUFF – 1
I QUESTION AND ANSWER RAILROAD TRACKS – 3
Discovering your character’s private thoughts leads to spontaneous and improvisational thinking as the character instead of for the character.
II ATTITUDE LINES: PROCESS AND ARCHETYPES – 9
Possessing the character’s core attitude provides the character’s physicality, personality, and essence.
III REFLECTION LISTENING – 27
Listening with the whole body heightens authenticity, spontaneity, and presence.
IV PHYSICALIZING AN EMOTION – 31
The wordless conversation between the body and the mind creates the desired emotion with countless possibilities that exist within that feeling.
V EMOTION ARC – 51
Increasing the intensity of an emotion over the length of a speech, beat, monologue, or scene is forceful and compelling.
VI UMBRELLA ARC – 57
Shaping your character’s emotional journey leads to more powerful scenes.
VII MONOLOGUES: BREAKDOWN AND REHEARSAL – 67
Revealing something about the character that is not mentioned in the monologue intensifies the monologue’s emotional impact.
ALL THE STUFF – 77
VIII DOING – 79
WHEN YOU NEED TO:
Play Drunk – 81
Play Stoned – 84
Pick Up the Pace – 85
Do a Walk-and-Talk – 88
Seduce Another Character – 90
Think on Camera or Stage – 93
Play the Story – 97
Play the Subtext – 100
Make a Monologue Compelling – 110
Make the Exposition Compelling – 116
Do It Again Just Like That – 122
Do a Contradictory or Contrasting Direction – 125
Do the Director’s Line Reading – 126
IX EMOTIONS – 129
WHEN YOU NEED TO:
Play a Specific Emotion – 131
Make a Sharp Transition from One Emotion to Another – 141
Intensify an Emotion Instead of Flatlining – 147
Cry – 152
Laugh – 179
Leave your Acted Emotions Behind and Go On to the Next Scene or Go Home – 182
Deal with Being Nervous – 183
X CHARACTER – 189
WHEN YOU NEED TO:
Quickly Change to the Director’s Vision of the Character – 191
Make the Character More Physically Distinctive – 194
Make It More Quirky – 199
Change your Relationship Status – 202
Make a Decision About What Your Character Knows – 208
Get the Role on Track – 210
XI LESS IS MORE – 213
WHEN YOU NEED TO:
Take It Down – 215
Tone It Down – 217
Relax and Simplify – 219
Just Talk and Listen – 221
Stop Acting! – 222
Just be Yourself — No Character! – 223
XII MORE IS MORE – 225
WHEN YOU NEED TO:
Be in the Middle of the Scene when “Action” is Called – 227
Do a Pre-Scene Improv – 229
Give It More Energy – 239
Fill That Pause – 241
Commit to the Moment – 244
Nail a Close-Up (Listening) – 246
Listen to a Monologue in a Compelling Fashion – 250
Nail a Close-up (Speaking) – 251
XIII CAREER – 257
WHEN YOU NEED TO:
Improve Your Self-Tapes – 259
Accept or Reject a Job – 264
Increase Your Opportunities – 266
Appendix A Sample Umbrella Arcs – 267
Appendix B Sample Character Arcs – 271
Appendix C Sample Emotion and Attitude Choices – 272
Appendix D Sample Attitude Lines – 274
Appendix E Sample Action (Verbs) Choices – 276
Acknowledgments – 279
About the Author – 280
