An actor is looking for conflict. Conflict is what creates drama. We are taught to avoid trouble [so] actors don't realize they must go looking for it. Plays are written about...the extraordinary, the unusual, the climaxes. The more conflict actors find, the more interesting the performance.
Michael ShurtleffConflict is what creates drama. The more conflict actors find, the more interesting the performance.
Michael ShurtleffThe actor needs to find out what the basic fight is in every character in every scene.
Michael ShurtleffAn actor must make his needs (goals, wants, objectives) so strong that he is willing to interfere with the other actor in order to get what he needs. Interfering means getting in their way so that what you want is stronger than what they want.
Michael ShurtleffAn expression of feeling isn't worth anything unless it interferes with what the other actor in the scene wants.
Michael ShurtleffNo matter how much we know about the other person, there is always something going on in that other heart and that other head that we don't know but can only ponder. And no matter how we explain ourselves to someone else, no matter how open we are, there is always still something inexplicable, something hidden and unknown in us, too.
Michael Shurtleff