Brian: You’re both being extremely still. We know…you get sick of me saying this but three things you have to do for an extreme close up: There’s beauty in stillness. Less is more. And you must use active listening. If you’re not really listening to you partner, if you’re worrying or thinking about your next line, then it shows in your eyes. And with a fifty-foot head, your eyes are twelve feet long, wide. And they go dead. So, you’ve got to learn to use active listening.
I just before COVID spent an evening and an afternoon with Morgan Freeman. And the two most…I love saying that. ‘Cause it was a blessed day. And the two most important things that he said he learned…and he really didn’t start working until he was fifty…from all the stars he ever worked with was the importance of stillness and the importance of active listening. And if you watch his work, it’s so simple, it’s so focused, it’s so still but yet riveting. And that’s why I ask all of you, please, please, please watch the movie “The Outfit”. It came out three weeks ago. It’s Mark Rylance at his very, very, very best. It’s one of the best cast movies I’ve ever seen in my life and it’s a PhD lesson in stillness and listening. It’s just…it’s on Prime or Netflix. John went out and bought it.
John: Yeah.
Brian: How much was it?
John: I bought it on You Tube.
Brian: Twenty dollars?
John: Eighteen ninety-nine.
Brian: Yeah. He bought it on You Tube.
John: Yep.
Brian: And it’s worth every penny, trust me.
John: Yeah. It was.
Brian: It’s a study. If you want to be an actor and you want to know about stillness and the essence of true contact with another actor, God, I couldn’t recommend a better film. That, “A Bad Day At Black Rock” from the fifties with Spencer Tracy. And “The Conversation” with Gene Hackman. If you want to see concentration and focus, those are three of the best. And as far as improving dialogue I would highly recommend “Smoke” with Harvey Kietel and Forrest Whittaker. There you go. There are four great films if you haven’t seen them.
And read “Mastery”, yes, by George Leonard. If you guys are here longer than two weeks and haven’t read that book, shame on you. It’ll mess your life up but in a good way. Look what it’s done for you, brother. It’s totally turned things upside down in a very positive way.
LT: Yeah.
Brian: Yeah. That’s significant.
LT: I feel it. (laughs)
Brian: Yeah. I feel it. I see it. And you feel it.