Emotional/Psychological Energy

Action is defined as the “Emotional/psychological energy that the actor sends the words on”. This process is achieved through script analysis and choosing strong, active verb phrases to explore throughout the scene. Sending an action means sending the energy through your eyes and physicality. The actions of the character shift and progress moment to moment. Actions are explored while studying the script, and can change and evolve in rehearsal and performance. When the actor understands that the lines aren’t just words, but are always coming through an action, it frees them and the lines become part of a larger experience. Successfully incorporating actions creates a dynamic environment and a playground for creativity.

In the video below, we see my favorite example when describing what is possible when an actor is in the playground of sending actions. Below is Daniel Day Lewis in a scene from Martin Scorsese’s Gangs Of New York. The actor in the scene with him, John C. Reilly, is also doing an incredible job of sending his own character’s actions. Take a look, and pay attention to the energy in both actors’ eyes and behavior:

As you watch this scene, you can feel that they are sending different energy to one another throughout the scene. If you watch their eyes, and their behavior, you can see the intensity and almost guess some of the actions they are sending. I imagine that Daniel Day Lewis‘ character was threatening, mocking, and calling out John C. Reilly’s character. What are some verbs that you came up with?

On Set Lessons

I once played a prisoner in a film, and had a seemingly simple scene, no dialogue, where my character was getting food on the cafeteria lunch line. I simply was supposed to get my food from the server, and walk out of frame. We did one take, and the director said to me, “Let’s go again. When you stop to get your food from the server, send hate.” I was so excited to do the next take, and I learned a valuable lesson about the importance of sending an action. Even though my character didn’t have any lines in the shot, the emotional/psychological energy was essential in portraying a consistent connection to the character.

Putting Into Practice

While I was a young actor studying with Susan Batson, she broke our scripts down into beats and actions, and had us do the following exercise: read through the scene, but slow like molasses. First, focus on filling yourself up with the action without any consideration for the lines. She would say to us, “Don’t say one line until you are fully and completely in the emotional/psychological energy of your action. I don’t care if it takes 500 years.” This exercise was miraculous, reminding us that the lines are never separated from action.

All my best,

Greg Braun

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