ABSTRACT
Actors seldom need challenge or authority—they usually have all that working inside them, and then some. Everyone in the film unit, and every visitor, must be briefed never to make critical comments about the actors’ work, and no actor may criticize other actors. Adaptation is what an actor does specifically in response to a fellow actor. If the actor has the character’s interior life going, if he or she is listening and watching, then adapting to shades of meaning or obstacles will be as realistic as it is in life. Each line, each look or glance, each action, must arise from a defined objective; the actor must know to whom it is addressed and whether he gets his needs met or not. For the actors, digging deeply for meaning, developing perceptions that flow back and forth between the characters, and creating links and resonances with other parts of the script are all highly productive.
