A great way to find the inner monologue is to ask yourself the question – ‘Where does this line come from? Why are they saying it?’ So just looking at the first few lines let’s look at the inner monologue. That this foul deed shall smell above the earth Shall in these confines with a monarch’s voice, Their infants quartered with the hands of war:Īll pity choked with custom of fell deeds,Īnd Caesar’s spirit, ranging for revenge, That mothers shall but smile when they behold To beg the voice and utterance of my tongue)Ī curse shall light upon the limbs of men:īlood and destruction shall be so in use, (Which like dumb mouths do ope their ruby lips Woe to the hand that shed this costly blood. That I am meek and gentle with these butchers. O pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth, Okay so now let’s look at some text and figure out what the character’s inner monologue is and how to apply it. Also, see how much detail and specificity there is in 59 seconds of a film! A great acting teacher said to me it’s the life, not the lines and with a moment like this I couldn’t agree more. In our interview, Welker went into fantastic detail about Scorsese’s direction and his fine, fine detail that added immensely to her inner monologue work at this moment. Without that inner monologue, without Welker connecting the dots of the story, we wouldn’t get the tension that is so alive in this moment, we wouldn’t understand what was happening for the story or the larger picture of the movie. We get all of that, all of that and much more because Welker allows herself to experience all of that moment to moment, she has a palpable and alive inner monologue that is actually having all of those thoughts I mentioned, and as she has them, we see them! She needs to live in those, moment to moment, every single take until the director (in this case Martin Scorsese!) Is happy to move on! There is a story in this scene, there is a narrative and it’s Welker’s connection to her inner monologue that helps tell us that story. Do I start it or not? Screw it, I’m going to start it. What is going on inside her head? She comes out of the building and she’s pissed off, she’s been fired, slams the door, throws the keys right up to the ignition – but wait, what about the car bombs? Is there anyone around? She checks outside and behind her. Watch the above video and as you look at Welker, track each time her thoughts change. Watching the full interview is really worth your time!īut for the purposes of this article. The character of Jo played by the legendary Welker White has just been fired from her job, and she’s heading out to the car, she gets in, inserts the keys and remembers the spate of car bombs and it makes her wonder, what if her car is next? A little while ago we had an interview with Welker with the StageMilk Scene Club, you can see a full replay of it by signing up here. This is a scene entirely without dialogue right for the actress right? Just action. And dissecting the character’s inner monologue is a vital addition to this process. Your ideas must be aiding you in driving the emotional work of the piece. They end in the same conclusion that emotions and ideas are linked. We know the physical and the psychological are completely linked, you can’t pretend that you are having thoughts and feelings with your body and actually be thinking about the washing. I love this quote because I think it sums up the importance of having a real and palpable inner monologue working for you. that ideas, emotions and sensations are all indissolubly interwoven.” Stanislavski’s work on physical actions also tends to the same conclusion, i.e. Scientists have demonstrated that one’s physical and psychic apparatuses are completely inseparable. “ the human being is a unity, an indivisible whole. The brilliant Brazillian acting maestro Augusto Boal says in Games for Actors and Non-actors , See it’s not just about what you might be thinking moment to moment, but how is the character processing the information as it comes to them, how do they feel about the world around them and most importantly where do these lines come from? What is the motivating factor behind your lines? Is it a reaction to what someone has said, is it an image or a memory from their past, is it their environment around them? By getting some clarity around this you can really help find specificity and life inside the silences of your next performance. While some people may not have them out in the world, the inner monologue is a vital tool for an actor to use as part of their process onstage or onscreen. You may have read some alarming news recently that not everyone has an inner monologue, an internal thought process that is constantly ticking over that if you were to print it out would read like a cohesive train of thoughts and ideas that drive you through your day.
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